Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd

What Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd does

Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd is an independent, Jewish-owned funeral home founded in 1997 by David Jacobson, operating two chapels in Buffalo Grove (195 N. Buffalo Grove Road) and Skokie (8851 Skokie Boulevard), Illinois. The firm provides traditional Jewish funeral arrangements, burial and cremation services, chapel services, Shiva support, monument and merchandise sales, graves-for-sale, green burial, and pre-planning services for Jewish families across the Chicago metropolitan area. Its service portfolio is organized around funeral services and pre-planning as core offerings, with supplementary modules including virtual chapel tours, green burial, monument sales, and a daily obituary notification subscription. The company serves Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish families, with value propositions anchored in Jewish tradition observance at every level of religious practice.

The underlying operations are service- and relationship-driven rather than technology-driven: there is no proprietary software, no API or SDK offerings, and no disclosed AI or automation capabilities. GTM is community-led, relying on referrals from local rabbis and cantors, word-of-mouth, sponsorship of community events such as the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, blog content on Jewish traditions, grief-support programming with JCFS Chicago, and conference engagement (NFDA Expo 2025, Kavod v'Nichum 2025). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, with arrangements personalized to observance level and service selections.

The business model combines professional services revenue (funeral arrangements and pre-planning), merchandise and monument sales (caskets, shrouds, grave markers), and one-time sale of cemetery graves. The company maintains between 11 and 50 employees, including multiple funeral directors, a pre-arrangement specialist, a head of livery services, and at least one apprentice, and is privately held with no parent company, subsidiaries, or external funding rounds. Strategic posture emphasizes deepening community integration and service breadth rather than geographic or capital-driven expansion.

Name

Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd

Legal name

Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd

Website

https://chicagojewishfunerals.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chicago Jewish Funerals is an independent Jewish-owned funeral home serving Chicago-area Jewish families since 1997 with two chapels in Buffalo Grove and Skokie, offering funeral arrangements, pre-planning, burial, cremation, monuments, merchandise, and grief-support resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Funeral Services

NAICS

Funeral Homes and Funeral Services (812210), Death Care Services (8122)

akta.pro primary industry

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL)

Keywords

• Jewish funeral services
• Funeral pre-planning
• Burial arrangements
• Shiva services
• Monument sales

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo Grove

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Funeral Services: Full-service funeral arrangements including traditional Jewish funeral ceremonies, burial services, cremation options, and memorial services at their chapels.
2. Pre-Planning Services: Advance funeral planning services allowing families to arrange details in advance, providing emotional and financial pre-planning options.
3. Merchandise and Monuments: Sale of funeral merchandise, monuments, and related funeral products.
4. Graves for Sale: Sale of gravesites as part of comprehensive funeral service offerings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd arranges and conducts Jewish funerals, burials, cremations, shiva, and pre-planning services from two chapels in Lincolnwood and Forest Park. The firm sells related funeral merchandise such as caskets, shrouds, monuments, and graves, and offers add-on options including green burial, livery services, and dedication ceremonies tailored to Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist families.

Product overview

Chicago Jewish Funerals is an independent, Jewish-owned funeral home established in 1997, operating two chapels in Buffalo Grove and Skokie, Illinois. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of Jewish funeral services centered around its core Funeral Services and Pre-Planning offerings. Additional service modules include Virtual Tour for remote facility viewing, Green Burial for eco-friendly options, Daily Obituary Notifications for subscription-based updates, and supplementary services such as Monuments, Merchandise, Shiva facilities, Graves for Sale, and Dedication Ceremonies. The company also provides Empathy resources for grief support and Resources for Assistance with Shiva. Together, these products form an integrated end-to-end offering for Jewish families from pre-planning through funeral services and memorial observances.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Jewish Funeral Services Full-service Jewish funeral arrangements including traditional casket burial, cremation, and memorial services conducted in accordance with Jewish law for Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist families.
• Pre-Planning Services Pre-arrangement consultation and packages that let Jewish families lock in funeral, burial, and merchandise choices in advance of need.
• Funeral Merchandise Sale of funeral merchandise including caskets and traditional Jewish shrouds/tachrichim used in Jewish burial preparation.
• Monuments Sale and installation of headstones, monuments, and markers for Jewish graves at affiliated cemeteries.
• Graves for Sale Sale of grave plots at affiliated Jewish cemeteries, including Skokie Valley Memorial Park and Westlawn Cemetery.
• Shiva at Our Chapels Shiva observance space and hosting services held at the firm's chapels for mourning families following a Jewish funeral.
• Green Burial Environmentally conscious Jewish burial option offered as an alternative to traditional interment.
• Dedication Ceremonies Formal dedication ceremonies for monuments, memorials, or cemetery sections associated with the firm's burial services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Google Rating 5.0 based on 175 reviews
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kavod v'Nichum - Gather & Grow ConferencecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025Chicago Jewish Funerals was a proud sponsor of the Gather & Grow - Kavod v'Nichum Conference in Ojai, California. Funeral Director Bill Rubin represented the team, engaging in meaningful learning and collaboration with 129 colleagues from across North America, focusing on Jewish end-of-life care and sacred traditions.
• NFDA (National Funeral Directors Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025Chicago Jewish Funerals participates in the NFDA Expo 2025, representing at the industry-leading funeral service conference alongside The Wilbert Group. Founder David Jacobson engages with industry peers and shares best practices.
• Magen David AdomminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024Chicago Jewish Funerals hosted a dedication ceremony for an ambulance destined for Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical service, symbolizing hope and international Jewish community support.
• Greater Chicago Jewish FestivalminorGTM or Marketing PartnerChicago Jewish Funerals is a proud sponsor of the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, participating with a vendor table and distributing yahrzeit candles and stress balls at the annual community event.
• JCFS ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with JCFS Chicago for grief support programming. Hosted 'Grieving the Death of a Loved One: An Evening of Support' and other grief-related workshops and resources.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Schwartz Brothers Funeral Chapels and Jefferson Memorial: A Jewish funeral home in the Washington DC / Maryland area providing traditional Jewish funeral services, pre-planning, and cemetery coordination. Matches CJF's faith-specific service model and customer base but operates in a different geography.
• Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels: A Jewish funeral home in Ocean, NJ serving central and southern New Jersey with traditional Jewish funeral services and pre-planning. Comparable faith-specific service model and product mix to Chicago Jewish Funerals in a different geographic territory.
• Eden Memorial Park: A Jewish cemetery in Mission Hills, CA, serving the LA Jewish community with burial, monuments, and pre-need cemetery arrangements. Comparable faith-specific cemetery and burial offering in a different regional market.
• Sol Levinson & Bros: A Jewish funeral home in Baltimore, MD providing traditional Jewish funeral services, shiva support, and pre-planning for the Baltimore-area Jewish community. Same faith-specific service model as Chicago Jewish Funerals, in a different regional market.
• Menorah Chapels at Millburn: A Jewish funeral home in Millburn, New Jersey serving the broader New York metropolitan Jewish community with traditional Jewish funerals, pre-planning, and cemetery coordination. Comparable faith-specific offering in a different geography.
• Mount Sinai Memorial Parks: Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles area (Hollywood Hills and Simi Valley) operating traditional burial grounds for the LA Jewish community. Comparable in cemetery-and-monument offerings and faith-specific positioning, but in a different geography.
• Gutterman Warheit Memorial Chapel: A Jewish funeral home in the New York City / Long Island area providing traditional Jewish funeral services, shiva coordination, and pre-planning. Comparable in faith-specific positioning and product mix to Chicago Jewish Funerals, with a different geographic base.

Broad incumbents

• Service Corporation International (SCI) / Dignity Memorial: The largest North American funeral-services operator, publicly traded (NYSE: SCI), operates thousands of funeral homes including Jewish properties. Represents the broad-incumbent competitive pressure on independent Jewish-owned operators through scale, pricing leverage, and technology investment.

Direct peers

• Shalom Memorial Park Cemetery: A Jewish cemetery in Glenview, IL - just south of Chicago Jewish Funerals' Buffalo Grove chapel - serving the same North Shore Jewish community with burial plots, monuments, and graves-for-sale offerings that overlap directly with CJF's merchandise and graves-for-sale lines.
• Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home: A long-established Jewish-owned funeral home in Chicago with multiple chapels serving the same Chicago-area Jewish community as Chicago Jewish Funerals. Directly comparable in faith-specific positioning, multi-chapel model, traditional Jewish burial and shiva services, and pre-planning offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-jewish-funerals-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd