Well, I live in Scranton, and we have a healthy Jewish population. In some folks you can see a Semitic look, others you can’t. I also know folks who look Jewish, but aren’t. People are so individual that one can never know with certainty. But to the point, when I see the Shroud, I see someone who very strongly resembles the historical representation of Jesus, if not Uncle Shem. Blessings, Bob
I've long been told, and assume, that ancient representations of Jesus -- i.e., the Christ Pantocrater -- were based not on any personal knowledge of His appearance, or even on some Jewish-Semitic archetype, but rather on contemporary Greek images of Zeus, such as the one above, from Ephesus.
And it makes some sense to suppose that ancient Greek Christians would look for a recognizable image for their God in forms that were readily available. So they might say, for example to potential converts: "yes, He looks a little like Zeus, but is much superior." They'd then have at the same time, both instant connection and distinctions to point out.
Anyway, I'm no expert, am only saying that to me, the Shroud image looks like a Knight Templar. And of course this is no new idea. It's also been suggested (with bitter irony) that the image is of a certain specific Templar named Jacques de Molay.
Obviously the issue is, was there a pre-Templar history to the shroud? For that answer, I suppose we'll have to wait until a more careful analysis of various shroud materials is done.