As the afternoon wanes on this hot central Texas Friday, I thought I would take a moment and acknowledge that the sunset will signal the beginning of the Jewish New Year, and wish happiness to all on the occasion.
There has been some excitement in my family recently due to news received from my aunt (mother's elder sister) that we are of Ashkenazi Jewish descent through the maternal line (my maternal grandmother's female antecedents). My uncle (mother's twin brother) agreed, at my aunt's request, to submit to an oral swab to obtain the necessary materials for a lab (working for a fee) to determine his genetic heritage. My aunt alleges that his mitochondrial DNA revealed that he (and we) are descended from a Jewish woman named Malvina who flourished in central and eastern Europe, of which era I am not yet clear (though I formed the impression that she allegedly existed perhaps in or around the sixteenth century). As we are descended from a Jewish woman through an unbroken female line, from an orthodox Jewish perspective, we are Jewish.
This was a surprise given that no one in the family within living memory has been of the Jewish faith. Everyone up to a couple of generations ago has adhered to some Christian sect or another. My maternal grandmother's mother, in fact, was descended from people who were Amish and Mennonite, though she herself married a Methodist minister.
I would be thrilled to have my aunt's information corroborated, but I would like to know more detail before believing it fully. My aunt tends to be a credulous person, and seizes upon any unusual or colorful detail in our unfolding genealogy and runs with it. I also realize the overwhelming probability that the vast majority of human beings the world over would have some Jewish and Semitic ancestry among their forebears, whether or not they could trace any specific lines of descent. We are truly one human family (if only we could honor that fact through our actions).
Best wishes to all, as another Jewish year commences...
Scott
