Previous article on MyShtetl:
MORE DEPTH ON NEW GENETIC STUDIES
Two newly-published genome surveys refute the suggestion made last year by historian Shlomo Sand that Jews have no common origin but are a miscellany of people in Europe and Central Asia who converted to Judaism at various times.
The two new genetic surveys are the first to use genome-wide scanning devices to compare Jews around the world.
One of the surveys appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics and the other was published in last Thursday’s edition of the authoritative publication Nature.
Of great interest to historians
The surveys show that Ashkenazim and the Sephardim share many genes inherited from the ancestral Jewish population that lived in the Middle East 3,000 years ago.
They also provide rich data that is of great interest to historians. Prof of Judaic studies at NYU, Lawrence Schiffman, says geneticists’ new projects and illuminating our knowledge of history.
The new genetic findings also clearly reflect the destruction of First Temple by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C. and the exile of many Jews to his capital at Babylon (read full story below for more information on this).
The genetics also confirms the current thinking among Jewish historians: that there was more contact between Ashkenazim and Sephardim than previously suspected, with Italy at the heart of the interchange between the two groups.
Want more depth? Read the full New York Times story
MORE DEPTH ON NEW GENETIC STUDIES to read the previous posting on MyShtetl.
Want still more depth? Read the ABSTRACTS of the original articles - follow links to the research studies which also appear on the previous MyShtetl posting.
Comment submitted on earlier posting of this story by user Kevin Brook:
I was interviewed about this issue by Ronnie Mink on Chai FM in Johannesburg on February 22, 2009. As I explained on that show, and on other occasions, the Khazar component of Ashkenazi ancestry is rather small.
The latest genetic evidence showing partial ties between Ashkenazim and northern Mediterraneans is significant in that it shows there are more lineages from converts to Judaism in ancient Rome and Greece than those from medieval Khazars.
Every genetic study also highlights that the majority of Jewish ancestry stems from the Middle East and comes from ancient Israel.
My book "The Jews of Khazaria, Second Edition" is essential reading about the early demographics of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and contains details from genetic studies released in 2000-2006. It's available to buy at South Africa's online bookshop Loot.co.za, http://www.loot.co.za/shop/main.jsp?page=detail&id=8741410082928
Sephardic Jews in Portugal.jpg
