Who are we? Where do we come from? As it turns out, Jews are just Jews: our very own ethnic group. Recent studies have shown that Jews appear to be genetically different than non-Jews and, indeed, are closely related to one another. This revelation comes through Human “HapMap” Project, which examines human genome sequences; recently, it has spun off a Jewish equivalent.
Called the Jewish “HapMap” Project, the joint study between the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the New York University School of Medicine examines “the structure of the genomes in Jewish population[s]†all over the world. These variations “demonstrated the block-like structure in which these variants are inherited,” says the NYU site for this study, which are “referred to as haplotypes and are the basis of the ‘Hapmap.'”
Apparently, we really do hail from the Middle East. Scientists examined the genetic markers of Diaspora Jews and found that, even with distinct local genetic “signatures,†our place of origin is clear. “Today, contemporary Jews carry evidence of their Middle Eastern origin along with genetic heritage from European and North African ancestors,†reads one ScienceNews.org story.
The political implications of this study are clear. If we are originally from the area around Israel, as science has proven, then our claim to the land of Israel is based in historical truth. No longer can anyone say we don’t have a right to be there, when, indeed, we clearly do. At the same time, the Palestinians, if they had their DNA tested, would probably have their ethnic origins in the same area. What does this mean, then? Perhaps it indicates that, if both of our peoples hail from Israel, then we should cooperate and share the space. If our ancestors could do it, why can’t we? Of course, there are many more complications now (like terrorism, bombs, etc.), but, if Biblical reports can be corroborated by hard science, perhaps we can hark back to days of cooperation and get along.
In the study itself, the individuals that were tested came from seven different groups of Diaspora Jews: Turkish, Greek, Ashkenazi, Syrian, Iraqi, Iranian, and Italian. Each of these groups appears to be an offshoot of an original, unified whole: the Jewish people. Imagine each of these examined groups to be like one of the Twelve Tribes: we trace our ancestry back to the same place and have our faith in common, but our individual cultures have grown apart over our years of separation. Still, we retain a distant past that is held in great esteem, something we all share.
The unity that Jews have maintained over time is remarkable. Through thick and thin, through migration after migration, Jews have managed to stick together in communities around the globe. No matter where we got stuck, we kept forging through to the other side. Not only have we upheld a common faith, but we have kept ourselves within our own gene pool. That likely comes from Jews intermarrying over the centuries, which allowed families to preserve their religious heritage and maintain distinctive genetic markers that distinguished the People of Isarel.
The downside of this intermarriage habit is its exclusionist nature: we don’t marry into other people’s cultures because we want to preserve our own. That sentiment has carried over into current events. There are two groups: “us†and “them.†In a global world, it’s time to reach out beyond the stigmas that have marked one Jewish group as different from another and one Middle Eastern group as different from another. Even if we have different customs, religions, or looks, we’re all from the same place, so what have we go to lose? If you look back far enough, we all lived together at some point. Let’s take a page from our ancestors and emphasize what unites us, genetically or otherwise, not what divides us.
