THE DNA OF ASHKENAZI JEWS

by Joelle Steele

When I first had my DNA profiled, I was surprised to find that I was 4% Ashkenazi Jew. My brother took the same DNA test and was 8%. I have some fairly deep and well-documented roots on both sides of my family, and I had never heard of anyone in our family who identified as Ashkenazi or any other Jewish group. But it was an interesting addition to my family history.

Then one day while I was doing genealogical research for a client, I came across a 2014 article from the L.A. Times. It said that all of today’s Ashkenazi Jews were tied to a very small group of people who lived during the Middle Ages – that’s from about 500 AD to about 1500 AD! Hmmmm? Well, I have ancestors on both sides of my family that fit into that time slot, but as far as I know, they were all Lutherans and Catholics. Maybe I would have to dig a lot deeper …

The Times article referenced a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, along with several private foundations. The results of that study were first published in Nature Communications. The study found that a little less than about half the DNA of Ashkenazi Jews comes from Eastern Europe and the rest from the Middle East. The two groups merged at some point in time and resulted in 240-420 people who lived 25-30 generations back. And today? Now there are more than 10 million Ashkenazi Jews, including 2.8 million living in Israel.

Well, unless some wandering Ashkenazi Jews traveled to either Italy or Finland way back when, I’m not sure how I ended up with some of their DNA. But, since I have had many wonderful Jewish friends throughout my life, I am happy to share that small fraction of DNA with any of them who might be Ashkenazi.