Starting with yourself and working back through civil records is the same strategy for Americans of all faiths, but that’s when the meshuganah fun begins with Jewish records. After identifying an immigrant, jumping the pond can be challenging with multiple languages, geographic border changes, and religious traditions to navigate. Explore online strategies and resources for tracing Jewish families in the U.S. and abroad including naming patterns, archival collections, newspapers, web resources featuring JewishGen and elsewhere, documenting victims and survivors of the Holocaust, rabbinic dynasties, and more!

Ellen Shindelman Kowitt has served in many volunteer roles over 25 years in the Jewish genealogy community, and was recently appointed Director of JewishGen’s U.S. Research Division as well as National Vice Chair of the first-ever DAR Jewish Task Force. In addition to lecturing, Ellen accepts clients and publishes articles in Avotaynu: The International Journal of Jewish Genealogy and Family Tree Magazine. Ellen is an Orange County native having graduated from Warwick High School in 1985 and was regional CNYFTY president the same year. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two teenage daughters. For an upcoming list of webinars or more information, visit www.EllenKowitt.com.