Racing Backward in Time

The black yarmulke resting comfortably on Matisyahu’s head stands out in the center of the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan and hints at his primary means of connecting with his heritage — hunching eagerly over an open Gemara struggling to penetrate its deepest sugyas. He returned to New York after spending several years in yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael which he insists is his real home — “where I learned to love Torah.” His quest to reconnect with his roots has led him to harmoniously pursue the pleasant ways of Torah life in the classic cultured tradition of Italian Jewry while immersing himself in the strange new foreign world of genetics.

Through his mastery of published scientific research and his regular contact with geneticists and genealogists he eventually became a project coordinator with Family Tree DNA a Houston–based company that contends its database of more than 300000 records qualifies it as the world’s largest firm offering genealogical DNA testing. Matisyahu is working to position himself as an active participant in a growing global network of Jewish genetic genealogists.

“It only takes a few ‘leaves’ — individuals — to see the outline of a ‘branch’ on the family tree. With more leaves more detailed smaller branches become visible. Soon we will have enough of these smaller branches to really envision the entire tree” says Matisyahu who is assisted by a network of researchers.

He is receiving backing from private supporters and followers of the research as well as from clients seeking assistance in tracing their own personal families and placing their branch in the greater Jewish family tree.