Who are these guys and how did they end up in Israel anyhow? Thisparticular group is offended by the presence of a female news reporter.
ED Noor: They
sneeringly refer to themselves as “the Tribe” but accuse all non Jews of anti
semitism should they dare to do so. In the past I have done work on the Khazars
but today I present a review of Chapter Eight, THE KHAZARIAN CONNECTION, THE
SEARCH FOR ASHKENAZI ORIGINS, from Harrell Rhome’s 2011 book, From The Temple To
The Talmud, Exploring Judaic Origins, History, Folklore and Tribal
Traditions.
What I have done is
added videos, images, notes, links, and just enhanced the original
piece.
An excellent opener
is to listen to the esteemed educator Sheik Imran Hosein speak on the
Khazars.
These Khazars will be
pushing humanity towards destruction at an even faster and more frenetic pace in
the coming year; all indications otherwise are not encouraging.
Every once in awhile
it is a good idea to study anew the mindset of those who wish to eliminate us
from the planet, or enslave us. Getting another insight into their origins
always helps. Especially when you can see how those ancient and hidden
techniques are now being applied today using modern methodologies as well as the
ancient ones, driven by the ancient systems that have basically remained
unchained over the millenia whilst wreaking havoc on all others.
Arthur Koestler’s
review of the above is an enlightening, educational reminder of just what we are
dealing with ~ the Tribe, and yes, they are all members and they all know, on
some level, just what is what.
For those of you
still learning about the Jewish people, this is an excellent start. For many it
is a reminder.... and for others just plain history that they would rather the
rest of us never learn about. Chinese Jews? Japanese Jews? Yemini and Ethiopian
Jews?
And then there is the
simple question that begs to be asked:
Should the proper and
politically (in)correct name for the upstart state Israel actually be "New
Khazaria"?
Lastly I apologize
for it taking so long to get this out but…. There was bad code in the original
work and it has taken me seven attempts to post … each attempt taking at least
an hour to load images etc. Hopefully if I divide this in two it might
work.
THE CURIOUSLY
CAMOUFLAGED
AND CONVENIENTLY CONVOLUTED
CHRONICLE
OF THE PEOPLE CALLED
JEWS.
By Arthur Koestler
The Jews of our
times fall into two main divisions: Sephardim and Ashkenazim.
The Sephardim are
descendants of the Jews who since antiquity had lived in Spain (in Hebrew
Sepharad) until they were expelled at the end of the fifteenth century and
settled in the countries bordering the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and to a
lesser extent in Western Europe. They spoke a Spanish-Hebrew dialect, Ladino,
and preserved their own traditions and religious rites. In the 1960s, the number
of Sephardim was estimated at 500,000.
The Ashkenazim, at
the same period, numbered about eleven million. Thus, in common parlance, Jew is
practically synonymous with Ashkenazi Jew." (Page 181).
In Mr. Koestler's
own words,
"The story of the
Khazar Empire, as it slowly emerges from the past, begins to look like the
cruelest hoax which history has ever perpetrated."
The history of the
Ashkenazi Jews was widely known and appreciated in the former Soviet Union.
Ashkenazi militants traced the area where the Turkic Khazars originated before
their migration to Southern Russia to Birobidjan, an Eastern Siberian area as
big as Switzerland bordered by the Amur River, by China and Mongolia. Around
1928 they started building settlements with the Soviet government's help and in
1934 the Autonomous Republic (Okrug) of Birobidjan Yevrei came into being with
official languages of Yiddish and Russian. It is still there as an Autonomous
Republic to this day, offering the only historically legitimate settlement area
for Ashkenazi Jews willing to exercise their "right to
return".
Make the primary Khazarian
connection.
A
significantly large number of the folk called Jews are not Semitic in origin,
and their ancestors never set foot in old
Palestine.
For over a
millennium, an originally Asiatic tribe has had considerable, some say undue,
influence on the course of world affairs, perhaps more than any other ethnic
group. Who are they? Few, if any other cultures have impacted the world through
the ages like this people. Their real name almost faded away along with their
once mighty empire of Khazaria.
In contrast, the
people called Khazars did not disappear at all..
They underwent a convenient identity
change,
creating a unique designation for
themselves.
They became the
“Jews of Eastern Europe”, the so-called and self-styled Ashkenazim, adopting and
adapting a Semitic Hebrew heritage that was never really theirs. It was under
this new name that they entered Europe.
“Jews are the most
intelligent people in the world, so if it benefits them to change their names,
they do so. That’s all there is to it. They mix in your society which is plenty
corrupt....” ~ Harold Rosenthal Interview.
FOLLOWING THE TRAIL CAN BE
DIFFICULT.
Quite naturally,
one of the first questions some readers ask is why there are so few books on
Khazarian culture and history?
In addition to
being ignored and somewhat suppressed, there are reasons of a more scholarly
nature. Douglas M. Dunlop, whose study preceded Arthur Koestler’s, was one of
the first modern scholars to directly address this little-known saga.
ED Noor: I suggest
another reason for the clandestine nature of this group being so well kept from
the eyes of the world is ownership of media and the historical revisionism by
those who rewrote or recorded it as the case may be. In most cases, the reviled
historical revisionists of today are doing no more than correcting what was
already corrupted.
“A continuous
account of the Khazars was in fact given by the Cambridge historian J. B. Bury,
in a chapter of his History of the Eastern Roman Empire [London, 1912]. This may
be taken as the best account available, though there are others, besides a great
number of monographs on various aspects of the subject and incidental references
in modern books.
“The chief reason
why we are not more familiar with the Khazars appears to be neither the lack of
intrinsic interest presented by their story nor the absence of material, but
rather the difficulty of dealing with the existing sources ~ partly because they
are written in a variety of languages, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian,
Georgian, Russian, Persian, Turkish, and even Chinese, with which no one can be
expected to be conversant at first hand; and partly because of the contradiction
and obscurity of the data thus afforded.” ~ Dunlop, History of the Jewish
Khazars, p. x.
THE GENESIS OF A STRATEGIC
TERM
This term is our second Khazarian
connection.
A few points must
be made about the word, Jew. It was originally spelled and pronounced very
differently than today. The meaning was Judean, i.e., someone from Judea, a
small subsection of ancient Palestine. In its beginning, this meant nothing
necessarily religious. It was a simple geographical designation, but things have
changed.
The modern word Jew is a “secondary
usage”, and did not take on its current meaning or pronunciation until the
1700s.
Through this
adaptation and misusage, the Khazars took on the special mantle and alleged
heritage (in truth, mostly mythological anyway) of an ancient coalition of
Semitic tribes, sometimes called Habiru Sagaz (“raiders from across the river”),
Hebrews or Israelites.
Israel means
“chosen of El” (one of several deities mentioned in Genesis), though some say
its roots come from Egypt, denoting Isis, Ra and El, the same place they
borrowed and adapted their Yahu/Yahweh ethnocentric deity. Whatever the case may
be, Israelite, like Judean, was used at one time or another by several tribes
who migrated around the area.
But wherever the
alleged bloodline rights to any purportedly “promised lands” may lead, they
never lead to non-Semitic Khazaria.
Khazars are
neither the “Chosen Ones” nor the “Children of Israel” except in their own
fantasies and desires!
The real roots of
the ancient Semitic Middle Eastern tribes are quite hard to follow. In
practical and provable historical terms, there are no pure and distinct
bloodlines back to Old Testament times.
How can we follow
bloodlines when we hardly know who some of those ancient folk really were? One
need not explore too far into ancient history to realize how very little we
actually know.
“Historical
sequences are convoluted at best. The players are manifold and the events
themselves become lost in the obscurity of antiquity.” ~ The Phoenix Journals.
JESUS AND THE JEWS OF HIS TIME,
PARALLELS WITH TODAY?
For those who
follow New Testament teachings, here is what Jesus said to the Talmudic cult of
Pharisees over twenty centuries ago. There is a theme here, one of lies and
deception. Modern “Judeo-Christians” (what an ultra misnomer!) seem obsessed
with prophecies of one kind or another, but can they connect what is below with
current events?
Sadly, few seem
willing or able to do so, choosing to believe “Jesus was a Jew” and that today’s
Judaic Zionists are the “chosen people”.
No, that is not
what your Bible says. There’s more if you want to find it, but these verses
should really be enough. Make the connection.
“Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” John
8:44-45.
“I know… the
blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of
Satan … which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie…. Revelation 2:9-10,
3:9.
Who is spoken of?
Who fits this
profile today?
Is Jesus talking
about the Khazar convert Jews who entered Europe a thousand years after he
spoke?
.
If so, we could
say this young Palestinian prophet, leading a resistance movement against the
Pharisaic cult and conspiracy that ultimately killed him, provided a prescient
look ahead.
While the Khazars
are surely not the people of the New Testament, having merely appropriated this
supposed heritage and mythos, they certainly match the Talmudists of old
Palestine in cunning and guile. For hundreds of years, the Khazar Judaics have
excelled in the teachings of the Talmud.
Unfortunately,
their Talmudic schemes and machinations have largely succeeded.
For example,
a lot of modern
Christianity
is little
more
than Judaism for the
goyim.
ED
Noor: Please read my recent posts on the Scofield
Bible and Christian Zionism for information on this and how they managed to take
over American
Christianity..
They say it best
themselves.
“Judaism is not
only the teaching of the synagogue, but also the doctrine of every ‘Christian
Church’ in America. Through our propaganda the Church has become our most avid
supporter. This has even given us a special place in society, their believing
the lie that we are the ‘Chosen People’ and they, ‘Gentiles’.” ~ Harold
Rosenthal Interview.
MAKING KHAZARIAN CONNECTIONS IN OUR
WORLD TODAY.
“History is always
written generations after the event, when clouded fact and memory have all fused
into what can be accepted as truth, whether it be so or not.” ~ Theodore
White.
The authentic
history of this obscure tribal group is imperative. Not only is the USA, indeed
almost every western government, committed financially and militarily to defend
the unjustly established State of Israel, as we painfully see, almost every
Christian church in America promotes this Khazar Zionist nightmare regime.
The present-day
reality of the Israeli ministate and its myriad of problems take on an entirely
different meaning when seen in proper context, but first, we must lift the veil
of obfuscation.
When the Khazarian
connection is made, it truly begs the question.
Why do the American people support
patently false land claims from a racial/tribal lineage that was never remotely
from Palestine or anywhere else in the Mideast?
This is crucial in
reviewing what are otherwise just little known facts about an obscure ancient
Central Asian tribe.
As a result of
media suppression and a dumbed-down educational system even at the university
level, few Americans make the Khazarian connection.
American Muslims
know the truth through their own news services such as Radio Islam, but most
other Americans, especially Christians, seem either to know nothing or don’t
care to know anything as it contradicts their religious beliefs.
Not only
that,
many Jews
know or understand very little of
this tale.
What force is
powerful enough, not so much to rewrite history, but to write around it,
virtually erasing significant traces or comments about the ferocious Khazar
tribes, and their early impact on western culture and world history?
“God cannot alter
the past,
but historians
can" ~ Samuel Butler.
At its height,
Khazaria consisted of a territory in West Central Asia and Eastern Europe
encompassing over one million square miles, located between the Black Sea and
the Caspian Sea (which was once called the Chasarian Sea), and northwest to
Kiev.
Why the historical
blackout? Who are they? What happened to them? This is the subject of our paper.
Two maps show the
Khazar Empire at the height of its power.
The Khazars were
fierce and ferocious warriors. Both a well armed and armored heavy cavalryman
and foot soldier are shown below.
The word, Hussar,
for cavalryman, may have come from Khazar since the Turkish word for Khazar is
Hazar.
ED Noor: Note that
even back then they wore the payot or sidelocks that are still supposed to be
worn by all Jews, not just the orthodox. For acceptance and immersion into
other cultures, many do not grow them.
Khazar
Jewish soldier
today
AN OVERVIEW OF KHAZARIAN
HISTORY.
Here are the facts
as set forth, not only by the historians and books of the past, but by those in
modern times. The works of Arthur Koestler, Benjamin Freedman, Douglas M.
Dunlop, Kevin Brook, and more than a few others speak to these
matters.
We see below what
some present day Khazar descendants, called the Karay Turks, say about the
origin of the name. They too are Khazar convert Jews, but do not follow the
Talmud. Not just that; the Karay are very proud of their Turko-Asian
heritage.
“Khazar is a
Turkish word derived from the root, ‘kaz’, with the meaning of ‘gez’ (wander).
In Anatolian Turkish, the term ‘khazar’ means ‘gezer’ (wanderer), and coincides
with the meaning of a nomad who freely wanders around without any connection to
one place.
Probably, this
word took its final shape through an etymological transformation in the forms of
‘gezer’, ‘gazar’, ‘kazar’ and ‘hazar’. The word is ‘el-Hazar’ in Arabic,
‘Huzari’, ‘Kozar’ in Hebrew, ‘Gazari’, ‘Chazari’ in Latin, ‘Hazari’ in Georgian,
‘Huszar’ in Hungarian and ‘Ko-sa’, ‘ka-sat’ in
Chinese.”
The Khazars, a
migratory folk originating in eastern Asia and close kinsmen of the Huns and
Mongols, trekked westward. In c.138, the Khazar tribe’s folk arrived in the area
between the Caspian and the Black Seas, near several great rivers. There they
established a tribal kingdom that grew in power and influence.
For well over four
hundred years they ruled over an immense and lucrative empire south of the
Russian territories, between the Black Sea and the Chasarian/Caspian Sea,
reaching as far northwest as Kiev.
In its day, the
Khaghanate (kingdom, empire, khanate) was larger and richer than any other
country in Europe. Yes, Khazaria (Khazaran; Khuzaran; Arabic al-Kazara, Kusari;
Hebrew Kuzarim), like later Russia, was both an Asian and a European nation.
Their location was of key geopolitical importance. Europe was on the west, the
Rus Verangians, descendents of the Vikings, on the north, all of Asia and the
Silk Road to the east (but, from whence came the Mongols, their later downfall),
plus Greek Christian Byzantium and the newly ascendant Islamic Arabs to the
south.
Khazaria was a
powerful regional military and trade power. They were commercial wizards of the
first order, although those who had to pay the tolls on their seas, rivers and
overland trade routes might rather have called them extortionists. Truth be
known, the Khazars lived almost solely off this revenue. They produced nothing
for export except Isinglass. Clothes, tools and virtually everything else came
from outside the country.
ED Noor: Isinglass is
a substance obtained from the dried swim
bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer. It can also be cooked into a paste for
specialized gluing purposes. Originally made exclusively from sturgeon, especially Beluga sturgeon, until the 1795 invention by William Murdoch of a cheap substitute using cod. This was extensively used in Britain in place of Russian isinglass. The bladders, once removed
from the fish, processed and dried, are formed into various shapes for
use
Over time they
created additional loot by conquering, oppressing and extorting taxes from over
twenty-five nearby peaceful agricultural tribes. Khazaria produced very little.
It was an empire almost solely supported by trade-related revenues. Of
course, this mercantile mindset came with them into Europe, but it began a long
time before that.
TRADERS AND MERCHANTS OF A HIGH
ORDER.
Khazars were
heavily involved in all kinds of international barter, including the slave trade
~ hence, the sex trade too, just as they are today. They were one of the
better-known procurers and suppliers of Slavs, a people so exploited in this
fashion that their very name came to mean slave. The Rus routinely sold Slav
captives to the Khazars. This continued in their later migrations and
machinations.
In the sixteenth
to the nineteenth centuries, Khazar descendents, along with Sephardic
co-religionists, are the dominant players in shipping the black slaves from Africa to the Americas. In his History of
the Jews, Solomon Grayzel clearly lays this out.
“One type of
business carried on in the early Middle Ages by the Jews of Europe, namely the
slave trade, requires a special word of explanation. The Jews were among the
most important slave-dealers.
As inhabitants of
western Germany pushed their way deeper and deeper into Central Europe, driving
the Slavic inhabitants farther eastward and taking away their land, they brought
back captives whom they sold to Jewish traders. The Jews, in turn, transported
these slaves to other lands to be sold to Christian and Mohammedan
masters.”
Another trade
learned as Khazars and continued as Jews was that of the furrier. Marten, Sable
and other fine furs (in addition to many other valuable products) came down the
Volga via the Bulgars, and goods flowed all the way from Novgorod via the
Dnieper, not to mention other centers via the Don and several more major
waterways. Some main commodities were furs, hides, honey, flax, tar, cloth,
grains, gold, silver, jewels and silks.
The Khazars made
almost no cloth or clothes, getting them all through the mercantile networks.
Old descriptions of Khazar clothing sound something like the Hasidim and others,
featuring fur hats and long coats. Trade in many of these items continued to be
dominated by the Khazars even after they migrated into Europe. For example, the
fur business is often a Judaic enterprise even today.
How many species of fur
bearing creatures are extinct or facing extinction so these men can wear these
extremely expensive antiquated hats?
Of course, the
dominant international diamond and jewel traders (thus they are involved with
“blood diamonds”) are the Khazar Ashkenazi Hasidic Jews. While dominant in more
than a few industries today, back in Khazaria and later in Europe, they were the
chief players, sometimes the only players, in commercial enterprises such as
brewing, and, of course, later in distilling. The early pioneers in
manufacturing and marketing of alcoholic beverages were often Khazar Jews.
“In the ‘dark
age,’ the commerce of Western Europe was largely in Jewish hands, not excluding
the slave trade, and in the Carolingian cartularies Jew and Merchant are used as
almost interchangeable terms.” Dr. Cecil Roth, World History of the Jewish
People.
Minister Louis
Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam were lambasted and criticized by the Zionist
dominated media for daring to publish, with heavy documentation, the history of
Jews and the African slave trade. The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and
Jews (by an anonymous writer or group of writers) is quite well researched and
very difficult to refute.
ED Noor: When I
visited Jewtown in Kochi, Kerala, India, several years ago I found it deserted.
and was told that the traders had left once Israel was founded but had lived
there, in the heart; of Indian spice growing land for a thousand years. I was
also informed that many Jews had moved up into the Western Mountains were they
took over the lucrative spice, sandalwood and tea plantations.
Bene Israel Family at
Bombay, circa 1900. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906
Cochin (Kochi) Jews,
circa 1900. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906.
Ezra Joseph
Gubbay
The Sephardic Jews
were among the earliest sea traders, sailors, shippers and ship owners, as were
their Semitic cousins, the Phoenicians. With co-religionists in almost every
port in the world, they got the goods reliably delivered when international
shipping was an extremely risky business, and before the modern insurance
industry began.
ED Noor: Please note
that, per agenda of divide and conquer utilized so effectively by today's
Khazars Zionists, little or no mention is ever made of the white slave trade, primarily Irish, to
America!
Above, Irish sugar
slaves were usually simply worked to death as part of the Irish genocide.. Most
information found on slavery pertains to black slaves only, or, in m,ore modern
incidences white sexual slavery.
heir involvement
in the profitable human cargo trade was a natural development of their extensive
trade and shipping connections. Both Sephardis and Ashkenazis were prominent in
the slave trade. Today, it is the lucrative and despicable sex slave trade that holds their interest.
Make the Khazarian
connection.
Some of their main families,
exemplified by the Rothschilds as well as other Illuminati bloodlines, consisted
of slavers, war profiteers and exploiters, then as
now.
White sex
slaves
.
HOW THE KHAGHANATE WAS
GOVERNED.
Before moving on,
we say a few words about the Khazar monarchy. Its ruler was the Khaghan, an
emperor or high king (related to Khan, also rendered as khakhan, khaqan, etc.).
He was a ceremonial figure of sorts, and a spiritual leader as well. Curiously,
this old Khazar title may still be with us in the Judaic name, Kagan. The
Khaghan was head of state, but not head of government.
Another important
character was the Begh, a Shogun-like grand vizier or generalissimo figure. This
is a curious job. As would a Prime Minister, along with a council of ministers,
the Begh conducted everyday business, yet was also the military
commander-in-chief. But at other times, he seems more like a co-monarch,
sometimes styled as the Khaghan Begh. Of course, this “begs” the question and
makes the relationship even harder to fathom. In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and
other places, the old title is still used for some tribal leaders. Koestler
tells us more.
“All this does not
explain the startling division of divine and secular power, apparently unique in
that period and region. As Bury wrote: ‘We have no information at what time the
active authority of the Chagan was exchanged for his divine nullity, or why he
was exalted to a position resembling that of the Emperor of Japan, in which his
existence, and not his government, was considered essential to the prosperity of
the State.’ A speculative answer to this question has recently been proposed by
Artamonov.
“He suggests
that the acceptance of Judaism as the state religion was the result of a coup
d'état, which at the same time reduced the Kagan, descendant of a pagan dynasty
whose allegiance to Mosaic Law could not really be trusted, to a mere
figurehead.
“This is a
hypothesis as good as any other ~ and with as little evidence to support it. Yet
it seems probable that the two events ~ the adoption of Judaism and the
establishment of the double kingship ~ were somehow connected. Before the
conversion the Kagan was still reported to play an active role ~ as, for
instance, in his dealings with Justinian. To complicate matters further, the
Arab sources sometimes refer to the ‘Kagan’ when they clearly mean the ‘Bek’ (as
‘kagan’ was the generic term for ‘ruler’ among many tribes), and they also use
different names for the Bek….”
In some ways, the
supreme monarch’s role seems ceremonial and minimal, but this is not consistent,
and may have varied, depending on the personality and goals of those who came to
the throne. As we shall see, some played the dominant role in diplomatic
affairs. We also know that the Khaghan made a required ceremonial appearance
before the people every four months, but the record is vague about other
functions.
When he appeared
before the people, did he grant audiences? Did he make proclamations? Alas, we
do not know.
We might assume he
had some sort of veto power if the Begh failed in his tasks. This curious
relationship was not always consistent. The Begh was the supreme military
leader, but some Khaghans were known to take the field at the head of their
troops. Other than the curious “co-rulers”, Khazaria was, more or less, a
traditional monarchy. It also had a shamanistic priesthood, a warrior caste
(probably the Begh came from this class) and an aristocracy (the “White Khazars”
or Aq Khazars), but we know little more.
HISTORICAL SIDEBAR: DID THE ANCIENT
KHAZARS RITUALLY SLAY THEIR KING?
As the Khaghan was
also a spiritual leader, some strange rituals grew up around him and his role.
Koestler tells the tale.
“There is no
evidence of the Khazars engaging in religious persecution, either before or
after the conversion to Judaism. In this respect they may be called more
tolerant and enlightened than the East Roman Empire or Islam in its early
stages.
“On the other
hand, they seem to have preserved some barbaric rituals from their tribal past.
We have heard Ibn Fadlan on the killings of the royal gravediggers. He also has
something to say about another archaic custom regicide: ‘The period of the
king's rule is forty years. If he exceeds this time by a single day, his
subjects and attendants kill him, saying ‘His reasoning is already dimmed, and
his insight confused’.
"...Istakhri has a
different version of it: When they wish to enthrone this Kagan, they put a
silken cord round his neck and tighten it until he begins to choke. Then they
ask him: ‘How long doest thou intend to rule?’ If he does not die before that
year, he is killed when he reaches it.”
“Bury is doubtful
whether to believe this kind of Arab traveler’s lore, and one would indeed be
inclined to dismiss it, if ritual regicide had not been such a widespread
phenomenon among primitive (and not-so-primitive) people. Frazer laid great
emphasis on the connection between the concept of the King's divinity, and the
sacred obligation to kill him after a fixed period, or when his vitality is on
the wane, so that the divine power may find a more youthful and vigorous
incarnation.
Sir James Frazer
wrote a special treatise on these lines on "The Killing of the Khazar Kings"
(Folklore, XXVIII, 1917). It speaks in Istakhri's favour that the bizarre
ceremony of ‘choking’ the future King has been reported in existence apparently
not so long ago among another people, the Kok-Turks. Zeki Validi quotes a French
anthropologist, St Julien, writing in 1864.”
“When the new
Chief has been elected, his officers and attendants ... make him mount his
horse. They tighten a ribbon of silk round his neck, without quite strangling
him; then they loosen the ribbon and ask him with great insistence: "For how
many years canst thou be our Khan?" The king, in his troubled mind, being unable
to name a figure, his subjects decide, on the strength of the words that have
escaped him, whether his rule will be long or brief.”
“We do not know
whether the Khazar rite of slaying the King (if it ever existed) fell into
abeyance when they adopted Judaism, in which case the Arab writers were
confusing past with present practices as they did all the time, compiling
earlier travelers’ reports, and attributing them to contemporaries.
However that may
be, the point to be retained, and which seems beyond dispute, is the divine role
attributed to the Kagan, regardless whether or not it implied his ultimate
sacrifice. We have heard before that he was venerated, but virtually kept in
seclusion, cut off from the people, until he was buried with enormous ceremony.
The affairs of state, including leadership of the army, were managed by the Bek
(sometimes also called the Kagan Bek), who wielded all effective power.”
As previously
observed, this is all a bit frustrating due to its inconsistency. Some Khaghans
not only led their troops, but presided over sensitive diplomatic negotiations
and treaties. The Khazar king was also a spiritual leader, so we examine this
dimension next.
THE KHAZARS AND
RELIGION.
“The Chasars professed a coarse religion, which was combined with
sensuality and lewdness.” ~ Heinrich Graetz, History Of The Jews, 1892.
Like kindred
tribes, their old religion was primitive shamanism sometimes even involving
human sacrifice. But, change was in the air. History records that in the middle
of the Eighth Century (c.740), the Khaghan, along with the Begh, their ministers
and close advisors, made a carefully calculated geopolitical decision about a
state religion.
This had become a
sticking point in foreign affairs.
While fighting
Muslims in crucial battles at certain times, the Khazars also had many of the
Islamic faith, not only within their borders, but as mercenaries in their
multicultural army. Bulan even have made a half-hearted conversion from
shamanism to Islam (c.737), making the religious situation even more confusing.
Apparently, if it happened at all, it was largely symbolic, involving only the
Khagan, who was said to have quarreled with the Imams about their strict dietary
rules.
“At first sight,
the statements that the Khaghan became a Muslim in A.D. 737 and Judaized three
years later are, to say the least, remarkable.” Dunlop, p.
86.
CHRISTIAN
KHAZARS?
There was
apparently an ongoing Christian presence. Certainly they must have interacted
with Christian merchants and maybe missionaries and other travelers on their
trade routes.
An Armenian bishop
is said to have preached in the area around 682. While he likely converted a
few, there is no record of a diocese being established or priests coming to
start mission churches. However, this was right in the middle of two Khazar-Arab
wars, so the timing was not ideal. As to how deep the Christian roots were
planted is a wide-open question. But, apparently, some did get baptized, and
there are ongoing references to Christian Khazars.
“The Khazars
evidently had the qualities of a Jack-in-the-Box, derived from their Turkish
origin, or Mosaic faith, or both. Cedrenus [the chronicler] also says the name
of [a] defeated Khazar leader was Georgius Tzul. Georgius is a Christian name;
we know from an earlier report that there were Christians as well as Muslims in
the Khaghan’s army”. Koestler, pp. 129-130.
Essentially, all
of Europe owes an unacknowledged debt to Khazaria. The Khazars repelled two
massive Islamic jihads from the powerful and aggressive Abbasid Caliphate.
Without a doubt, in due course, they would have continued into Europe.
If
you have not realized it yet, Europe has always been and still is the target of
the global Islamic world jihad, bringing about a whole planet in submission to
Islam, Allah, the Koran and Shariah Law.
ED Noor: The above
sentiment is from the author and does show the more international and ancient
aspects of the Khazar/Jew struggle with the Arab and Christian
peoples.
The first
Khazar-Arab war lasted from 642 until 653; the second from 732 to 737. In both
endeavors, they repelled the Muslim invaders, and the Abbasid Caliphate turned
its eyes elsewhere.
THE KHAZAR
CONVERSION.
So as we see, the
Judaic conversion came in a time of war and upheaval as Khazaria was surely and
certainly beset by the Muslim armies.
Turning Christian
was out of the question. Not only would this have put them in a compromising
position with both the Vatican and Byzantium, but more importantly, would have
insulted the Muslims. What were they to do?
Bulan, the Begh
and their ministers set out to remedy the situation. While some writers say it
never really happened, they reportedly brought in Greek philosophers, Christian
Bishops and evangelists, Islamic Mullahs and Faqihs, and rabbis from Baghdad and
Babylon for debates and dissertations about their respective faiths.
Whatever the facts may be, the
decision was already made. Indeed, we must opine that Judaism did not just
suddenly appear right before the great debate.
According to
several sources, a rabbi was already resident at the Khaghan’s court. This may
reflect an earlier date (c.721), for the beginning of Judaic influence at the
top levels of power. This was through oriental Jews, from already existing
communities like those in Persia, Baghdad and Byzantium.
While the decision to convert was
made behind the scenes, for the sake of appearances, the other religions were
brought in for the famous theological dispute.
So, after an
appropriate deliberation period, the Khaghan, and thus his nation, converted to
Judaic Talmudism. Rabbis were imported for the appropriate rites. Hundreds,
maybe thousands of the pagan shamans and members of the elite classes were mass
ordained (some then, some later) as Cohens or Levites (Hebrew priestly caste and
sub-caste).
It is to be
expected that some of the rabbis, as well as other oriental Judaics and their
families, stayed on to nurture the faith, training lay teachers and rabbis from
among the Khazars. And, of course, they must have intermarried, at least to some
degree.
While this could
mean that a drop or two of semi-Semitic blood entered the gene pool, it was
minimal.
Moreover, oriental
Judaic Sephardic bloodlines were already mixed and mottled, e.g., with
Canaanites, Edomites, Idumeans and a host of other regional tribes from there to
Egypt and up and down the Arabian Peninsula.
Essentially, the
Sephardim
are Arab
Jews
or Judaized
Arabs,
whichever you
prefer.
While neither
ethnic group really wants to hear about it, Jews and Arabs are intermixed. Did
you know that Yemen, like old Khazaria, once had a monarch and upper classes
that converted?
Beginning c.390,
it became a Judaic kingdom for a time, called Himayar. Like in other parts of
ancient Arabia, there were already Judaic tribes of one kind or another living
there. Some of Muhammad’s early jihads were against Arab Jews since most of them
refused to follow the new prophet.
John Tiffany had
some interesting quotations and comments in his Barnes Review article on the
Khazars, including an account by an Arab historian which contains some
interesting information.
“According to a
Moslem account found in al-Bakri’s Book of Kingdoms and Roads, written in the
11th. Century, it [the conversion] happened in this way:
“‘The reason for
the conversion to Judaism of the king of the Khazars, who had previously been a
pagan, is as follows. He had adopted Christianity. Then he recognized its
falsehood and discussed this matter, which greatly worried him, with one of his
high officials. The latter said to him,
“‘Oh king, those
in possession of sacred scriptures fall into three groups. Summon them and ask
them to state their case, then follow the one who is in possession of the
truth.’
“So he sent to the
Christians for a bishop. Now there was with the king a Jew, skilled in argument,
who engaged him (the bishop) in disputation. He asked the bishop: ‘What do you
say of Moses, the son of Amran, and the torah which was revealed to him?’
“The bishop
replied: ‘Moses is a prophet and the torah speaks the truth.’ Then the Jew said
to the king: ‘He has already admitted the truth of my creed. Ask him now what he
believes in.’
“So the king asked
him and he replied, ‘I say that Jesus the Messiah is the son of Mary, he is the
Word, and he has revealed the mysteries in the name of God.’
“Then the Jew said
to the king of the Khazars: ‘He preaches a doctrine which I know not, while he
accepts my propositions.’ But the bishop was not strong in producing evidence.
“Then the king
asked for a Muslim, and they sent him a scholarly, clever man who was good at
arguments. But the Jew hired someone who poisoned him on the journey, and he
died. And the Jew succeeded in winning the king for his faith, so that the
embraced Judaism.’ ~ Tiffany, John, “The Khazars ~ Non-Semitic Jews,” The Barnes
Review, Vol. III, No. 7, July 1997.
talmudic.
The coming of the
Talmudic religion to Khazaria began with the upper classes. It took time for the
faith to spread among the common people. While it eventually did grow and
flourish, in the beginning it was still in a multicultural milieu. For example,
in a stance befitting its status at an international trade crossroads, and since
mercenaries of many religions served in the Khazar military, a tolerance for
Christianity and Islam continued. Perhaps the folk in more remote locations
continued on with their shamanism, or as is done with most new religions,
blended and incorporated the old beliefs with the new.
Dr. Koestler tells
us a bit about the beginning of the decline of the empire in the mid to late
900s. But their new religion did not really decline at all. By that time, their
Khazarian brand of Judaism was well entrenched. Even when the Kievan Rus were
asserting their own sovereignty, and just before they stopped paying tribute to
the Khaghan, the Khazars tried to prevent this by religiously recruiting the
ruler. As history shows, this sometimes does the trick, but in the case of the
Kievan Rus, it was not to be.
“The first
non-Arab mention of Khazaria after the fatal year 965 seems to occur in a travel
report by Ibrahim Ibn Jakub, the Spanish-Jewish ambassador to Otto the Great,
who, writing probably in 973, describes the Khazars as still flourishing during
his time. Next in chronological order is the account of the Russian Chronicle of
Jews from Khazaria arriving in Kiev AD986 in their misfired attempt to convert
Vladimir to their faith.” Koestler.
As we see, while
Kiev was essentially treated as a fiefdom from which to extort tribute, many
Khazars settled and lived there, long before the coming of the Rus. And even
after the decline of their empire, there was still a significant presence. Kiev
was commonly called the “City of the Jews”.
PART TWO
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian
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