Jewish ancestry
Semitic family background
Jewish ancestry refers to descent from Jewish forebears—people who were part of the Jewish ethnic and religious community.
Because Jewish identity passes through both religious practice and family lineage, ancestry matters in ways it might not for other groups.
Someone may have Jewish ancestry without practicing Judaism or identifying as Jewish: She discovered Jewish ancestry through a DNA test.
The phrase often arises in genealogical research, conversion discussions, or questions of identity.
- old countryImmigrant's ancestral homeland
- family treeChart of ancestors
- DNA testingAnalyzing hereditary material
- Hebrew languageSemitic tongue of Israel
- wandering JewTrailing striped houseplant
Ellis Island · bar mitzvah · mitochondrial DNA · kosher laws · chosen people · interfaith dialogue
- genealogyfamily trees, family history, descendants, pedigrees, lineages
- Jewish cultureTorah, synagogue, synagogues, rabbi, rabbis
Jewish, Jews, Jewess, Jewry, ancestry, ancestor, ancestors, ancestral, ancestress