Introduction According to Arthur Kurzweil: “For the Jewish people, our royal families have been those of the illustrious rabbis.”[1] If that is true, then the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage is foremost among these noble families. For centuries, Jewish men and women […]
Search Results for: WIRTH
Can DNA Testing Confirm Jewish Ancestry?
People often ask, “Can DNA tell me if I am Jewish?” The answer, of course, is “no,” since DNA shows genetic history while religion refers to one’s current belief system. If, however, the question is reframed as, “Can DNA reveal […]
From Our Mailbox: Fall 2007
Do You Tell Adopted Children? I read with great interest Richard Sobel’s article on privacy, “Guidelines for Respecting Privacy in Jewish Genealogy (AVOTAYNU, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, Spring 2007). An additional situation about which I would appreciate some comment concerns […]
Galitzianer-Litvak Divide: Demolished by Y-DNA Studies
My Y-DNA cousins, Herb Huebscher and Elise Friedman, wrote (“DNA and Jewish Genealogy Join Forces,” AVOTAYNU, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, Summer 2007) about the use of DNA studies showing possible connections between more than 43 families, collectively termed WIRTH (Wolinsky, […]
DNA and Jewish Genealogy Join Forces
The application of DNA to genealogy has made great strides since its beginnings in 2000. The benefits of joining DNA and classical paper-trail methodologies are becoming evident. This article is about an advanced genealogy project currently underway that had its […]