Jerusalem City Archives

General Information

Facility Director:
Archivists: Flora Avital (Hebrew/English)
Address: 1 Safra Plaza Jerusalem, 91007
Phone: 972-2-629-7899,
Fax: 972-2-629-6133
E-mail: avflora@jerusalem.muni.il
Website: www.jerusalem.muni.il (in Hebrew)
Hours of Operation: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00-15:30.
Closed Monday, Friday, Saturday and Jewish holidays.
Consultation: No appointment is needed.
Closest Public Transportation:
Bus: 18, 27, 20, 6, 21, 13, 15 (All buses on Jaffa Road).
Directions:
Access for Disabled: Yes

Description of Resources

There are no family trees. There is data on births, marriages and deaths and census data. There are maps and some oral and written testimonies. Most material is in Hebrew but there is some material in English and French. Some material will soon be on the internet.

Among the materials found in the Jerusalem City Archives are the archives of the Jerusalem Sephardic Congregation. There are tens of thousands of documents in cursive Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Spanish scripts. Documents of genealogical value are listed in the Sephardic and Mizrachi Genealogical Research in Israel, A Guidebook by Yitzchak Kerem and Mathilde Tagger (which is on the special IGS CD being prepared for the 24th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy).

Photograph Collections: There are photo albums but there is a surcharge of 81 shekels to use them.

A short list of Genealogical Sources for the Sephardim

A photocopy of the Montefiore Census of 1875

The catalogue is in the process of being computerized but is not yet ready for public use. The catalogue uses the Dewey system.

The material is not on open stacks and has to be ordered. Some material is on microfilm. Microfilms can be used on the premises. No photocopies can be made of microfilms.