30 October 2006
The ancient annals of the Jewish people testify to endless exiles and pogroms. However, for two centuries in the early Middle Ages, several Jewish kings ruled the empire that dominated southern Russia and included lands stretching from the current Ukrainian capital Kiev to the Central Asian Aral Sea.
Located north of the borders of Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate, Khazaria competed with both empires. The history of Khazaria, which is characterized by proselytism, militancy and confusion of peoples, differs from the history of other Jewish tribes. Since the kingdom became Jewish as a result of conversion, its role in the origin and ethnogenesis of the Ashkenaz has long been belittled.
This is the main thesis of Kevin Alan Brooke's book The Jews of Khazaria, which was published this month in the second edition in Rowman & Littlefield. The book tells about new archaeological finds and DNA analyses, which, according to the author, confirm his point of view of Khazar Jews as the ancestors of a number of ethnic groups in modern Eastern Europe. The new edition of the book emphasizes the contribution of the Khazars to the prevention of the Arab invasion of Russia and their role in the process of resettlement of Bulgarians and Magyars from the Volga region to their new homeland.
Khazaria, which became an independent state in the middle of the 7th century AD, was a multinational Khaganate that learned Turkic management skills and shamanism, but allowed other beliefs. Initially serving as a refuge for Jews from less tolerant Persia and Byzantium, Khazaria experienced several waves of migration of Jewish refugees, who for the most part married representatives of other nationalities and adopted local customs, while continuing to observe their own religious rites. By the tenth century, according to Brooke and other historians, Judaism had become the dominant religion of Khazaria.
The mass conversion of the Khazars did not happen by itself, but was initiated by the ruling class. Around 740 AD, King Bulan adopted Judaism, and the local nobility followed his example. The history of the king's decision resembles a classic myth: to understand which religion is better, Bulan invited connoisseurs of Christianity, Islam and Judaism to Khazaria. Like Paris before him, Bulan makes a choice, which, however, fate will be more favorable than an ancient hero. "Since that time, the Almighty Lord has helped him and strengthened him in his faith," says the narrative of the 11th century. "He and his servants circumcised themselves, and he sent for the wise men of Israel, and they came and interpreted the Torah for him, and put the laws in order."
Brooke, who is not a university scientist, studied Khazar history for a little more than a decade, but his book is quite academic. The history of Bulan's appeal, for example, is described in detail based on five different texts, as well as on modern theories that interpret this decision as a geopolitical gambit in the fight against Christian Slavs and Muslim caliphs. The author attracts numerous sources, which are given at the end of each chapter.
"The Jews of Khazaria" draw a lot from the "Khazar Studies" of Professor Peter Golden of Rutgers University (Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1980) and all other sources prefer the so-called "Schechter Letter", an anonymous manuscript of the 10th century, discovered by Solomon Schechter in 1890 in the Cairo synagogue. Dedicated to the attempts of interested parties to attract Khazar Jews to their side, the "Letter of Shechter" is a real treasure of information for Khazar researchers.
Oddly enough, the book "Jews of Khazaria", which aims to dispel "popular misconceptions", begins with a number of anti-Semitic myths, in which the Khazars act either as the Gog and Magog tribes, or as "evil peoples" captured by Alexander the Great and driven into the mountains of the Caucasus, then, and finally, as "red Jews" from the medieval folklore of the Germans who threaten peace-loving Christians.
The main drawback of Brooke's book is its strange structure. The author begins with a description of the Khazar race. Ethnic, linguistic and civic characteristics are set out very carefully, each topic is devoted to its own special paragraph. The history of Khazaria, from conversion to collapse (as a result of aggression from the outside and perhaps Brooke believes, the lack of religious homogeneity that the kingdom was famous for) occupies two-thirds of the book. The last third is devoted to a more general topic: the predominance of Jews throughout Eurasia before, after and during the Khazar kingdom.
To Brooke's credit, he interprets Jewish proselytism as a common phenomenon in the past and insists on the legality of the conversion of peoples of incomprehensible ethnogenesis who lived in the region during the period under review. However, it is difficult to squeeze information about Avars, Subbotniks, Yemenites, Krymchaks and Karaites into a 100-page volume and not to cause a sense of dubiousness of its inclusion in the system of argumentation. Brooke's argument at the end of the book that Khazar Jews are responsible for the conversion of other non-Jews throughout Eurasia, from Lithuania to Judea, is at least unconvincing when discussing such a serious issue, and at worst is hypocritical, since there were other motives for converting to Judaism.
The last remark should not be understood as an attempt to dissuade readers from reading Brooke's informative research. On the contrary, the courage of the author, who has mastered such a amount of material, is worthy of praise, it should be supported, developed and promoted - just as it was done with the faith of highly educated citizens of Khazaria.
Source: https://russian.eurasianet.org/node/54884
30 October 2006
The ancient annals of the Jewish people testify to endless exiles and pogroms. However, for two centuries in the early Middle Ages, several Jewish kings ruled the empire that dominated southern Russia and included lands stretching from the current Ukrainian capital Kiev to the Central Asian Aral Sea.
Located north of the borders of Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate, Khazaria competed with both empires. The history of Khazaria, which is characterized by proselytism, militancy and confusion of peoples, differs from the history of other Jewish tribes. Since the kingdom became Jewish as a result of conversion, its role in the origin and ethnogenesis of the Ashkenaz has long been belittled.
This is the main thesis of Kevin Alan Brooke's book The Jews of Khazaria, which was published this month in the second edition in Rowman & Littlefield. The book tells about new archaeological finds and DNA analyses, which, according to the author, confirm his point of view of Khazar Jews as the ancestors of a number of ethnic groups in modern Eastern Europe. The new edition of the book emphasizes the contribution of the Khazars to the prevention of the Arab invasion of Russia and their role in the process of resettlement of Bulgarians and Magyars from the Volga region to their new homeland.
Khazaria, which became an independent state in the middle of the 7th century AD, was a multinational Khaganate that learned Turkic management skills and shamanism, but allowed other beliefs. Initially serving as a refuge for Jews from less tolerant Persia and Byzantium, Khazaria experienced several waves of migration of Jewish refugees, who for the most part married representatives of other nationalities and adopted local customs, while continuing to observe their own religious rites. By the tenth century, according to Brooke and other historians, Judaism had become the dominant religion of Khazaria.
The mass conversion of the Khazars did not happen by itself, but was initiated by the ruling class. Around 740 AD, King Bulan adopted Judaism, and the local nobility followed his example. The history of the king's decision resembles a classic myth: to understand which religion is better, Bulan invited connoisseurs of Christianity, Islam and Judaism to Khazaria. Like Paris before him, Bulan makes a choice, which, however, fate will be more favorable than an ancient hero. "Since that time, the Almighty Lord has helped him and strengthened him in his faith," says the narrative of the 11th century. "He and his servants circumcised themselves, and he sent for the wise men of Israel, and they came and interpreted the Torah for him, and put the laws in order."
Brooke, who is not a university scientist, studied Khazar history for a little more than a decade, but his book is quite academic. The history of Bulan's appeal, for example, is described in detail based on five different texts, as well as on modern theories that interpret this decision as a geopolitical gambit in the fight against Christian Slavs and Muslim caliphs. The author attracts numerous sources, which are given at the end of each chapter.
"The Jews of Khazaria" draw a lot from the "Khazar Studies" of Professor Peter Golden of Rutgers University (Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1980) and all other sources prefer the so-called "Schechter Letter", an anonymous manuscript of the 10th century, discovered by Solomon Schechter in 1890 in the Cairo synagogue. Dedicated to the attempts of interested parties to attract Khazar Jews to their side, the "Letter of Shechter" is a real treasure of information for Khazar researchers.
Oddly enough, the book "Jews of Khazaria", which aims to dispel "popular misconceptions", begins with a number of anti-Semitic myths, in which the Khazars act either as the Gog and Magog tribes, or as "evil peoples" captured by Alexander the Great and driven into the mountains of the Caucasus, then, and finally, as "red Jews" from the medieval folklore of the Germans who threaten peace-loving Christians.
The main drawback of Brooke's book is its strange structure. The author begins with a description of the Khazar race. Ethnic, linguistic and civic characteristics are set out very carefully, each topic is devoted to its own special paragraph. The history of Khazaria, from conversion to collapse (as a result of aggression from the outside and perhaps Brooke believes, the lack of religious homogeneity that the kingdom was famous for) occupies two-thirds of the book. The last third is devoted to a more general topic: the predominance of Jews throughout Eurasia before, after and during the Khazar kingdom.
To Brooke's credit, he interprets Jewish proselytism as a common phenomenon in the past and insists on the legality of the conversion of peoples of incomprehensible ethnogenesis who lived in the region during the period under review. However, it is difficult to squeeze information about Avars, Subbotniks, Yemenites, Krymchaks and Karaites into a 100-page volume and not to cause a sense of dubiousness of its inclusion in the system of argumentation. Brooke's argument at the end of the book that Khazar Jews are responsible for the conversion of other non-Jews throughout Eurasia, from Lithuania to Judea, is at least unconvincing when discussing such a serious issue, and at worst is hypocritical, since there were other motives for converting to Judaism.
The last remark should not be understood as an attempt to dissuade readers from reading Brooke's informative research. On the contrary, the courage of the author, who has mastered such a amount of material, is worthy of praise, it should be supported, developed and promoted - just as it was done with the faith of highly educated citizens of Khazaria.
Source: https://russian.eurasianet.org/node/54884
