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He warned that, as the question of Jewish identity is already a matter of fierce debate in rabbinic courts, the genetic factor and its implications must be discussed among religious leaders. In other cases it does lead them on a transformative religious journey.” Sometimes it arouses an affinity for Israel and Jewish causes. “I have connected with many people who have done genetic testing and were stunned to discover that they have Jewish ancestors.” He specified that “this is not always a religious connection. “I have seen this in various countries throughout the world,” he said. Shavei Israel founder and director Michael Freund (Photo: Michael Freund, Facebook)įreund has had first-hand experience with the benefits of testing. “On the other hand,” Freund reasoned, “genetic testing is an important tool in helping people discover their Jewish ancestry.” We wouldn’t want to deny them their rightful Jewish identity on the basis of a DNA test.” But that means that the other 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews don’t have that genetic test result. In the case of Ashkenazic Jewry, 60 percent of the population can be traced back to four Jewish families that migrated to Europe from Israel. But throughout history, individuals and groups have converted and formally joined the Jewish people. On the one hand we are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “The Jewish people are both a nation and a religion. “Genetic testing can be a double-edged sword,” Freund explained. Breaking Israel News asked him how genetic testing affects this. Many of them married local women.įilming a Jewish Indian wedding in Bombay now wow very cool traditions they have singing to each other /YL0yjLYXLNĪs the founder and chairman of Shavei Israel, Michael Freund assists communities like the Bnei Israel who claim a historic connection with Israel. They also discovered that there were more men in the group of the original Jews. The researchers concluded that the original ancestors, Middle Eastern Jews, arrived in India about 19 to 33 generations ago (600 to 1,000 years). “They are unique among Indian and Pakistani populations we analyzed in sharing considerable genetic ancestry with other Jewish populations.” “The study showed that the genetics of Bnei Israel resemble the local Indian populations, while at the same time constituting a clearly separated and unique population in India,” the study stated. But they also found genetic components that are not present in other Indian groups – components which connect them to the Jewish people. The study, published March 24 th in PLOS ONE, concluded that the Bnei Israel did share much of their DNA with other Indians. It is possible that the community had been there for much longer Maimonides, a preeminent medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher, briefly mentioned a Jewish community living in India in a letter he wrote in the 13 th century. What is known is that at least as far back as the 18 th century, Bnei Israel members lived in villages along the Konkan coast and were called Shanivar Teli, Marathi for ‘Saturday oil pressers’, since they worked as oil pressers but did not work on Saturdays. There is no independent support or substantiating evidence for any of these claims.

One theory holds they left northern Israel 2,000 years ago, another that they came from Southern Arabia or Persia, 500 years earlier, and yet another that they arrived from Yemen in the 8 th century BCE. Theories about the origins of the Bnei Israel vary greatly. The Cochin Jews have a history that is separate from the Bne Israel, as do the Bnei Menashe, who arrived at a different region in India via China. There are among the diverse population of India, several distinct groups of Jews.

The history of the Bnei Israel is shrouded in mystery.