We're a team of citizen scientists exploring Jewish genetics worldwide – connecting communities and solving historical mysteries through DNA. Questions welcome.
Joined July 2025
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Jewish ancestry is a tapestry of hidden connections. We’re here to reveal them. ✡️🧬
Every Jew carries within them a story of survival. Elders may recall where their ancestors lived a few generations back — but that’s often where the trail fades. Yet, hidden in our DNA are clues that can reconnect us: telling how we’re related, and how far back those ties go.
But not everyone knows how genetic tests can illuminate their family history. That’s where we come in.
We’re the Jewish Genetic Discovery Foundation (JGDF) — a team of citizen scientists who’ve spent years researching Jewish lineages independently, and have now joined forces to uncover not just personal family stories, but the larger, interconnected story of the Jewish people.
Our mission is simple:
🔹 Educate Jewish communities about DNA testing
🔹 Facilitate tests and upgrades
🔹 Analyze results to reveal forgotten connections
We collaborate with other projects and experts, while holding ourselves to the highest standards of privacy and ethics.
The more people who participate, the clearer this tapestry becomes.
You may be surprised to find that your Ashkenazi lineage has Sephardic—or even Mizrahi—roots. And vice versa.
We’ll be sharing fascinating discoveries, stories, and research in future posts. Follow us to stay updated.
📢 The JGDF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations go directly to genetic testing — none of our team members are paid.
Ashkenazim and Sephardim are, in the scheme of Jewish population structure, very close to each other.
People usually tend to focus on links through ancient Israel, or post-1492.
But DNA evidence suggests Ashkenazim and Sephardim share most of their ancestry ~1,500 years ago.
What is the difference between Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardic Jews?
Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews are two major historical branches of the Jewish people. They share the same core beliefs and Torah, but differ in language, customs, Hebrew pronunciation, and food because of centuries of separate settlement.
Ashkenazi Jews originated in medieval Germany (Ashkenaz) and later spread through Central and Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews lived in Spain and Portugal (Sepharad) until the 1492 expulsion, after which many settled in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and elsewhere. Sephardic traditions often overlap with those of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews.
Ashkenazim traditionally spoke Yiddish and use a distinctive Hebrew pronunciation, while Sephardim spoke Ladino or local languages and use a pronunciation closer to modern Israeli Hebrew. On Passover, Ashkenazim avoid kitniyot (rice, legumes, corn, and similar foods) while Sephardim generally permit them. Their prayer rites, naming customs, melodies, and cuisines also differ, with Ashkenazi food reflecting Eastern European staples and Sephardic food drawing more from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences.
Both groups share substantial ancient Middle Eastern ancestry. Ashkenazi Jews have historically been the large majority worldwide, especially in the diaspora, while Israel has more balanced numbers and has blended many traditions. Individual practice varies, and the distinctions are less rigid today than in the past.
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But: even within the family of "Western Jews" (which includes the pre-Sephardic communities of the Eastern Maghreb, Italy, Greece, and to some degree the Levant), the Jews of Ashkenaz, France, and Iberia seem to have been uniquely closely related.
Nu? Thoughts? Questions?
We’re back with the official visual and the official estimate for the bombshell split of R-Y2619.
The famous Ashkenazi Levite line, now renamed R-M12205, has a new closest cousin: a Tajik man from Badakhshan.
Their ancestors parted ways c. 600 BCE, according to @FamilyTreeDNA.
So cool. Manny and collaborators have spent years mapping the genetic legacy of the Mountain Jewish population.
No one is obligated to do this. The economic value is zero.
We salute all keepers of lineage and citizen-scientists/historians who are in it for the love of the game.
Not only do we see stuff like a Turkic line in Iraqi Jews and a Mongolic line in Romaniotes, but Berber + Chinese lines in Ashkenazim, Celtic + Germanic lines in Sephardim, and Slavic + Indo-Aryan lines in central North African Jews.
All small parts of the story, but all real!
Jewish Genetic Discovery Foundation retweeted
By contrast, the Khazar Empire was proximate to the Black Sea and the Near East. So, reflux into Mizrahi and Byzantine Jews, and their Iraqi and Romaniote descendants, is not so crazy.
In many ways, an easier mechanism than longtime Khazar holdovers in Eastern Europe.
Jewish Genetic Discovery Foundation retweeted
Either way: this illustrates an interesting point. Trace Khazar Jewish ancestry may have survived in *non-Ashkenazic* communities, as much if not more so than in Ashkenazim.
Most Ashkenazi ancestry comes from the early medieval Rhineland (before that, France and Italy).
Jewish Genetic Discovery Foundation retweeted
1) "The only known WGS East Eurasian haplogroup among Jews." Close, but discover.familytreedna.com/y… in Romaniotes would like to have a word with you.
2) "related with the Khazars" - it's clearly Turkic, but what tells you Khazarian?
Jewish Genetic Discovery Foundation retweeted
The only known WGS East Eurasian haplogroup among Jews, related with the Khazars
🚨🧵 Van Zandt. A colonial American Protestant family with a Dutch name.
Doesn't exactly scream Jewish... but might there be a Sephardic connection?
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The upshot: we consider the possibility that the Van Zandt family’s original surname was in fact Cerrulla. (Spoiler: there is compelling evidence in favor.)
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