***Ancestral Origins and Genetic Diversity of Moroccan Jews******Raquel Levy-Toledano******Sephardic World, 12 May 2024***Jews have been present in North Africa for more than 2,000 years. Moroccan Jewish oral tradition claims that they originated in the Holy Land. Some European historians and travelers of the 19th and early 20th centuries thought they were mostly natives – Berbers – who converted to Judaism. Another hypothesis is that part of Morocco's Berber population descends from former Jews who converted to Islam. Some of the Moroccan Jews, the Toshavim, have been living in Morocco since ancient times, others, the Megorashim, came to Morocco after having been expelled from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century.What are the ancestral origins of Moroccan Jews? The study on the Y chromosome of nearly 250 Moroccan Jewish men carried out as part of the Avotaynu DNA project will try to answer this question. It will be supported by an empirical comparison of the ethnic origins of Moroccan Jews and those of Ashkenazim and non-Jews from Morocco.***Raquel Levy-Toledano***is a French MD, PhD, Sephardic Jew, born in Morocco and very much involved in research on Moroccan Jewish genealogy. She is a board member of the Cercle de Généalogie Juive where she leads the North African group, a co-administrator of Avotaynu DNA, the founder of a genealogy society, NAJMA (Nos Ancêtres Juifs Marocains et Algériens) and of the Généalogie des Juifs Marocains Group on Facebook, and a volunteer curator at Geni.com. Because there are few sources and documents on Moroccan Jews, to promote Moroccan Jewish genealogy, she set up a Facebook group encouraging the close to 10,000 members to built their tree and to collaborate on Geni. This allowed the group to build a tree of more than 350,000 profiles on Geni.***Join us on Sunday 12 May 2024***, at 11am in LA, 2pm in NYC, 7pm in London, 8pm in Paris/Amsterdam, 9pm in Jerusalem, and 6am the next morning in Sydney. Patrons are invited to join us live on Zoom. Everyone else is welcome to join us on [https://www.youtube.com/SephardicGenealogyAndHistory](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2FSephardicGenealogyAndHistory%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0m8XMh2ybkc0VLzOa7F-ls9_dTMEdQIGRkiZzSDPu2TDQWQmFODXNQC2k_aem_ARXaSEA4hzWpK2oFzNs13SMqvfl5AA1DVcuph4iy86Zzaf3-zPAREWgRgJDpdWdMOjLQMsLeFULoh0FH25pLFPQE&h=AT3v4sZKMUSkl3_R0CvelkSogEvXSo3eGaVOHkJasqO70pgx1L9JAMwVUrg_aMOLKVXQOD5xs2b_ADfQEllmpkMFScxyUa6re4NLzljnzVkTLhNC5muEV0GJE50dnzt9TA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1jrUkF6qdi1bQTGA_flAI-Wgk9XiT0aVPHBYTgSf-HaRJBTeJdtclS91hpyjjaSAJl1ezBBG2Xb-kqSI3E3x00A47LVUdL6LkXg3dKA6duHSmsXMvIBbFuxPHCrDIr_D1hZzLnxlmhkY-6wXHYabZesSG00JmD6kjPBUxj95tjtrKuimAGPEgTTgtkWsAF463-3oJI_alu9KcfytMR_ZeJoxEoAI5_zrPP_MoCDAdoInlW)(and please remember to subscribe to the channel).***Support Bevis Marks Synagogue!***Yet again, developers are seeking planning permission to build a high-rise building over Bevis Marks, putting the historic synagogue into shadow, and totally changing the atmosphere and experience. A functionary of the Corporation of London stated that the large number of messages from all over the world were an influence on their previous rejection of a planning application. If you haven’t yet written, please do so.***This is the Protect Bevis Marks website [https://protectbevismarks.co.uk/](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fprotectbevismarks.co.uk%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2eAfB8kPCHUDRau9kOSkC96DAO2zELUWpC5ZnkT3gKYp_WgmIf_7ttdUg_aem_ARVny48PkmiLxM0yOl4Tduu0hcwJAe81cf-F1VUSG286qAlii5FPx6gPBEDC2kx6FyibMfN2IkWS40wxyYRV15wc&h=AT0DuqrV2rcORPJXMqNDrDpYQbUbm87FiXUimtg9txXiWEGlHrY66mcCii1qAozCgBAgTFdZttYYRh26eGBPUIck9ATECBFcWQL4NwIW-z1bXuS3vF0iMrJnHzJYvx6XgA&__tn__=-U-U-UK-R&c[0]=AT1jrUkF6qdi1bQTGA_flAI-Wgk9XiT0aVPHBYTgSf-HaRJBTeJdtclS91hpyjjaSAJl1ezBBG2Xb-kqSI3E3x00A47LVUdL6LkXg3dKA6duHSmsXMvIBbFuxPHCrDIr_D1hZzLnxlmhkY-6wXHYabZesSG00JmD6kjPBUxj95tjtrKuimAGPEgTTgtkWsAF463-3oJI_alu9KcfytMR_ZeJoxEoAI5_zrPP_MoCDAdoInlW)***The website doesn’t mention the Corporation of London’s City Plan 2040 (https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/assets/Services-Environment/City-Plan-2040.pdf) which several times references that special consideration and protection must be given to the setting and surrounding of Bevis Marks synagogue. It would be helpful if you could reference City Plan 2040 in your objection to the development.Don’t forget to quote the planning application reference: 24/00021/FULEIA.***5 Centuries of 5 Italian Jewish Families***If you missed George Sacerdote’s talk on Five Centuries of Five Italian Jewish Families, or want to watch it again, it is available here: https://www.youtube.com/live/5BkEsJ0YoQ8***Can you Volunteer or Donate?***The Sephardic Genealogical Society is looking for volunteers. If you have skills and time to spare, please complete our questionnaire. 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If you can support our work by donating as little as $5/month, please visit our Patreon page. We have a number of projects that require more substantial support. Please let us know if you can help.[https://www.patreon.com/sephardi](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fsephardi%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1auBNHkSOYj9278gPoBRcQ4eBsPIbrKmIqUbsfPVg5xq-2RX6Ezt_usW0_aem_ARX_6fXDtyrpodKm8UhVnuUTn8JAuGR47ZJNel-2QG4Vj7ZG2AMTUlGjR8VIQWvlcQ_MjC1bIxGrRc6Jc6NqeEVX&h=AT1DDOpuLluAETdpMxaE5IuogK-48hpg8e1TwGJ-7PehAVCEzHy_pS7PfpMk_wtE8AeVvvLtKCFXTTgrQ2MlPfDgUk6-ObNrlDJINMlTx5bJa8J6nXIsPu1dgWSjPVZNPg&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT1jrUkF6qdi1bQTGA_flAI-Wgk9XiT0aVPHBYTgSf-HaRJBTeJdtclS91hpyjjaSAJl1ezBBG2Xb-kqSI3E3x00A47LVUdL6LkXg3dKA6duHSmsXMvIBbFuxPHCrDIr_D1hZzLnxlmhkY-6wXHYabZesSG00JmD6kjPBUxj95tjtrKuimAGPEgTTgtkWsAF463-3oJI_alu9KcfytMR_ZeJoxEoAI5_zrPP_MoCDAdoInlW)***Join our new WhatsApp channel***We have set up a WhatsApp channel to better help communication with supporters. If you have WhatsApp, please follow the channel.[https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHxAjhJ93wTMhWkTF0i](https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHxAjhJ93wTMhWkTF0i?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR18jFiY_nZFyUPKchnVsUv9lIkgXO4wLHH99uH5b1klOv7GfrrTMxDGOSc_aem_ARVggiMsvWqg6S9BY5Ca00IwhBofdqOnZouX9jcwL58CDbstsvNKYzty3XOmLqS6gdMwIQJl9kLC1kHfNvKWkR9W)*Best wishes**Ton and David**Sephardic World*