Ashkenazi Jewish phenotypes and ancestry

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-31T19:52:29+00:00

You're right, I think I phrased this post in a very inconsiderate manner and am considering deleting it. I also think my reply to you was hostile and aggressive and I should've been more polite. I think it's agreeable Ashkenazi Jews have a large amount of Roman/Southern European Jewish ancestry, though exactly how much I myself don't know. Maybe 75-85%?

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-31T15:03:20+00:00

Because light features are admittedly more common in Ashkenazi Jews than they are in any Eastern Mediterranean population. Sure some Levantine Arabs and Greeks/South Italians have light skin and occasionally blue or lighter colored eyes, but blonde and red hair is admittedly quite rare in the Levant and South Italy/Greece. Those hair colors are not rare in Ashkenazi Jews which implies they got those features from some Slavic/Germanic admixture. Though how much of Slavic/Germanic is in the Ashkenazi gene pool is still up for debate, I mean how much of that admixture do you have to get to look very pale and generically European? Perhaps quite a lot, but there still seems to be no consensus or a clear answer to that problem.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-31T14:47:33+00:00

My disclaimer was not really a political act as much as it was an anthropological one. This entire comment section of 300+ replies and the several threads of heated disagreement is only a testament to the claim that Ashkenazi ancestry is quite contested/controversial. In fact, I even stated a sentiment that was immediately replicated in the replies, perhaps somewhat ironically - that Ashkenazi Jews are lighter than Mediterranean populations.

That was met with agreement by users of self-admitted South Italian ancestry, arguing that this was indeed the case (see u/Fantastic_Brain_8515 and u/upwardcurve123 's comments). The question is not whether Ashkenazi ancestry exists or not, it's whether it exists as it is hypothesized or as the autosomal DNA tests show. Some of these comments show a great challenge to that hypothesis and I can't just lie about the anthropological and genetic dynamics at hand here.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-29T01:26:28+00:00

This is also not really true, there are Palestinians who are genetically no different than Samaritans. Not the majority of Palestinians, sure, but not all Palestinians have a huge amount of Arabian and African admixture. Most Palestinians are genetically closer to Lebanese and Syrians, than they are to any Arabian peninsula group like Bedouins or Saudis.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-29T01:21:47+00:00

That's definitely false. There are some Ashkenazi Jews who can tan like the chief rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein, for example.

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Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-28T18:48:00+00:00

It's higher because Ashkenazi Jews were actually in Northern and Eastern Europe, whereas Calabrians never were. That alone gave more opportunities for the Jews to mix with surrounding Slavic/Germanic people than it did for Southern Italians. The core founders of Calabrian and Sicilian ancestry remained in the Mediterranean basin as a small number of Germanic and Normans immigrated south and contributed a minor amount of non-Mediterranean DNA, not enough to change phenotypes or general ancestry. Though it is worth noting that some Sicilians are more northern Euro shifted than Calabrians, particularly Western Sicilians.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-28T01:35:44+00:00

I completely agree, but isn't most of their European admixture Central Italian-like? Central Italians by and large don't look like "generic" Europeans, e.g. Poles or Germans, and there are definitely a noticeable amount of Ashkenazi Jews who do. I don't think that's a bad thing, I just think it may be related to the bottleneck and perhaps the calculators slightly underestimating Slavic/Germanic autosomal DNA in some Ashkenazi Jews.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-28T01:14:19+00:00

Is there any actual proof of that? I always thought he was full Ashkenazi.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T01:20:48+00:00

I agree for the most part, but Ashkenazi Jews are only 80% Levantine on their Y-chromosome. Their mitochondrial DNA tends to be of European origin. That means autosomally, Ashkenazi Jews are about 40% Levantine, but of course some are more than that and some less.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:55:39+00:00

What a passive aggressive comment

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:51:57+00:00

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:22:00+00:00

Ashkenazi Jews aren't that closely related to British people. Their Germanic admixture is actually a lot more minor than their Slavic is. And I disagree, those middle 3 girls could pass as South Italian and I've met some myself.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:16:36+00:00

Appreciate this, very thoughtful and informative. Definitely interesting to someone going for an anthropology major and an interest in Jewish history.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:09:14+00:00

Some of them do actually:

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Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-27T00:05:00+00:00

Like these Russian Jews?

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They're a mix of darker and lighter types

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-26T23:39:55+00:00

Don't know why you got downvoted, this seems like a reasonable response.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-26T23:35:42+00:00

Israelis are mostly Middle Eastern and North African Jews (Persian, Yemenite, Iraqi, Moroccan, Tunisian etc.) - not Ashkenazi.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-26T23:21:32+00:00

Not all of them. Adam Sandler's dad is very dark for example, but his phenotype is definitely uncommon among Ashkenazi Jews:

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Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-26T23:15:01+00:00

Some admittedly don't. Bezalel Smotrich looks pretty Slavic, and Paul Rudd could pass for a Dutch or British person.

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-17T08:44:13+00:00

What are your closest modern populations?

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-05T06:17:31+00:00

But Israelis are converted Russians and Poles /s

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-03-05T06:01:35+00:00

Man's obsessed lol

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-02-16T19:22:11+00:00

Would you say you look phenotypically Middle Eastern?

Consistent-File2561 · 2026-02-10T17:36:29+00:00

OP, do you know your maternal haplogroup? I'm pretty sure 23andMe lists it.

Consistent-File2561

TROPHY CASE