Priestly paternity tests

Jerusalem Post ^ | 15 november 2004 | RENA ROSENBLUM

[Pitiricus]

Whether or not genetics is your forte, DNA & Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews has an element of interest for everyone. Prof. Karl Skorecki says as much in the book's preface, when he quotes Albert Einstein: "If you can't explain something to your grandmother, then you probably don't really understand it."

With DNA and Tradition, Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman has written a book, if not for his grandmother, then for the scientifically challenged, like myself.

The premise is simple enough. If all kohanim descended from Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, then they should share certain genetic traits.

From there it becomes more technical. A sampling of Jewish males from Israel, England, and North America were asked to contribute cheek cells in order to extract their DNA. From that study, 98.5 percent of the kohanim tested were found to have the YAP (Y-chromosome Alu Polymorphism) marker.

In a second study, scientists collected more DNA samples and expanded their selection of Y-chromosome markers. Confirming their hypothesis, they discovered that a particular array of six chromosome markers was found in 97 of 106 kohanim tested. The odds against this happening by chance are less than 1 in 10,000.

This set of markers is now known as the Cohen Modal Haplotype (CMH). In Skorecki's words, "the simplest, most straightforward explanation is that these men have the Y-chromosome of Aaron. The study suggests that a 3,000-year-old tradition is correct and has a biological counterpart."

Motivated by the findings, more scientists got on board. By analyzing the Y-chromosome, which is passed virtually unchanged from father to son, they sought to ascertain whether "the scattered groups of modern Jews are actually the modified descendants of the ancient Hebrews of the Bible."

The samplings were expanded to include 29 different population groups (seven of which were Jewish). These populations were divided into five groups: Jews, Middle-Eastern non-Jews, Europeans, North Africans, and sub-Saharan Africans. The findings proved that Sephardi (from the Near East) and Ashkenazi (from Europe) Jews have nearly identical genetic profiles.

This profile, they subsequently discovered, is of Middle Eastern origin. Among other factors, this discovery is attributable to a low rate of intermarriage between Diaspora Jews and local gentiles.

"Since the Jews first settled in Europe more than 50 generations ago, the intermarriage rate was estimated to be only about 0.5%... Ashkenazi Jews are still closer genetically to Sephardic and Kurdish Jews than to any other population."

Interestingly, among the Jewish communities sampled, North Africans are thought to be the closest genetically to the Jewish/Hebrew population of the First Temple period around 2,500 years ago.

WHILE THESE discoveries may not impinge on Halacha, the implications are no less salient. Dr. Harry Ostrer, chairman of the Human Genetics Program at New York University, sums it up: "Recent work from genetics labs has validated the biblical record of a Semitic people who chose a Jewish way of life several thousand years ago. These observations are the biological equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls."

Kleiman furthers the significance when he quotes the famous sage, the Hafetz Haim: "We will immediately need kohanim [when the Temple is rebuilt] who are knowledgeable in the Service. Without kohanim there is no purpose to the building of the Temple."

Peppered throughout the book are biblical references to various prophecies and promises. One example is the ingathering of the exiles - something Israel is witnessing now as it receives a huge influx of immigrants from Peru to Ethiopia. Some of these people are considered to be members of the Lost Tribes, and these genetic breakthroughs have helped legitimize their status.

One example is the community of Djerba, off the coast of Tunisia, which has a tradition of having arrived there before the destruction of the Temple. They also have a group of people who consider themselves kohanim. In the past, such claims have been hard to prove and uncomfortable to question. Now, however, scientists can genetically test a sample of these kohanim, and have discovered that they all have the CMH.

Kleiman also dedicates parts of the book to the history of kohanim, the history of the Jewish Exile, and various accounts of Lost Tribes. He provides many interesting tidbits about the origins of some Jewish names.

For instance, the common Sephardi last name Mazeh is an acronym of the Hebrew words mizera aharon hakohen - from the seed of Aaron the Priest. Similarly, the popular Ashkenazi last name Katz is often an abbreviation of kohen-tzedek, or righteous priest. Another common name, Rappaport, is said to have come with the family of 16th century Rabbi Avraham Menahem Hakohen Rapa, of Porto, Italy.

One of the more compelling quotes I came across was from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: "The kabbalists actually maintained that everything that exists is the result of tzerufim - various permutations of the letters of an alphabet. It now turns out that this is not a metaphor at all. It is actually, literally true... the DNA string of those characters is all a series of letters - A, C, G, and T - which, as it were, extend to perform this huge language that is the DNA."...

[Pitiricus]

A proof of the existnce of Aaron?

[hlmencken3]

I think this DNA evidence has been around for a few years. Among other things, it proves the 'Khazar theories' of Jewishness completely wrong.

[Pitiricus]

True... But this book looks interesting...

[hlmencken3]

More on R. Kleiman's work:

http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/The_Cohanim_-_DNA_Connection.asp

http://www.aish.com/societywork/sciencenature/Jewish_Genes.asp

http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Abrahams_Chromosomes$.asp

[sociotard]

I thought that a large number of european jews were the descendants of converts? Shows how much I know.

[rmlew]

Not according to any genetic study.
There is one odd one that shows that a large minority of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) "Levites" are descendents of converts.
I chalk this up to ignorance of non-Orthodox Jews. I have run accross many Jews who think that they are members of the tribe of Levi, simply because their last name starts with the letter "L".
My last name starts with an "L" and I happen to know* that my paternal ancestors were not Jews until 1200 years ago.
*Actually, I am not certain of anything past my paternal grandfather. I have no pictures. I am assuming fidelity for a millenium.

[Pitiricus]

Well, my husband is a levite... Even if his name starts with a B... Transmission through generations in close-knit communities is not conducive to fraud ... The problem will be of course if he ever has to sing in the Temple... Because he hasn't the voice of Pavarotti... :-)

[hlmencken3]

See the book "The Jews of Khazaria" by Kevin Alan Brook published by the respected, mostly traditional Jewish publisher Jason Aronson (August, 2002 Paperback ISBN: 0765762129). This is about the theory that European Jews were descended from the Khazar kingdom, the whole of which converted to Judaism around 1140 CE.

Lots of Jews liked the story of so many converts, and anti-semites liked the story so they could 'prove' Jews weren't descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The book is very entertaining and had a lot of research, but, unfortunately, the DNA details became available even before the book was published proving the theory just isn't true.

A famous Jewish book about this is called KUZARI (by Yehuda Halevi). It has some of the best defenses of Judaism against Christianity and Islam ever written.

If the Khazar Kingdom did convert, they either did not remain Jews long, or they scattered throughout the Jewish world rather than remain concentrated in any identifiable place.

[rmlew]

See the book "The Jews of Khazaria" by Kevin Alan Brook published by the respected, mostly traditional Jewish publisher Jason Aronson (August, 2002 Paperback ISBN: 0765762129). This is about the theory that European Jews were descended from the Khazar kingdom, the whole of which converted to Judaism around 1140 CE.

You are simply wrong about this book. Mr. Brook explicitly rejects the Koestler ("The Thirteenth Tribe") thesis that Ashkenazi Jews are decended from the Khazars. Koestler's history was off and did not match the documents of the time that clearly indicated that only the nobility converted. Brook also draws upon genetic studies.
The traditional date given for the conversion is 740 CE. Brook promotes an alternate date of 838CE. The date of 1140 CE is an imposibility simply because the Khazar empire was destroyed by 1020.

The Kuzari is not really history. It is a defence of/apoligetic for Rabbinic Judaism.

[hlmencken3]

I see what you mean.

The year 1140 is actually the traditional date for the completion of the work KUZARI (the author died soon after), which was based on what was already at least partly legend.

The point was that the theory that many Jews are not descended from the Biblical patriarchs had some fascination for Jews as well as anti-semites.

[rmlew]

The year 1140 is actually the traditional date for the completion of the work KUZARI (the author died soon after), which was based on what was already at least partly legend.
There were trade and religious links between Khazaria and Jewish communities in Al-Andalus and Mesopatamia. There may well have been a Khagan or Khagan Bek named Joseph who wrote the letter.

The point was that the theory that many Jews are not descended from the Biblical patriarchs had some fascination for Jews as well as anti-semites.
It certainly fascinated me from the time that my father told me that we were decended from a Khazar prince. I wrote a research research paper on Khazria in 11th grade.