Jewish Special Interest Group
 |
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. |  |
All Jewish SIG meetings are free and open to the public; however it is necessary to register, if you want to join a Zoom webinar. You do NOT need to register for any in-person meetings or to view the digital recordings that will be posted on this page.
Upcoming Meetings for 2025
Jewish SIG meetings this year will be a combination of in-person, hybrid, and Zoom only, so please note the instructions for each meeting.
Click here for the 2025 J-SIG meeting flyer.
All Jewish SIG meetings are free and open to the public; however it is necessary to register, if you want to join a Zoom webinar. You do NOT need to register for any in-person meetings or to view the digital recordings that will be posted on this page. All meetings, except for the February workshop, begin at 1:00 p.m. (Central)
Next Meeting
Sunday, 24 August 2025
Understanding Jewish Cemeteries
(This meeting will be hybrid at the StLGS office and via Zoom.
Registration is required to attend remotely.)
Jewish cemeteries have some unique features, which vary depending on where the cemetery is located. We’ll explore some of the traditions, monuments, and record sets that might be available to researchers both in St. Louis and beyond.
Featured Speaker: Ilene Murray, StLGS publications director and Jewish SIG co-leader
Registration for this meeting will open in July; please check back!
The handout for this meeting, will be here.
♦
Remaining Meeting for 2025
Sunday, 7 December 2025
How to Find Any Shtetl on Topographic Maps
(This meeting will be Zoom only. Pre-registration will be required.)
It is possible to find even the smallest shtetl on highly detailed and downloadable topographic maps. Our speaker will give step-by-step directions on how to do so for Eastern Europe, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Featured Speaker: Andrew Kapochunas, expert on historic maps
♦
Recorded Meeting from Sunday, 1 June 2025
The Newest Resources from the Southern Jewish Family Research Center at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
Featured speaker: Lizzi Meister, MSJE Public Programs Manager/span>
Watch the recording here. No password is needed to watch this recording.
There are two handouts for this meeting; the first one is here, and the second one is here.
♦
Meeting from Sunday, 1 December 2024
Jewish Genealogy Resources at the St. Louis County Library
Featured speaker: Josiah Schmidt, SLCL reference librarian
The recording for this meeting has expired; however, you can still access the handout here. St. Louis County Library also has a guide to Jewish resources you can download as a PDF. You can find that guide here.
Recorded Meeting from Sunday, 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 the recording is d=s&M0*9
The handout for this meeting is here.
♦
Jewish Newspapers
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: 02-Jun-2025 00:07