Schedule of Upcoming Events
Please note: Meeting times, dates, locations and speakers are subject to change.
Information is regularly updated.
Our meetings will be in-person AND online whenever possible and safe, and for members who do not live near the Philadelphia area.
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.
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: Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19123
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.
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.
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.