A screencast (video) is now available for those who were unable to attend the lecture with this title that I delivered at the IAJGS 2016 Conference due to the small capacity of the room, or for those who were unable to go to Seattle.
Since 2013, the field of genealogical genetic testing has advanced from being able to sample the Y-chromosome in a few dozen locations to several million, thanks to “Next Generation Sequencing” (NGS) products like FTDNA’s Big Y and others. Networks of “citizen scientists” have begun mapping out genetic trees that are far more accurate than were ever before possible. This more extensive and accurate data is particularly useful for Jewish genealogists seeking to link groups of men to their common male ancestor farther back in time than the typical 8-10 generations covered by surnames. Because these new tests are costly and not easy to interpret, many genetic genealogists are not making full use of them. Using several ongoing Jewish lineage projects as examples (including one cluster of Ashkenazi men who might actually turn out to be from Portugal), a presentation at the IAJGS 2016 Conference in Seattle discussed real-world examples from two haplogroups not typically associated with Jewish men (I2a and R1b), testing strategies, and available data interpretation tools.
This presentation might also be subtitled, “Before Belarus, my ancestors came from …” because most people don’t have documents to trace their ancestors’ migrations before Eastern Europe. More advanced Y-chromosome sequencing is allowing us to make tentative steps toward understanding migration, particularly for Jewish men in “European” haplogroups. Sometimes we can infer locations by comparing them with their non-Jewish DNA relatives who share an ancestor with them 2,000 or 3,000 years back and who might have stayed relatively stationary over more generations.
The screencast may be viewed on YouTube at this link: https://youtu.be/asSBREbwyz0
The presentation handout that was not included in the conference materials may be downloaded at this link:
Rachel Unkefer
Thank you for devoting your life to the history of the Jewish people.
Can you please recommend the best source for testing Geneology. I am 65, child of holocaust survivors who never spoke of their experience and my siblings and I know very little. My children are begging me to sample my dna for information. Thank you for your help.
Rachel. 847-366-7042
My family is typically referred to as Ukrainian or Eastern European. My Grandfather came from what is now Ukraine. I had the Y line DNA tested and lo and behold it showed that my family started in Albania and Croatia and from that point on, my pin map shows someone in every country northward up to Latvia and as far east as Novosibirsk and Kyrgyzstan and west as Germany. Somewhere in an amongst the pins is one Polish pin, which the data says is Ashkenazi Jewish.
Hi, Richard,
What is your Y-DNA haplogroup?
Rachel
Hi, Rachel,
In general, I think Y-DNA is much easier to work with because you know exactly which line the matches belong to. However, since you’re female, I’d suggest the Family Finder test from FTDNA (http://ftdna.com).
If you have any surviving male relatives, I’d highly recommend having them test their Y-DNA at FTDNA, because their Y-DNA can serve as a “proxy” for you on their respective surname lines.
Rachel
Rachel, thank you for the video of your excellent presentation,Tip of the Iceberg: What Y-DNA Lineages Can Tell Us About Jewish History and Migration.
Since I and J (most common Haplogroup among Jewish males today) were once the same Haplogroup, descending from the same male ancestor, I would tend to say that I2a (aka I-M223) was originally a Hebrew male.
The most common argument against my conclusion, used by FTDNA and others, is the great age of I Haplogroup (27,000 years ago). But, their argument is based on evolutionary nonsense!!
Adam, the first man, was created only 6,000 years ago, (not 60,000 years ago, as claimed by FTDNA and others).
Therefore, I Haplogroup is only about 2,700 years old—about the time of the Assyrian Captivity.
Many captives from northern Israel lost their Hebrew identity over the centuries (while still passing their Y-DNA to their sons) in the areas north of Israel and later, as they migrated into Europe.
But those who moved south to Judah may have maintained their Jewish identity up to the time of Christ (and beyond into their dispersion in Europe).
Through the Middle Ages and into modern times, many probably converted to Catholicism or Protestantism (whether forced, convenient or genuine).
But many P78 descendants apparently stayed with Judaism, especially in Eastern Europe, in both their first and last Hebrew names, almost up until the present time.
See first and last Hebrew names on page 3 of the now 6 page long I-M223 Clan Page — particularly (Cont3a1 Group 3b1).
Sincerely in Messiah,
George Theiss
USMC Vietnam Veteran