Jewish roots and DNA tests

General information only. Every case is decided by a rabbi.

What a test can tell you

Consumer DNA tests estimate where your ancestors came from, sometimes with a label such as “Ashkenazi Jewish,” and they can connect you with relatives who share your DNA. For many people that’s the first sign of a family story nobody told them.

What it can’t

• A percentage measures ancestry, not status. A 50% result could come entirely from your father’s side.
• It can’t show an unbroken line through your mother, her mother and so on, which is what halacha looks at.
• Small percentages are common and may go back many generations.

So a result, on its own, isn’t accepted as proof of Jewish status. Rabbis rely on family records and testimony.

Using a result well

A test is still a good reason to start asking. Matches can lead you to relatives, and relatives to memories, letters and documents. Those are the things a rabbi can work with. See a Jewish mother for the kinds of records that help.