A couple years ago I read about an interesting DNA study which established that Jewish males who had been told they were part of the hereditary priesthood, or Cohanim, had similar Y chromosome elements. The “Cohens” have passed the knowledge that they were descendents of the original sons of Aaron from father to son for thousands of years. The scientific proof, while probably unnecessary to prove any religious birthrights, is still intriguing. I found one opposing viewpoint of the study which stated that any group of men with the same last name would have similarities in their Y chromosomes, but that scientist was misinformed or ignorant of the fact that the study did not use last names, but the oral knowledge that has survived an amazing length of history.

Shortly after hearing about that research project, I heard a story, probably on the radio, about a tribe in Africa that had a number of rituals which were surprisingly similar to that of Jewish traditions. I filed that away in my head, but didn’t follow up on it until something made me think of it recently. Well, I found a lot of web content about these people, the Lemba. Through their oral tradition, they have maintained that they were descended from earlier Jews. There was a Nova special on their search for their true heritage. According to the soc.culture.jewish FAQ, the Lemba traditions may have come from Islam, not Judaism. But then there was an interesting twist, taking me back to my first finding. The Lemba have the same proportion of the Cohen gene marker as western Jews, and their senior clan, which would be the priesthood, has a very high frequency of that marker. This is compelling enough proof for some, and the other (as many articles will note, white) African Jews have now welcomed the Lemba into their fold. This article relates their struggle for acceptance, their beliefs, and history.

I also found a large list of Jewish genetic studies. I love how genetics can unravel mysteries; it’s just like solving intricate puzzles. It seems even neater than coding, but it isn’t as instantly gratifying. Which is probably why although I made it through my genetics labs OK, I was much happier in front of the terminal screen than the electrophoresis tray.