I was very much satisfied reading Harry Ostrers book. I have followed much of his work on FamilytreeDNA and his DNA studies on Ashkenazi Jews.
The book covered pretty much everything I had expected. I fully understood the testing that was being utilized and as a result, have a much deeper appreciation on the history and background behind population genetics and genetic diseases.
The book covers the history of anthropology on Jews and the original dismissal of Jews being one people before genetic testing was available, yet society could still pick out a Jewish person from 1,000 people.
The book does go further into history, I felt some of the history may have been slightly weak, however, Harry Ostrer does state that he was relying on resources for the history of the Jewish people. Harry Ostrer does mention the Khazar theory and that it appears genetics have widely disproven this theory, he also explains the Rhineland Theory and that Jewish people do not appear to actually be descendants of just one specific people but rather a tapestry of various ethnic groups over time with Southern European converts, and also mention regarding later conversion of Idumean people during the Hasmonean empire which Idumeans were force converted to Judaism.
Genetic data seems to cover early work on population clustering and subclade origins, it explains how frequency and length would identify ancestral haplogroups which was more consistent with distant ancestry than blood tests. Over time, haplogroups identified a core ancestor but not necessary evidence that a population group came recently from those same ancestors, a perfect example of this was neolithic migration of people who came from the Middle East to Europe prior to the existence of the Semitic peoples and would share the same haplogroups, this is where single nucleotide polymorphisms and subclades start to show recent mutations that indicate common origins of those populations.
Harry Ostrer also covers the Cohen Modal Haplotype admitting the early 6 marker test was not reliable as non Jews and even other groups such as the Lemba in South Africa were showing these same 6 markers using Short Tandem Repeat tests in the J1 group, so while it may not indicate one is a descendant of Cohens or even a Jew, it could be used to prove a connection to the middle east perhaps to the Semitic speaking populations, however the dating/time is a problem, as a result, Ostrer explains the newer 12 marker tests that generally show up in individuals with a known Jewish ancestor from the paternal line. Ostrer also indicates that the CMH shouldn't be used to specifically rely on Jewish ancestry or even Cohen ancestry, but it is a good indicator for those who already have some sort of oral history, and I did like the way it was presented in the book.
Harry Ostrer further covers Jewish intelligence, the section seemed slightly out of place, but Harry Ostrer does mention that there is still ongoing debate regarding genetic influence of intelligence or if it is a result of other factors such as wealth, urbanization, education, etc.
Medical studies were quite interesting which shows evidence how genetic screening has practically eliminated Tay-Sachs from the Ashkenazi population and that it is actually more common in Non Jews now than it is Jews. Other mentions are Gauchers disease and other genetic diseases that seem to be found in different Jewish populations not found in the Ashkenazi population.
Overall, the book was a pleasure to read, I felt that it refined my knowledge on the subject and that I had a better understanding on bottle neck populations and population clustering compared to before. The book by no means is pro Zionist or Anti-Semitic or even Pro Khazar/Anti Khazar. Infact, the book does quite the opposite as Harry Ostrer mentions that he refused to be influenced in some sort of political role to promote a concept of Jews being a single ethnicity/race or that they did not have any Hebrew origins. Harry Ostrer seems to promote a message of science, and I firmly believe this is why his book has been misunderstood by both sides of the spectrum. On one hand, you have the religious Jews who in some cases do not want to acknowledge that Jews are a race or a ethnicity but rather a religion, Harry Ostrer does mention that American Jews are the few people who do not want to be seen as a race which is understandable considering how Hitler alienated Jews in Nazi Germany and treated them as inferior, but does not warrant an excuse why scientific genetic studies should not be used to encourage and promote scientific studies.
On the other hand, the non religious, or perhaps those who are politically opposed to Israel or even perhaps anti-semitic may feel that Harry Ostrer is politically promoting Zionism or perhaps that the Jews are identifying themselves superior genetically, in other cases, individuals who oppose the historical context of Israel or the Jews even descending from the Israelite people may also feel that Harry Ostrer is promoting a very one dimensional view on the Jewish people.
From the viewpoint of Harry Ostrer, it appears once again that he states in his book that this is not the focus, and even goes on to state that Israels law of return does not use genetics/DNA to allow citizenship and that even converts to Judaism are able to "return" to the state. Harry Ostrer seems more keen on identifying a signature common in Jews to a core ancestor that bottlenecked and had mixed with other populations that separates them genetically.
From a personal viewpoint, I have used genetic testing from both FamilytreeDNA and 23andme and have learned a lot about my mixed Ashkenazi/Sephardic ancestry and my Kohanim paternal ancestors. I have also learned about genetic diseases that my family has inherited as a result. I cannot recommend this book enough to those who are also involved in genealogical testing and I feel Harry Ostrer did a great job despite minimal complaints on a few topics. 5 stars for a wonderful book.
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Top reviews from other countries
Ruben B.
Scientific but very well researched and readable.
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