Members Helping Members Since 1981

Are you researching Jewish family history and looking for a Chicago area network of experts and enthusiasts?

We help members collect, preserve, and perpetuate the records and history of their ancestors and serve as a resource for the worldwide community to research their Chicago area Jewish roots.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois (JGSI) is a non-profit, volunteer-driven organization established in 1981 and now with over 300 members.

A great honor in memory of Peggy Morrow: Morasha, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois newsletter formerly edited by the late Peggy Morrow z"l and now edited by Dale Amdur, has won the first-place award for newsletters in the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors’ 2020 Excellence in Writing Competition. Congratulations to all JGSI volunteers who regularly contribute to Morasha!

JGSI members are invited to write articles for Morasha, JGSI's newsletter. If you have an interesting family story or genealogical find, please send an article about it to morashaeditor@jgsi.org. 

JGS of Illinois members to share family history discoveries and research tips on June 28, 2020:

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois will hold a virtual “Kvell and Tell” session on Sunday, June 28, 2020, as part of the group’s annual meeting. Selected members will take turns sharing family history discoveries and research tips. This meeting, which will start at 12:30 p.m., will also feature an annual report from JGSI’s president, Debbie Kroopkin.

For more information, call 312-666-0100 or see https://jgsi.org/event-3605836. This event is free and open to the public; however, Zoom will limit attendance to 100. To attend this live streaming event, at the start time go to: https://tinyurl.com/y8qnvkg4.

Those who wish to participate in the “Kvell and Tell” session as presenters are asked to send an email to events@jgsi.org explaining their presentation topic idea and estimated time of presentation. Each presentation is to be between 5 and 10 minutes to allow more members to share their discoveries, experiences and suggestions.