What is it to be 'Jewish'?

 

I know that what I say is likely to be controversial. But what do we mean when we talk about being Jewish or being a Jew? Does it refer to someone's race, their religion, or ethnicity? It could be all three, and does it really matter? I suppose it does, if you claim a moral right to lay claim to colonize a part of the Middle –East called Palestine and you’re from Florida or Moscow.  

The Rabbinical Torah Jews, say that Jewish identity is completely religious. We also know that a person can convert to the religion of Judaism and call themselves a 'Jew', even though they are not descended from the line of Abraham. According to the 'halachic' definition, a Jew is someone who is born to a Jewish woman. 

In his book, 'The Pillars of Hercules', the American travel writer, Paul Theroux, wrote: "Doubtful history and wobbly logic made it normal for Israeli immigrant citizens from Morocco and New York City and Kiev to think themselves as Israelites."

The vast majority of Jews today, identify as ‘Ashkenazi Jews’, whose origins lie in Eastern Europe. The various groups of Jews in the world today, do not share a common genetic origin and their genome is largely 'Khazar'.  They are not Semitic Jews or descendants of Abraham.

A lot of genetic research has been done to verify this. DNA research science that was undertaken by Dr Eran Elhaik and associates at the Institute of Genetic Medicine, at Johns Hopkins University school of medicine, concluded that "97% of the 17 million of the world's Jews are not the descendants of Abraham." A.N. Poliak, Professor of Medieval Jewish History at Tel Aviv University, has said that the majority of Eastern European Jews are 'Khazar' and Japhetic (Caucasian), in origin, and not Semitic. In 2001, genetics research by Dr Ariella Oppenheim of Hebrew University in Tel Aviv, found that the origins of Ashkenazi Jews are in 'Khazaria', and that they are of Turkic bloodline. In 1867, the great Jewish scholar Abraham Harkavy in "The Jews and Languages of the Slavs", said that the Jewish Yiddish language came from the 'Khazar's and not the Hebrews. In 2007, Schlomo Sand, a history teacher at the University of Tel Aviv, verified their Turkish-Mongol heritage in his book called the "Invention of the Jewish People." He said that the "Jews are not a race and have no Israelite connection."

Khazaria is believed to have been located in parts of modern-day Russia, and the Ukraine, and even a part of Kazakhstan. The Khazar's are believed to have converted to Judaism in the 8th century under the reign of King Bulan, who wanted to avoid conflict with other countries. When Khazaria was attacked by Prince Vladimir of Russia and Genghis Khan, the people fled to other parts of Europe.

In 1976, Arthur Koestler, a Hungarian Jew, published a book called "The Thirteenth Tribe: The Kazar Empire and It's Heritage." Koestler argued that the Khazar's were more closely related genetically to the Hun, Uigur, and Magyar tribes, than the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He said their ancestors came not from the Jordan, but the Volga, and not from Canaan but the Caucasus.

A genetic disease known as "Tay-Sachs", is known to be particularly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews, but not Semitic Jews, proving that they are not Semites.