r/JewsOfConscience • u/AutoModerator • 1d ago

Discussion r/JewsOfConscience Free Discussion Thread

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u/EntertainmentDry4360 Non-Jewish Ally 1d ago

It was confirmed recently by 23& me that at least one of my dad's grandparents was Ashkenazi Jewish. We have an 100+ year old baptismal certificate that is dated from when they were an adult but I had originally thought they might have just been a German Protestant marrying into a hardcore Irish Catholic family.

Is there a way to reconnect with this heritage without a full conversion?

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) 1d ago

Of course. I'm in this position too.

You can explore anything you want. Including cuisine. I suggest looking for a Jewish or kosher-style deli in your area. I'm not kidding.

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u/EntertainmentDry4360 Non-Jewish Ally 1d ago

I suppose with the rise of easy and cheap genetic testing lots of us "my family has been European Christian forever" people have Ashkenazi ancestors popping up left and right.

If I'm honest I'm also worried about getting into it with Zionists as I am extremely pro-Palestine.

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) 1d ago

I knew my Jewish grandfather, but he was very much nonobservant and he married a Protestant (my grandmother). He maintained a lot of cultural practices, though, such as placing high value on higher education and professional credentialing, and making and seeking out Ashkenazi foods.

23andMe is a great resource for understanding one's ancestors. Has it identified any living relatives you could contact?

There are plenty of pro-Palestine American Jews. They are a minority, but they aren't vanishingly rare.

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u/EntertainmentDry4360 Non-Jewish Ally 1d ago

I mean my dad was the same but tbh I never saw that as "being Jewish" traits.

Unfortunately I don't live in the US.

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) 1d ago

I mean, they're not exclusively Jewish traits . . . .

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u/BolesCW Mizrahi 1d ago

Jewish affiliation is matrilineal. The parts of the Jewish world that accept patrilineal descent are clear that the home must have a consistent level of observing Jewish ritual and tradition. You need to go through a formal conversion if you want to be accepted as a Jew; vague ancestry determined by a percentage of similarity to others in a proprietary database is definitely not enough.

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u/PlinyToTrajan Non-Jewish Ally (Jewish ancestry & relatives) 10h ago

But the question was about reconnecting with heritage, not about becoming a Jew.

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u/EntertainmentDry4360 Non-Jewish Ally 1d ago edited 1d ago

You know that this great grandparent never asked my opinion on their conversion, right?

Also just saying, my fathers grandparent's birth religion would have been enough for many antisemitic regimes to have targeted him in the past.

"Vague ancestry " lol bruh I have their adult baptismal certificate issued in NYC. This isn't Cherokee princess grandma nonsense, this a traceable person who definitely existed.

I literally said this is my heritage, I'm not planning on going to Israel or being a rabbi.