R' Yehoshua Heschel Charif, of Krakow, Meginei Shlomo - Note to Future Researchers

He is my 11th great grandfather. However, the patrilinial connection shifts to matrilineal after about 5 generations. Would any DNA connection remain?

Private User

I am a descendant of him from 3 different branches, as far as I understand there are dna tests that can go many generations back, but these are very very expensive tests

Private User Yes there is still a DNA connection. How much of a connection varies with each person. For the purposes of rabbinical lineage research, only the gender linked dna is sought (ydna or mtdna, with the former much more useful due to the preservation of rabbinical genealogies over time. It is much more difficult to trace matrilineal genealogies over long periods of time because of the lack of recordation. However, it is theoretically possible to obtain and then trace the mtDNA signature of a rabbi, and for more recent rabbis may be feasible. The main point is that for rabbinical research there is difference between being a DNA descendant of someone and being a yDNA descendant of that same someone.

There is currently an entire extended family by the name of Bursztyn who are patrilinial descendants of R' Yehoshua Charif of Krakow, aka the Meginei Shlomo. I am a descendant as well, however, the patrilinial connection shifts to matrilineal 2 generations back.

Jacob Mordechai Posner Thanks for the tip. I believe you may be referring to the tree of: Dr. Naftali Hertzl Bursztyn It would make for an important contribution to the family legacy to obtain the yDNA group of the lineage, and perhaps one day this will be possible, B"H. You and I are both interested spectators to this miracle of tradition and science.

Private User and Jacob Mordechai Posner, Dr. Naftali Hertzl Bursztyn is not the only tree with the relation. My paternal grandmother, Fanny (Fay) Muller, was a sister to Dr. Bursztyn. Jacob Mordechai Posner, nice to meet you!