CNN reports that 3.5 million Ashkenazic Jews have descended from the same four women.
No, their names probably weren’t Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, but hey four biblical matriarchs, four distinct DNA prints it’s a lovely “kabbalistic” coincidence.
According to Dr. Doron Behar of the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, the four Jewish mothers lived somewhere in Europe within the last 2000 years, but not necessarily in the same place at the same time.
Each woman left a genetic signature that shows up in their descendants today, he and colleagues say in a report published online by the American Journal of Human Genetics. Together, their four signatures appear in about 40 percent of Ashkenazi Jews, while being virtually absent in non-Jews and found only rarely in Jews of non-Ashkenazi origin, the researchers said.
Interesting stuff. But if these women are responsible for the preponderance of our bad teeth and bad eyesight, it’s just about inbreeding, isn’t it?
*”Four Matriarchs” pin available at judysjudaica.com.
check http://www.familytreedna.com it is located in Houston. doing a lot of research especially for Jews. If y’all call ask for Bennett Greenspan at the Jewish Desk. He also is working with Dr. Michael Hammer of the university in Tucson. They have made great headway in the DNA process.