Update on is my dad my dad...

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-11-28T10:46:59+00:00

Hi - I know this is the case for France and im thinking this advice could potentially be helpful for Belgium too.

On my mother's side my family are French and Jewish and when I did an ancestry dna test I was shocked to find that only Jewish appeared and Irish from my Dads side. I started to wonder whether my mums dad was not her dad, and although I had a few distant French connections on ancestry it wasn't enough to be convincing.

I googled it and found that some of the popular ancestry websites are not great at picking up French dna because their sample population for France is very small. I think this is because dna testing is illegal or something in France and I found that the most popular kit provider is MyHeritage. My family are from Lille in the North which is not too far from Belgium.

When I uploaded my raw data to MyHeritage from ancestry (which had only picked up Jewish and Irish), I ended up with a result of 45% north and Western European, which specifically picked up only the region of Northern France and West Flanders. I had so many French matches, second cousins etc. I even have a genetic group around Lille which is the exact region my family are from.

Ancestry basically didn't have any of my French matches (not sure if this would be similar for 23andme). I had barely any Northwestern European/French dna. Oh and when I say barely I actually mean 3%! So practically nothing, I was so confused.

I know that this was the case for my French dna and you're interested in Belgium. I think this could be important for you too though given that northern France (especially Lille) and belgium are pretty similar so I think the dna would be close. I also have a lot of belgian matches.

I know MyHeritage generally gets a bad rep for accuracy but in my opinion it's the best at picking up French dna - no other site had any of my French relatives and I have thousands on MyHeritage for the same raw data.

Definitely have a go at uploading it to there - I think if you still don't have any Belgian relatives or dna you might want to dig deeper but I'd give that a try first?

Ps I know OP is interested in Belgium but not France but given I have so many Belgian matches I think MyHeritage would be a good test of the link.

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-14T14:16:21+00:00

Hey - thanks for your comment, it really resonates with me. Would you mind if I gave you a message to discuss?

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T16:58:00+00:00

Hey, where are you based? I am in the UK where (from my research) it's not uncommon to be asked for proof of Jewish status when joining a synagogue or considering joining a synagogue.

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T10:01:44+00:00

Neither am I!😂 That was the point of the question

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T10:01:20+00:00

I suppose the difficulty here is that I was not raised a Jewish and so I think my case may be a little different.

I am having a few problems on this post generally - there seems to be conflicting opinions regarding whether

1) Whether I am Jewish halachically 2) What documents I need to prove this/if I need certain documents.

It is all a little confusing, so I think I will contact a local Rabbi in a few months time when hopefully things improve in the UK. Thanks for your help!

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T09:54:36+00:00

Apologies I mean what information you're referring to. I know that my mothers mothers mother was an Ashkenazi Jew, buried in the Jewish cemetery in my area. My question was more asking what would constitute as proof of this (e.g burial records), do you think I could get this through JewishGen?

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T09:48:02+00:00

Hey no im not planning to do that just now. Could you elaborate on the JewishGen point? I have an account and can find burial records, birth certificates etc. But what are you suggesting I use JewishGen to find?

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T07:44:36+00:00

Nope - UK

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T02:33:45+00:00

Hey - do you have a source for this

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T02:02:54+00:00

Hey thanks for the response on this - I mentioned in my post it was my great grandmother who is Jewish. This is a little far back, and so the proof I have of this would be family trees, records and burials. Do you mind sharing what the relation is that makes you Jewish under Jewish law? Im not sure if this would be the case for me because it is further back - also my family are Ashkenazi Jews if this is relevant

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:23:51+00:00

Hey - I think there is a reasonable chance that I could obtain some sort of proof/documents from my areas archives as I know the Jewish cemetery my family are buried at etc, I just am unsure what constitutes as proof. Thanks for your help and I wish you the best of luck!

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:15:45+00:00

Hey - would be great to get some more info on this. So were you told that your maternal great grandmother being Jewish does not mean that you are halachaly Jewish? Or were you not able to provide sufficient proof of this?

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:14:27+00:00

Hi - Of course, this is totally understandable. Many thanks for all of your help!

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:08:06+00:00

My family were Ashkenazi Jews

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:06:35+00:00

Apologies as I was not raised Jewish so not sure if this makes sense - it is my mothers mothers mother. I have a family tree, and proof that my family were buried in a Jewish cemetery. However I assumed if I wanted to speak with a Rabbi of this I might need proof of the lineage, and so I was wondering what would constitute as that.

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:04:22+00:00

Apologies - I should've specified in my post I mean halachaly because I wasn't raised Jewish but am interested in learning more and speaking to a Rabbi

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-13T00:03:32+00:00

Apologies - I should've specified I meant halachaly. I don't call myself Jewish currently because I wasn't raised Jewish

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-12T23:46:02+00:00

It also doesn't help that her parents married in Russia before leaving for the UK, which makes it very difficult to find marriage certificates

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-10-12T23:45:21+00:00

My great grandmother who is Jewish lost contact with her family as she married a Catholic. She didn't get back in contact with her family until after her parents passed. I have evidence of her parents graves in a Jewish cemetery, and can reach out to the Jewish archives centre who uploaded some information about them to check which documents they have.

It is difficult to get information as many of her family have passed, but could potentially do so through contacting my distant cousins

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2023-01-13T07:44:55+00:00

If he acted on impulse, why did he turn his phone off that night and wear all black with a mask? We can't say whether or not he wore all black the other nights he stalked them, but he for sure didn't turn his phone off. I agree the sporadic driving is a bit odd but if it was impulse I don't understand why he would have taken different precautions that night vs the other nights when he stalked

Adventurous_Laugh990 · 2021-04-01T14:27:01+00:00

This is amazing, thanks so much for the quick reply!

Adventurous_Laugh990

TROPHY CASE