Jewish?

It has become very faddy for celebrities and politicians to announce some Jewish family connection, even if it's not genetic. Over half a millennium after the Inquisition, that's pretty good news.

Two of the latest are from different eras and totally different lives.

Students of the American Revolution and the early days of the United States all agree that one of the most brilliant thinkers and politicians was Thomas Jefferson. Yes, you guessed it! Geneticists say there are Jewish markers on his "Y chromosome."

University of Arizona geneticist Michael Hammer found that the Jefferson Y chromosome was a perfect match to a Moroccan Jew and closely matched another Moroccan Jew, a Kurdish Jew and an Egyptian.

And from today's celebrities...
Do you remember the athletic, graceful and precocious ice skater, Oksana Baiul, who stunned the world when she won the Olympic Gold at the age of 16? Yes, she, too, has Jewish roots.

hat tip The Gantseh Megillah