Jacob's Legacy : A Genetic View of Jewish History

by David B. Goldstein

• ISBN13: 9780300125832
• ISBN10: 0300125836
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2008-05-28
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Who are the Jews? Where did they come from? What is the connection between an ancient Jewish priest in Jerusalem and today's Israeli sunbather on the beaches of Tel Aviv? These questions stand at the heart of this engaging book. Geneticist David Goldstein analyzes modern DNA studies of Jewish populations and examines the intersections of these scientific findings with the history (both biblical and modern) and oral tradition of the Jews. With a special gift for translating complex scientific concepts into language understandable to all, Goldstein delivers an accessible, personal, and fascinating bookthe first to tell the history of a group of people through the lens of genetics. In a series of detective-style stories, Goldstein explores the priestly lineage of Jewish males as manifested by Y chromosomes, the Jewish lineage claims of an obscure black South African tribe, the differences in maternal and paternal genetic heritage among Jewish populations, and much more. The author also grapples with the medical and ethical implications of our rapidly growing command of the human genomic landscape. The study of genetics has not only changed the study of Jewish history, Goldstein shows, it has altered notions of Jewish identity and even our understanding of what makes a people a people.

Author Biography

David B. Goldstein is professor of molecular genetics and director of the Institute for Genome Science and Policy’s Center for Population Genomics and Pharmacogenetics, Duke University. He lives in Durham, NC.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Introduction	p. 1
Keeping God's House: Y Chromosomes and Old Testament Priests	p. 8
Lost Tribe No More? The Black Jews of South Africa	p. 40
Looking Out for Number Two: The Case of the Ashkenazi Levites	p. 61
Those Jewish Mothers: The Development of Female-Defined Ethnicity in the Jewish Diaspora	p. 75
Look on Mine Affliction: Genetic Diseases and Jewish History	p. 100
Jews, Genes, and the Future	p. 115
Notes	p. 121
Glossary	p. 127
Bibliography	p. 129
Index	p. 141
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