Schedule of Upcoming Events

 

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Our events are USUALLY scheduled on the same day and time each month, e.g., first Monday for Everything Genealogy. However, they might be moved to another week to work around Jewish or national holidays or other events. Our presentations/speakers may vary depending on the speaker’s availability.

 

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SPECIAL EVENT

Sunday, March 29, 2025, 9:00 am–5:00 pm **NEW DATE**
A Members Only Special Event on Zoom

The Evan Fishman (z”l) Day of Learning

This is a special all-day program to provide information about using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Genetic Genealogy in creating and advancing your family history. This program is for members in good standing for 2026.

 

This program is in honor of and in memory of Evan Fishman, a long-time Board member and editor of our award-winning CHRONICLES.

 

We are offering 4 different meetings.  Here are the program and the instructors:

 

9:00-9:15 AM – Introduction

 

9:15-10:45 AM – Ashkenazi DNA 101 with Jennifer Mendelsohn, Co-Founder of Holocaust Reunion

 

DNA has the potential to be an essential and exciting genealogical tool. But many Ashkenazi Jewish testers find their DNA results completely overwhelming and unnavigable, largely due to endogamy. In this talk, Jennifer Mendelsohn will help those with Ashkenazi heritage learn how to tame the tangle of our match lists and make them make sense. She will cover why our match lists are so large (hello, endogamy!), why all our matches seem to match each other (endogamy, again!), and how to spot the meaningful matches and separate them from the faux ones. Using real-life examples of DNA success, you’ll learn techniques that will help you work effectively with DNA to smash brick walls.

 

Jennifer Mendelsohn is a sought-after genealogist who specializes in helping Eastern European Jewish families shattered by the Holocaust reclaim their history. Her journey began in 2013, when she reunited her husband’s grandmother—a Polish Holocaust survivor who had lost her entire immediate family and most of her extended family—with three living first cousins she had never known. Since then, she has worked on scores of cases, solving complex family mysteries using a blend of traditional and genetic genealogy. Her sleuthing was featured in the 2019 bestseller Inheritance by Dani Shapiro. She co-founded the Holocaust Reunion Project, which provides free DNA testing and genealogical consultation to help Holocaust survivors find family. Their work has garnered international media attention. 

 

11:00 AM-12:30 PM – AI Foundations with Arthur Sissman, Founder Jewish Genealogy SIG (JGSIG) 

 

A deep dive into the basics of prompting and the effective use of AI chatbots for genealogical research. (more description to come)

 

 

 

 

12:30–1:30 PM Break for Lunch

 

 

 

1:30-3:00 PM More Than Just Browsing: Best Practices in Using a Chromosome Browser with Adina Newman, Co-Founder of Holocaust Reunion

 

In Jewish genetic genealogy, you may have heard that using a chromosome browser is almost always a must. But why? Where can you access it? How does it work? If you have ever had questions related to chromosome browsers, this presentation is for you! Topics will include the purpose of a chromosome browser, how to utilize it at the major commercial testing and third-party sites, when to use it, and best chromosome browser practices in your genealogical research. Applications to real cases—including Holocaust research—will illustrate the practical benefits of using a chromosome browser effectively.       

 

Dr. Adina Newman, EdD, the creator of My Family Genie, is a professional genealogist and educator. Her specialties include Jewish genealogy, genetic genealogy, social media, and New England, and she presents on these topics in a variety of venues, from major genealogy conferences to local genealogy societies. Her findings have received international media attention, such as mentions in The Daily Mail, Washington Post, AP News, TODAY, Us Weekly, People, and The Times of Israel, and she has made appearances on several news outlets such as NPR and I24NEWS. She co-founded the Holocaust Reunion Project, a program to raise awareness about the potential of DNA testing within the Holocaust survivor community and provide survivors and their children with free commercial DNA tests and consultations. 

 

3:15-4:45 PM – Advanced Prompt Engineering with Arthur Sissman, Founder Jewish Genealogy SIG (JGSIG) 

 

Sophisticated strategies tailored for intermediate and advanced users to unlock complex record analysis. (more description to come)

 

4:45-5:00 PM – Wrap-up

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Date:  Sunday, April 19, 2026

Time:  2:00 PM for Check in, Schmoozing and Mentoring – in-person only)

Hybrid Meeting

2:30 PM official meeting start time

Location:  In-Person Location: Main Line Reform Temple (tentative)

Speaker: David Brill: Russian Genealogy Maven and JGASGP Member

 

 

David is a longtime member of the Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the coordinator of its Russian Interest Group. For over 30 years, David has researched his family history in the countries of the former Russian Empire (especially Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russian Poland). Over the years, his interest in this area led him to become a self-taught translator of prerevolutionary Russian-language genealogical records. Currently, he manages the Rovno District Jewish Records Project for JewishGen’s Ukraine Research Division and is the JewishGen town leader for his ancestral shtetl of Tuchin (Ukraine). In his non-genealogical life, David is a civil engineer with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. He lives in Cherry Hill, New Jersey with his wife, Michelle.

 

Topic: Where Did They Run To? Tracing Ancestors Who Fled Conscription in the Russian Empire

The reign of Tsar Nicholas I (1825-1855) is infamous in Russian Jewish history for the brutal conscription of minor boys. Beginning in 1827, thousands of Jewish boys as young as 9 were recruited into “cantonist” schools to begin a military career that could last as long as 25 years. Thousands of others tried to avoid conscription by hiding from authorities, joining new families, or running away from their homes – in some cases escaping to an entirely different, distant part of the Pale of Settlement. For the genealogist tracing Jewish families, this situation presents unique issues that call for a creative approach. This presentation explores ways to connect the “runaway” to his birth family, using strategies including analyzing revision lists and other 19th century Russian-language documents, multi-generational name comparisons, and genetic genealogy. The presenter will work from examples in his own family research of ancestors who fled their shtetls as children in the 1830’s-1840’s and will show how genealogy was able to piece together the stories of their journeys.

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Date:  Sunday, May 31, 2026

Time:  1:00 PM for Check in, Schmoozing and Mentoring – in-person only)

Hybrid Meeting

1:30 PM official meeting start time

Location:  In-Person Location: Main Line Reform Temple (tentative)

Speaker: Raquel Levy-Toledano, Board Member of International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and International Institute for Jewish Genealogy

 

Raquel is involved in Moroccan Jewish Genealogy and Genetic Genealogy projects, director at IAJGS, member of the General Assembly of IIJG, board member of the Cercle de Généalogie Juive (France) where she manages the genetic genealogy group, president of NAJMA (Nos Ancêtres Juifs Marocains et Algériens), a French Genealogical Society, co-administrator of the Avotaynu DNA project section involving North African Jews, expert curator of Geni’s Moroccan and Algerian Jewish family tree, founder of the Généalogie des Juifs Marocains Facebook Group, which has 12,700 members .

 

 

Topic: 19th Century Jewish Presence in the Land of Israel

 

The Jewish presence is the Land of Israel of the 19th century has not been extensively studied. While they have been poorly explored, the Montefiore censuses taken in the Land of Israel (1839, 1849, 1855, 1866 and 1875) constitute a unique tool to characterize the Jewish population of the Land of Israel of the 19th Century. The presentation will detail the waves of migration to the Land of Israel, the composition of the members of the Jewish population (Ashkenazim and Sephardim), their countries of birth, their demographic characteristics, and will compare the occupation, the socio-economic status and the naming pattern of Ashkenazim and Sephardim.

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Date:  Sunday, June 28, 2026

Time:  1:00 PM for Check in, Schmoozing and Mentoring – in-person only)

Hybrid Meeting

1:30 PM official meeting start time

In-Person Location: Rodeph Shalom (tentative)

Speaker: Ellen Kowitt, Professional Genealogist, Writer, and Presenter

Ellen operates Sole Searching Genealogy & Historical Research. She is a frequent presenter at national conferences and has published articles in NGS Magazine, Family Tree Magazine, and Avotaynu: The International Journal on Jewish Genealogy. Topics include getting started in Jewish genealogy, methodology, Jewish institutional records, comparing Jewish resources on the genealogy giant websites, Russian Empire research, and Holocaust in Ukraine. Ellen has completed the ProGen study program and several genealogical institutes, she is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and while accepting clients, she continues to volunteer as JewishGen USA Research Division Director and D.A.R. Jewish Specialty Researcher. Originally from New York and Washington DC, Ellen resides in Colorado with her husband and is mother to two college students. www.EllenKowitt.com.

 

Topic:  Endgame Genealogy

 

Is it the journey or the destination? Many enjoy the process and camaraderie that comes along with the act of doing genealogy research. Others have goals to answer a specific question, find a living relative, build a family tree, or publish a book. What happens when you move onto other pursuits or suddenly depart midstream before completion? End of life planning typically does not include instructions for hard-earned and meaningful genealogy research. How would loved ones or fellow landsman find and navigate your online passwords, final version of a family tree, photos, acquired documents, translations, instructions on next steps, or manuscript in process? Let’s explore big picture questions about setting expectations, create a planning checklist to ensure your intentions are honored, and start organizing today for tomorrow. This lecture will allow time for participants to share best practices.