The Jews and Italians 

My father is an Icelandic Jew my mother is Cuban. I'm an Icecube

I'm a Jew from Queens and I have many Italian relatives through marriage. I know exactly what he means. It's truly a comfort zone between Jews and Italians. When we get together for family occasions, an outsider couldn't tell who was Italian and who was Jewish! The comedian Sebastian Manascalco said it best...."Jews and Italians, very similar. They say same corporation, different division!"

Jews and Italians are both Mediterraneans, along with Greeks

Jews and Italians are very culturally similar.

I’m Italian and have many relatives who are Jewish. Very common back in the day in Brooklyn to see Jews and Italians marry. The two cultures have always gotten along really well

Sunday dinner: spaghetti & matzoballs.

It's the same thing in Boston but it's the Italians and the Irish. Boston Mut, half Italian half Irish. Brooklyn Mut, half Italian half Jewish.

It's because most of the Italians that came to America were from the southern area which tends to be darker, most of the Jews in America are Ashkenazi, and Italians and Ashkenazim are closely related. It's not very hard.

My Jewish mother married my Sicilian-American father -- and DNA shows me to be 85% Jewish, hence my "Sicilian" grandparents were, in part, crypto-Jews. DNA also shows me to have some North African Amazigh (Berber) ancestors.

I thought I was 100% Italian because all four of my grandparents were born in Italy. I recently took a DNA test and had a deep analysis done through a program called Gedmatch. The analysis estimated me to be 50% Jewish (Italian, Jew, French Jew, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi) and 50% central Italian. I wasn't exactly expecting that but I'm not surprised. While we were Roman Catholic, my mother and her sister always wore star of David under their clothes and my mother had a menorah with the star of David on it hidden away. Recently I tried to talk to my aunt about this who is still alive but she got defensive and asked if we could talk another day. So apparently there are Italian Jews who are in hiding and I am the result of their integration. I always used to hear tales of a secretbook that the family had in Italy no one ever told me was in the book.

One word: ROME! Our physical similarities with Jews of East Med are undeniable, we lived side by side centuries. East Med surfaced in my Italian family's DNA. We have bravado, they have smarts; we don't like their religion, they don't like ours, despite this we like Jews and Jews like Italians esp in the USA. Only Italians and Jews understand this.

New York is where Italians and Jews share a sense of familiarity. Comradery. It was a decision. In many cases, similar physical characteristics. Definitely the Jewish mom and the Italian mom VERY SIMILAR!!! That's proof to me there's some ancient DNA ties.

Different division same conference

I am an Italian Jew from Philly And I must say I had a lot of mixed friends to some were black and white and me and them had a lot in common I never felt like I was white and I always felt like I was different

It is very true that food is a big part of Italian and Jewish culture in America.I think that is why they basically got along with each other in the old neighborhoods.

I agree and if you take the religion out of the picture it becomes more so.

Italian Americans, especially the Sicilian men, we go for either the Scottish or Irish, or Jew broads.

This is me

Jewtalian represent.

I have a very interesting background. My father was born Jewish, my mother was born/raised Italian Catholic but my mother had an Orthodox Jewish conversion and married my dad. Many yrs later, their 2nd child (me), got into genealogy. I had 2 extensive DNA tests done and it turned out my mother's Italian DNA originated on the Iberian Peninsula. I also found my Italian grandmother's maiden name on the list of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. A cousin on my mom's side from NV, a genealogist, told me my mother is Jewish by birth and sent me documents from Italy. When I presented all this to my mother, she said "does this mean I didn't have to convert?" (Yup) She then told me stories such as how when she was in Catholic school, if it was a Jewish holiday some kids would say, "why are you here? Isn't it a Jewish holiday?" Maybe they were just teasing her, or maybe they knew or sensed something she didn't?

Both of my maternal grandparents were from New York (possibly both Brooklyn). My grandma was Neapolitan, and my grandpa was Ashkenazi. My dad's side of the family can be traced back to Brooklyn (and Southern Connecticut) Ashkenazim as well.

My mom broke with the whole food obsession thing, since her mother aggressively pushed food on her and she's always (to this day) had a weight problem. She never pushed food on us, and all 4 of us have never had a weight problem.

And i understand him, it makes alote of sense of how he explains everything. I agree.

I'm italian from Germamy. I took a dna test and found out l'm 29 % sephardic jew.

A closer circle than that, man... I couldn´t think about! Family above all, protect your ones by any way.

He kind of looks like Dr Shakshuka....

Why is his name Kasal? That's not Italian.

no wonder I love my jewish friends.

🇮🇹❤🇮🇱

English and Germans, Greeks and Turks, Yoruba and Igbo, Japanese and Koreans, Mongolians and Kazakhs, Navajos and Hopis, Russians and Poles, French and Dutch/Flemish, Spanish, Basque and Portuguese, Chinese and Vietnamese, Indian/Pakistani and Persian, Filipino and Fijian, Mexican and Colombian, Swede, Dane, Finn, Icelander and Norwegian, Irish, Welsh and Scottish, Arab and Egyptian, Ethiopian and Somalian, Zulu, Swazi, Sotho, and Xhosa, Iroquois and Algonquin, Sioux and Pawnee, Czech and Slovak, Serbian and Bosnian, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai, etc.

To me personally, i believe he is the best of both sides/ best of both worlds. Bless his parents and all our parents .

Northern Italians have Phoenician ancestry Southern Italians have Greek ancestry..

You get a lot of Irish and Jews marrying in Queens

Totally agree

Spanish man have 20% Jewish blood on average do to mass convertion to Christianity during the inquisition

Yep, I'm 50/50 Jewish Catholic and I have to say the emphasis on food and playing cards are the two big ones.

Same with me my father is Italian, born in Italy, and my mother is Jewish born in America

I have this bible from the 1950s,I just got,but,talks about Paul in Rome,and the Jewish population there.King Solomon had like1,000 women,and Ephraim mixed with the nations.I am sure,many took wives where ever they found themselves.See the video Identity crisis by Jim Stayley.

I grew up the Bronx NYC and Westchester County NY. In both areas we always seemed to be living together as a result I saw many mixed religion marriages that work. As a kid I thought the same and still do believe family and food 1st. Many of my friends were and are Jewish and I benefited greatly from our blended culture. Jews and Italians same corporation different divisions. It's strange religion isn't the glue... culture is. I have only a lots of Irish friends as I have lived in Boston for 30 years...however it's not the same. Jews always seem like family. It's really eastern and southern European vs. Northern European thing I guess.

I'm really curious to see if i've jewish blood. I would be happy. I like their culture.

He doesn't say which Brooklyn neighborhood he grew up in.

so what race is Jewish?

My fathers Jewish and my mother’s Irish

Southern Italians absorbed many Jews ever since the inquisition and before and even as far back as ancient Roman times. Many Jews left Italy, Spain for other parts of Europe but many stayed on.

You're a very lucky man 😁

Gambino & cosa notra

Jimmy Hoffa / Put in for Saint Hood.

Aaaaah It took me a bit to understand what he meant, the american definition of italian, I was like what does he means there's plenty of Jewish italians from the italim, the romim (kind of a mess jews of Rome, some time called romim, which is itself a mess as greco Turkish jews use the same term, and the italim jews are kind of in a never ending debate on whose the true italian rite, well don't think anybody really cares about it anymore but a jew from Rome will probably tell you that their way are the true italian Jewish way if you ask him), the venetian jews (which used to be two separated groups the Ashkenazim and the sephardim but today mostly consider themselves mostly as one Jewish venetian community), the northern Ashkenazim, the sephardim

I hear ya!!! Sometimes circumcision is the only difference. :-)

Jews lived in Italy (4% of the population of Sicily was Jewish at one point) when things turned , some left, many simply remained, adopted Catholicism. I dont think Italians see Jews as 'other' ..Italians first..Invented Religion later.

My grandmother and her family also pretended to be just Italian but in reality they were all Jews!

That’s actually interesting. I thought they hate each other