i do not get you people you got your bible that you swear by it then according to it we are all come from the same couple or Noah survived the flood so we are again the same but you claim we are different that is proving my point you have Jewish religion but not a race of people.
An event that's not recorded in the bible: Yafeth and Ham were teasing Shem, as brothers often do, and Shem went and complained to their father Noah. After Noah told the other two to behave themselves, Jafeth mumbled angrily, "You can't criticize Shem any more without being called an anti-Shemite."
This topic is so interesting. I have a relative who took the DNA tests and she was matched with Jewish cousins who have roots in Poland. But she was also matched with Polish cousins who don't consider themselves Jewish. It would be interesting to know the history behind that. Did someone marry into a Jewish family or vice versa, or was someone Jewish and hid it? Hmmm
They might've bought into the lie that Jews don't believe in Jesus. Thus, they may consider themselves Polish Catholics and not Ashkenazi Jewish Catholics. Also, as you said, someone was likely Jewish and hid it. My granddad went from utter denial and trying to connect us to Stefan Czarniecki to "If we had any Jewish blood, I don't know about it." My dad also used the classic Jesse Straus excuse in relation to our family:
As to our 'Jewish roots', I have talked to a number of people and there is only one situation of someone on the Rusnak side of the family being Jewish and that is questionable. Please remember that Judaism is a religion and not a nationality and that in your extended family, you probably have scores of Christian denominations and sub-denominations represented as well as other religions.
That was a while back, and I think that he is now beginning to begrudgingly concede that we do have Jewish roots. Meanwhile, I just realized that he used Straus' exact wording. Incidentally, he told me that the member in question was Henry Feldman, and Henry's wife (Elizabeth Peregrin Feldman) happens to be a maternal Fosko Rusnak. This, thus, makes her a maternal Levite (The Foczkos were Levi'im from Warszawa, Radom, and £ódż; and our branch became Anusim and immigrated to Slovakian Hungary. Istvan Foczko married Johanna Hanzokova whose mother was a Lazarova, so we may also be of kohein descent and descended from Ele'azar HaKohen ben Aharon on that side.
(As for the Rusznaks, they were Levi'im from Kosice.).
Does anyone else see this a good reason NOT to get DNA checked?
Bruno Schulz, the writer and artist, was Jewish (in what is now Ukraine). Hs fiancee converted to Catholicism and tried to encourage him to, so they could marry. He officially published a notice withdrawing from his Jewish faith, but refused to become a catholic.
There was also a project during the 18th/19th century, I believe, to encourage Jews to convert to catholicism.
I'm having the opposite confusion. I haven't had my DNA tested, but my daughter has, and it revealed no Jewish ancestry, which is what I would have expected. But while trying to trace my Polish grandmother's history, nearly all the info I come across on the internet says that her last name, Majewski, is a name that was used by Jewsh families who'd converted to Catholicism. A name-change could explain why this line has been so very difficult to trace, and why they emigrated in the late 1930s, but then there's that lack of DNA.
In other words, I just don't know. If anyone could shed some light on this mystery I'd appreciate it!
her last name, Majewski, is a name that was used by Jewsh families who'd converted to Catholicism.
Some people called that are descended from converts, but by no means all. There are quite a few villages in PL called Majewo and perhaps some of your grandmother's ancestors came from one of these.
Sometimes for Ashkenazim, Jewish markers do not show up. For other Jews, the same may apply. For instance, Lemba Jewish women have no Jewish DNA, despite that they are banot-Aharon.
Do you know how surnames work in Europe? I suspect not. Most people with her surname aren't Jewish. Some are, however you'd need more than your own preoccupation to reliably suggest that the lady who posted is anything other than just Polish.
I'm glad you agree with me. There's nothing to suggest that the lady is Jewish and indeed she was surprised to find websites (almost certainly American ones) suggesting that some people with her surname are.
no Jewish ancestry, which is what I would have expected