The Cohen gene so-called may prove to be a marker of ancient Middle East populations. Its absence or presence does not necessarily indicate Judeans versus Northern Kingdom. The point of the Times of India<\/em> article was that both in the case of the Jews of Cochin (Black, White and Meshuhrarim<\/em> [=freedslaves]) and the Bene Israel<\/em> there is sure evidence linking them both to the ancient Middle East.<\/p>\n I have not been involved in collecting DNA from the Bene Menasheh<\/em> although I believe colleagues in Israel are conducting genetic research on them. However I did collect from the Telugu-speaking community in Guntur Province and the results as the Times of India<\/em> article indicated were neutral. They were not negative, they were neutral. That is, no particular markers linking them to any of the populations for which markers are known were found.<\/p>\n The research in no way invalidates the Telugu-speaking community\u2019s claims to be viewed as Jews. During my recent research visit among this community I was impressed by the sincerity and devotion of this community who maintain a synagogue in a large, very poor village which has 2 mosques, a thousand Hindu temples, and several dozen churches. Whereas the churches are beneficiaries of help from abroad particularly from Europe and the USA, the synagogue is not. I receive almost daily pleas from the community \u2014 not for money but for my help in acquiring rabbinic instruction for their teachers.<\/p>\n In my view these people are as \u201cJewish\u201d as their cousins in Manipur, yet strangely they are ignored.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tudor Parfitt, 2002 The Cohen gene so-called may prove to be a marker of ancient Middle East populations. Its absence <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1222,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template\/full-width.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n