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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
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chitown,
I do Jewish genealogy and am on a Facebook group called Tracing the Tribe which is for people exploring their biological Jewish roots. Most members are people who grew up Jewish. Others did not but have a Jewish parent or grandparent. And I'd say on an almost weekly basis someone comes on there with a very similar story to yours. Someone does their DNA and finds out they had a Jewish parent or grandparent that they didn't know about. Sometimes it is due to an unxpected paternal event (like yours). Other times, they find out that a parent or grandparent/grandparent was hiding their Jewishness and the secret was never revealed. Some come on there saying they have always "felt" Jewish for some reason and are eager to explore their identity. Others are gobsmacked by the news and are confused and feel lost. Just wanted to share that you are not alone in your experience. There may be some on there who can direct you to some helpful resources. And as we say on there, Welcome to the Tribe!
I do genealogy and am trying to trace my paternal grandmother's roots as we do not know much about her. Her maternal ancestor's Jewish name, the Sephardic dna matches who fled to Spanish speaking countries, my Spanish and Portuguese ancestry including a few Azores, many Ashkenazi matches (including one family who state they are 100% Jewish) all point to the Sephardic story right down to the match with the Sephardic scroll maker ancestor in Holland.
So if I discuss this with Jewish people why do they need to make a point of telling me I am not Jewish ? They almost all do this and it's irritating. I know that I cannot be Jewish with my maternal line having no Jewish ancestry
I do genealogy and am trying to trace my paternal grandmother's roots as we do not know much about her. Her maternal ancestor's Jewish name, the multiple Sephardic dna matches plus Spanish and Portuguese ancestry including Azores and many Ashkenazi matches (including some who state they are 100% Jewish) point to the Sephardic story. Even have a match with a Sephardic scroll maker in Holland.
So if I discuss this with Jewish people why do they need to make a point of telling me I am not Jewish ? They almost all do this and it's irritating. I know that I cannot be Jewish with my maternal line having no Jewish ancestry
it is primarily to educate people on Jewish law.
often people talk about being "half Jewish" or "1/8th Jewish" using the "formula" for other types of ancestry. It is a common misconception, and Jews when approached regarding anything regarding genealogy provide this information as a helpful piece of education.
I have found Jews to be very enthusiastic and interested regarding sharing information about family, names, history. When i first found out i was Jewish, i timidly mentioned the town my grandmother was born in Danzig while chatting waiting for an evening class to start, and four people I had never met spent the next 30 minutes grilling me on names, providing family connections, telling stories of people from that town and nearby towns, pulling books off of shelves to show me lists of census rolls, and for the next several weeks and months also bringing and offering follow up material and stories, books and art, maps and family lore. I didn't know Sephardic from anything and a fellow spent hours discussing by name all the Sephardic families in the area we lived for several generations back. I was surprised and amazed by the level of interest and enthusiasm shown.
I do genealogy and am trying to trace my paternal grandmother's roots as we do not know much about her. Her maternal ancestor's Jewish name, the Sephardic dna matches who fled to Spanish speaking countries, my Spanish and Portuguese ancestry including a few Azores, many Ashkenazi matches (including one family who state they are 100% Jewish) all point to the Sephardic story right down to the match with the Sephardic scroll maker ancestor in Holland.
So if I discuss this with Jewish people why do they need to make a point of telling me I am not Jewish ? They almost all do this and it's irritating. I know that I cannot be Jewish with my maternal line having no Jewish ancestry
They may have told you this based on their experience with others who don't understand what you already do. They probably didn't mean to upset you, and intended only to explain an aspect of Judaism.
often people talk about being "half Jewish" or "1/8th Jewish" using the "formula" for other types of ancestry. It is a common misconception, and Jews when approached regarding anything regarding genealogy provide this information as a helpful piece of education.
I have found Jews to be very enthusiastic and interested regarding sharing information about family, names, history. When i first found out i was Jewish, i timidly mentioned the town my grandmother was born in Danzig while chatting waiting for an evening class to start, and four people I had never met spent the next 30 minutes grilling me on names, providing family connections, telling stories of people from that town and nearby towns, pulling books off of shelves to show me lists of census rolls, and for the next several weeks and months also bringing and offering follow up material and stories, books and art, maps and family lore. I didn't know Sephardic from anything and a fellow spent hours discussing by name all the Sephardic families in the area we lived for several generations back. I was surprised and amazed by the level of interest and enthusiasm shown.
Thank you !
I am hoping to find more information so will preserve. I feel her ancestry was hidden, the family secret
Even though, the ancestry is on my father's side I do feel a kind of an association. Eg have an aversion to pork, throw out eggs with blood in them, wont eat bloody meat. Also was so extremely sad when visited Dachau - the visit really deeply resonated
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