[GreenHornet]

According to Wikipedia, "jewel" originates in the Latin word for "play" ... jocus (joke) ... which became jeu in France. I suppose the connection is that people (and animals) play with sparkly things that have no survival utility. There is no connection to "Jew."

It brings to mind one of Gilda Radner's "Emily Litella" editorials: "What's all this fuss about Soviet jewelry?"

[Tax-chick]

This is the second time Gilda Radner has come up today. Ah, she was a yente.