The genome-wide structure of the Jewish people.

Contemporary Jews comprise an aggregate of ethno-religious communities whose worldwide members identify with each other through various shared religious, historical and cultural traditions. Historical evidence suggests common origins in the Middle East, followed by migrations leading to the establishment of communities of Jews in Europe, Africa and Asia, in what is termed the Jewish Diaspora. This complex demographic history imposes special challenges in attempting to address the genetic structure of the Jewish people.

Genetics, history, and identity: the case of the Bene Israel and the Lemba.

The paper examines the impact of genetic research on the religious identity of the Bene Israel Indian Jewish community and the Lemba Judaising group of southern Africa. It demonstrates how DNA tests which happened to support the possibility of the communities' legends of origin affected their self-perception, the way they are viewed by their neighbors, and their image in the West. It is argued that in both cases what accounted most for the Bene Israel and Lemba responses to the tests was the way the results were portrayed in the mass media, the history of the development of Judaism in their communities, and the local realities.

Place, priestly status and purity: the impact of genetic research on an Indian Jewish community.

The Bene Israel is a Jewish community in western India whose origins are unknown from conventional sources. This paper discusses a genetic ancestry study that mapped Bene Israel genealogies and the impact of the study on the Bene Israel.

Constructing black Jews: genetic tests and the Lemba--the 'black Jews' of South Africa.

This commentary examines the use of Y-chromosome testing to reconstruct a genetic ancestry for the Lemba, a group in southern Africa that has long considered itself Jewish. The commentary looks especially at the reasons why this project drew such attention from the mainstream media.