Being From An Endogamous People : Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

                                 My double helix DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (abbreviated DNA) is the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism. DNA is made of two linked strands that wind around each other to resemble a twisted ladder — a shape known as a double helix.

Jacob and his 12 sons by 4 women.  The 12 sons fathered the 12 tribes of Israel.  Israel's name originally was Jacob, but it changed to Israel as he gained strength in his mind and heart. His haplogroup was most likely J1, the Cohen gene.   

We are Jews.  That's a religion, but we are also  a people, a unique people.  All people's DNA is made up in this shape of a double helix.  There are 2 types; One is the mitochondrial (female line) and nuclear DNA (Y) male line.  X on a printout is for the female line and Y stands for the male line.  

 Here is an orthodox Jew at the kotel (wall) in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount praying.  Actually, he's a woman, doing the male thing these days, the wearing of the phylacteries or tefillin  and the prayer shawl. Not all women have taken on this responsibility which many men question.   I had to do a double-take. Women and their equal rights have gone this far today.  It's a new world.   

Our history shows up in our DNA, validating our records in that we are endogamous.   It also shows up in our Y (male) line of J1 (scientist vocabulary for the name of the haplogroup (male line) of Jews from Aaron, brother of Moses.  Also, DNA shows that some male Arabs are also from J1 and our history shows that as well, with Abraham's son from Hagar, handmaid of Sarah, his wife.  So DNA validates that history as well.  Arabs have a different ending to this haplogroup, showing its Arab line as different from Jewish line. 

We now have several Jewish haplogroups, so J1 shows that these Jews were the Cohens or priests of the Jewish people originally.  This has carried over to this day.  Our 4th to remote cousin, Herb Hochfeld, was a J-M267 even though his surname was not a Cohen.  However, he was a Cohen in the synagogue and performed under those duties, being first to read on Shabbat from the Torah. Actually he matched my brother, not me, with 27 cMs, so I sometimes think the matches we connect with are decided through the same sex lines.  

We all come from people formed thousands of years ago who have passed on their genes to their children.  Those genes can be found in DNA testing today by such companies as Family Tree DNA which is in Houston, Texas.  Besides that company, we can transfer our results to GedMatch.com, another company with different tools that can go way way back in our DNA history.  That's the exciting part of studying our DNA.  We can trace our history to Abraham who was born about 1948 BCE.(before the common era).    

We are an endogamous people.  Our cells come from people who have been intermarrying with each other for generations and generations. That's because of 2 reasons.  One is that no one wanted to marry us and we didn't want to marry them, either, and the 2nd reason is that being within the same people always, we had no idea that we were marrying cousins from past generations as we had lost track of each other.  We were a people ostracized by others because of our religion:  We are a Jewish people.  That kept us within our own group.  Almost all of us Jewish people are at least 30th cousins to each other today.  I have been finding 4th and 5th cousins through DNA testing with FTDNA.  It's listed as 5th and remote when you have a 5th cousin match. 

2019 Berman Jewish databank pie chart:  pink is USA Jews, blue is Israel, slices in different countries of world.  Hungary, Ukraine, South Africa, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Russia, Argentina...

Jews are a teeny group of people, about 0.02% of the world population.   That's why when one of us is killed in the attacks in Israel, it's a great loss.  We don't have people to lose.  He or she is a relative.   There are about 7 million Jews in Israel, and that's it.  The USA has about another almost 6 million or less today.   "Jewish Population Rises to 15.3 Million Worldwide, with Over 7 Million Residing in Israel.Sep 28, 2022".   

It's very hard to find 5th cousins in your family tree as records rarely show up that far back, but I've done it once with my   cousin, Grant Gochin.  He's my 4th to remote cousin.  We share DNA on chromosome #1 of 7.24cMs;  #7 of 10.71cMs, and #19  of 7.63 cMs.   Our family are both from Lithuania.  Grant and I had worked on our individual trees, not knowing each other, and then the day came when we connected our trees.  Descendants of Faive Shrago Gochin, he working on his Gochin line and me on the Goldfus line.  

1  [1] Faive Shrago Gochin b: Abt. 1837 in Papile, Siauliai, Kuanes, Lithuania d: March 22, 1926 in Papile, Siauliai, Kuanes, Lithuania Citizenship: October 24, 1880 age 40,Fayvus Gokhin, voters tax Age at death: 89 est.

. +Chaya Unknown

*2nd Wife of [1] Faive Shrago Gochin:

. +Tsipa Tsipora Goldfus b: Abt. 1842 in Papile, Lithuania d: April 13, 1922 in Papile, Lithuania m: Abt. 1857 in Papile, Siauliai, Kuanes, Lithuania Age at death: 80 est. m: Abt. 1857 in Papile, Siauliai, Kuanes, Lithuania

Genes are found in the cells of our body.  We can spit into a test tube and that spit is analyzed over a 6 week period.  

What is DNA?  It's the blueprint of life.  

1. A gene is a unit of heredity which is transferred from a 

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   •  distinct sequence of nucleotides forming 
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   • part of a chromosome.

     

   
   
2. A chromosome is a threadlike structure of nucleic acids and protein found in the nucleus of most living cells, carrying genetic information in the form of genes.  We have 23 of them.  Scientists gave them numbers.  The last one, the 23rd, is the sex gene or sex determiner.  
3. Our genes sit on the chromosome it's from.  Gochin and I had mutual genes on # 1,7 and 19.  The genes were in segments, like a string of pearls on the chromosome.  We had 10.71cMs of pearls on chromosome #7.  cM is a unit of measurement like we use an inch.  
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5. The DNA in an average chromosome is about 5cMs long.  A centimorgan (abbreviated cM) is a unit of measure for the frequency of genetic recombination. One centimorgan is equal to a 1% chance that two markers on a chromosome will become separated from one another due to a recombination event during meiosis (which occurs during the formation of egg and sperm cells). On average, one centimorgan corresponds to roughly 1 million base pairs in the human genome.  Oy vah a voy!  That's a lot to take in.  

If I'm reading this right, I have DNA matches with 28,648 people.  It's not every Jew in the world, but a nice amount. Not all have tested.  The rest could be 30th cousins to me.  

I started this article off wanting to explain the difference between a gene and a chromosome as I've seen people using the terms as if they are the same.  Human DNA contains 3,147 million chemical nucleotide bases.  They are:  A, G, C, and T.  The total length of DNA present in one adult human is about 2x10 to the 13th power-  meters, the distance from the earth to the sun and back.  

Resource:

https://www.jewishagency.org/jewish-population-rises-to-15-3-million-w....

Book:  DNA & Genealogy by Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser

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