Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Khazars. Heres The Proof. – The Forward
Posted By admin on December 31, 2022
Image by Nikki Casey
By Alexander BeiderSeptember 25, 2017
In 2010 I was contacted by the chief editor of a volume called Khazars: Myth and History, put together by the Russian Academy of Sciences. She knew my books on Ashkenazic names, and was familiar with my ongoing study of the history of Yiddish, eventually published by Oxford University Press in 2015 as Origins of Yiddish Dialects. The editor wanted me to write a paper explaining the traces of Jews from medieval Khazaria that she was certain I had observed in my research.
I tried to politely decline her proposal. I told her that my paper on that topic would be too short for inclusion, because it would consist of just one sentence: The corpus of personal names and surnames borne by Jews in Eastern Europe during the last six centuries, as well as the Yiddish language as a whole, do not contain any link to Khazaria.
The editor insisted that if I was so convinced of this argument, I should write it up, for it would be of interest to both experts and lay readers. I finally agreed and wrote a paper.
The paper allowed me to formulate some methodological principles about working in what are sometimes called soft sciences. Historiography and linguistics are not formal disciplines like mathematics or logic; nothing can be proved definitively. This allows for the introduction of what we might call junk science a category to which the Khazarian hypothesis belongs.
Nevertheless, the absolute lack of any fundamental proof for the theory has not stopped it from catching the imaginations of geneticists, linguists and hordes of lay folk alike.
Since the late 19th century, the so-called Khazarian theory has promoted the idea that a bulk of Ashkenazic Jews living in Eastern Europe descended from medieval Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic people who founded a powerful polyethnic state in the Caucasus and north to the Caspian, Azov and Black seas. The theory received a recent boost with the 1976 publication of The Thirteenth Tribe, a book by Arthur Koestler. Most recently, the Khazarian hypothesis has been promoted by authors like the Tel Aviv University professor of history Shlomo Sand and Tel Aviv University professor of linguistics Paul Wexler, as well the geneticist Eran Elhaik.
Despite this institutional backing, the theory is absolutely without evidence. As any historian will tell you, generations of Jews, like generations of any people, leave historical traces behind them. These traces come in multiple forms. For starters, people leave behind them historical documents and archaeological data. Predictably, archaeologic evidence about the widespread existence of Jews in Khazaria is almost nonexistent. While a series of independent sources does testify to the existence in the 10th century of Jews in the Kingdom of Khazaria, and while some of these sources also indicate that the ruling elite of Khazaria embraced Judaism, the Khazarian state was destroyed by Russians during the 960s. In other words, we can be confident that Judaism was not particularly widespread in that kingdom.
The next historical record of Jews in a few cities that today belong to western Ukraine and western Belarus shows up in the 14th century, when Jews are regularly referred to in numerous documents.
And yet, no direct historiographical data is available to connect the Jews who lived in Eastern Europe in the 14th century with their co-religionists from the 10th-century Khazaria.
One city in northwest Ukraine, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, does seem to have an uninterrupted presence of Jews from the 12th century. For example, in 1171 a Jewish merchant called Benjamin from that city lived in Cologne, and a Russian document refers to local Jews in 1288. Another Jewish source describes a circumcision ceremony in that city at the end of the 14th century. But it is only during the 16th century that references to Jews appear in large territories of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania, and even in the mid-16th century local communities were not populous. Historical documents also indicate that the earliest known Jewish communities in Poland were all situated in its westernmost part.
But history is not the only discipline to debunk the Khazarian hypothesis. Linguistics, too, and the study of Yiddish help us rule out a Khazarian ancestry for todays Jews. Since the 17th century, Yiddish was the vernacular language of all Jews of Eastern Europe. All its main structural elements are German, though during the past few centuries, they also underwent a strong influence of Slavic languages.
This view is shared by all major Yiddish linguists but not by Paul Wexler. Wexler believes there to be certain structural Turkic and Iranian elements hidden in Yiddish.
His methods rely heavily on fortuitous coincidences. And if you apply them more widely, you can link Yiddish to any language in the world.
It is simply bad linguistics. All words of Turkic origin came into Yiddish via the intermediary of East Slavic languages. It is the lexicon that keeps the actual traces of languages spoken by ancestors of Yiddish speakers. For that reason, in addition to Hebrew and Aramaic words, Yiddish has a small set of words whose roots come from Old French, Old Czech and Greek.
Some proponents of the Khazarian theory admit the German basis of Yiddish, but pretend that it was learned in Eastern Europe by indigenous Jewish masses from rabbis who came from the West and who introduced Yiddish as a prestige language.
But such a scenario can hardly be accepted. Only the cultural languages, Hebrew and Aramaic, were prestigious. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Yiddish brought from Central Europe became the first language for all Jews of Eastern Europe, a vernacular rather than a prestige object. Slavic idioms were used in that area by both the Christian majority and (during the previous period) by local Jews of heterogenous origins. Far from prestigious, Yiddish, understandable even for children, was used to teach students the prestigious language of Hebrew. We know that Yiddish wasnt a prestige language, because girls, who were not taught languages in school, spoke it, too. The role of mothers in the transmission of the everyday language is by far more important than that of fathers.
In addition to history and linguistics, a third discipline can help us put to rest the Khazarian hypothesis: onomastics, or the study of proper names. Looking at names, both first names and surnames, gives us a sense of how a community saw itself, its language and its origins. And in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe over the past six centuries, not a single Turkic name can be found in documents listing Jewish names. Even in documents from the 15th and 16th centuries dealing with Jews who lived in the territories of modern Ukraine and Belarus have no such names.
In the corpus of given names used by Jews of Eastern Europe during the last centuries, we find the same linguistic layers as in the lexicon of Yiddish. There are numerous Germanic and Hebrew names and some Aramaic names. There are also Greek names (Todres from Theodoros, Kalmen from Kalonymos), Old French names (Beyle, Bunem, Yentl), Old Czech names (Khlavne, Slave, Zlate), and Polish names (Basye, Tsile), and very few East Slavic names (Badane, Vikhne). There are no Turkic names.
Finally, we come to genetics. One does not have to be a professional geneticist to see the inadequacy of the methodologies used by Eran Elhaik, the champion of the Khazarian theory in that domain. In his paper of 2013, he pretends to show that modern Ashkenazic Jews are genetically closer to Khazars than to biblical Hebrews. The last mention of Khazars is almost one thousand years old, while biblical times are also far from us. For these reasons, Elhaik needed modern substitutes, so he substituted Armenians and Georgians for Khazars (because all of them are related in some way to Caucasus); and he substituted Israeli Palestinians for biblical Hebrews. In his paper of 2016, he analyses the links between various population groups by introducing another bold idea, that of finding a sort of geographic average point for various genetic features. Using it, he links the Ashkenazic Jews to the southern part of the Black sea, not far from the Turkish border but still in places inhabited by fish only.
Globally speaking, his general method is applicable only in a context of families that remained for centuries in the same places (for example, in Sardinia) but certainly not for population groups characterized by geographic mobility. As one of my friends pointed out, if we apply his idea to Barack Obama, the former US president will be classified as Libyan just because Libya lies in the middle of a line that unites Kenya and the UK.
Globally speaking, all arguments suggested by proponents of Khazarian theory are either highly speculative or simply wrong. They cannot be taken seriously.
This has never stopped the theory from being popular. But the ideological reasons for this are for another article.
Alexander Beider is a linguist and the author of reference books about Jewish names and the history of Yiddish. He lives in Paris.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspective in Opinion.
Continue reading here:
Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Khazars. Heres The Proof. - The Forward
- Jewish ethnic divisions - Wikipedia - November 14th, 2023
- Ashkenazi Jews descend from 350 people, study finds - November 2nd, 2023
- State AG presses 23andMe for action after hack that targeted Ashkenazi Jewish, Chinese ancestry - The Hill - November 2nd, 2023
- Treating the wounded in battle: Dor Ashkenazi and Almog Oren - ISRAEL21c - November 2nd, 2023
- The Day Before Oct. 7, Hackers Stole 23andMe Data on Ashkenazi Jews - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - October 25th, 2023
- Ashkenazi Jews in Israel - Wikipedia - October 22nd, 2023
- 23andMe scraping incident leaked data on 1.3 million users of Ashkenazi and Chinese descent - The Record from Recorded Future News - October 10th, 2023
- The Origins of Ashkenaz, Ashkenazic Jews, and Yiddish - September 18th, 2023
- Meeting the ancestors: History of Ashkenazi Jews revealed in ... - AAAS - August 30th, 2023
- Where are Ashkenazi Jews today? | Britannica - August 22nd, 2023
- Study: Ashkenazi Breast Cancer Risk is Overestimated by Current ... - Yid Info - August 22nd, 2023
- RFK Jr. said COVID-19 was targeted to spare Ashkenazi Jews. One rabbi came to his defense. - Forward - July 20th, 2023
- RFK Jr. suggests COVID-19 was ethnically targeted to avoid Ashkenazi Jews - The Times of Israel - July 18th, 2023
- Here Is Why 'Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese' Is Trending on Social ... - Pajiba Entertainment News - July 18th, 2023
- Kishke: Unraveling the Gut-Deep Culinary Traditions of Ashkenazi ... - Aish - June 6th, 2023
- B.C. initiative aims to expand genetic screening for Ashkenazi Jewish people at risk of hereditary cancers - CBC.ca - May 29th, 2023
- Medical genetics of Jews - Wikipedia - March 20th, 2023
- Ashkenazi Jews Must Stop Identifying As White/European - February 27th, 2023
- What does it mean to be genetically Jewish? - the Guardian - February 16th, 2023
- Bones yielding insights about Ashkenazi DNA in a German town built atop ... - December 25th, 2022
- 9. Race, ethnicity, heritage and immigration among U.S. Jews - December 23rd, 2022
- Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry - Wikipedia - December 20th, 2022
- We Were The Lucky Ones: Robin Weigert, Lior Ashkenazi Join Cast ... - November 19th, 2022
- Y-chromosomal Aaron - Wikipedia - October 23rd, 2022
- Wanted for work in Israel: pimps and Ashkenazi cooks - Haaretz - October 23rd, 2022
- Ashkenazi Jewish Heritage and Genetic Risk | OncoLink - October 17th, 2022
- Israeli needle-free alternative to amnio can detect thousands of mutations - The Times of Israel - October 17th, 2022
- Jamaican Organizations and B'nai Brith to Work Together to Highlight Little-Known Chapter of the Holocaust - bnaibrith.ca - October 17th, 2022
- Work remains on Tay-Sachs and other Ashkenazi genetic disorders J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 19th, 2022
- Canada's oldest Ashkenazi congregation just recovered a 100-year-old time capsule on their milestone anniversary weekend - The Canadian Jewish News - September 19th, 2022
- How to Celebrate Rosh Hashanah With the Help of London Restaurants This Year - Eater London - September 19th, 2022
- Pope criticised over running 'supermarket of religions' - TVP World - September 19th, 2022
- Want to know more about breast cancer and genetics? This Q&A will have all the answers - HerCanberra - September 19th, 2022
- They have their secret. Now I have a secret too: The story behind SumiLicious, the only Scarborough restaurant to receive a Michelin award - Toronto... - September 19th, 2022
- Trip notebook: Papal critics, an ambassador for Italian and sitting on the same level - Crux Now - September 19th, 2022
- Netanyahu poised to lead most rightwing government in Israeli history - Mondoweiss - September 19th, 2022
- Recap: Recent Advances in the Treatment of Metastatic Castration-Sensitive Prostate Cancer - Cancer Network - September 19th, 2022
- $55 million gift to Penn is aimed at stopping breast cancer before it starts - The Philadelphia Inquirer - September 16th, 2022
- The Pope Addresses The Heart Of The Belt & Road Initiative In Kazakhstan - Silk Road Briefing - September 16th, 2022
- Who will / should win the Ophirs? - Blog - The Film Experience - September 16th, 2022
- Lox block: UWS congregation takes beloved salmon off the menu, citing environmental concerns - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - September 11th, 2022
- Meet the Rabbi Who Ended 1300 Years of Ritual Humiliation - aish.com - Aish.com - September 11th, 2022
- Playing with Fragments - The Jewish Standard - September 11th, 2022
- All the Rosh Hashanah Gifts You Need - Kveller.com - September 11th, 2022
- A tour of what it means to be Christian in multicultural Kazakhstan - Travel Tomorrow - September 11th, 2022
- This Rosh Hashanah, fill up on symbolic dips, bites and small plates J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 8th, 2022
- This Missouri bagel shop went viral for its Talmud-inspired effort to feed the needy - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - September 8th, 2022
- Missouri bagel shop goes viral for effort to feed the needy J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 8th, 2022
- Radiocarbon dating only works halfway we may have the solution - PiPa News - September 8th, 2022
- Congress of World and Traditional Religions Leaders to be held at Palace of Independence - inform.kz/en - September 8th, 2022
- Israeli Terror Victim Teens Gifted Tefillin and Shabbat Candlesticks on Canadian Trip - Lubavitch.com - September 6th, 2022
- Taking inspiration from the Talmud to feed the needy - Australian Jewish News - September 6th, 2022
- New book explores the insane career of Syrian Jewish hustler Crazy Eddie Antar - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - August 25th, 2022
- UK man who survived concentration camp as baby finally learns his familys identity - The Times of Israel - August 25th, 2022
- Japanese American National Museum premieres cancer-battling directors film on pains of WWII incarceration camps - Yahoo News - August 25th, 2022
- Licorice Pizza to Galaxy Quest: the seven best films to watch on TV this week - The Guardian - August 20th, 2022
- Fascinating Details of Judean Shepherd's Life 6000 Years Ago Revealed by New Tech - Ancient Origins - August 20th, 2022
- The Pletzel of Paris and The Bread That Shares Its Name - aish.com - Aish.com - August 18th, 2022
- Archaeologists discover mosaic with inscription to Peter that may point to location of his home - The Christian Post - August 18th, 2022
- Wolfgang Petersen another celebrity to succumb to pancreatic cancer - Calgary Herald - August 18th, 2022
- A Cry in the Wilderness: How Jewish Organizations Can Help With Jewish Genetic Diseases - Jewish Journal - August 12th, 2022
- Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sports meets with Chief Rabbi of Ashkenazi Jewish community in country - AZERTAC News - August 12th, 2022
- Czerny as the new Lustiger, the 'Jewish cardinal' and papal contender - Crux Now - August 12th, 2022
- Honoring the Jews of Jamaica | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com - Algemeiner - August 12th, 2022
- Anne Frank, Arab-Jewish relations, karaoke in focus at upcoming Israeli film awards - The Times of Israel - August 12th, 2022
- Metas new chatbot is already parroting users prejudice and misinformation - Popular Science - August 12th, 2022
- Meet the Jews of color exploring what it means to be Black, Asian, Latino and Jewish - Forward - August 12th, 2022
- Jewish wilderness wedding featured animal-skin ketubah, harvest altar J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 12th, 2022
- Ashkenazi Jewish Panel: What It May Reveal About Your Genes - July 23rd, 2022
- At SFJFF opening night, we're all just happy to be back at the Castro J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - July 23rd, 2022
- Verimatrix and Harmonic Partner to Enable Streaming Content Protection at SaaS Speed - StreetInsider.com - July 23rd, 2022
- Russian cuisine has evolved in light of scarcity and isolation - KCRW - July 23rd, 2022
- Tina Sacks on racial inequality in health and feeling 'Jewish enough' - The Jewish News of Northern California - July 23rd, 2022
- Who serves the best kosher pizza in NYC? We found out - Forward - July 23rd, 2022
- Fight Over Fear: Ayesha Khan on the importance of mammograms in fighting breast cancer - FOX 5 DC - July 14th, 2022
- I was named after my uncle who was shot and killed. His Hebrew name is a privilege I dont bear lightly - Forward - July 14th, 2022
- Groups Launched to Help Jewish Couples with IVF Face Uncertain Landscape After Roe Reversal - Jewish Exponent - July 14th, 2022
- Tipping Point: Israel on the Brink The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail - July 14th, 2022
- World Premiere of ASHKENAZI SEANCE to be Presented at The Brick This Month - Broadway World - July 10th, 2022
- Lentils Make the Best Fake Minced Meat - Lifehacker - July 10th, 2022
Comments