"This section is the most comprehensive summary of Jewish genetic data. In recent years, advances in genetic technology and the broadening in scope of genetic studies to encompass more ethnic groups have allowed scientists to come to more accurate conclusions. Now that we have the benefit of more than a decade of comprehensive genetic testing of Jewish populations using modern techniques, we have finally come close to answering all the questions about Jewish ancestry. Part of the story is that Eastern European Jews have significant Eastern Mediterranean elements which manifest themselves in close relationships with Kurdish, Armenian, Palestinian Arab, Lebanese, Syrian, and Anatolian Turkish peoples. This is why the Y-DNA haplogroups J and E, which are typical of the Middle East, are so common among them. Jewish lineages from this region of the world derive from both the Levant and the Anatolia-Armenia region. At the same time, there are traces of European (including Northern Italian and Western Slavic including Polish), Northwest African (Berber), and East Asian ancestry among European Jews. Many Greek and Roman women married Jewish men before conversion to Judaism was outlawed by the Roman Empire, and many of the Southern European ancestral lines in Ashkenazic families come from these marriages. Ethiopian Jews descend from Ethiopian Africans who converted to Judaism. Yemenite Jews descend from Arabs who converted to Judaism. North African Jewish and Kurdish Jewish paternal lineages come from Israelites. Jewish Y-DNA tends to come from the Middle East, and studies that take into account mtDNA show that many Jewish populations are related to neighboring non-Jewish groups maternally. All existing studies fail to compare modern Jewish populations' DNA to ancient Judean DNA and medieval Khazarian DNA, but in the absence of old DNA, comparisons with living populations appear to be adequate to trace geographic roots.D" ( Jewish Genetics-DNA -http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/abstracts.html

"The main ethnic element of Ashkenazim (German and Eastern European Jews), Sephardim (Spanish and Portuguese Jews), Mizrakhim (Middle Eastern Jews), Juhurim (Mountain Jews of the Caucasus), Italqim (Italian Jews), and most other modern Jewish populations of the world is Israelite. The Israelite haplotypes fall into Y-DNA haplogroups J and E.

 "The actual source of Ashkenazic R1a1 was a population in Iran." What the article doesn't mention here is that Jews lived in Persia, taken there by the Babylonians in 597 and 586 BCE, and in keeping with their Judaism, would have appointed new people to be the teachers, the Levites, thus the R1a1 line of men so perhaps they were short of Levite tribal members and those they had were already Cohens.  

"The presence of the Y-DNA haplogroup Q1b1a (Q-L245) in Ashkenazi and Karaite samples is not indicative of Khazar ancestry but rather of Southwest Asian ancestry." Our grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus/Goldfoot-would have been Q1b1a like his grandson, David Goldfoot.  

Unfortunately, as Bennett Greenspan pointed out, Y-DNA doesn't usually last more than 100 years in the remains of a dead person whose body isn't well-preserved (such as frozen or mummified), so direct testing of Khazar bones may be impossible, but on the other hand some advances have recently made possible the testing of ancient DNA from bones, teeth, hair, etc. For instance, LL. Kang et al. studied the remains of ancient Huns for their 2013 paper "Y chromosomes of ancient Hunnu people and its implication on the phylogeny of East Asian linguistic families" in which they managed to identify these Y-DNA haplogroups found among them: Q-M242, Q-M3, N-Tat, C-M130, and R1a1.

---

"Bennett Greenspan, a colleague of geneticist Dr. Michael Hammer, has established Family Tree DNA Genealogy by Genetics, Ltd. to investigate the roots of European Jews and family genealogies. Visit his site to see if you may benefit from their services. This site is an affiliate. "  This is who we have tested with.

Studies of autosomal DNA, which look at the entire DNA mixture, show that Jewish populations have tended to form relatively closely related groups in independent communities, with most in a community sharing significant ancestry.^[1] For populations of the Jewish diaspora, the genetic composition of Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jewish populations show a predominant amount of shared Middle Eastern ancestry. According to Behar and colleagues (2010), this is "consistent with the historical formulation theories the Jewish people as descending from ancient Hebrew and Israelites of the Levant" and "the dispersion of the people of ancient Israel throughout the Old World".^[2]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

Nathan Abraham Goldfoot b: August 5, 1872. Nochum Nathan Abraham son of Abram Goldfus Russian Federation of Telsiai/ Telshi, Kovno, Lithuania

A Goldfus branch going back to Iones Goldfus (Jonah)b: c1730 was found in Telsiai, Lithuanian records obtainable through http://jewishgen.org.   From this line, our family's grandfather, Nathan Abraham Goldfus b: August 5, 1872, immigrated to England, then Dublin, Ireland at the Londonderry Port "Londonderry (Irish port) bound for Quebec and Montreal in 1893 at the age of 22 where he took a ship to Winnipeg, Canada and from there managed to find his way by train in 1893, most likely, to the small mining town in the mountains of Council, Idaho.  I had  found him in Quebec arriving in 1893 on the ship,  Parisian.  Reference RG76; microfilm C-4539.  He contracted to get off at Winnipeg.  He was number 29520 on the ship of 8 men and 2 women passengers.  Parisian was the 1st large steamer of the Allen Line taking immigrants to Canada.  It weighed 5,359 tons and sailed first on May 1881.  It took 13 1/4 days from Liverpool, England to Canada and took 18 days from Glasgow, Scotland.

Somehow, he managed to cross the border from Canada into the USA and arrived in Council, Idaho.  There, to his surprise , he found several Jewish men, the Criss Brothers, Sam and Harry, who had married 2 sisters, Jenny and Bessie Jermulowske, sisters of Zlata "Hattie" Jermulowske.  Sam and Harry had bought land in this town and were in business there.  Nathan came by train and was ready to find work, most likely by peddling goods to miners.  What he found was 18 year old Zlata Jermulowske, and that Zlata and her sisters were from Lazdijai, Suwalki, Lithuania which was later taken over by Poland.  They spoke the same line of Yiddish.

By the time Nathan was 9 years old, there had been pogroms going on in Russia
At age 10, the May Laws of Jewish discrimination were already in place. His name was  Nathan, and Natan is a Jewish name from the ten Polish Provinces of Kalisz, Kielee, Lomza, Lublin, Pietrkow, Plock, Radom, Siedlce, Suwalki, and Warsaw.  Poland was partitioned in 1772, 1792 and 1795.  Then it was part of Russia.  Nathan must be the anglicized name.

Nathan was born at the worst period in Russian history.  The 1880's was another dark period of rising anti-Semitism, expulsions from large cities and many other general restrictions.  It was mandatory for Jews "to keep the same names that had been entered in the vital records."  1881 saw Alexander II assassinated causing antisemitism. Jews were traders and artisans since Middle Ages and were now restricted in Russia including much of Poland. in Pale of Jewish Settlement.  Serfdom was in Russia until 1861.  In 1891 22,000 Jews in chains were led from Moscow and St. Petersburg to the Pale.  It was hard to leave Russia.  They had to cross borders illegally into Austria/Hungary, then to Vienna or Berlin.  In Hamburg, Bremen and Rotterdam, thousands tried to find passage to America, standing in long lines.  Then they crowded into steerage for 2 to 4 weeks of seasickness and hundreds sharing a toilet.

 In 1904 20,000 people did not pass the inspection and were sent back to Europe.  Between 1881 and 1910 1.5 million Jews immigrated to USA.  Of that 1 million were from Russia.    Most Eastern European immigrants destined for Oregon stopped on the Lower East Side before traveling by train across the country to Portland.  Others came more directly because relatives or families had already settled here.

When Nathan was living in Dublin, Ireland, he found Goldfus/Goldfoot relatives and lived with them at 13 Arbutus Place, SCR.  This was the address of one of the people destined to leave later for South Africa.
There is a website from the British Isles which includes Ireland and from this I found Nathan Abraham Goldoot had married a Lena Goldberfg on Tuesday, 21 February, 1893 in Dublin.  He was "a commercial traveller and his father was listed as Morris Goldfoot (dec), a distiller.  He lived at 13 Arbutus Place, S.C.R.  Up to this time, I never knew my grandfather even had a middle name.  He had told my grandmother, Zlata, that he had been married before.  There were no children.  From what I can see, they weren't married or living together for very long.  She was not on the ship to Canada that I could see.

In 1901 I find these 2 Goldfoots living at Arbutus Place:, Hyman , age 33, and Abraham, age 0, just born.
On Nathan's tombstone, it is engraved from information through his wife, Zlata, that his father was Chaim Itzak Goldfus.  Their 2nd son was my father, Morris (Maurice)  Goldfoot.

From South Africa, Ian Goldfoot immigrated to the USA and through blogging, found me.  We have now had both Ian and my brother's DNA tested and we find this result.

 Resource: http://jewishgen.org
Family Tree DNA
findagrave.com
ancestry.com

Nadene Goldfoot                                      

RASHI  Rashi, (Solomon ben Yitzchak), (1040–1105) 11th-century Talmudist, primary commentator of the Talmud, OUR ancestor.

    In our DNA connection to RASHI, I just found out we are also connected to one of his connections, Rabbi Gershom ben Judah (960- c1040) in Metz, Rhineland (Germany), also known as Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or HaGolah ("Our teacher Gershom, the light of the exile.")  He was a famous Talmudist and Halakhist.  We connect through DNA to this rabbi due to our RASHI connection.
Rabbi Gershom ben Judah considered Rabbi Yehudah ben Meir an authority  in religious decisions.  Rabbi Judah was have been one of the founders of the scientific study of the Talmud in France.  He and Rabbi Eliezer ben Judah addressed a group (teshubah) to the Jewish community of Troyes about the validity of certain statutes.

Metz was a town of Lorraine. with a Jewish community that flourished in the 10th century (900s) that suffered severely in the Crusading Period.  They were expelled in 1306.  Metz was a leading European community with 480 families and the home of famous rabbis.

RASHI was born in Troyes, France in 1040 and died there in 1105, but he studied and worked in Worms, Germany where he had his school, so R. Gershom came before him.  "Rashi of Troyes (d. 1105) said less than a century after Gershom's death,  "all members of the Ashkenazi diaspora are students of his."  Troyes also had a Jewish community from the 10th century, and its prosperity was founded on the local fairs and the winegrowing, which is what Rashi did.  The Jews were protected by the counts of Champagne.  It was a major center of Jewish learning in Rashi's day.  13 Jews were put to death here in 1288 on a Ritual Murder charge, non-Jews favorite accusation.  After their expulsion in 1306, they never regained what they once were.  

R. Gershom's teacher was a German rabbi and Tamudic scholar from Mainz, Germany.  His name was Rabbi Yehuda ben Meir,  AKA Yehudah Leontin.  He was an outstanding teacher addressed as Sire Leon and referred to as "The Grand" and "The Gaon." He was one of the greatest authorities of his day.

Rabbi Gershom ben Judah is the earliest notable western European Jewish scholar, born in Metz but lived in Mainz as he had his academy here.  He was one of the first commentators on the Talmud.  His legal decisions and regulations were accepted as binding by European Jewry.  They included bans on polygamy, divorcing a woman without her consent, reading letters for others, cutting pages out of books and mocking converts who had returned to Judaism. Mainz had Jews living here in the Roman Period, but most information comes from the 10th century, too.  It was the principal community of northern Europe and the main center for rabbinic learning.  Then Jews were epelled in 1012.  They soon were able to return.  They got protection from the arch-bishop in case they needed protection from Crusaders in 1096.  It didn't help much since hundereds were murdered anyway.  By 1209 the emperor conceded his rights over the Jews to the archbishop.  Then more massacres of Jews took place at the time of the Black Death in 1349 when the people were eager to blame the Jews.  In the 10th to 11th century, Jews were prominent in trading, but from the 12th moneylending took place of their main occupation as that was all they were left to be allowed to do.  So the Jews of Mdainz finally united for many reasons with the neighbors in Spire and Worms.  They remained the center of learning until 1473 when they were again expulsed.

His life story contains much tragedy.  Gershom lost his 1st wife so decided to marry a widow named Bonna and settled in Mainz (Mayence), and devote himself to teaching the Talmud.  During his lifetime, Mainz was the center of Torah and Jewish scholarship for many Jewish communities in Europe.  Before this period, they had been connected with the Babylonian yeshivas.  Gershom was the spiritual guide of the fledgling Ashkenazic Jewish communities and was very influential in molding them when their population was dwindling.

He had students come from all over Europe and enrolled in his yeshiva.  Then they would move to the many different communities in Germany and beyond which spread Jewish learning.  Pupils were Eleazar ben Isaac (HaGadol-the Great, nephew of Simeon HaGadol); and Jacob ben Yakar, teacher of Rashi.  His fame reached the ears of rabbis in Sura City and Pumbedita.

Then the worst happened.  His son and his wife converted to become a Christian rabbi at the time when the Jews from Mainz were expulsed in 1012.  Gershom grieved and mourned as if he were dead to him for 7 days , and he mourned again for 7 days when he died.  He turned out to be understanding of others who had allowed themselves to be baptized to escape persecution as they returned to the Jewish life afterwards.  He was against reproaching the with infidelity and those who had been slandered were given the opportunity to publicly pronounce the benediction in the synagogues.

 He also had a grandson who was a rabbi following in his footsteps;  Rabbi Yehuda ben Meir of Mainz.  He was known for writing Sefer ha-Dinim,  an account of his travels and those of other Jews in Eastern Europe.   In this, he mentions Przemysl (Przemyśl, Poland
49°47' N 22°47' E 301 km SSE of Warszawa) and Kiev,  ( Kyiv, Ukraine-50°26' N 30°31' E 
0 km N of Kyyiv) Kiev, part of Soviet Union.  
50°26' N 30°31' E 0 km N of Kyyiv as trading sites along the Radhanite trade network.  This book should be a big help for geneticists who study population genetics.  

Other rabbis we are related to:

• 
  

Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gershom_ben_Judah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rabbis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wikiFranks

Nadene Goldfoot                        

King David 1010 BCE-970 BCE

                                             

RASHI 1040-1105

Rabbi Samson Wertheimer 1658-1724

Halpern & Branches is a DNA group created by Andi Ziegelman and Sandy Aaronson of which we Goldfoot family now belong to.  They used triangulation to arrive at their conclusions as well as ancient family trees.  We have found we connect to Rabbi Samson Wertheimer b: 1658-d: 1724 in Worms, Germany.  He had gone to Vienna in 1684 to join the bank of his uncle, Samuel Oppenheimer, and soon became a court banker.   Rabbi Samson is a relative of RASHI b: 1040 d: 1105 in Troyes, France.  He, in turn, is related to the one and only--King David of Israel.  I am 3rd cousin (concluded by amount of cMs matching and size of segments and number of segments involved in the match) to Andi Ziegelman. 

Goldfoot's Y haplogroup is Q1b1a, now titled as Q-L245 and in 2 months will receive another title after deeper DNA testing. It should show another twig on this branch.
Update 7/6/17:  After taking the Q-L245 test ordered on 4/29/2016, the haplogroup is now called QBZ64.  On the tree it sits between Q-BZ68 and Q-BZ64.    The line it comes from of Y2200 has been found as of July 2017 to originate in 500 CE with our common ancestor.  I would venture a guess that this would have been in the Rhineland, in or around Worms, Germany.   From my timeline (Jews were leaving and going into Europe. This would  be as early as the 400s CE and continuing to arrive there through the 10th century of 900s.  On 640 , 721 and 873 Jews in the Byzantine Empire were forcibly converted to Christianity.  This was the Greek speaking Roman Empire with headquarters in Constantinople alias Istanbul.  It was later a part of the Ottoman Empire. )




Note that our matches who carry the haplotype, J1 or J2 are of the Cohens.  J1 is called the Cohen gene, Jews from Aaron and Moses who had the priestly responsibilities and still do.  Many Arabs also carry a branch of the Cohen gene, attesting to them being our cousins; son  Ishmael of Abraham like Isaac was.  .

Halpern and Branches - Results (from Halpern & Branches leaders)