A new study appearing in last Thursdays’s Nature magazine, shows that Jews share many of the same genes. Duh, but really, we all have more in common than you think – especially among Ashkenazic and Sephardic groups of Jews, a genetic pool which shares about 30% European ancestry and the rest Middle Eastern.  It appears that Iraqi and Iranian Jews separated from each other about 2500 years ago, probably after the fall of the first temple.

Apparently, any two Jews are about as closely related as fourth or fifth cousins, which is ten times closer than the average two people taken off of a New York street. There is speculation that Ashkenazim arrived in Europe via Italy, where they intermarried with many locals. Italy was likely the bridge between Ashkenazim and Sephardim.  Language was hardly  a barrier – when Ancient and medieval Jews met, they always spoke Hebrew.

In other Middle Eastern news, sanctions on Iran have been approved, which can allow Israel to breathe a sigh of relief. Turkey continues to play their eastward game, but the new sanctions show that even countries in a seat of power – Brazil and Turkey – do not have the authority vested in them to make global decisions.