By Curt_Anderson May 29, 2022 5:13 pm Category: Science & Nature (0.0 from 0 votes)
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My cousin, who is the son of my dad's brother, had his DNA profile done by Ancestry.com. It turns out that on we are 26% Scandinavian (mostly Swedish), which is not a surprise given our last names. We are also 18% European Jew from our paternal sides. I say at least 18% Jewish since I don't know the DNA from my mother's side. Apparently these DNA tests are able to attribute "Ethnicity Inheritance" to "parent 1" and "parent 2". His parent 2 had the French ethnicity that was always known of his mother. In other words, our fathers were 52% Scandinavian and 36% European Jew. We also have some Russian, Baltic and eastern European ancestry.
My paternal grandmother's name was Miller. She knew she had Czech ancestry. Like all of my family they were nominally Christians. Although they had some religious fluidity. My dad was raised Lutheran; my mother Catholic but they became Episcopalians when they married. When my paternal grandparents moved from one town to another, they changed denominations probably based on locational convenience. I have no idea how many generations back members of my family tree identified as Jewish. I do like the idea that I come from a long line of people who apparently intermingled with people of different religions.
I am sure that my late father had no inkling that we have some Jewish heritage. As it happens three of my closest friends are ethnically Jewish as is my wife. She is an atheist like me: we simply disbelieve in different gods. 😉 My parents had at least some Jewish friends that I was aware of. My family, including our late parents, were and are not anti-Semites so the DNA results would have been met with surprise but a shrug.
Somebody else I know had a single digit amount of African DNA that he never suspected. Not that it bothered him.
Besides, saying "Mazel tov!" to my cousin, I remarked that I'd like to see every anti-Semite, racist and bigot undergo DNA testing. I am sure a number of them would have some DNA of the ethnic groups they routinely denigrate.
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