Israeli Historian asks Who is a Jew?

I recall that when I was young, I was given the impression that Jews were the most pure race in the world. It was as if their racial purity is what made them unique and "chosen." Then I studied history, and the myth was exposed and exploded, not by those who hated Jews, but by Jewish historians themselves.

Here is the latest article. . .

http://www.thedailybell.com/3081/Israeli-Historian-Shlomo-Sand-What-Is-a-Jew

First, it is not at all clear what a Jew is from a historical standpoint or even a religious standpoint, given that there are so many Jewish schisms and historical narratives.

Second, and more important, it is certainly not true that those behind the expanding one-world order are Jewish in any recognizable sense. In 2005, in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy, Ellen Levy-Coffman published a study entitled, "A Mosaic of People: The Jewish Story and a Reassessment of the DNA Evidence." Her introduction states the following:

The new analysis shows that Jewish ancestry reflects a mosaic of genetic sources. While earlier studies focused on the Middle Eastern component of Jewish DNA, new research has revealed that both Europeans and Central Asians also made significant genetic contributions to Jewish ancestry. Moreover, while the DNA studies have confirmed the close genetic interrelatedness of many Jewish communities, they have also confirmed what many suspected all along: Jews do not constitute a single group distinct from all others. Rather, modern Jews exhibit a diversity of genetic profiles, some reflective of their Semitic/Mediterranean ancestry, but others suggesting an origin in European and Central Asian groups. The blending of European, Semitic, Central Asian and Mediterranean heritage over the centuries has led to today's Jewish populations.

She also makes an interesting point about Khazarist genetic influenceon "Jewish" people:

Many of the DNA studies on Ashkenazim fail to adequately address the complexity of the genetic evidence, in particular, the significant genetic contribution of European and Central Asian peoples in the makeup of the contemporary Ashkenazi population. One important contribution to Ashkenazi DNA appears to have originated with the Khazars, an ancient people of probable Central Asian stock that lived in southern Russia during the 8th-12th centuries CE.

Sand apparently deals with this Khazarist influence and accuses the Rabbinical establishment of downplaying in the 20th century the antecedents of Judaism, which were well known previously....

Proselytizing and conversion to Judaism was widespread in the Mediterranean and north into the Caucasus. In particular, the now vanished empire of Khazaria, which extended from the Black and Caspian seas well into Russia, underwent massive conversion to Judaism in the eight century, thereafter to become the primary source of Jewry in Eastern Europe.

This was an accepted history among scholars until the 1970s, when it became condemned as anti-Semitic by what Sand refers to disparagingly as "Israel's establishment historians " occupied in inventing the eternal history of the "people of Israel'."

These historians are not particularly concerned with the biblical or prophetic implications of these historical facts. That is, however, my concern as a Bible teacher. There are serious questions that come up when we take into account these historical facts. (The Khazar conversion to Judaism is recorded also in the Jewish Encyclopedia.) If they convert to Judaism, does this give them the right to immigrate to Palestine and "take back their heritage" from a Palestinian?

First, can Khazars become "chosen" merely by converting to Judaism?

Second, who are those Khazars in prophecy? Further study reveals a letter from King Joseph of the Khazars to a Jewish doctor in Spain giving an account of his genealogy. He traces his ancestry to Togarma, the brother of Ashkenaz and Riphath. These were the sons of Gomer (Gen. 10:3), the brother of Magog, Tubal, and Meshech--all well known enemies of Israel listed in Ezekiel 38:1-6.

In fact, these are the nations who were to invade the land of Israel in the latter days. Prophecy buffs have been looking for a Russian invasion of the land of Israel, when in fact, that invasion has already taken place. It was not a Russian invasion, but an invasion of Russian Jews, the descendants of the Khazars and Togarma in particular.

I wrote a more complete history of this in chapter 15 of my book, The Struggle for the Birthright.

The point is that if we do not study history, we will never understand how Bible prophecy is truly being fulfilled in the world today. If we cannot identify the historical nations mentioned in Scripture, we will misapply the prophecies. In fact, as Christians, we may end up supporting the wrong side of the conflict!

There is much misinformation in the world. Those who do not look deeper into it are doomed to be deceived. We need to re-think our definition of a Jew and of an Israelite. I have books on those topics as well.

http://gods-kingdom-ministries.net/teachings/books/who-is-a-jew/

http://gods-kingdom-ministries.net/teachings/books/who-is-an-israelite/