Eliyahu, "Gaon of Vilna" - Note to Future Researchers

Good work! Which is the best test to get?

My great grandmother, on my mother's side is Dora Silverstone as follows:

Michael Friedman → Rhea Marilyn Abrams your mother → Moses Silverstone her father
→ Dora Silverstone (Jurbarsky) his mother → Moshe Jurbarsky her father → Tuviah Jurbarsky his father → Rabbi Yehuda Leib Vilner, s. #6 of GRA his father → Eliyahu, "Gaon of Vilna" his father.

I will be happy to help you in your research.

Michael Byron Friedman Ha, ha, you got me! The line has to be from father to son to son, etc.. without a female interruption. Your yDNA result would yield the Friedman haplogroup. Private User The best initial test is the Y37 test at FTDNA because this is the only lab specializing in yDNA. Best Wishes, Adam

Is the purpose to study the genes of the Gaon of Vilna?

Private User There are two main purposes for this exercise: 1) the information can be used to make the tree more accurate by confirming that sibling branches are indeed connected: for example, if two descendants from separate branches both match on the yDNA then that is a strong indication that the two branches are accurately constructed from a solid foundation, and 2) the information can be used by persons who do not have any other way to build their trees into much earlier times: for example, if a person learns that his family's ydna matches that of the Gaon then it stands to reason that the new person's family does indeed stem from the same tree.

I am the 8th great granddaughter of the Vilna Gaon. I would be happy to take part in the study. I’m related through the Menkin branch on my Mother’s side.
Laurie Janov Williams

Most of the theoretic links on Geni to the Gra are not direct male links such that YDNA testing is of little use

Laurie Janov Williams While it is theoretically possible to obtain the mtDNA signature of an earlier rabbi, it is more difficult to trace the matriline through the succeeding generations due to the relative paucity of hisotrical matriline genealogies.This is why the lowest hanging fruit is by using the ydna lineage which requires an unbroken son-to-son connection between the person tested and the earlier rabbi.Private User I wonder if any of the 203 persons who GENI finds are yDNA descendants actually are? With any luck one or two of these many may come through, if not now, maybe later....

Geni facilitates addition of spurious links to the family of the Gra.
I gave up following this some years ago.
User beware!

I can have my first cousin-male contact you if that would help.

Laurie Janov Williams Thanks for the kind offer. Looking at your GENI tree, your male cousin does not share the same ydna as R' GRA His ydna is from another source. Thus, his ydna information could not assist with either of the purposes described above (20 APR 2021: 4:40 PM).