Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Ashkenazi Jews, a major Jewish diasporic ethnic group native to Europe.
Ashkenazi Jews
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Opinion How Did Ashkenazi Jews End Up With Famous Non-Jewish Last Names?
It’s a fact: Ashkenazi Jews often bear surnames also used by Christians. What, if anything, does that tell us? Surnames used by a population often contain clues about the historical, linguistic and cultural past of the group. Certain names reveal migration patterns, others provide clues about the occupations of the ancestors and some names provide…
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Opinion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Sephardic Story Is One Forgotten By White Jews
It happens at least once every semester: a student learns that I teach courses in Jewish studies at my university here in southeast Texas and comes to visit me during my office hours. In most cases, I have never met this student before, and at first, the conversation is hesitant, as if the student lacks…
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Community Anti-Semitism Is Real — And So Are White Jews
I am a white American Jew. If I look at my family tree for many generations back on either side, I will see white Europeans who look just like me. My mother’s family has been in the US for several generations. She has roots in Eastern Europe, but her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were born…
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News Ashkenazi Jews Have A Nickname. Or Is It A Slur?
In 2018, brevity is the soul not of wit, but of identity politics. Feminine is “femme.” Masculine is “masc.” And Ashkenazi is “Ashki.” The term, sometimes a dig and sometimes a diminutive, is popping up more frequently on social media. Like other internet-era terms for Jewish sub-groups — “ortho” for Orthdoox, “OTD” for those who…
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Opinion Have Your Say: Are Ashkenazi Jews White?
Have Your Say is your chance to tell us what you think. Comment below or on Facebook and let us know what you think about the question posed in the headline.
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News 23andMe’s World Cup Campaign Leaves Ashkenazi Jews A Bit Nowhere
In the wake of the United States’ failure to qualify for the World Cup, which will be held in Russia, 23andMe has announced a new partnership with FOX Sports that will try to get fans pumped up by encouraging them to root for the country of their ancestors. It sure is nice to feel genetic…
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Fast Forward Family Needs Help To Fund Gene Therapy For Disease Prevalent in Ashkenazi Jews
Jennie Landsman first noticed something was wrong when her 6-month-old son Benny was still unable to hold up his head. She and her husband Gary took him to multiple specialists. It took months, and the birth of another son, Josh, before finally receiving a devastating answer last August. Their two youngest sons were diagnosed with…
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Fast Forward Ashkenazi Jews With Crohn’s Disease More Likely To Have Parkinson’s Gene: Study
Ashkenazi Jews with Crohn’s disease have an increased likelihood of carrying a gene mutation that causes Parkinson’s disease, a new scientific study has found. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, could help doctors better understand the causes of both Parkinson’s and Crohn’s, a disease causing chronic inflammation of the digestive system that is disproportionately…
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FIRST PERSON As a rabbi, he helped others mourn. So why wouldn’t his daughter say kaddish for him?
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