Jewish DNA Test
February 27, 2010 by DNA Genie
Filed under Ethnic DNA Testing
Did you hear stories growing up that you had a Jewish ancestor, however you never could prove it? Well now with the recent craze of utilizing DNA with genealogy, you possibly can test your DNA to confirm Jewish heritage. This is really a different kind of test than a regular mtDNA or Y-DNA test to establish your deep ancestry. There are not as many places online to find a Jewish DNA test.
You are able to take either a Maternal Line Test (mtDNA for males or females) which examines DNA from the maternal line and the tested individual in a haplogroup. Particular haplogroups are linked with Jewish populations. For instance, recent scientific evidence indicates that approximately 40% of current 8 million Ashkenazi have originated from four females. The approximated globe Jewish population is about 13 million. They might have inherited their genetic signatures from women ancestors who lived in the Near East. Each woman left a genetic signature that shows up in their descendants nowadays. Together, their four signatures appear in about 40% of Ashkenazi Jews, whilst being virtually absent in non-Jews and found only rarely in Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin, researchers have said.
Ashkenazi Jews are a group with mainly central and eastern European ancestry. In due course, though, they may be traced back to Jews who migrated from Israel to Italy within the first and second centuries.. At some point this group moved to Eastern Europe from the 12th and 13th centuries and expanded greatly, reaching about 10 million just before World War II. Most historical records reveal that the founding of the Ashkenazi Jewry took place within the Rhine Basin, followed by dramatic expansion into eastern Europe. It is estimated that they represented 3 million with the worlds Jews inside the third century and 80% of Jews worldwide currently. The four genetic haplogroups contain three subgroups of Haplogroup K (K1a1b1a, K1a9, K2a2a) and one subgroup of Haplogroup N (N1b).
The Paternal Line Jewish DNA Test (Y-chromosome for males only) examines DNA from the father’s line and places the tested individual in the haplogroup. Particular haplogroups are associated with Jewish populations. The Cohen Modal Haplotype, for instance, belongs to haplogroup J. The main ethnic element of Ashkenazim (German and Eastern European Jews), Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), Mizrakhim (Middle Eastern Jews), Juhurim (Mountain Jews from the Caucasus), Italqim (Italian Jews), and most other modern Jewish populations from the globe is Israelite. The Israelite haplotypes fall into haplogroups J and E. Ashkenazim also descend, in the smaller way, from European peoples such as Slavs and Khazars. The non-Israelite haplogroups contain Q (normally Central Asian) and R1a1 (generally Eastern European).
I descend from Ashkenazi Jews and yet my Y-chromosome shows haplogroup I (M170). Does that pretty much prove definitively that I don’t descend from Israelite DNA? If so, is it most likely that I descend from Khazars? My great-grandfather was from Ukraine, further strengthening this argument. It’s my understanding that the earliest I(M170) male was born in the Balkans about 20,000 years ago near what is today Zagreb, Croatia. This also seems to reinforce the theory that I descend from Turkic Jews. Any expert out there who reads this: please weigh-in on this and help me understand my ancestry. Thanks.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE? IF YOUR BROWN EYED AND BROWN HAIR WITH NOT VERY WHITE WHITE SKIN, THEN CHANCES ARE YOU A TURK KHAZAR AND NOT OF ISRAELITE BLOOD.
THE TYPICAL “JEW” HAS BROWN EYES, BROWN HAIR, AND NOT WHITE WHITE SKIN.
JESUS WAS AN ISRAELITE AND HE HAD LIGHT BROWNISH RED HAIR, LIGHT EYES, AND WHITE SKIN. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THOSE TRAITS, YOUR PROBABLY NOT OF THE BLOODLINE. DAVID HAD RED HAIR, SO DID ESAU, SO DID ADAM……………
WHITE MEANS WHITE WHITE SKIN, LIGHT EYES AND BLONDE TO LIGHT BROWN TO RED HAIR.
Hi
which company gives the safest and most reliable test for Jewish ancestors?
Max
Hi there – sorry so late on approving this comment. I wasn’t getting any email notice. I would go with FamilyTreeDNA – they have a Jewish heritage test.
the israelites look very similar to arabs, but they tend to have curlier hair than arabs. also just because someone doesn’t look like an israelite, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t have israelite ancestry in them.
Elaine is way off. Abraham was called by G-d from Ur of the Chaldeans, modern day Iraq. No one living today knows what the color of Jesus’s eyes, hair and skin were when He walked the earth.
Josephus records that Rabbi Shaul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle) was short, with curly black hair and black eyes. “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6)
90% of Jews living in 1492 were Sephardic, they are a diverse group but most were not lilly white as suggested in the comment.
Jeff,
The fact that you tested into Y-DNA HG. I doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have Jewish heritage or that you are descended from the Turkish line. Since Y-DNA testing only tests the father’s side, there are many other factors that come into play. Also, it is interesting to note (although not frequently discussed), that HG. I is closest to haplogroups J and K, and that haplogroup J, in particular, is strongly associated with people of Jewish heritage (as well as a host of other groups coming from the Middle East). While the split between haplogroups I and J was thought to have occurred some 30,000 years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if this doesn’t change with time as more research becomes available. Also, Hg. I2 (M223) to which I also belong, is nowhere a majority in Europe, suggesting the possibility that its members entered into already robust European populations and assimilated into the dominant cultures at a later date than is currently believed, coming possibly from the Middle East. Finally, I have read conflicting figures, but some studies have suggested that HG I is found in as much as 11% of Sephardi Jews, which would be a fairly significant percentage considering that HG. I nowhere reaches percentages above 40% except in parts of Scandinavia and in Croatian/Bosnia regions.