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The Genetic Origins of the Jews of Kaifeng, China: Preliminary Findings

Filed Under DNA Studies By Adam Brown, Michael Waas, Harold Rhode, Myrna Gabbay, Danil Shimonov, Aaron Pinkhasov, Bennett Greenspan, Wim Penninx and Raquel Levy-Toledano on July 15, 2024

[This subject matter of this announcement is presently in the pre-publication process and will be published in full with accompanying data following peer review.] The Avotaynu DNA Project is pleased to announce that its advanced genetic testing of men from […]

Avotaynu DNA Project Discovers ~11,000 Year Old Neolithic Lineage

Filed Under Collaboration, DNA Studies By Adam Brown, Raquel Levy-Toledano, Wim Penninx, Bennett Greenspan and Michael Waas on June 18, 2024

The Neolithic yDNA Haplogroup J-P58 has been a topic of research interest since its discovery over 15 years ago (Hammer & Behar, et al, 2009[1]; Chiaroni, et al, 2010[2]; Sahakyn, et al, 2021[3]). Amplified by a little understood population bottleneck […]

The Surprising Origins of the Coryell Family of Colonial New Jersey

Filed Under Collaboration, DNA Studies, New World, Portugal By Lea Coryell, Michael Waas and Adam Brown on January 15, 2023

[The following article is reprinted by permission of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The article originally appeared in the Winter 2023 edition of AMERICAN ANCESTORS on pages 27-31. For more information about AMERICAN ANCESTORS magazine and the New England […]

Genealo-J Days – Paris 11/19-20/2022

Filed Under Conferences, DNA Studies, Français, Mediterranean By Adam Brown on November 12, 2022

The Cercle de Généalogie Juive is pleased to invite you November 19 and 20, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Genealo-J Days.to be held at Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme, 71 rue du Temple – Paris […]

À la rencontre de nos ancêtres Juifs Marocains et Algériens : NAJMA, la nouvelle association de généalogie dédiée aux juifs du Maroc et d’Algérie.

Filed Under Algerie الجزائر‎, Collaboration, DNA Studies, Maroc المغرب‎, Mediterranean, Uncategorized By Adam Brown on December 21, 2021

La présence de Juifs au Maroc et en Algérie est attestée dès le IIe siècle de l’ère moderne. Arrivés avec les Phéniciens, les Romains, les Arabes, ou à la suite des expulsions d’Espagne et du Portugal, ils forment un patchwork […]

Origine ancestrale des Juifs marocains par l’étude du chromosome Y

Filed Under Crowdsourcing, DNA Studies, Maroc المغرب‎ By Raquel Levy-Toledano on December 21, 2021

Comment identifier nos origines ancestrales ? Il existe malheureusement très peu de sources historiques, familiales ou documentaires pour identifier nos ancêtres Juif marocains. Au mieux, nous avons connaissance d’un ou de deux ancêtres nés au 18e ou au 19e siècle parce qu’ils […]

How to use Y-DNA and Geni.com to Improve Your Family Tree <>

Filed Under DNA Studies By Randy Schoenberg on April 29, 2021

When most people talk about using DNA for genealogy research, they are talking about autosomal DNA, which is DNA that one inherits from both parents. It can be challenging to use autosomal DNA for genealogy because the matching segments can […]

Elbaum as an Example of the Adoption of Jewish Surnames in the Shadow of 18th c. Austrian regulations

Filed Under DNA Studies, Surnames By Heshel Teitelbaum and David Elbaum on April 28, 2020

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the death of Yaakov Kopel Lukover* Abstract Keywords Yaakov Kopel Likover (ca.1695-1769) a well-known kabbalist, scholar, tavern owner and progenitor of at least three Chassidic dynastic legacies is the progenitor of the Elbaum […]

The Avotaynu DNA Global Census of the Jewish People – March 2020 Update

Filed Under Academia, Collaboration, DNA Studies, Medical Studies By Adam Brown on March 29, 2020

For three years the Avotaynu DNA Project has been spearheading a collaborative international DNA project that includes academics at leading institutions such as the Technion, New York University Winthrop Hospital, the University of Colorado, the University of Haifa and others […]

Avotaynu DNA Seeks Sephardi & Mizrahi Study Participants!

Filed Under DNA Studies By Adam Brown on March 27, 2020

The Avotaynu DNA Project seeks male participants for a study of  Sephardi and Mizrahi paternal DNA lineages. The project, led by pioneering genetic genealogist Dr. Karl Skorecki of the Technion, aims to shed light on the origins of the Sephardim […]

The Genetic Origins of Ashkenazi Jews

Filed Under DNA Studies, Europe - Northern By Harry Ostrer on March 22, 2020

Ashkenazi Jews (from the Hebrew word for “German”) are the largest of the Jewish groups and number some 10 to 11 million people today in a worldwide Jewish population of 13 million people (Reviewed in Ostrer, 2001; Ostrer, 2012). During […]

Guiding Principles of the Avotaynu DNA Project

Filed Under Carribean, Collaboration, DNA Studies, Mediterranean, Mexico, Mizrachim By Adam Brown on January 8, 2020

The AvotaynuDNA-sponsored Genetic Census of the Jewish People enters its third year with active DNA testing being carried out within Jewish communities on six continents. As described previously in the pages of AVOTAYNU, the purpose of the project is to […]

DNA Testing for Newbies

Filed Under DNA Studies By Adam Brown on February 15, 2018

So, you have made a lot of progress on your family tree and you ask, “What can DNA testing do for me?”  In this short essay, I won’t answer your question by delving into the fascinating details of DNA testing, […]

Sephardi Tombstones found in Suriname – Index of Surnames

Filed Under Carribean, DNA Studies, Mediterranean By Adam Brown on January 13, 2018

For the benefit of the genealogical community, AvotaynuDNA team member Rachel Brown has compiled an alphabetized index of all surnames found in the outstanding volume Remnant Stones: the Jewish Cemeteries of Suriname: Epitaphs by Aviva Ben-Ur and Rachel Frankel, available […]

The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Twersky Chassidic Dynasty [AB-069]

Filed Under DNA Studies By Jeffrey Mark Paull, Jeffrey Briskman and Yitzchak Meyer Twersky on September 11, 2017

Throughout the centuries, the Jewish people have always prided themselves on their yichus (lineage, distinguished birth, or pedigree). Yichus was especially important for rabbinical families, and many of them have created genealogy charts or family trees in which they have […]

Challenges Involved in Conducting DNA Tests of Pedigreed Descendants of Rabbinical Lineages

Filed Under DNA Studies, Rabbinic genealogy By Jeffrey Mark Paull, Susan K. Steeble, Jeffrey Briskman and Yitzchak Meyer Twersky on November 21, 2016

Introduction The authors have considerable experience conducting DNA lineage studies, with a focus on Y-DNA studies of the world’s historic rabbinical lineages.[1], [2], [3], [4], [5] Each of these studies presents its own unique challenges. Two of the more challenging aspects […]

The Avotaynu DNA Project Advances to Its Second Phase

Filed Under Collaboration, DNA Studies, Mediterranean, Mizrachim By Adam Brown on October 18, 2016

One year ago we announced the new Avotaynu DNA Project AVOTAYNU, Fall 2016), an initiative managed by Adam Brown, Raquel Levy-Toledano and Michael Waas of the Avotaynu Research Partnership LLC that intends to compile a database comprising the DNA test […]

The Role of the Jewish Genealogist In Medical and Genetic Family History

Filed Under DNA Studies, Methods By Stanley M. Diamond on September 1, 2016

Genealogists not only have been documenting their family histories, but have become the repository of vital medical and genetic history for their families. With the advent of widely available genetic testing, the giant leaps in disease identification, the dramatic growth […]

Tip of the Iceberg: What Y-DNA Lineages Can Tell Us About Jewish History and Migration

Filed Under Conferences, DNA Studies By Rachel Unkefer on August 26, 2016

  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 […]

Avotaynu Plans A Sephardi Y-DNA Study at the Seattle IAJGS Conference

Filed Under Collaboration, DNA Studies, Mediterranean, Türkiye, Ελλάδα By Adam Brown on August 5, 2016

The Avotaynu DNA Project managed by Adam Brown, Raquel Levy-Toledano and Michael Waas of the non-profit Avotaynu Research Partnership LLC has entered its second phase and now seeks male participants for a study of Eastern Sephardi paternal yDNA lineages, specifically […]

The Y-DNA Fingerprint of the Shpoler Zeida, a Tzaddik Who Touched the World [AB-068]

Filed Under DNA Studies, Rabbinic genealogy, Україна By Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman on July 1, 2016

Yehuda Leib of Shpola (c.1725 – 1811) – better known as the Shpoler Zeide (Yiddish for “Grandfather of Shpola”) or Saba Kadisha (Hebrew for “Holy Grandfather’) – was a beloved Chassidic folk rebbe, great kabbalist, and a revered tzaddik (saintly or holy […]

Geni.com Announces Integration of DNA Into Its World Family Tree

Filed Under DNA Studies, Online Trees By Amanda Tantisalidchai on July 1, 2016

Geni.com, host of the online World Family Tree, and Family Tree DNA, a global leader in genetic genealogy, announced today that they have partnered to integrate Family Tree DNA test results into Geni’s World Family Tree. Today the partners activated a […]

The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinical Lineage [AB-030]

Filed Under Collaboration, DNA Studies, Europe - Northern, Mediterranean, Rabbinic genealogy By Jeffrey Mark Paull, Neil Rosenstein and Jeffrey Briskman on March 7, 2016

Introduction According to Arthur Kurzweil: “For the Jewish people, our royal families have been those of the illustrious rabbis.”[1]  If that is true, then the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage is foremost among these noble families.  For centuries, Jewish men and women […]

Announcing the Avotaynu DNA Project!

Filed Under DNA Studies, Methods By Adam Brown on December 3, 2015

DNA testing is an unparalleled genealogical resource, yet 15 years after the inception of genetic genealogy many genealogists and family historians remain unclear about its use. As a result, DNA testing is underutilized and potential knowledge goes unrealized. To remedy […]

Autosomal and Mitochondrial DNA Together Solve A Family Riddle

Filed Under Case Studies, DNA Studies By Israel Pickholtz on November 13, 2015

In November 2014, I happened across an Ancestry.com online tree featuring Sarah Pikholz, her husband Eisig Baar and twelve children. The tree had them in Czechoslovakia but I quickly found the first three births in Yahilnytsya (Jagielnica) in east Galicia, […]

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