OBJECTIVE Since its foundation in 1948, Israel has received large waves of immigrants, mainly from Europe (Ashkenazic Jews, or Ashkenazim) and from North Africa and other Middle Eastern countries (Sephardic Jews. or Sephardim). In Israeli society, Ashkenazic Jews are an advantaged ethnic group, whereas Sephardic Jews are relatively disadvantaged. Little is known about the differences in drinkin...

REES156 Sophomore Seminar: East European Jewish Experience Our concept of the life of East European Jews has been dominated by the Hollywood and Broadway blockbuster FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. The shtetl has been the paradigm of East European Jewish experience. But the powerful imagery of the shtetl is largely a creation of 19th-century writers. This course will take us beyond the shtetl and will loo...

BACKGROUND Previous historical, anthropological and genetic data provided overwhelming support for the Semitic origins of the Lemba, a Bantu-speaking people in southern Africa. OBJECTIVE To revisit the question concerning genetic affinities between the Lemba and Jews. METHODS Y-chromosome variation was examined in two Lemba groups: one from South Africa (SA) and, for the first time, a group...

BACKGROUND Studies have shown that perceived discrimination may be associated with impaired health. The aim of this study was to assess the levels of perceived discrimination on the basis of origin and ethnicity and measure the association with health in three population groups in Israel: non-immigrant Jews, immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and Arabs. METHODS A cross sectional random ...

BACKGROUND Knowledge and understanding of what health insurance covers is an important public health issue. In Israel, whereas national health insurance covers all residents, optional supplemental health insurance (SHI) can be purchased from the healthcare providers, for additional, special services. The purpose of this study was to identify disparities between Jews and Arabs in their knowledge...

High-resolution Y chromosome haplotype analysis was performed in 143 paternally unrelated Israeli and Palestinian Moslem Arabs (I&P Arabs) by screening for 11 binary polymorphisms and six microsatellite loci. Two frequent haplotypes were found among the 83 detected: the modal haplotype of the I&P Arabs (~14%) was spread throughout the region, while its one-step microsatellite neighbor, the moda...

In her article "Exile, Homeland, and Milieu in the Oral Lore of Carpatho-Russian Jews" Ilana Rosen analyzes oral narratives of Central and East European Jewish communities. The Jewish people have spent most of their lifetime outside their promised land. Accordingly, their ethos, as reflected by holy teachings, expresses a yearning for a return to the holy land by divine agency once the nation i...

MTHFR C677T is a common gene polymorphism that has been shown to be associated with hyperhomocysteinemia. Studies on the role of MTHFR in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have yielded conflicting results, perhaps due in part to genetic heterogeneity. The prevalence of the MTHFR C677T variant allele varies according to Jewish subpopulations: Ashkenazi vs non-Ashkenazi. The aim of this study was...