When Y-DNA and Yichus Tell Different Stories
Jeffrey Mark Paull, Jeffrey Briskman, Susan K. Steeble, and Yitzchak Meyer Twersky
Introduction
Y-DNA analysis has proven to be a valuable tool in the genealogical research of Jewish paternal lineages. In our research, we have used it to validate the paper trail of pedigreed rabbinical descendants and identify the Y-DNA genetic signature of many different rabbinical lineages.
However, sometimes Y-DNA results for Jewish descendants who share the same surname do not match, even though their paper trails indicate descent from the same common ancestor.
What happens when Y-DNA testing does not validate the paper trail? What are the possible reasons for these confounding and unexpected results? The purpose of this article is to explain some of the major reasons why Y-DNA and yichus sometimes tell different stories.
In this article, we explain:
• The meaning and significance of the term yichus to Jewish genealogy,1
• The process for identifying the Y-DNA genetic signature for a rabbinical lineage,2
• How we determine whether Y-DNA results prove or disprove patrilineal yichus, and
• The major reasons why Y-DNA and yichus sometimes tell different stories.
The Meaning and Historical Significance of Yichus
The term “yichus” is a Hebrew word which means “lineage, distinguished birth, or pedigree.”3 The importance of yichus traces back to the Torah:
“They gathered together the entire assembly on the first of the second month, and they established their genealogy according to their families, according to their fathers’ house, by number of the names from twenty years of age and up, according to their head count” (Numbers 1:18).”
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Rashi, in his commentary to the words “and they established their genealogy,” writes: “They brought their documents of yichus and witnesses to the status of their birth, each and every one, so as to trace his ancestry to the particular tribe to which he claimed to belong.”4
Jews throughout the centuries and millennia have always prided themselves in their yichus – be it derived from their parents, grandparents, or other righteous people from whom they descended. Rabbi Aron Tendler offers the following insight into the concept of yichus:5
“Some are born to it while others marry into it. It’s not something you can buy and it isn’t something that requires work in order to keep – once you have it, it’s yours. Those who do not have their own yichus can create some, but not for themselves, only for others.”
The Genealogical Significance of Yichus
Yichus was particularly important to the great rabbinical lineages and dynasties, for whom marriages were arranged between sons and daughters of equal or greater yichus.
Rabbis and their descendants went to great lengths to document their family’s yichus. It was the custom of many great rabbis to create for themselves a Shtar Yuchsin, a genealogy chart or family tree, in which they traced their lineage back to King David, Maimonides, and other great Jews of the past.6
These yichus customs have two major influences on Jewish genealogy: they provide documentation of pedigrees and paper trails for rabbinical lineages dating back to the Middle Ages, and they reveal the genetic interconnection of many of these lineages through marriage with one another. This has important genealogical implications, as many Jews either are descended from these lineages or share common ancestors with them.
Genealogical Challenges Related to the Jewish Surname Issue
The lack of surnames makes tracing Jewish lineage very difficult for Ashkenazi Jews prior to the early 1800s.7 Most Jews in the Russian Empire adopted surnames subsequent to Czar Alexander I’s 1804 edict:8
“During the census, every Jew shall have or accept a known inherited family name or surname/nickname that shall be used in all documents and lists without any change, with the addition of a name given by faith or at birth.”
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The direct result of the 1804 Jewish surname edict was the creation of many distinct family units, each having their own unique surname, regardless of their previous familial relationships. This process was repeated in numerous Jewish towns and villages throughout the Russian Empire. Although no one knows the exact number, it is likely that this surname adoption policy resulted in the creation of many thousands of new surnames.9
Because heads of households either adopted or were assigned unique surnames, many Jews who are related to one another have completely different surnames. Conversely, many Jews who are not related to one another through their paternal lineage have the same surname. This is particularly true of common Jewish surnames like Cohen, Friedman, Goldberg, and Shapiro.10
During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was traditional for young Jewish couples to live in the wife’s home for several years after marriage (kest).11 If a Jewish man was living in his father-in-law’s home during the peak period of Jewish surname adoption (c. 1804–1811), he, along with everyone else who was living in the household, would have been assigned his father-in-law’s surname.
Jewish surname changes, such as those due to matrilineal surname adoption, are often poorly documented, with the result that their history is lost. In addition, due to the Americanization of Jewish surnames, many Ashkenazi Jews are unaware of their original ancestral surname.
To summarize, relying solely on surnames for tracing Jewish genealogy is challenging for several reasons: (1) the lack of Jewish surnames prior to 1804, (2) discontinuities in the association between surnames and family relationships due to the manner in which Jewish surnames were adopted or assigned, (3) poor documentation of surname changes, (4) fragmentary or non-existent paper trails, and (5) language barriers.
This combination of factors makes tracing Jewish lineages a very difficult and complex task. However, as we shall discuss, yichus, and the traditional genealogical documentation that goes along with it, in combination with DNA testing, can be used to surmount some of the genealogical challenges related to the Jewish surname issue.
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Peak Periods of Jewish Surname Changes in the Russian Empire
• 1804: Czar Alexander I’s surname edict marks the beginning of the era of mandatory Jewish surname adoption in the Russian Empire.12
• 1827: Implementation of compulsory military service of no less than 25 years for Jewish males in the Pale of Settlement, coupled with high conscription rates.13 Many Jewish families hid their sons or changed their surnames to avoid military conscription.
• 1835: Czar Nicholas I issues a second Jewish surname edict.14 This edict was undoubtedly issued in response to Jewish men changing their surnames in an effort to avoid military conscription.
• 1836–1917: Period of surname stability during which it was very difficult to change or modify Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire.15
• 1890–1924: Years of peak immigration to the United States of Russian Jews,16, 17 many of whom subsequently Americanized their surnames.
The history of the lead author’s surname (Paull) illustrates how this process typically worked for many Ashkenazi Jews. During the pre-Jewish surname era of the late 1700s, the author’s paternal ancestors were known mostly by patronyms; a few were known by the Gelles and Levush nicknames.18
The Polonsky (meaning “from Polonnoye”) surname was adopted in response to the 1804 surname edict; its first documented appearance was at the time of an 1808 Russian census.19 It remained unchanged until the early 20th century, when the lead author’s grandfather changed the Polonsky surname to Paull, shortly after his immigration to America in 1905.
Surnames of the “Jewish Royal Families”
Most Ashkenazi Jews cannot trace their ancestry back to the period before the mandated adoption of fixed, inherited surnames during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe. The notable exceptions are the major rabbinical families, who adopted fixed surnames as early as the Middle Ages, long before they were mandated by governmental authority. These families intermarried extensively, and, due to yichus customs, their lineages have been well-documented and preserved for centuries.20
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Those who can connect to a major rabbinical family can thereby trace their ancestry back many more generations. Because of the endogamous nature of the Ashkenazi Jewish population, many Ashkenazi Jews descend from a prominent rabbi or rabbinical lineage, although they may not be aware of it.
Rabbinical genealogy books, such as The Unbroken Chain, Shem ve-She’arit, and Meorei Galicia, make it possible for Jews of rabbinical descent to trace their family’s ancestry as far back as the late Middle Ages. The Unbroken Chain covers hundreds of Ashkenazi families who trace their descent from Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen, Maharam of Padua (1482–1565).21 Shem ve-She’arit (Name and Remnant) is particularly useful for tracing ancestry from Chassidic rabbinical lineages in the Russian Empire,22 and Meorei Galicia, for tracing ancestry from Chassidic rabbinical lineages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.23
Surname and Lineage Studies
Hereditary surnames contain information about relatedness within populations. A patrilineal surname should correlate with a specific type of Y chromosome, provided that certain assumptions are met:
• The surname must have a unique origin.24 Many surnames have multiple founders or sources of origin. This is likely to be true for many common Jewish surnames.
• There must have been no illegitimacy, which would introduce chromosomes from other surname groups.25 Adoption or instances of matrilineal surname inheritance would have the same effect.
Relatively few surname studies meet both these criteria; hence most surname studies contain descendants representing a mixed bag of lineages and ethnic origins. The lineages represented in studies of the more common surnames are so diverse that they tend to represent the haplogroup distribution of the general population.
Hereditary lineage studies eliminate many of the uncertainties that are associated with surname studies. The requirement that the lineage has a unique origin is met by selecting a well-documented patrilineal lineage for which the common ancestor is known. Y-DNA testing of pedigreed patrilineal descendants of the lineage permits validation of their pedigree, and the identification of the Y-DNA genetic signature of the lineage.
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Once the Y-DNA genetic signature of the lineage has been identified, previously unknown patrilineal descendants can be identified through Y-DNA testing, by comparing their Y- DNA results to the genetic signature. Such testing can also be used to disprove claims of potential paternal descendants whose Y-DNA results do not match the genetic signature.
Identifying and Validating Jewish Lineages via Y-DNA Testing
Y-DNA testing is a very powerful tool when used in conjunction with traditional genealogical lineage studies.26 Y-DNA mutates very little over time. Hence, it is very useful for verifying descent from the same paternal lineage and estimating when the most recent common ancestor lived.
Y-DNA testing of pedigreed descendants of a well-documented paternal lineage can be used to identify the unique Y-DNA genetic signature of that lineage. This Y-DNA genetic signature can then be used to validate or refute yichus claims of other potential descendants of the lineage, as well as to discover previously unknown descendants of the lineage.
We have utilized Y-DNA testing to identify the unique Y-DNA genetic signature of many rabbinical lineages and historical figures, including: the Katzenellenbogen,27 Polonsky,28 and Rappaport-Cohen29 rabbinical lineages; the Twersky30 and Wertheim-Giterman31 (Savran-Bendery)32 Chassidic dynasties, and the lineages of the Baal Shem Tov,33 Yehuda Leib of Shpola (the Shpoler Zeida),34 and Rabbis Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev,35 Pinchas Shapira of Koretz,36 Raphael of Bershad,37 and Yehuda Kahana of Sighet,38 among others.
Some Advantages of Conducting Y-DNA Tests of Rabbinical Lineages
• Rabbinical lineages had surnames much earlier and trace their ancestries much further back than non-rabbinical Jewish lineages.
• Descendants of rabbinical lineages often have well-documented pedigrees and paper trails.
• Because there were so many rabbinical lineages, and because their descendants often intermarried with each other, many Ashkenazi Jews are descended from them.
• The older, historical rabbinical lineages date back nearly a millennium, and can provide insight into ethnic origins.
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Some Challenges Involved with Y-DNA Studies of Rabbinical Lineages
• Pedigreed, son-after-son descendants of rabbinical lineages, having well- documented paper trails, are very difficult to find.
• For a variety of reasons, rabbinical descendants are frequently reluctant to take a Y- DNA test.39
• Generally, only rabbinical descendants of rabbinical lineages were documented in the rabbinical literature. Non-rabbinical descendants often were omitted.
• Rabbinical surnames were often adopted by non-rabbinical descendants. This was particularly common among men married to female rabbinical descendants during the period of Jewish surname adoption.
• Many rabbinical descendants have only partial paper trails, and their yichus claims may be exaggerated or erroneous.
Is There a Famous Rabbi in the Family?
As mentioned above, generally only rabbinical descendants of rabbinical lineages were documented in the rabbinical literature. This constraint, combined with the loss of Jewish records through pogroms, wars, and the Holocaust, has led to the unfortunate circumstance that most contemporary American Jews have little knowledge of their actual Jewish heritage. Per Chaim Freedman, “Many contemporary researchers of Jewish genealogy with no known tradition of rabbinical descent – often those whose families have not been strictly observant – discover unsuspected 19th century rabbis in their families.”40
This was certainly true of the lead author, who knew nothing about his rabbinical heritage until he began researching his family’s ancestry in 2008. The author’s great-grandfather, Nathan Polonsky (b. 1863), and his 2nd-great-grandfather, Aron David Polonsky (b. 1838), were not rabbis, which is why their branch of the Polonsky rabbinical family was not documented in the rabbinical literature, and why much of the author’s Jewish heritage became lost. There are undoubtedly many thousands of such families of lost Jewish heritage around the world.
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In the 1987 Avotaynu article “Ashkenazi Rabbinic Families,” Dr. Neil Rosenstein states: “The implication is, at the lowest level of possibility, any Ashkenazic Jew living today has at least a one in fifty (2%) chance (if the sources and resources were available) of tracing back to a rabbinical dynastic lineage.”41 Asked about the accuracy of this estimate nearly thirty years later, Dr. Rosenstein stated: “I would say it could be even higher. In spite of all my work, I believe that it’s only the tip of the iceberg.”42
Another important thing to keep in mind is that not all descendants of rabbinical families became rabbis. Many of them pursued other occupations, and became doctors, teachers, tradesmen, and merchants. These descendants then married into non-rabbinical families, from which many American Ashkenazi Jews are descended. Very few of these Jewish American descendants know anything at all about their rabbinical heritage, and the lead author’s family was no exception.43
One of the main purposes of our Y-DNA studies of rabbinical lineages, therefore, is to provide people with the resources, information, and tools that they need to explore and rediscover their lost Jewish heritage.
Once a Y-DNA signature of a rabbinical lineage is identified, anyone whose Y-DNA genetically matches the genetic signature shares a common ancestor with the rabbinical descendants of that lineage. How long ago that common ancestor lived depends on the degree of closeness of the genetic match. This gives people a way to connect with their lost Jewish heritage, even in the absence of a paper trail.
When Y-DNA and Yichus Tell Different Stories: Possible Reasons
Even when an individual’s pedigree or paper trail seems irrefutable, the Y-DNA evidence may sometimes conflict with it, providing unwelcome news of a non-paternal event, or an error in the lineage which disproves the yichus claim.
The fear of what the Y-DNA evidence will show occasionally prevents pedigreed descendants from testing.44 Bennett Greenspan, founder and president of Family Tree DNA, expressed his recognition of this trepidation in his well-known and often-repeated quote: “And for people who don’t want to know the answer, they shouldn’t test.”45
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There are many possible reasons why yichus and Y-DNA results may not agree. Most of these reasons center around disruptions in the continuity between inherited surnames and genetic lines of descent, or breaks in the surname-lineage chain.
Based upon our experience conducting Y-DNA studies of rabbinical lineages, we present ten possible reasons or explanations for these lineage breaks and why yichus and Y-DNA results may not agree. Each of these explanations is subsequently discussed in more detail and illustrated by specific examples from our research:
1) The Jewish Surname Process in the Russian Empire
2) Maternal Surname Adoption
3) Illegal Surname Changes
4) The Adoption of Prestigious Surnames
5) Unreliable Oral Histories
6) Adoptions and Non-Paternal Events
7) Lineage Mistakes in Rabbinical Sources
8) Lineage Mistakes in Family Trees
9) Exaggerated Yichus Claims
10) Surname Changes Following Immigration
(1) The Jewish Surname Adoption Process in the Russian Empire
Jewish surname laws in the Russian Empire resulted in all heads of households adopting or being assigned unique surnames, which were then acquired by all members of the household, related or not.46 This requirement caused disruption of the surname-lineage chain.
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Jewish surname and tax laws in the Russian Empire also resulted in closely related family members living in different households or in different places adopting different surnames.47 These laws resulted in further breaks in the surname-lineage chain.
There is yet another important consideration regarding the surnaming process in the Russian Empire, involving surname types. Toponymic or place names were the most common type of Jewish surname adopted by Jews in the Russian Empire.48 Toponymic surnames were often adopted by people who moved away from their original community, their ancestral towns distinguishing them from the local residents. Thus, the same surname may have been shared by many unrelated people who shared a common place of origin.
Take, for example, two unrelated Jewish people from the town of Polonnoye. After the 1804 surname law, they may have adopted or been assigned the surname of Polonsky, meaning “from Polonnoye.” Their descendants would then all have the same surname, but would have no familial relationship to one another.
Hereditary surnames contain information about relatedness within populations, and the general validity of the principle of associating Y chromosomes with surnames has been demonstrated in numerous studies.49 However, for the aforementioned reasons related to the Jewish surname adoption process in the Russian Empire, the usual assumptions regarding the association of surnames and pedigree often do not apply to the same extent for Ashkenazi Jews.50
(2) Maternal Surname Adoption
There are many examples of maternal surname adoption resulting in erroneous assumptions regarding their yichus on the part of descendants. In the years immediately following the Czar’s Jewish surname mandate, it was very common for Jewish men who married into prestigious rabbinical lineages to take their father-in-law’s prestigious surname. The custom of kest contributed to this maternal surname trend.
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In one well-known example, Rabbi Joel Ashkenazi married the sister of Saul Wahl (c. 1541–1617), paternal grandson of Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (c. 1482–1565), and adopted his wife’s Katzenellenbogen surname.51 His descendants were known as Katzenellenpogen for several centuries, to distinguish them from the Katzenellenbogen paternal line, but later they changed their surname back to Katzenellenbogen.
They were rabbinical families but not patrilineal descendants of Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen. Today, there are many thousands of such descendants who, due to their Katzenellenbogen surname, mistakenly believe that they are patrilineal descendants of the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage. Book of Rabbi Yehezkel, son of Avraham Katzenellenpogen52
Another example of this type of lineage error was discovered in our Y-DNA study of the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage. Various sources seem to be uncertain whether Rabbi Nahum Katzenellenbogen, ABD53 of Slutsk, was the son or son-in-law of Rabbi Meir Wahl Katzenellenbogen.54
To help resolve this uncertainty, we tested a descendant representing the Mintz paternal line that descends from Rabbi Nahum Katzenellenbogen, ABD of Slutsk. The Mintz descendant’s Y-DNA did not match the Y-DNA genetic signature or haplogroup (J-L823) of the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage, and he belonged to a completely different haplogroup (E-M2),55 indicating that Rabbi Nahum Katzenellenbogen was the son-in-law of Rabbi Meir Wahl Katzenellenbogen, and not a patrilineal Katzenellenbogen descendant.56
A similar type of lineage error was discovered in our Y-DNA study of the Shpoler Zeida’s lineage. Aaron Joseph Zeide and Miron Zeide have an oral history of being paternal descendants of the Shpoler Zeida (c. 1725–1811). Their Y-DNA results matched; however, their results did not match the genetic signature of the Shpoler Zeida (R-M173), and they belong to a completely different haplogroup (Q-M242).57
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The explanation for these non-matching results was that their ancestor, Rabbi Shmuel, was not a paternal descendant of the Shpoler Zeida. Instead, we believe that he married a daughter of the Shpoler Zeida and adopted her Zeida surname. In support of this belief, the book Ish ha-Pele mentions a Rabbi Shmuel who married the only daughter of the Shpoler Zeida, but does not mention her name.58 We found Rabbi Shmuel Zeida and his wife on the 1834 and 1858 Shpola censuses.59
(3) Illegal Surname Changes
Jewish surnames in the Russian Empire were sometimes illegally changed for tax or military avoidance purposes, particularly during the years immediately following the Jewish surname mandate.
Prior to 1827, according to a ruling by Czarina Katherine the Great, the Jewish community was not summoned to the army; instead they had to pay double tax.60 Taxes were based on the number of males in the household, which would have created a powerful incentive to divide families into smaller units by adopting different surnames. After 1827, according to a law issued by Czar Nicolas I, Jews were liable to conscription.61
Being drafted into the Czar’s army was a particularly onerous and menacing proposition for Jews in the Pale. Because an only son in a family could not be drafted into the army, the Jews of the Pale tried to hide their sons from the Russian authorities by “fiddling around” with their surnames; e.g., having boys registered as belonging to another family which had no sons, hiding sons from the census takers, and doing other things to make it difficult for the authorities to find them.62
(4) The Adoption of Prestigious Surnames
For centuries, Jews have admired the yichus of the famous rabbinical families and sought to marry into their families and adopt their prestigious surnames. Following the Jewish surname mandate in the Russian Empire in 1804, many Jews circumvented the maternal surname adoption process, and simply adopted the surnames of these prestigious families. This practice resulted in many unrelated individuals acquiring the same surname. We cite two examples of this phenomenon from the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage and the Twersky Chassidic dynasty.
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The Russian Jewish Encyclopedia cites the case of a student, Tzvi-Girsh (b. 1796 in Vilna), who adopted the famous Katzenellenbogen surname of his teacher, Saul I. Katzenelenbogen (1770–1825). Tzvi-Girsh Katzenelenbogen went on to become a public figure; he died in 1868, in Vilna.63
In our Y-DNA study of the Twersky Chassidic dynasty, all eight pedigreed rabbinical descendants were found to genetically match one another and to belong to the same R- M173 haplogroup.64 Conversely, none of the twenty-three non-pedigreed Twersky rabbinical descendants matched the Y-DNA genetic signature of the pedigreed Twersky rabbinical descendants. They belonged to six different haplogroups, all of them different from the Twersky rabbinical haplogroup.
Most non-rabbinical Twersky descendants were from Chernobyl, which is the ancestral home of the rabbinical Twersky descendants as well.65 Because they have the Twersky surname and were from Chernobyl, these families had an oral tradition of being patrilineal descendants of Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chernobyl; however, Y-DNA testing proved that they were not paternally descended from him.
The two most likely explanations for these findings are: (1) non-Twersky men married female Twersky descendants and adopted their surname, and (2) unrelated male ancestors adopted the prestigious surname of Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky.
(5) Unreliable Oral Histories
A very common source of lineage errors is the inherent inaccuracy and unreliability of oral histories. Although almost all oral histories contain a kernel of truth, they cannot be relied upon or trusted as a source of accurate genealogical information.
As stated by Blaine Bettinger: “Our ancestors had poor memories just like we do: they bent the truth to make themselves younger or seem more favorable just like we do, and they made up stories just like we do.”66 Two of Rabbi Malcolm Stern’s “Ten Commandments for Genealogists” state that: “Family traditions must be interpreted with caution and only used as clues,” and “Thou shalt clearly label the questionable and the fairy tale.” 67
We cite one such example of this source of yichus error from our Y-DNA study of the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage.68 One of our Y-DNA study participants claimed descent from the Katzenellenbogen family. His great-grandfather, Rabbi Zeev Vahl Katzenellenbogen, left Poland for Australia in 1857. The study participant’s family has a strong oral history of being paternal descendants of Saul Wahl Katzenellenbogen.
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However, the study participant’s Y-DNA results did not match the Y-DNA genetic signature of the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage, and he belongs to a completely different haplogroup (R-M269), thereby disproving his family’s oral history of patrilineal descent. It should be emphasized that the Y-DNA results refer only to the paternal line, and that the family may, in fact, be Katzenellenbogen descendants through a maternal ancestor.
We cite a second example of this type of yichus error from our Y-DNA study of the Baal Shem Tov’s lineage.69 Y-DNA study participants from both the Fisch and Rabin families have oral histories claiming to be paternal descendants from the Baal Shem Tov (Besht). However, their Y-DNA results did not match the Y-DNA signature of the Besht’s lineage, and they belonged to different haplogroups (J-M267; R-M198) than the Besht’s pedigreed paternal descendants (J-M172).
(6) Adoptions and Non-Paternal Events
Whenever Y-DNA results for individuals who were believed to be descendants of the same paternal lineage don’t match, adoption and/or non-paternal events (NPEs) are often the first things that come to people’s minds to explain the unexpected results. Based upon our experience, however, these factors play only a minor role in explaining unexpected results.70 There are several possible historical and cultural explanations for this.
Historically, Russian adoption laws pertaining to Jews were so restrictive that legal adoption was all but impossible for most Jews living in the Pale of Settlement. When Jews remarried and became step-parents, their step-children retained the surnames of their biological fathers. Hence, adoptions did not lead to surname changes or play a major role in surname-lineage disruptions for Jews living in the Russian Empire.71
Culturally, except in instances of rape, non-parental events were rare among Jews in the Russian Empire. This rarity may be attributed in part to the cultural and religious norms of the day, particularly among the Orthodox and Chassidic Jewish communities, where men and women were largely segregated from one another, and touching the opposite sex was forbidden.
However rare they were, over the centuries, adoptions and non-paternal events most likely did occur in Jewish lineages. Documenting their occurrence, however, is another matter, since there were many legal, as well as religious and social reasons, to keep them secret. Even in cases where the Y-DNA results of one branch of a family don’t genetically match the other branches, it is often impossible to determine whether the incongruity is due to an adoption, a non-paternal event, or a surname adoption by a non-patrilineal ancestor. Page 14 of 28
(7) Lineage Mistakes in Rabbinical Sources
Rabbinical texts are a very valuable source of lineage information; however, they are also very prone to mistakes. There are many reasons for this, including: inexact terminology, improper grammar, lack of surnames, confusion between repeating names in a lineage, and omission of years of birth and death, among others. Imprecise terms, such as neched (grandchild), she’er besari (my relative), or mechutanim (in-laws) were often used to describe much more distant relationships.72 According to Rabbi Meir Wunder:73
“Moving on into the second half of the 19th century, we do have famous experts in rabbinic genealogy, but even so, their writings include guesses, assumptions, and mistakes. They were very knowledgeable, and in their period the genealogical data of families were preserved, but they had no sure means to check the veracity of their findings. Contact was through letters, which were slow; very few managed to make use of the libraries of Western Europe with their important manuscripts. Poverty was rampant, and one way to put bread on the table was to research and edit yuchsin scrolls for the wealthy who had money, but still lacked the prestige of great lineage. Thus, if the facts were shaky or uncertain, one might build castles in the air without a solid foundation.”
Rabbi Shlomo Englard devoted his scholarly research to the task of verifying traditionally accepted lines of descent of the famous rabbinical families. Meticulous comparison and analysis of rare texts, rabbinical publications, and recorded tombstone inscriptions led Rabbi Englard to conclude that: “Some classical authorities erred by confusing the identities of rabbis of the same name, used invalid dates of birth and death that are incompatible with calculated time spans, and presented material that conflicts with facts presented in other verifiable sources.”74
A classic case of a lineage mistake in a rabbinical text resulting from name confusion is illustrated by the lead author’s Polonsky lineage. The mistake, found also in Shem ve- She’arit, was committed by no less of an authority on rabbinical lineages than Rabbi Meir Wunder; his Meorei Galicia contains the following entries:75
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(1) “Chana, the fifth child of Rabbi Eliyahu Pinchas Polonsky, wife of Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin from the Berzhan dynasty. Their children: Rabbi Mordechai, ABD of Zvenigorodka after his father’s death, and Chaya, wife of Rabbi Shimshon Aharon, son of Rabbi Chaim Meir Goldshtein.”
(2) “Trayna, wife of Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin, ABD of Zvenigorodka, which was under the rabbinate of his father-in- law [Rabbi Shmuel Polonsky (1761–1811)].”
The questions here are: “Who was Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin married to – Chana Polonsky, or Trayna Polonsky?” “Was he married twice, or were there two different Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperins?”
Per the 1834 Ekaterinopol census,76 Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin (b. 1778) had a wife, Trayna (b. 1825), a son Mordechai (b. 1804), and a daughter Chaya (b. 1811), so this census information is consistent with the children named in the first entry above, and the wife named in the second entry.
Also per that census, Rabbi Eliyahu Pinchas Polonsky (1803–1855) had a daughter named Chaya Leya (b. 1826).77 She is mistakenly referred to as “Chana” by Meir Wunder. However, it is highly unlikely that Rabbi Yisrael Nachman (b. 1778) could have been Chaya’s (Chana’s) husband because he was 48 years her senior, and he had no known children after 1828, when she was just two years old.
Furthermore, Rabbi Mordechai (b. 1804) was alive during the 1858 Ekaterinopol census, so even if it were theoretically possible for Chaya (Chana) to have been a second or third wife of Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin (who died before 1850), she could not have had a son with him named Mordechai, while his first son Mordechai was still alive.
In addition, according to Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Derbaremdiker, his great-great- grandmother, Chaya Halperin, daughter of Trayna Polonsky and Yisrael Nachman Halperin, was the wife of Rabbi Shimshon Aharon Goldshtein78; hence, she could not have been the daughter of Chaya (Chana) Polonsky and Yisrael Nachman Halperin. Page 16 of 28
Hence, it appears that Meir Wunder repeated the same mistake from Shem ve-She’arit, which confused Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin, who was the son-in-law of Rabbi Shmuel Polonsky (1761–1811), with the son-in-law of Rabbi Eliyahu Pinchas Polonsky (1803–1855), leading Wunder to mistakenly attribute to him two different wives two generations apart, but having the same children.79
An example of a similar lineage mistake appears in Neil Rosenstein’s well-known rabbinical reference source, The Unbroken Chain:80
“Rabbi Shimshon Aharon [Polonsky] has two sons: Rabbi Chaim Meyer and Rabbi Yisrael Nachman, and son-in-law Rabbi Eliezer Dov Averbuch from Letitchev.”
This entry appears to be derived from two separate entries that were published in Shem ve- She’arit:81
“Rabbi Nachum [Polonsky] has a son Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak of Kalniblat, who has a son, Rabbi Shimshon Aharon Polonsky, Rabbi of Teplik, now in Jerusalem, in the borough Beit Yisrael.”
“Rabbi Yisrael Nachman [Halperin] has a son, Rabbi Mordechai of Zvenigorodka, and he also has a son- in-law, Rabbi Shimshon Aharon [Goldshtein], son of Rabbi Chaim Meyer Goldshtein.”
The first entry refers to Rabbi Shimshon Aharon Polonsky, Rabbi of Teplik, and the second refers to Rabbi Shimshon Aharon Goldshtein as the son-in-law of Rabbi Yisrael Nachman Halperin.
Hence, in The Unbroken Chain, Rosenstein mistakenly assumed that Rabbi Chaim Meyer and Rabbi Yisrael Nachman were sons of Rabbi Shimshon Aharon Polonsky, when, in fact, they were sons of Shimshon Aharon Goldshtein.
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As illustrated by these examples, due to the frequent omission of surnames and years of birth and death in rabbinical sources, as well as the repetition of common given names, mistakes in lineages can and do occur. It can be very challenging to identify these lineage mistakes in rabbinical sources, which often get repeated from one source to another.
(8) Lineage Mistakes in Family Trees
Just as there can be lineage mistakes in generally reliable genealogical sources such as rabbinical texts, there can be similar mistakes in family trees. We cite one such representative example from our Y-DNA study of the Savran-Bendery Chassidic dynasty.82
The Savran-Bendery Chassidic dynasty was founded by Rabbi Aryeh Leib Wertheim of Bendery (c. 1772–1854) and his brother, Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Giterman of Savran (c. 1775– 1838). They were sons of Rabbi Shimon Shlomo of Savran (c. 1750–1802).
We tested one paternal pedigreed descendant of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Giterman and three paternal pedigreed descendants of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Wertheim. Their matching Y-DNA haplotype and haplogroup (E-L117) established the Y-DNA genetic signature of the Savran-Bendery Chassidic dynasty back to their father.
The Savran-Hager dynasty claims that their paternal ancestor, Baruch (born c. 1820), was a son of Shimon Shlomo Giterman II (c. 1811–1848), son of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Giterman of Savran, and also a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, through Shimon Shlomo’s wife, Feyga Yenta (née Vulis).83
Two descendants from different branches of the Savran-Hager family were tested, and their Y-DNA matched. They belong to the J-M172 haplogroup. However, their Y-DNA did not match the Y-DNA genetic signature or haplogroup (E-L117) of the Savran-Bendery Chassidic dynasty, from which they claim to be paternally descended.
These Y-DNA results led us to take a closer look at the Hager family tree, and to research the genealogical records and documentation of their descent from the Giterman lineage. Our findings indicate that Baruch cannot be a son of Shimon Shlomo II and a paternal grandson of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Giterman.84 He cannot, therefore, be a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov through Shimon Shlomo’s wife, Feyga Yenta Vulis.
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The gravestone of Baruch’s son, Rabbi Moshe Tzvi Hager, mentions Rabbi Moshe Tzvi of Savran as his ancestor, and some other documents mention Baruch as a grandson of Moshe Tzvi. Hence, although Baruch cannot be a patrilineal descendant of the Savran-Bendery Chassidic dynasty, it is possible that he descends from the dynasty through a maternal ancestor, namely, through Vitya Feyga, the daughter of Rabbi Moshe Tzvi of Savran.
These types of lineage errors are not uncommon in family trees, and that is one of the reasons that Y-DNA testing is essential to validate paternal lineages, even those having well-documented paper trails.
(9) Exaggerated Yichus Claims
Although it doesn’t appear to happen very often, certain individuals have been known to exaggerate or in some cases, fabricate yichus claims. Some of the more well-known of these cases arose during the late 19th and early 20th century, when Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire could more easily exaggerate or misrepresent their yichus in America without being exposed. We present one such classic case, involving the Twersky Chassidic dynasty.
Rabbi Yisrael Twersky proclaimed himself to be the “Grand Rabbi Twersky of Chernobyl and Kozhnitz” in newspaper ads announcing his arrival in America in 1926. However, he stopped referring to himself by that title when the actual Grand Rabbi Twersky of Chernobyl moved to New York in 1934. Tombstone of Yisrael Twersky (Schwartz)
No records for Yisrael Twersky or his father, Shlomo Zeev Twersky, were found in any Chernobyl vital or census records, and his 1892 birth and 1917 marriage record in the town of Lublin, Poland, show that his recorded birth name was Yisrael Schwartz.85
His gravestone inscription, which reads: “Admur Yisrael, son of Admur Shlomo Zeev Ha- Cohen Twersky of Kozhnitz,” proclaims that he is a descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, as well as rabbinical dynasties from Anipoli, Apta, Chernobyl, and Linitz.
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The fact that the gravestone claims him as “Ha-Cohen” (a member of the Jewish priestly class referred to as Cohanim) means that it is impossible for him to be a paternal descendant of the Twersky Chassidic dynasty, as they are Israelites. It is also a telling sign that the gravestone does not claim him to be the “Grand Rabbi Twersky of Chernobyl.”
In addition to intentionally fabricated yichus claims, such claims may also have been inadvertently exaggerated, misinterpreted, or incorrectly assumed based on family surnames or tombstone inscriptions. Sometimes a family has staked so much of their reputation on their yichus claims that they don’t want to critically examine them, or look too closely into the assumptions upon which they are based.
(10) Surname Changes Following Immigration
Between 1880 and 1924, it is estimated that as many as three million Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jews came to the United States, of which the vast majority were from the Russian Empire.86 Many of the Jewish immigrants who arrived during this era, when nativism and anti-Semitism were running high, Anglicized their foreign-sounding surnames to sound more “American.” This was prior to the advent of the Social Security Administration in 1935, and changing surnames was a very informal process, often done without any legal application or documentation.87
Because the process of Americanizing their Russian surnames was so poorly documented, it was common for the descendants of these immigrants to lose track of what their family surname originally was. Many descendants came to believe that their ancestors’ surnames were changed at Ellis Island, a widespread myth that persists to this day.88, 89
To cite an example from one of our Y-DNA research studies, one of our Katzenellenbogen study participants, Brian Selwyn, was unaware of his descent from the Katzenellenbogen rabbinical lineage, or that the Katzenellenbogen surname was in his paternal ancestry. This lack of awareness is common, even among pedigreed descendants of rabbinical lineages, who are several generations removed from the ancestor who Americanized the original surname.
This lack of awareness extended to the lead author, who, prior to the last decade, knew nothing of his rabbinical heritage. When he first began researching his family tree in 2008, very few family members knew that the Paull surname was Americanized from Polonsky, or understood how the two branches of the family are connected. Page 20 of 28
Fortunately, one of the author’s elder Paull cousins did recall the name and occupation of a Polonsky family member whom she had met some thirty years before, which enabled the author to find this family member, and through him, many other members of the Polonsky family. Ultimately, the author succeeded in rediscovering the lost rabbinical yichus of the Polonsky-Paull family, which has roots back to Rashi (1040–1105).90
Many Jewish families in America are now four or five generations removed from the immigrant ancestor who Americanized the family’s surname. Since such surname changes were rarely documented, knowledge of them often depends on family oral history, which, even if it exists, may or may not be accurate. The more generations that have passed following the surname change, the more problematic it becomes for current descendants to identify their ancestral surname, and reestablish their family’s lost Jewish heritage.
Summary and Conclusions
When utilized in conjunction with traditional genealogical research, Y-DNA is a very powerful tool, which can be used to identify the unique Y-DNA genetic signature of a patrilineal lineage. Y-DNA testing and analysis of pedigreed rabbinical descendants can be used to prove or disprove yichus. Through this process, rabbinical lineages are validated, errors in the lineage are identified and corrected, and the practice of Jewish genealogy benefits.
There are a variety of reasons why Y-DNA and yichus may tell different stories about the ancestry of presumed descendants of a rabbinical ancestor. We have examined ten different major reasons for these discrepancies, ranging from factors related to the process of surname adoption to mistakes in the recording and transmission of the family history from one generation to the next.
Descendants of a rabbinical ancestor may be unaware of their family’s yichus and may not even bear the same surname as other descendants. Nevertheless, comparison of their Y- DNA profile to that of other pedigreed descendants may reveal a connection with a well- documented rabbinical lineage and provide a new understanding of their ancestry.
With the successful identification of the Y-DNA genetic signature of an ever-growing number of the world’s historic rabbinical lineages, we hope to enable many current and future generations of descendants to connect themselves and their families to these iconic lineages, and, in so doing, to discover their lost Jewish heritage.
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1 Yichus, a Hebrew word meaning lineage, distinguished birth, or pedigree, has been an important facet of Jewish life since biblical days. The Babylonian Talmud, in tractate Kiddushin, discusses how Ezra the Scribe (460 BCE) ensured that the Jews returning to Israel from Babylonia were like “fine sifted flour” concerning their genealogical purity.
2 ISOGG defines the term “genetic signature” as: “Another name for a haplotype,” a Y-DNA haplotype being the numbered allele values of a genealogical Y-DNA short tandem repeat (STR) test. http://isogg.org/wiki/Genetics_Glossary. FTDNA defines it similarly: “Paternal line DNA testing uses STR markers. STR markers are places where your genetic code has a variable number of repeated parts. STR marker values change slowly from one generation to the next. Testing multiple markers gives us distinctive result sets. These sets form signatures for a paternal lineage.” https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/dna-basics/ydna/.
In our view, the haplogroup, a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor having the same single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation in all haplotypes, is also an essential part of the Y-DNA genetic signature of a given paternal lineage. Hence, the haplotype, as determined by STR analysis, and the haplogroup, as determined by SNP analysis, both serve as essential and complementary components of the Y-DNA genetic signature.
3 Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston (TORCH): “Parshas Bamidbar (5771) Got Yichus?” May 27, 2011. https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=158. Yichus is a Hebrew word meaning lineage, distinguished birth, or pedigree.
4 Ibid.
5 Rabbi Aron Tendler: “Passing Yichus - Parshas Netzavim.” Series: Rabbi’s Notebook. Torah.org, June 7, 2002. http://torah.org/torah-portion/rabbis-notebook-5761-netzavim/.
6 Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston, Op cit.
7 Although surname laws were enacted slightly earlier in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1787) and the German states (1790), and Sephardic Jews and rabbinic families had surnames much before that, this statement holds true for the vast majority of Ashkenazi Jews.
8 Czar Alexander I: “Imperial Statute Concerning the Organization of Jews.” Article 32, December 9, 1804.
9 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Jewish Surname Process in the Russian Empire and its Effect on Jewish Genealogy.” Avotaynu Online, October 6, 2015.
10 Yannay Spitzer: “Most Common Jewish Names.” https://yannayspitzer.net/2012/07/24/most- common-jewish-names/.
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11 Kest (Yiddish) – A widespread Jewish custom among religious families of a son-in-law living with his wife’s parents for several years following marriage, to allow him to continue his religious studies, and to incorporate the bride’s traditions.
12 Czar Alexander I: “Imperial Statute Concerning the Organization of Jews.” Op cit.
13 To avoid conscription into the Czar’s army, many Jewish families sent their sons to live with relatives, neighbors, or friends, in order to hide them from the military authorities. Often these young men adopted the head of the household’s surname.
14 Czar Nicholas I: “Imperial Statute Concerning the Organization of Jews.” Article 16, May 31, 1835.
15 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire – A Review.” Surname DNA Journal, September 21, 2014. http://www.surnamedna.com/?articles=history-adoption-and-regulation-of-jewish-surnames-in-the- russian-empire.
16 Wikipedia: “History of the Jews in the United States.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ History_of_the_Jews_in_the_United_States.
17 Wikipedia: “Russian Americans.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Americans.
18 Jeffrey Mark Paull: “A Noble Heritage: The History and Legacy of the Polonsky and Paull Family in America.” Infinity Publishing, 2013.
19 Kiev State Archive: “1808 List of Jews of Zvenigorodka District.” Fond 1, Inventory 336, File 883, p. 48.
20 Edward Gelles: An Ancient Lineage – European Roots of a Jewish Family. Vallentine Mitchell, London, 2006, p. 4-10.
21 Neil Rosenstein: “The Unbroken Chain, Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th – 20th Century.” Second Edition, CIS Publishers, New York, 1990. Third Edition (Vol. 1 of 5), 2017.
22 Levi Halevi Grossman: “Shem ve-She’arit.” Betzalel Printers, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1943.
23 Rabbi Meir Wunder: “Meorei Galicia - Encyclopedia of Galician Rabbis and Scholars.” Institute for Commemoration of Galician Jewry. Jerusalem, Israel, 1978.
24 Mark A. Jobling: “In the Name of the Father: Surnames and Genetics.” Trends in Genetics, Vol. 17, No.6, June 2001.
25 Ibid. Page 23 of 28
26 Blaine Bettinger: “The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy.” Family Tree Books, Cincinnati, OH, Kindle Edition, 2016.
27 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Neil Rosenstein, and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinical Lineage.” Avotaynu Online, March 7, 2016.
28 Jeffrey Mark Paull: “Connecting to the Great Rabbinic Families through Y-DNA: A Case Study of the Polonsky Rabbinical Lineage.” AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Vol. XXIX, No. 3, Fall, 2013.
29 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Rappaport-Cohen Rabbinical Lineage.” In preparation.
30 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Yitz Twersky, and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Twersky Chassidic Dynasty.” https://www.academia.edu/26048275/The_Y- DNA_Genetic_Signature_and_Ethnic_Origin_of_the_Twersky_Chassidic_Dynasty.
31 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “Connecting to the Wertheim-Giterman Rabbinical Lineage through Y-DNA.” AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Volume XXX, Number 3, Fall 2014.
32 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “Connecting to the Great Rabbinic Families through Y- DNA: The Savran-Bendery Chassidic Dynasty.” Surname DNA Journal, May 31, 2015.
33 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Baal Shem Tov.” In preparation.
34 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Fingerprint of the Shpoler Zeida, a Tzaddik Who Touched the World.” Avotaynu Online, July 1, 2016.
35 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev.” In preparation.
36 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Jeffrey Briskman, and Yitz Twersky: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of Rabbi Pinchas Shapira of Koretz.” In preparation.
37 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Susan K. Steeble, and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of Rabbi Raphael of Bershad.” In preparation.
38 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Dov Weber, and Jeffrey Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of Yehuda Kahana of Sighet.” In preparation.
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39 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Susan K. Steeble, Jeffrey Briskman, and Yitzchak Meyer Twersky: “Challenges Involved in Conducting DNA Tests of Pedigreed Descendants of Rabbinical Lineages.” Avotaynu Online, November 21, 2016. http://www.avotaynuonline.com/2016/11/challenges-involved- conducting-dna-tests-pedigreed-descendants-rabbinical-lineages/.
40 Chaim Freedman: “Rabbinical Genealogy” in “Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy.” Sallyann Amdur Sack and Gary Mokotoff, Editors. Avotaynu, Bergenfield, NJ, 2004, p. 78.
41 Neil Rosenstein: “Ashkenazi Rabbinic Families.” Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Fall 1987. http://www.jewishgen.org/rabbinic/journal/ashkenazic.htm.
42 Neil Rosenstein: “Is There a Rabbi in the Family?” Email communication with Jeffrey Mark Paull, July 29, 2016.
43 Jeffrey Mark Paull: “A Noble Heritage.” Op cit.
44 Jeffrey Mark Paull, Susan K. Steeble, Jeffrey Briskman, and Yitzchak Meyer Twersky: “Challenges Involved in Conducting DNA Tests of Pedigreed Descendants of Rabbinical Lineages.” Op cit.
45 Bennett Greenspan: “FamilyTreeDNA.com.” BusinessMakers interview. http://www.highdrive.tv/ businessmakers/bennett-greenspan-familytreedna-com/. In his many Jewish genealogy presentations, Bennett has also phrased this as: “Don’t ask the question if you don’t want to know the answer.”
46 Paull and Briskman: “The Jewish Surname Process in the Russian Empire and its Effect on Jewish Genealogy.” Op cit.
47 Ibid.
48 Alexander Beider: “Jewish Surnames Adopted in Various Regions of the Russian Empire.” Avotaynu Online, 2015. Adapted from a lecture delivered at the IAJG Conference in Chicago, August 18, 2008.
49 Jobling: “In the Name of the Father: Surnames and Genetics.” Op cit.
50 Paull and Briskman: “The Jewish Surname Process in the Russian Empire and its Effect on Jewish Genealogy.” Op cit.
51 Paull et al. “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinical Lineage.” Op cit, p. 583.
52 Ezekiel (Yechezkel) Katzenellenpogen: “Responsa Keneset Yechezkel.” Printed in Altona, Hamburg, Germany, 1732.
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53 Wikipedia: Av Beit Din.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Av_Beit_Din. In modern times, Av Beit Din is used as an honorific title for the presiding rabbi of a beth din (rabbinical court), who is typically the rabbi of the local Jewish community and usually a posek (decider of Halakha of Jewish law). It is also abbreviated as ABD when it is after the name of the Chief Rabbi of a national Jewish community.
54 Neil Rosenstein: “The Unbroken Chain: Biographical Sketches and Genealogy of Illustrious Jewish Families from the 15th–20th Century.” Revised Edition. The Computer Center for Jewish Genealogy, CIS Publishers, New York, NY, 1990, p. 12. Dr. Rosenstein is planning to publish a new edition of The Unbroken Chain in 2017.
55 Paull et al.: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinical Lineage.” Op cit.
56 We use the word “indicating” here, because the results of a second Mintz tester are needed in order to verify this conclusion.
57 Paull and Briskman: “The Y-DNA Fingerprint of the Shpoler Zeida, a Tzaddik Who Touched the World.” Op cit.
58 Menashe Miller: “Ish ha-Pele” (Man of Miracles). Jerusalem, Israel, 1987.
59 State Archive of Kiev Oblast: “1834 Census of Shpola.” Fond 280, Inventory 2, File 572, p. 783, and “1858 Census of Shpola.” Fond 280, Inventory 2, File 1382, p. 215-216.
60 Felix Kandel: “Russian Jews: Times and Events. History of Jews in Russian Empire.” Editor Mark Kipnis, Gesharim Press, 2014.
61 Valery Kadzhaya: “The Kantonists: The Road to Mogilev.” http://www.berdichev.org/ the_kantonists.htm.
62 Jewish Web Index: “Names – All About Them.” http://www.jewishwebindex.com/Names.htm.
63 Russian Jewish Encyclopedia: “Katsenelenbogen Tzvi Hirsch.” This entry may be found by going to the main page for the Internet version of the Russian Jewish Encyclopedia (http://www.rujen.ru/index.php/) and searching under letter “K” for “Katsenelenbogen Tzvi Hirsch.”
64 Paull et al.: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Twersky Chassidic Dynasty.” Op cit.
65 Several of the non-rabbinical patrilineal Twersky descendants were from Ponovich, Lithuania.
66 Blaine Bettinger: “The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy.” Op cit.
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67 Gary Mokotoff and Sallyann Amdur Sack: “Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern (1916-1994), Dean of American- Jewish Genealogy.” AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Vol. IX, No. 4, Winter 1993.
68 Paull et al.: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Katzenellenbogen Rabbinical Lineage.” Op cit.
69 Paull and Briskman: “The Y-DNA Genetic Signature and Ethnic Origin of the Baal Shem Tov.” Op cit.
70 Even in the general population, adoptions and NPEs are not thought to be major factors. According to FTDNA, “We believe that the rate of unannounced adoption or false paternity is about 1 – 3% per generation and compounds each generation.” https://www.familytreedna.com/learn/y-dna-testing/.
71 Paull and Briskman: “The History, Adoption, and Regulation of Jewish Surnames in the Russian Empire – A Review.” Op cit.
72 Rabbi Meir Wunder: “The Reliability of Genealogical Research in Modern Rabbinic Literature.” Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Winter 1995. http://www.jewishgen.org/ Rabbinic/journal/wunder.htm.
73 Ibid.
74 Chaim Freedman: “Rabbinical Genealogy,” Op cit., p. 82.
75 Meir Wunder: “Meorei Galicia.” Op cit., pp. 435-436.
76 Kiev Archive: “1834 Ekaterinopol census.” Fond 280, Inventory 2, File 572. According to this census, Rabbi Pinchas Polonsky’s daughter’s name was not Chana, but rather, Chaya Leya (b. 1826). This appears to be yet another mistake in the rabbinical texts.
77 Ibid.
78 Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Derbaremdiker: “Nahalat Pinchas.” Edited by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Ovits, Publisher Keren Azvon ha-Rav, Israel, 2001, p. 152.
79 Jeffrey Briskman: Email correspondence with Jeffrey Mark Paull, December 1, 2016.
80 Neil Rosenstein: “The Unbroken Chain.” Op cit.
81 Levi Halevi Grossman: “Shem ve-She’arit.” Op cit.
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82 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “Connecting to the Wertheim-Giterman Rabbinical Lineage through Y-DNA.” AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Vol. XXX, No. 3, Fall, 2014.
83 Jeffrey Mark Paull and Jeffrey Briskman: “When Y-DNA and Yichus Tell Different Stories: A Case Study of the Savran-Hager Chassidic Dynasty.” In preparation.
84 Ibid.
85 Yitzchak Twersky: Email communication with Jeffrey Mark Paull, July 20, 2017.
86 Library of Congress: “Immigration – Polish/Russian: A People at Risk.” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/ classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/polish5.html.
87 There were exceptions to this, of course, and surnames were sometimes legally changed in court at the time of naturalization.
88 Philip Sutton: “Why Your Family Name Was Not Changed at Ellis Island (and One That Was).” Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy, July 2, 2013. https://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/07/02/name-changes-ellis-island.
89 Joel Weintraub: “The Ellis Island Name Change Myth.” JewishGen, March 2017. http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/ellismythnames.html.
90 Paull: “A Noble Heritage.” Op cit.
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