<\/p>\n
The former white supremacist who was the main inspiration behind Ed Norton\u2019s character in American History X has discovered that he has Jewish heritage following a DNA test.<\/p>\n
Frank Meeink was the leader of a violent neo-Nazi gang during the 1990s who fully believed in inciting a race war.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Now aged 50, Meeink is an observant Jew who prays three times daily while wearing a tefillin, goes to Torah study classes, attends the Synagogue, and keeps kosher.<\/p>\n
Meeink made the discovery that he was Jewish after a friend commented that he \u201clooked Jewish\u201d, reports the Jewish Chronicle.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the New York Post he said: \u201cI just wanted to see if it was true, I wanted to see if it was real.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that finding out he was Jewish was a \u201cgift from God\u201d.<\/p>\n
More specifically Meeink found out that he was 2.4 per cent Ashkenazi Jewish from his mother\u2019s maternal great, great-grandmother.<\/p>\n
Meeink claims that finding out he was Jewish helped him through his darkest days following the death of his son Josh when he was just 19, the breakdown of his marriage, and the death of his mother from a fentanyl overdose.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe thing I loved about Judaism is that it says \u2018Love the Lord your God\u2019 and that you don\u2019t need to force your God on nobody else. I want to try and build this relationship with God.\u201d<\/p>\n \n