I recently read a comment somewhere by a guy who said Sophia didn't seem Italian to him at all; instead, she seemed to act more like his Jewish grandmother.
That got me thinking. I mean, she never seemed Jewish to me, but she never seemed that Italian either, despite the fact that she told Italian stories and fixed Italian food. Maybe it's the lack of an accent or something, I really don't know. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

I could totally see Sophia being a Jewish woman. Granted, the accent isn't there, but maybe it could be.

Keep in mind also that Estelle was "discovered" in her motherly role in "Torch Song Trilogy," which I think has some Jewish relation to it (although I don't know the theme of the show).

I remember hearing on The TV Tales for GG that Rue said that Estelle always asked why Sophia had to be Italian and why couldn't she be Jewish? She would say she couldn't play Italian but could do Jewish.