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Old November 6th, 2013 #1
Togar mah
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Default Origins of Ashkenazi Levites

.
Prehistoric Jews
White Khazar Land

Language

Surnames
Ashkenazi, Ashkenazi-Levite, Ben, Chazanoff, Emdin, Gann, Glazer, Gold, Greenwald, Heffler, Hoffman, Kellner, Klein, Levin, Levite, Levy, Lurya, Minsky, Rothenberg, Strauss, Swartz, Zakem, Zuckerman.



Levite population

Levite Y-chromosome studies

A 2003 study of the Y-chromosome by Behar et al. points to multiple origins for Ashkenazi Levites, a priestly class who comprise approximately 4% of Ashkenazi Jews. It found that Haplogroup R1a1a (R-M17), uncommon in the Middle East or among Sephardi Jews, originating in Central Asia and dominant in Eastern Europe, is present in over 50% of Ashkenazi Levites, while the rest of Ashkenazi Levites' paternal lineage is of Middle Eastern origin. Behar suggests a founding event, probably involving one or very few European men, occurring at a time close to the initial formation and settlement of the Ashkenazi community as a possible explanation. As Nebel, Behar and Goldstein speculate, "although neither the NRY haplogroup composition of the majority of Ashkenazi Jews nor the microsatellite haplotype composition of the R1a1 haplogroup within Ashkenazi Levites is consistent with a major Khazar or other European origin, as has been speculated by some authors (Baron 1957; Dunlop 1967; Ben-Sasson 1976; Keys 1999), one cannot rule out the important contribution of a single or a few founders among contemporary Ashkenazi Levites."
Haplogroup R1a1.
[i/]Modal or 'most common' set of markers defining the so called Ashkenazi-Levite Modal haplotype found among 52% of men who claim to be Levites in European Jewish populations.[/I]

Lineage

Having a last name of Levi or a related term does not necessarily mean a person is a Levite, and many Levites do not have such last names. Levitical status is passed down in families from parent to child, as part of a family's genealogical tradition. Tribal status is determined by patrilineal descent, so a child whose biological father is a Levite (in cases of adoption or artificial insemination, status is determined by the genetic father), is also considered a Levite. Jewish status is determined by matrilineal descent, thus conferring levitical status onto children requires both biological parents to be Jews and the biological father to be a Levite.

Currently the only branches of Judaism which regard Jewish status as being conferable by both parents have also abolished tribal statuses and distinctions, due to a view in both cases that egalitarian principles override halakha (traditional Jewish law). Accordingly, there is currently no branch of Judaism that regards levitical status as conferable by matrilineal descent. It is either conferable patrilineally, in the traditional manner, or it does not exist and is not conferred at all.

Levite R1a samples to compare with Ashkenazi motifs is due to the fact that Sephardic Levites are not as group R1a, but haplogroup K.

A very rare haplogroup (R1a*) has previously been observed only in two Armenian men
(Weale et al. 2001).

Last edited by Togar mah; November 6th, 2013 at 07:34 PM.
 
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