Jewish Special Interest Group
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The Jewish Special Interest Group (J-SIG) of St. Louis Genealogical Society began in June 2005 as a revival of the Jewish Genealogical Society of St. Louis, formerly associated with United Hebrew Congregation. It took a hiatus for 2016 through 2018 but returned as an active SIG in 2019, assisted by the Center for Jewish Learning/Jewish Federation of St. Louis. The St. Louis Genealogical Society’s Jewish SIG continues to be a member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. |  |
Meetings in 2022 for the Jewish SIG
Until it is safe for everyone to meet together in person, meetings for 2022 will be scheduled as online webinars. Meetings will be livestreamed and recorded. All Jewish SIG meetings for 2022 will be from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. Central time. If you are on the Jewish SIG mailing list, you will get a reminder to preregister for a livestreamed meeting. If you are not on the list and would like to be included, please send an email to publications@stlgs.org.
Next Meeting
Sunday, 21 August 2022
Spelling Doesn’t Count: Tips for Tracking Those Ever-Changing Names
Multiple alphabets and inconsistent pronunciations add to the hand-wringing we experience as we try to work out what the “real” spelling of our names and villages could be. Whether your ancestors spoke Yiddish, Russian, Polish, German, or some other first language, knowing how immigrants’ names were often misinterpreted and/or changed and how to search more effectively for them will help you find them in U.S. records.
Featured speaker: Ilene Murray, StLGS Publications Director and Jewish SIG co-leader
All Jewish Special Interest Group meetings are free and open to the public. However, you need a link and a passcode to join the meeting, so it will be necessary to preregister.
Registration for this meeting will open in July. Please check back!
Remaining Meeting for 2022
As of now, this meeting is scheduled via Zoom.
Sunday, 4 December
Placing Your Ancestors into Historical Context
Among the first things one does as a family history researcher is find out who your ancestors were, when they lived and died, as well as everything else about their lives you can find. But life is—and was—about so much more than dates. Putting your ancestors into their historical context allows you to flesh them out. By researching and then placing your ancestors into their historical context, you can learn more about the social, religious, economic, and political backgrounds in which they lived.
Featured speaker: Diane Everman, archivist and Jewish SIG co-leader
Recorded Meeting from Sunday, 15 May 2022
St. Louis Jewry: A Dynamic Two-Century History
Featured speaker: Bob Cohn, editor emeritus of the St. Louis Jewish Light
Watch the recording here. Password for recording is 418u%j+R
The handout for this meeting is here.
Recorded Meeting from Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Techniques to Determine Ancestral Origins
Featured speaker: Ilene Murray, StLGS publications director and Jewish SIG co-leader
Watch the recording here. Password for recording is d=s&M0*9
The handout for this meeting is here.
Recorded Meeting from Sunday, 21 February 2021
Jewish Genealogy Questions and Answers
Led by Jewish SIG leaders: Diane Everman, Phyllis Faintich, Ilene Murray, and Carol Waggoner
Watch the recording here Password for recording is 9j7odw0
Jewish Newsletter
During its existence, the JGS of St. Louis had a monthly newsletter called Generations. Its first editors were founders, Art and Sylvia Jaffe. Then, for a brief time, it was edited by Gene Schneider, followed by Jerry Goldberg. In late 2000, Ilene Murray began her tenure as editor and remained in that position until the last issue, July 2005.
A complete set of all of the issues is available at St. Louis County Library Headquarters in the History and Genealogy Department and at the Missouri History Museum’s Library and Research Center.
Electronic copies of issues from November 2000 until July 2005 can be found on this site. They are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and can be downloaded, saved, and/or printed. To do so, click here for Jewish Genealogical Society Newsletters
Jewish Community
Click here for more information on the Jewish community in St. Louis.
Click here to go to the Jewish congregations page on this website, where you will find information about specific congregations and a growing set of marriage and death records.
Research Queries
Please address questions about Jewish research in St. Louis to J-SIG co-leader, Phyllis Faintich. You can reach her at .
Last modified: 17-May-2022 11:21