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From: Bonnie Schrack <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Charles is Jewish--not
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 23:03:10 -0400


Dear List,

I feel I must put in a few words of support for Charles here. I've
devoted many years of study to the history of my German-speaking
ancestors who settled in Pennsylvania in colonial times, including their
European past. Everything Charles is saying is correct, even if he may
be underemphasizing a wee bit the very substantial number of
Pennsylvania Dutch who were Anabaptist (Mennonite and Amish, and later
Brethren).

In Europe's past there were (1) a strong influx of people from the
Middle East in the Neolithic (2) a considerable number of Middle Eastern
and Mediterranean (and I really doubt this test can actually tell them
apart) people brought by the Roman Empire into many parts of Europe, and
(3) continued settling, during the "Dark Ages," Middle Ages, and Early
Modern periods, of assorted people from diverse areas to the south and
east into Europe. The population movements (2) and (3) included a
Jewish component. In no way do I want to minimize the persecutions they
suffered and the fact that many had little choice but to hide their
identity. Among the vast number of people who may form a part of our
genome when you go back dozens of generations, there may well be a
number of Jews in the mix. But Beth I feel is indeed completely out of
touch with historical accuracy in her wild overemphasis on the idea of
hidden Jewish ancestry, as if that were the predominant reason for
Charles' Middle Eastern component -- or the J2 haplogroup of a PA Dutch
family like mine. One of Charles' best points was --

> the markers pre-date the establishment of the Jewish religion and all
> religions as we know them.

and

> I guess to her the only people who ever lived in the middle east were
> Jewish .... even 15,000 years ago.

Right on, Charles! That is exactly what Beth never seems to figure
out. Jewish people are our kin, our brothers and sisters, sure, by all
means, let's embrace that concept, but so are all kinds of ethnic
groups, like the Iraqis, Turks, Kurds, or Palestinans, who share the
same Near Eastern roots (though with less northern European admixture).
And the quickly accumulating genetic evidence shows no basis for
thinking there was a Jewish influx of the magnitude she describes among
European populations. Beth is way out of her depth on this; the
scientific facts on the genetic make-up of Europe clearly show her ideas
to be wrong, which is why no professional in the field would take them
seriously.

Bonnie Schrack




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