Science

The scientific world is now offering us the opportunity to have a look into our ancestral past with or without any participation of our relatives, historical records, or history. With one simple ancestry DNA test, we can discover so much about our past. Indeed, some may have come to this website because their ancestry DNA test revealed Jewish ancestry! 

Genetic genealogy is really in its infancy. It offers us more information with which to paint of picture of our ancestry. I say it is in its infancy because if you test with five ancestry DNA companies, you are likely to get five different results.  Ancestry DNA testing companies compare your DNA to that of others in their database and then provide you with an estimate.The companies do not do a great job putting ESTIMATE in capital letters. But that is what they are providing.  Because each company has its own database, you are likely to get a slightly different result from each company. 

Ancestry DNA testing is one tool to gain insight into your your Hidden Jewish Ancestry, but, only one tool. One should plan on using ancestry DNA testing as a starting point, not a final destination. It's a tool. One tool. 

This is really apparent to me at this exact moment for reasons I will tell you. I am in the middle of studying the Aliens(foreigners) living in London between 1350 and 1820. And there were a lot of them. Because for many of those years, it was illegal to be Jewish, Jews passed themselves off as Portuguese or Italian. But, London was a real immigrant melting pot between 1350 and 1820. One of the ancestry company says that 23% of my DNA comes from London. One could think, oh, that means I am 23% English. Saying London is like saying New York. New York is filled with thousands of immigrants from thousands of places. What would New York mean? The same thing my London result means. At some point, some of my ancestors lived in London. Were they English? My genealogical research indicates they were not. They were Spanish Jews passing themselves off as French people. Portuguese Jews passing themselves off as Italian people. So, if you get a result like London, you will need to learn a bit more about London for that finding to have real meaning. While London could mean English, it could also mean a lot of other things. Because London was filled with people from around the world. 

They are still worth taking, but, bear in mind, they are just giving you estimates. 

What is super useful is your DNA family matches these companies provide. You can learn a lot about your ancestry by going through your DNA matches to learn about your relatives. I have a lot of DNA matches who live in Israel. And they are not Arabs. So, clearly part of my family was Jewish and some of them moved to the Jewish state. I also have a lot of Spanish DNA match relatives. And they have Spanish Jewish last names. I already know I have a lot of Spanish Jews in my family tree(Sephardic) and so it makes sense I would have DNA match relatives that are Sephardic Jews. So, going through your DNA matches and seeing where they live, what their family names are, etc.  can be very insightful. 

Below you will find more opportunities to find out more about your ancestry, and sadly, more opportunity to spend money. Each of the tests cost money and that is just the way it is. But, in my opinion, its money well spent. 

The Big Companies

Here is what I have to say about DNA ancestry testing. At the moment, it is not always that accurate. When I tested  with 23andMe, Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, and MyHeritage, I got a different result from each one. However, by using all four, I got a general idea of my ancestry. Even though they were different, there were some similarities. 

And this part is important. Some of the companies detected my Jewish ancestry and some did not. Based on my family tree, and my research about all those individuals, I would say I am about 60% Jewish, half Ashkenazi and half Sephardi, and then 40% mixed European because my Jewish ancestors lived in a variety of places in Europe. I have a friend who is 100% Ashkenazi Jewish from Poland and her ancestry report said Italian, Portuguese, and North African. No Jewish ancestry detected. So, if you suspect you have Jewish ancestry, an ancestry DNA may or may not detect it.

 But, they can still be useful. Take my Polish Jewish friend whose DNA report said she was Italian, Portuguese, and North African. This is something you are likely to find in a Sephardic Jewish persons report. And, it turns out, a fair few Sephardic Jews did make their way to Poland. So my Ashkenazi Jewish friend discovered her Jewish family came FROM Poland but were not Polish Jews. They were Spanish Jews that moved to Poland. 

These tests are only so good. But, you can get information. And you might have to figure out what the information means. But, it's more information. 

Each of the companies has its strengths. I really used to like 23andMe. However, they have really gone down hill. At one point they locked me out of my account and I could not sign in. Then I discovered they outsourced their customer service to really bad call centers outside the US. And I mean terrible call centers. The kind where you cant understand the customer service representative and you can hear the 50 other calls being handled at the same time. And worse, they no longer allow you to download you raw DNA file. 

What does this matter? Once you get your testing done, you want to be able to download your raw DNA file. You can then take this file, and run it through other DNA ancestor calculators on websites like GedMatch to get a more sophisticated result than you would get from a commercial testing company. With a raw DNA file, you can learn more about your genetic ancestry. Before you use a company, ask and make certain they will provide you with your raw DNA file. 

So, 23andMe is out. Way out. While their testing is good, their custom service is appalling. And when they lock you out of your account for no reason, and it takes them 12 weeks to reinstate it, you will be sitting on the phone with some seriously substandard customer service. 

At the moment, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Family Tree DNA will provide you with a raw DNA file. However, double check because they may change their policy in the future. If they wont give you your raw DNA file, do not use the company. I think they are about the same so just find one that is offering a sale. 

Or you can be obsessive like me, and test with all the companies so you can compare the results! 

Test with one and get your raw dna file! The companies below will give you that, plus, a long list of DNA relatives. Remember, you can learn a lot about your family by going through your matches. Many an important lesson can be learned by reviewing your matches. 

DNA Consultants is a  fascinating DNA analysis company.  If you suspect you have Jewish ancestry, this company and their test is a must. You wont get DNA match relatives but you do get a great report about yourself.  

DNA Consultants produced a very interesting report on my deep genetic ancestry. Their test lets you know if you possess markers for Jewish DNA. They test for four different markers. According to their analysis, I inherited Jewish DNA markers from both my parents. The test will indicate if one or both of your parents is positive for a marker. As an example, one of my parents was positive for marker 1, both my parents were positive for marker 2, one of my parents was positive for marker 3, and both of my parents were positive for marker 4. 

Here are the markers you will be tested for using this testing company. 

Jewish Marker 1:  “This is the most common of the three markers. It can occur without known Jewish ancestry for a variety of reasons include an ancestors conversion to Christianity during the centuries of persecutions against Jews in Europe. Its frequency is highest in Poles, Russians, Germans, Hungarians, Romanians, and Slavic people who intermarried with Ashkenazic Jews. It also appears in Spanish, Portuguese, and Moroccan Jews (Sephardim)”

 Jewish marker 2:  “This marker is the strongest. It is found in Jewish families who have intermarried with other Jews down through the centuries. It is characteristic of Ashkenazic Jews.” (DNA Consultants literature) Jewish marker 

3:  “This marker is an indication of Middle Eastern roots. Preserved by Jews, it is also borne by Kurds, Syrians, Arabs, Berbers, Basques, Turks, Greeks, Italians, and other populations from the ancient world. It is particularly common among Sephardic Jews.” (DNA Consultants literature) Jewish marker 

4:  “A marker indicative of Tatar or Khazar heritage. The Khazars were a Central Asian people of Turkic, Hunnish, and Iranian elements that arose in the Caucuses region. After converting to Judaism in the early Middle Ages, they moved westward into Russia and the Ukraine under the pressure from Islam, eventually becoming a large component of Eastern and Central European Jewry. Many Ashkenazi Jews now find they have some Khazar (or intermingled Tatar) ancestry.” (DNA Consultants literature) 

DNA Consultants is run by Donald Yates. I have enormous confidence in him and his work.  The cool thing about this testing company is that it will identify Jewish markers in your more remote past. The DNA tests from most commercial testing companies only go  7 generations back. DNA consultants test allows you to get a picture of yourself further back than that. Their test will give you a better idea of where your family fit into the Jewish world. 

Below is a link to the test I would recommend. 

DNA testing companies are only moderately specific because their results are only as good as the samples they have on hand to compare your DNA. Perhaps when their samples get bigger, their results will get better.  

 In the meantime, once you have your DNA results, from any of these companies, the next step will be to upload your results to something called GedMatch. GedMatch hosts very specific genetic databases which allow you to get a more accurate result. 

As an example, one Uzbeki Jewish person I was working with  got the result 97% Iranian from a conventional testing company. When we plugged his DNA into GedMatch, his result showed 50% Kurdish Jewish, 25% Iranian Jewish, and 25% mountain Jewish. As you can see, GedMatch gave a much more accurate result. And by the way, this matched this clients genealogy almost perfectly. 

So, once you get your DNA result from a commercial testing company,  you can download it, and upload it into GedMatch, and get a more specific result.   You can do quite a lot for free. But, I would pay the nominal fee to have access to all the services. 

They have recently been purchased and it seems like they are making improvements to the site. It was pretty great already, but, it's even better now and maybe on the way to getting even better. Again, if you are interested in learning more about your DNA story, join GedMatch. 

Anyhow, you download your DNA result from your testing company, and then upload it into GedMatch. Once you have uploaded your DNA, you can use their more specific calculators to get a better idea of your ancestry. 

Let me give you a specific example. Testing with Ancestry, I got a result this result: 

Germanic Europe 46%

Scottland 23%

England and Northwest Europe 18% 

Northern Italy 4%

North Africa 1% 

In the photo array, you will see the result I got using one of the GedMatch calculators. It's much more specific and tells you a lot more about your ancestry. There are a lot of tools! I love it.