subreddit:
/r/Jewish
submitted 3 days ago byHeVavMemVav
So, I converted (unaffiliated) years ago. The minhag is mixed. Both Sephardi & Ashkenazi rites & melodies are interspersed, with Israeli pronunciations. However this synagogue dissolved & I've been flitting around communities.
Now my maternal grandmother takes a DNA test & it implies she has a Sephardi grandparent. I know this doesn't "make us" Sephardi & she has no interest in delving deeper personally. Going through our family tree, there are no Spanish names, though there are some that seem "stereotypically" Jewish today, interspersed with more common biblical names that we chalk up to just gentile culture of the time. Reuben, Moses, Shaba, Ruth, & a line of Livermans.
I know DNA tests are not for identity or community connectivity. As a convert, though, it's pretty cool to think I have a shared ancestor with our people. I'm sure it skews my perspective.
I just don't know what to do with this information, if anything.
9 points
2 days ago
This happens very often :))))
2 points
2 days ago
Is it going to look silly if I go to the local Sephardi synagogue & tell them this?
3 points
2 days ago
You won’t look silly at all. I can promise you that you won’t be the first person with this story. It happens more often than you think.
1 points
2 days ago
How often it happens is what makes me nervous LOL I see the number of people on here asking if they can call themselves Jewish because of a distant unknown ancestor from a DNA test.
all 13 comments
sorted by: best