The Jewish Genealogical Society Of Toronto – Our Roots And Future

As we take time to reflect on our past and look toward the future celebration of our 36th anniversary, our “Double Chai Year,” we would like to introduce you to the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto. Volunteer-run as a non-profit charitable organization, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto provides a forum for the exchange of genealogical knowledge and information with our members and the community at large.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto (JGS Toronto) was originally known as The Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (Toronto) and had its beginnings in 1985. A small group of avid genealogists and family historians interested in continuing the exploration of their family roots and history. With no internet and few available research tools, the Society, led by its first president, Dr. Rolf Lederer, met monthly to trade information, share sources, and combine the research of their families’ beginnings overseas and subsequent travel to Canada.

The Society’s beginning years saw an initial group of 25 grow continuously as members concentrated on the fundamental research methods of the time by interviewing family members and reviewing family documents and photos. We visited libraries searching through volumes for hidden gems of information. We visited the local Family History Center (operated by the Mormon church) with its access to birth, marriage and death records along with local civil records from Europe and the various homelands of the Jewish population of Canada. (The Mormons actually started collecting and microfilming genealogical data in the 1920s.)