The thorny issue of just who belongs to the Chosen People is, in my opinion, likely to remain unresolved forever, or at least until the Messiah arrives with the answer. And to be honest, that’s just fine with me, since this whole issue doesn’t concern me directly. You see, I happen to boast an unassailable Jewish pedigree, so the question of “Who is Jew?” has no resonance for me, at least on a personal level.
There is, however, another question not entirely unrelated that could potentially render brittle my strictly kosher certification. For me, the real question isn’t “Who is a Jew,” but rather “Who is a Q?”
Let me explain.
Several years ago, I watched a “60 Minutes” segment on genetic genealogy research taking place at the University of Arizona and Technion in Haifa. In particular, investigators were studying the paternally inherited Y-chromosomes of Cohens, the Jewish high priestly class, and a designation passed down since antiquity from father to son. Cohens constitute about 5% of the world’s 12 million Jews.
What the investigators found was astounding: About half of all Cohens — across all Jewish backgrounds — possessed a distinct Y chromosome marker, or mutation, which traces their collective ancestry back in time to a single man that lived in the Middle East 3,000 years ago, or around the time that Aaron, brother of Moses and the first Cohen, was supposed to have existed. If true, such a finding could confirm the Torah tradition, which until now there was no way to prove. (Not that devout Jews would ever need any scientific confirmation for their beliefs.) The story was my introduction to the new field born of the marriage of biology with anthropology, the sweeping new world of genetic anthropology. More revelations on Jewish genealogy followed.
Research has shown that a major element of most contemporary Jewish populations worldwide were connected to ancient Middle Eastern Israelite populations, as well as that an ancient familial relationship existed between Jews and Eastern Mediterranean Arabs and that Jews were also closely related to Kurds in southeastern Turkey. This connection was especially intriguing, considering the Torah’s description of Abraham’s family ties to Haran, a city in Turkish Kurdistan.
Some time later I discovered National Geographic’s Genographic survey, whose mission to “map humanity’s genetic journey through the ages” would be accomplished by taking DNA samples of as many millions of people as they could, everywhere around the world. A simple swab taken from the inside of my cheek would, according to the survey, “reveal [my] deep ancestry along a single line of direct descent and show the migration paths they followed thousands of years ago. [My] results [would] also place [me] on a particular branch of the human family tree.”
It seemed I’d finally be able to certify my kosher pedigree linking myself inextricably to King David and the prophet Isaiah. And so it came to pass that I sent away for what may be, at $100, the world’s most expensive swab, which I then rubbed inside my cheek and returned to a lab in Texas.
My test results appeared on the Genographic Web site three months later. The result? This glatt Jew was a member of a certain Haplogroup Q.
Who, you might ask, is a Q?
Q, it turns out, is a branch of humanity that arose about 20,000 years ago with “a man born in the savagely cold climate of Siberia.” In other words, I am a direct descendant not of a swarthy Judahite shepherd or Galilean Bronze Age fig farmer, but of a burly yurt-dwelling Siberian sharing tundra turf with herds of still-extant mammoths.
The Siberian would have been justifiably proud of his progeny. His descendants wandered east through the ages, crossing the Bering Strait to become the first Native Americans. Some yikhus.
Now I may be an American native, but I’m certainly not Native American. So you ask, what am I to Q?
Well, America wasn’t the sole destination of the Siberian’s progeny. Some cousins headed to Scandinavia and others to the future Poland and Hungary. My father, as it so happens, was born outside Budapest.
So who, indeed, is a Q? While research is still ongoing, it is possible that Qs are descended from the Khazars, the mysterious Central Asian nation that converted to Judaism 1,200 years ago. Haplogroup Q would become one of the founding lineages of Ashkenazi Jewry, which emerged 1,000 years ago. So while several of these Ashkenazi lineages, such as Haplogroup J, link to ancient Israelites, mine does not.
Despite the revelation, I didn’t join a heritage tour to Tajikistan to recover my long lost history along the Caspian Sea. Likewise, I never felt a particular affinity for Hungary. My father may have been born in the Budapest metropolitan area, but he most certainly wasn’t Hungarian.
He was a Jew — and so am I.
No nation is genetically homogenous and Jews, a potent mix of Canaanite with a splash of Egyptian, never were.
So who is a Q? I am Q. Come to think of it, we are all Q.
Uzi Silber is a New York-based writer.
Most of European pagans had the New Year in fall, not only in Sardinia - German, Slavs, Romans... And Hebrew Rosh a-Shana also questionable if it is originally Jewish or this is the loan-translation from European languages.
Well it certainly goes to show that we really have no idea who is a Jews and who is not. It lends to the theory that a Jew is someone who is believed to be born one or anyone who feels that s/he wants to be one. While some streams set the bar on matrilineal descent, and others strive to have our fathers and forefathers included, this shows that a Jew can be someone who doesn’t even know it and a gentile could be someone posing unknowingly as a Jew. In the end, Jews need other Jews to further the religion and culture and if Qs are Jews, that’s fine with me. As it is we have so many who we identify as Jews today that care not for the religion, practices or beliefs, why limit ourselves to the mere Xes and Ys? Thanks Uzi.
The 2003 novel THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini, recently made into a movie, takes place in Afghanistan and includes characters who belong to the Hazari minority. The name "Hazari" certainly sounds like "Khazar." Has anyone tested the chromosomes of these people and compared them to those of Jews from Eastern Europe? Has anyone studied the chromosomes of the Karaite minority in Ukraine and Belarus to see whether they are close to those of Jews and Hazaris?
It makes no sense to trace the genes of today's Jews back to the biblical times IMHO. Too much time has elapsed to make any intelligent conclusion. They don't even know how the DNA of ancient Hebrews looks like. Here is my take on the Jewish heritage: http://khazarheritage.blogspot.com/
The Hazara tribe referenced by George Jochnowitz are descended from Mongols, and have the DNA of Mongols. They are not related to Khazars. Yes, I have genetically tested 8 Karaites of Eastern Europe and I gave their Y-DNA results in Chapter 10 of the 2nd edition of my book "The Jews of Khazaria". One of them was a Q. Based on historical facts they are descended mainly from the Karaite Israelites who lived in Istanbul and other places in the Middle East, and maybe mixed in with their Crimean Tatar neighbors (perhaps explaining the Q). They have no known connection either to Khazars or to Hazaras.
The well established and close genetic relationship that seems most obvious to most of us jaundiced observers, caught in their eternal crossfire, is between the Jews and their fellow semites the Arabs. They say family quarrels and civil wars are always the most bitter, but why does so much of it have to be on white gentile Christian America's tab? Most Americans of any immigrant background, unlike Mr Silber, are more interested in what lies ahead than whom some primitive nomad may or may not have slept with back in the day. That's one reason why American Jews passing for white never seem quite like German Americans, Irish Americans or Swedish Americans. Too much ancestry, already. My understanding is that there is no genetic evidence that any but a small elite of the Khazar court ever converted to Judaism, and the claim that modern Ashkenazim are Khazars, not "real Jews", and therefore not entitled to claim Israel as their ancestral homeland is unfounded. Of course, the very notion that writings in some sacred book thousands of years ago entitle anyone to claim anything is ludicrous, and most of the cynical atheists and agnostics around Herzl saw it only as a useful tool for recruitment amoong the devout-- but that's another remote cause of the mess Israel is sinking deeper and deeper into a century later.
Pio, you paisan you! It shows that this DNA test is a joke. You can look at those genes and say anything you want, who's gonna check, haha.
Pio and Moishe may be interested in the information found in Salo W. Baron's A SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE JEWS, volume 1, p. 245, where we learn that in Venosa, in southern Italy, there are Jewish inscriptions dating from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE. Jews were expelled from all of southern Italy in the period 1492-1541, as the area came under the control of the Spanish royal family. In an article of mine in MIDSTREAM 2003 entitled "The Jews of Italy," I mention that on island of Sardinia, the word for "September" is CAPUTANNI, meaning "head of the year," just like Rosh Ha-Shanah.
I hate to say that but these DNA tests are the modern version of palm readings - you look at those palm lines(chromosomes) and interpret them any way you want. I don't even understand the need for this test - those who know that they are Jews don't need the test and those who don't know that they are Jews usually don't want to know it.
Uzi, good article thank you for writing it. We are in exactly opposite situations. I am descended from an Italian Catholic family that has lived in the "arch of the boot" in southern Italy for at least four centuries and likely many more. I also took the same DNA-Y test and, lo and behold, I am a perfect match for the Cohen Modal Haplotype. My Italian relatives now affectionately call me "Rabbi."
The writer is probably the descendant of Khazar converts to Judaism, some of whom later mixed with the Magyars in Hungary. The Magyars may have descended from wanderers in Siberia. That may account for hisMany ultraorthodox Jews of Hungarian background are actually of Khazar descent, which may account for the antizionism that is so prevalent with many of them. But they represent a small fraction of Jews.
I am co-authoring a book on DNA-Genealogy, and Jewish on the same line (P) which produced Q and R. R1a1 and R1a are more than sixty percent of Ashkenazi-Levites. Aaron's line is J and, as a whole, like the R and Q, is much older than Hebrew culture. You stated:"...not of a swarthy Judahite shepherd or Galilean Bronze Age fig farmer..." OK, but you probably are not Khazar either. However, if Historically Jewish and your yDNA numbers read "15-12- 21-10-11-14" (for DYS19 388 390 391 392 393) Your ancestor might well have been one of the sheperds -- though not a Priest or Levite (Not Aaron or Moses) and if you have the Egyptian & Canaanite -- I'd bet your ancestor was there for the true story.
David Nillson,it doesn't have to be "all or nothing" when it comes to the origin of Jews. They don't have to be "totally Hebrew" or "totally Khazars" - this way everybody will be happy. There is evidence that the two groups intermixed after the arrival of German Jews in Kiev beginning in the 11th century.
I believe the test you took only traced a single line of your genetic makeup. As interesting as where Q came from, that paternal line represents a single thread among many. It says nothing about, for example, your mother's father's ancestry. You may still be descendent from a small middle-eastern tribe through your mother's line, or through your father's grandfather's great, great grandmother's line. But as you say, we are all Q. And everyone is ultimately descended from the primeval slime.
The "chosen people" claim is a bunch of hogwash. What a scam written up by a bunch of Jewish guys thousands of years ago. If there is a god and that god is a good god no one is chosen over another. If one finds themselves needing to believe in such myths that only demonstrates self serving and shallow needs to elevate yourself or selves above others. Really pitiful This was a media blitz that has lasted a long long time.
Uzi Silber acknowledges that the Q lineage is 20,000 years old; much older than the Israelite nation or any other ethnic group in existence. So why does he resort to the pseudo-scientific explanation of Khazar origin. There were no Khazars in Iraq. Yet Iraqi Jews have as much Q lineage as Ashkenazi. There were no Khazars in Yemen. Yet, many Yemenite Jews belong to a branch of the Q lineage.
re: Kathleen's comment--nobody but you seems to have brought up "chosenness" or "chosen people", which in any case is a misunderstood theological concept that discusses a contractual obligation on the part of Jews to fulfill the commandments rather than conferring superiority on Jews. The discussion however, concerns to what extent contemporary Ashkenazi Jews are descended from ancient Israelites, and the possibility that some Ashkenazi Jews have some Khazar-convert descent does not preclude them having Israelite descent either. Jews, lke every other people, have never been homogenous or "racially pure". That is a eugenic obsession that started in the 19th century and culminated in the Shoah.
The Mongols(Tatars) are Israelites. The word Tatar is really pronounced as DaDa or DaDan meaning of the Israelite Tribe of Dan. Those "Ashkenazim" who are registering positive for Mongol,Tatar or Native-American DNA are the Israelites and are not true Ashkenazim at all. The White-Khazar converts are the true descendants of Ashkenaz. The Ashkenazi descendants of the White-Khazars are recognizable as the stereotypical " Red haired " European Jews. The Israelite Tatars and Pathans were ruled by the Khans(Kahan,Kahanim).The Karaims are part of the Tatar Israelite tribe of Dan. The Karaites (Keraites) were a tribe of Mongols(Tatars).The Koreans are Tatars of the Chosan tribe(Danites). According to their own tradition they are the descendants of Dan-Gun meaning Dan the King.In the Americas the Danite Tatars are known as the Dene and Na-Dene tribes (Athabascan) which includes the Navaho and Apachee. As Mongols the Hazaras are true Israelites. (Amir)Ishaq Al-Sulaimani
The Mongols(Tatars)are Israelites.The name Tatar is correctly pronounced as DaDa or DaDan meaning of the Israelite tribe of Dan. Those "Ashkenazim" who are testing positive for Mongol(Tatar)or Native-American DNA are Israelites and are not true Ashkenazim at all. The White-Khazar converts are the actual descendants of Ashkenaz from whence they are known as Ashkenazi Jews. The descendants of the Ashkenazi White-Khazars are recognizable as the " red-haired "European Jews. The Israelite Mongols(Tatars) and Pathans were traditionally ruled by the Khans(Kahan,Kahanim). As Mongols(Tatars) the Hazaras are Israelites.The Koreans are Tatars of the Chosan tribe. According to their own tradition they are the descendants of Dan-Gun meaning Dan the King. In the Americas the Danite Tatars are known as the Dene and Na-Dene tribes(Athabascan)which includes the Navaho and Apachee. (Amir) Ishaq Al-Sulaimani
With his newly founded Q Haplogroup and Siberian ancestral origins I think that the author should now change his name from UZI SILBER to Q-ZI SIBER(SIBERIAN). Musa Al-Sulaimani
I too am Q, but not a Jew, Swiss German to be exact, Around the same area where the Ashkenazim first arose, the upper Rhine Basin. I blame the Alans, the Sarmatian tribe that merged with the Swabians. That or there was a Scandinavian Q among the Burgundians.
Good article, Uzi. I found it most interesting. After reading all the comments, I thought it curious that no mention was made of the female line (mtDNA), especially since the Lady is in Charge on who is Jewish. I have just started investigating the Karaim, hoping to finally find some information on a possible Karaim DNA study, whether from "the Old Country," or other countries where they ended up, especially Lithuania. As you were taken aback by your Siberian YDNA haplogroup Q, I too was taken aback by my Asian, possibly Siberian, mtDNA results. I am a Lithuanian-American D4. Not many of us around so far. Would I like to see a bunch of studies on Karaims and Tatars come out, awash with D4 results? You bet!! Might make my search easier.
Harry-The maternal-descent practice is recent, since rabbinic Judaism developed. Remember King David, Moses, etc. marrying Gentiles? Josephus mentions intermarriage in his histories and maternal descent didn't seem to be enforced or practiced strictly. Most Ashkenazi MtDNA is European, due to Jewish men marrying local women. There is also a fair percentage of Asian admixture in East Europeans, obviously due to proximity. Ashkenazim are about 12% R1a, just to clarify the earlier misleading statements. Levites only make up about 4% of the total population. Q is only found in about 5% of Ashkenazim and is not a major founding lineage by any means. Haplogroup J makes up about 30% and E about 20% (both generally Near-Eastern in origin). I happen to be an E-V12, which is concentrated in Upper Egypt and is found in much less than one percent of Europeans...I'm Ashkenazi.
This note is for BILL who wrote a comment here on Oct 12, 2007. Pl. can you email me urgently at chamberjob@gmail.com This is regarding the shepherd comment.
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