Hello,
I am a Horowitz / Epstein lineage member who was fairly outraged when, on the basis of one person's say-so, the link between the Horowitz family and Spain was cut off at Geni (although not at any of the other genealogy sites i frequent).
My phenotype is not typical of Ashkenazi -- i am darker eyed, wavier haired, and just "different." My father's family is a mystery. He was not in my life.
I have had my DNA on file with Family Tree DNA for many years, and have received a variety of mixed "guesses" from them as to the identity of about 30% of my DNA. In the early years there were not enough matches to that autosomal DNA to estimate my background with certainty. At one point i was listed by FTDNA as 65% Ashkenazi Jewish, 5% assorted North African / Iberian and 30% unknown Mediterranean. -- they asked if i was a Druse or a Berber and i answered, "I don't know; you tell me!"
Over the years, as more people were tested, my North African component was narrowed down to Algeria and Morocco, with links to Jewish Berbers. Just recently, FTDNA made a commitment to identify Sephardic Jews by autosomal DNA. Mystery solved! I am currently listed by them as 20% Sephardic Jewish, 65% Ashkenazi Jewish, 6% Sicilian / Greek, 4% Iberian, 3% North African, and 2% Middle Eastern.
What does this mean? It means i am laughing very quietly over in my corner. I was raised by my Ashkenzi mother -- but now i at least know that my father descended from a Sephardic family.
