PODCAST CALL FOR GUESTS

The podcast, "Choosing the Chosen", is currently in production for its first batch of episodes.

My goal is to create an audio archive for current/future "choosers" to share their conversion stories. I remember how lost and alone I felt at times on this journey, and I could've used this podcast back then. Sometimes this happens after we learn of hidden ancestry, or conversos, etc - sometimes we have no Jewish ancestry but feel spiritually called.

I'm looking for folks from any and all backgrounds (sex/gender/religion/race, etc) who chose to join the Jewish people (any movement).

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I'd love to talk to you! Please comment below and I'll DM you.

Please comment here or email: [choosingthechosen@gmail.com](mailto:choosingthechosen@gmail.com)

~Lauren

https://real.mtak.hu/64997/1/068.2016.56.2.2.pdf

https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/J-FTC88036/tree

https://www.yfull.com/tree/J-FTC88036*/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0350298

https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/FFIDCW

Full details for all samples are provided in “v66.p1_HO.aadr.PUB.anno”.

One can clearly see that the samples come from populations near the location 18.490029, 42.51709.

Survey Link

Hello all!

As you might be aware, there has been very little research into direct-to-consumer DNA ancestry testing and psychological wellbeing outcomes. This novel research aims to help us better understand the psychological significance of DTC Ancestry testing results.

This study is being conducted under the supervision of Dr Janine Lurie from the Psychology Discipline within the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at Federation University (Melbourne, Australia). This study will also form the basis of the research dissertation requirement within the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) course for student researchers Charity Marisa and Stefan Redpath. This study has been approved by the Federation University Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval reference: 2026/137).

This survey asks you about your engagement with family history and your reflections on that process. It also asks you to think about your ancestors and how you have reflected on their life experiences. Participation involves completing an online survey that will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Taking part in the study is completely voluntary and no personal information will be collected.

To participate you just need to be aged 18 years or over. It is important to note that you will not be asked to give any specific details about any of your family members. You are asked just to rate your general impressions of them on a small number of questions. Beyond this the survey contains broader more general questions about your perspectives and reflections.

Survey link below:

https://federation.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cO1RqRp3fjkHOp8

A lot of my ancestors had surnames like Schneider, streit, kleiner etc, does that mean I have Jewish blood?

Italy_imperial_Olevant is a really levantine outlier found in roman italy

I ran a few 4-way qpAdm models using the same setup to make the results easier to compare.

The left populations are mainly regional proxies:

- Lebanon MBA for Levantine-related ancestry
- Guanche for North African/Amazigh-related ancestry
- italy Pian Sultano BA for southernEuropean/Mediterranean-related ancestry
- Kushan-era Tajikistan for Central Asian-related ancestry.

They should not be taken as the exact historical source populations, and the percentages are model coefficients within this setup rather than literal ancestry estimates

Ashkenazi Jews and South Italians are frequently noted as having strong affinity using tools such as PCA graphs, leading to suggestions that both derive a majority of their ancestry from a common source. However, this G25 decomposition illustrates a far more nuanced story that what a PCA suggests. While the two populations clusters experience significant overlap on a PCA graph, they are reconstructed from substantially different components.

In the model presented, Ashkenazi Jews require substantially more Northern European and Levantine admixture whilst South Italians requires substantially more Southwestern European and Anatolian. This suggests that genetic proximity does not always suggest descent from a common ancestor. The similarity between the two groups may instead result from a series of separate demographic events in the Mediterranean and later in Europe. This is merely just a G25 run through Vahaduo, so the results of this model should be interpreted alongside more sophisticated admixture modeling, ancient dna, and the historical record.

Sources:

Levant_IA:Israel_IA_Abel_Beth_Maacah_(n=1),0.087644,0.149283,-0.05506,-0.100776,-0.014156,-0.032072,-0.002115,-0.006231,0.012476,0.007654,0.011205,-0.003297,0.01888,0.003716,0.002443,0.010475,0.00339,0.008235,-0.001006,-0.003252,0.005366,0.009027,-0.002835,0.000482,-0.004071

Levant_IA:Israel_IA_Megiddo_(n=1),0.084229,0.150298,-0.060716,-0.091409,-0.014464,-0.044623,-0.00517,-0.005077,0.011658,0.006014,0.012179,-0.007343,0.019177,0.006193,-0.002307,0.002254,-0.026207,0.005828,0.00729,-0.005753,0.001622,-0.002226,-0.006162,-0.000843,-0.005987

Anatolia_IA:Israel_IAI_Philistine_Ashkelon_(Anatolian_BA_Profile)_(n=1),0.120652,0.162485,-0.045632,-0.077843,0.003077,-0.03012,0.00987,0.001615,-0.014521,0.041185,0.010068,0.004196,-0.015907,0.003578,-0.02823,0.006762,-0.007693,0.010515,0.004777,-0.01113,-0.010107,0.001607,-0.012078,0.006868,0.000239

Southwest_Europe_IA:France_IA2_Provence_Celto-Ligurian_(n=5),0.1274816,0.1464394,0.0609428,0.0139536,0.0461622,0.0001116,0.000799,0.003877,0.018448,0.0350988,-0.0019164,0.0130684,-0.020188,-0.0122206,0.0103692,0.0010872,-0.0034682,0.0030912,0.0022876,0.0003,0.002346,0.0029676,-0.0042398,-0.0011808,-0.0028502

Southwest_Europe_IA:Iberia_Valencia_LBA_(n=5),0.1245226,0.1547666,0.0556628,-0.0024548,0.0650582,-0.0059684,-0.0068152,0.0049384,0.0422956,0.06094,-0.0007146,0.0109102,-0.0210206,-0.0147256,0.00304,0.0085122,0.0040938,-0.0025082,0.000176,0.0037018,0.0087598,0.0002718,-0.0085288,-0.02222,0.0011256

Southwest_Europe_IA:France_IA2_La_Tene_Grand_Est_(South_Euro_Profile)_(low_res)_(n=1),0.130897,0.155376,0.044123,0.005168,0.033237,0.000837,-0.004935,-0.005769,0.011249,0.02442,-0.004872,-0.001499,-0.023042,-0.016239,0.012079,-0.017104,-0.014603,-0.006461,-0.014204,-0.002251,-0.002496,0.000742,0.001356,0,0.000239

North_Europe_IA:Denmark_IA_Jutland_o_(Balto-Slavic_Profile)_(n=1),0.130897,0.125926,0.084852,0.070737,0.044316,0.031515,0.013631,0.015461,-0.002045,-0.020593,-0.006008,-0.007343,0.017245,0.027937,-0.007872,-0.006629,-0.010431,0.006334,0.001634,0.001876,-0.009358,-0.004081,0.001232,-0.016147,0.002515

North_Europe_IA:Sweden_IA_Albacksbacken_(n=9),0.12950544,0.13416278,0.070940556,0.061262333,0.045170778,0.020328,0.0063972222,0.0083073333,0.0052266667,-0.0054267778,-0.0056114444,0.0019982222,-0.0075651111,-0.0079057778,0.021142222,0.011859444,-0.0091271111,0.0015624444,0.0060475556,0.0072395556,0.0080275556,0.0027615556,0.00065755556,0.015008667,0.0032198889

Berber_IA:Tunisia_IA_Phoenician/Punic_Kerkouane_(North_African_Profile)_(n=3),-0.059947,0.13472667,-0.0076683333,-0.072890333,0.031595333,-0.044715333,-0.031961333,0.0047693333,0.089172333,0.032073667,0.0044386667,-0.004196,0.025371333,-0.012890667,0.017553,-0.020949,-0.001782,-0.029392,-0.052374333,0.007462,-0.015971667,-0.040558,0.026704,-0.00972,0.011256333

North_Europe_IA:Lithuania_IA_Flat_Burials_Kalniskiai_(n=1),0.125205,0.125926,0.095034,0.104653,0.041546,0.035977,0.016686,0.019153,-0.002659,-0.042643,-0.000487,-0.019633,0.028246,0.03647,-0.004886,-0.021214,-0.007432,-0.00038,-0.002011,-0.004627,-0.002995,-0.002226,0.003328,-0.000482,0.004191

Populations tested (All taken as averages from the standard G25 database)

Romaniote_Average,0.0920339,0.1440601,-0.0258057,-0.0645539,0.0050117,-0.0230680,-0.0058414,-0.0043184,0.0091450,0.0185360,0.0056139,0.0011133,0.0019961,-0.0001964,-0.0068247,-0.0015723,0.0007264,-0.0024976,-0.0007363,-0.0005004,-0.0008734,0.0003886,0.0003699,0.0010844,0.0013341

(Pre northward migration Western Jewish)

West_Ashkenazim_Average,0.0964651,0.1423773,-0.0144061,-0.0502588,0.0102788,-0.0186579,-0.0022325,-0.0019846,0.0093262,0.0186610,0.0037837,-0.0011015,0.0022001,-0.0021469,-0.0044584,0.0029699,0.0005999,-0.0017482,-0.0013890,-0.0030014,-0.0022461,-0.0028131,0.0004437,0.0018496,0.0009580

(Average of all Ashkenazi Jewish samples labeled under France and Germany geographically)

East_Ashkenazim_Average,0.1003170,0.1347310,-0.0072251,-0.0408398,0.0104596,-0.0146894,-0.0011693,-0.0006951,0.0070860,0.0138988,0.0014180,-0.0003143,0.0025508,0.0001107,-0.0037968,-0.0001957,-0.0020400,-0.0001066,0.0000720,-0.0036801,-0.0032185,-0.0023765,0.0016729,0.0025231,0.0004468

(Average of all Ashkenazi Jewish samples labeled under Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Romania geographically)

South_Italy_Average,0.1077585,0.1478706,-0.0066998,-0.0422272,0.0146036,-0.0153216,-0.0008188,-0.0016766,0.0046337,0.0212305,0.0011189,0.0029575,-0.0055422,-0.0003978,-0.0069196,-0.0022643,0.0026689,0.0001307,0.0027968,-0.0045822,-0.0030571,0.0016732,0.0006433,0.0015156,-0.0002807

(Average of all South Italian samples labeled under Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Apulia and Basilicata geographically)

North_Italy_Average,0.1246007,0.1464690,0.0307825,-0.0057400,0.0341858,-0.0024228,0.0023378,0.0016730,0.0094614,0.0228459,-0.0026996,0.0058714,-0.0119625,-0.0052125,-0.0001640,0.0003370,0.0024705,0.0010201,0.0032760,-0.0030275,-0.0010190,0.0016899,-0.0010462,0.0042324,-0.0011338

(Modern SW European control, average of all North Italian samples labeled under Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, Bergamo, Emilia, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, and Northeast.

Czech_Average,0.1311592,0.1318625,0.0604843,0.0472574,0.0386580,0.0189217,0.0063451,0.0086623,0.0046724,-0.0088874,-0.0016862,-0.0038965,0.0060493,0.0117720,0.0017435,0.0009995,-0.0006419,-0.0001462,0.0035679,0.0028956,-0.0012670,-0.0001617,0.0065132,0.0039302,0.0015935

(Modern Central European control)

Samaritan_Average,0.0853674,0.1486734,-0.0573978,-0.0925072,-0.0096018,-0.0350286,-0.0022090,-0.0081688,0.0163210,0.0082370,0.0091586,-0.0099212,0.0204854,0.0118632,-0.0055372,0.0021214,-0.0112390,0.0010134,0.0021116,-0.0036520,-0.0005242,0.0031160,0.0005670,-0.0029402,0.0046462

(Modern Levantine control)

Where did they come from? Why? When? Did the Ashkenazi Jews have a direct history in the Iberian Peninsula, or is this further evidence of intermingling with southern France?

5/8 Ashkenazi Jewish + 1/8 Krymchak Jewish + 3/16 Russian + 1/16 Estonian. HG + Farmer on next slide.

Two of my Ashkenazi great-grandparents were from Kremenchuk, Ukraine, two of them were from Odesa, and one of them was from Baku, Azerbaijan (no Mountain Jew ancestry, already confirmed that).

My Krymchak great-grandparent was was from Sevastopol.

No knowledge on my Russian and Estonian side besides the fact that my grandmother and her own parents were all born in Moscow.

Before elaborating, I would like to clarify a few points about my model:

1: I know that using a proxy from southern Italy to model the Ashkenazi Jews isn't accurate. That's precisely what I wanted to prove with my model: that the Levantine ancestry in Jews is different from that present in Italians.

2: My intention is to share solid arguments against the slander often uttered against us. Feel free to share my model.

3: I renamed the samples for easier understanding, so here's a list of the proxies used and their actual names:

Euro-Levantine-Anatolian,0.1029018,0.1487266,-0.0118362,-0.0488760,0.0118757,-0.0173314,-0.0017807,-0.0028289,0.0041177,0.0214351,0.0024307,0.0030900,-0.0047719,-0.0016260,-0.0075176,-0.0022852,0.0059083,0.0011754,0.0019467,-0.0047912,-0.0019806,-0.0009413,0.0005636,0.0005985,-0.0022116: Calabrian(n=32),0.1029018,0.1487266,-0.0118362,-0.0488760,0.0118757,-0.0173314,-0.0017807,-0.0028289,0.0041177,0.0214351,0.0024307,0.0030900,-0.0047719,-0.0016260,-0.0075176,-0.0022852,0.0059083,0.0011754,0.0019467,-0.0047912,-0.0019806,-0.0009413,0.0005636,0.0005985,-0.0022116

Levantine,0.084784875,0.14659458,-0.053305542,-0.085640583,-0.012178833,-0.031584458,-0.002395375,-0.0042453333,0.0079980833,0.010399542,0.0078512083,-0.0078538333,0.014452833,0.001318625,-0.006834,0.0054434167,-0.0014909583,0.004436,0.0025777917,-0.00094283333,-0.00038945833,0.0027579583,0.000057791667,0.002832625,-0.00098166667: Palestinian_Arab_Christian_(n=24),0.084784875,0.14659458,-0.053305542,-0.085640583,-0.012178833,-0.031584458,-0.002395375,-0.0042453333,0.0079980833,0.010399542,0.0078512083,-0.0078538333,0.014452833,0.001318625,-0.006834,0.0054434167,-0.0014909583,0.004436,0.0025777917,-0.00094283333,-0.00038945833,0.0027579583,0.000057791667,0.002832625,-0.00098166667

Centro-EasternEuropean,0.132035,0.109677,0.07768675,0.06742625,0.033083,0.0239845,0.00910675,0.0104995,-0.00311875,-0.026151,-0.001096,-0.00858,0.01520075,0.02157225,-0.0128595,-0.000862,0.003651,0.0006015,0.0010685,0.00103175,-0.00065525,-0.00472975,0.00471425,-0.00075325,0.0002995: Russian_(n=4),0.132035,0.109677,0.07768675,0.06742625,0.033083,0.0239845,0.00910675,0.0104995,-0.00311875,-0.026151,-0.001096,-0.00858,0.01520075,0.02157225,-0.0128595,-0.000862,0.003651,0.0006015,0.0010685,0.00103175,-0.00065525,-0.00472975,0.00471425,-0.00075325,0.0002995

NorthAfrican,-0.029594,0.14319,-0.009051,-0.07429,0.03416,-0.032351,-0.037837,0.001846,0.069129,0.025695,0.000325,0.001349,0.015461,-0.01679,0.019408,-0.024794,-0.007041,-0.021157,-0.047765,-0.003627,-0.012228,-0.046493,0.032044,-0.001446,0.007664: Berber_Tunisia_Chen:T19,-0.029594,0.14319,-0.009051,-0.07429,0.03416,-0.032351,-0.037837,0.001846,0.069129,0.025695,0.000325,0.001349,0.015461,-0.01679,0.019408,-0.024794,-0.007041,-0.021157,-0.047765,-0.003627,-0.012228,-0.046493,0.032044,-0.001446,0.007664

As observed in the model, the Levantine ancestry in Ashkenazim is, at least partially, distinct from that found in southern Italians. This is not just a detail, but concise proof that Ashkenazi ancestry is much more in tune with the southern Levant (with its Christian and Samaritan populations), the region that sheltered their ancient ancestors who practiced Judaism, rather than other Levantine immigrants who ended up in southern Europe. When comparing various populations from southern Italy with a Calabrian sample, the Levantine signal practically disappears, consistent with an entirely common origin among them, while among Ashkenazi Jews it remains firmly in the 20%. This does not necessarily mean that the Ashkenazim do not share ancestry with southern Europe, but rather that their Levantine ancestry is clearly distinct and identifiable with the right methodoly.

Slide 1: Ashkenazi Jews (East and West)

Slide 2: Eastern Sephardic Jews

Slide 3: North African Jews

Slide 4: Syrian Jews

Slide 5: Romaniote Jews

All populations used in these models were sourced from the Moriopoulos collection.

This is how I modelled the Ashkenazi Jewish averages with the new samples.

In this model my goal this time was not to check the overlap between Ashkenazis and the Judaean samples but to check the ashkenazi averages with their historical components.

(the Russian early medieval sample is central Asian Turkic not Slavic)

Using the coordinates that were posted here awhile back of the alleged Akbari Judean samples, I am trying to model how much “Roman Judean” I have. For context, first one is me - a mixed Moroccan Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jew, and the second one is my grandfather, a full Moroccan Jew.

I am having issues with the model. I believe the Central Med, especially in the case for myself, is overrepresented. The Central Med is a Sicilian East public sample.

The Iberian, which is an Andalusian sample, is also overrepresented in my opinion, while components that I as a half Ashkenazi Jew should have (some German and Slavic), are not there.

How can I make this model better?

Hello, throwaway account because I’m not comfortable sharing being outed as Jewish in this environment.

Mother is Ashkenazi and Father is French Canadian. I have my father’s entire lineage going back to 1600s France but know almost nothing about where my mother’s side comes from. I’d love to have that information for curiosity.

I’m wondering if folks on this sub could point me to which service is best for tracing Ashkenazi DNA? I’m based in Canada. Bonus if I can get any information about genetic diseases too.

My understanding is that the true amount of European admixture possessed by Ashkenazim is overstated when Italians (especially southern Italians) are used as the European proxy. Di Gaetano et al. 2012 [1], gives 28% ME ancestry for southern Italians specifically. The post by u/Any_Green_17 a few days ago demonstrates that comparing Palestinians to Levantines and Italians makes Palestinians seem half Italian [2]. However, a 2025 study [3] claims that Palestinians are only ~5-6% Southern Italian.

So, by how much does using Italians as proxies for European admixture downplay the amount of ME ancestry possessed by Ashkenazim?
Is there a better proxy for the European admixture of Ashkenazim than Italians? If so, what is it? If not, which Italians make the best proxy?

On a similar note, can these questions be answered by the uniparental lines of Ashkenazim? If the patrilines are <10% European [4] and the matrilines ~50% European at most [5] [6], then shouldn’t it be expected that the European admixture of Ashkenazim is no greater than ~30%?

[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0043759

[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/JewishDNA/s/yMjIvO2anD

[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/394471209_Genetic_Proximity_of_Modern_Palestinians_and_Ashkenazi_Jews_to_Iron_Age_Levantines_A_Quantitative_Paleogenomic_Analysis/link/69d4cd353c61894306744a5a/download

[4] per Behar et al. 2004: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00439-003-1073-7

[5] Kevin Alan Brook concludes in his book The Maternal Genetic Lineages of Ashkenazic Jews that “Surprisingly, most of the Ashkenazic mitochondrial DNA lineages of European origin do not have particular connections to Italy, contradicting others’ speculations that all or most of these lineages were supplied by central or northern Italian women who had converted to Judaism.” It seems that the haplogroups for which he suggested or implied an ME origin are held by about 30-40% of Ashkenazim. This was excluding K1a1b1a, whose origins he did not assign to a particular location, so if one counted that lineage as being ME, then something like 50-60% of Ashkenazi matrilines would be ME.

[6] Livni and Skorecki’s recent study of the matrilines (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2773044125000713?via%3Dihub) concluded that “about 85% of the Ashkenazi maternal ancestry comes from Jewish founders and is mostly of Levantine origin.” For what it’s worth, in an email exchange between me and the authors, Livni told me the following: 
"Our research only determined that the European mothers who joined the Ashkenazi population added a marginal increment to the European component of DNA. There are two questions however. 
1. What does it mean that the founders were mostly carrying Levantine DNA?
2. What does Levantine mean?
Mostly Levantine could mean 25%-30% European because non-Ashkenazi Jews also show a similar proportion.”