Book Reviewed: The Origin of Ashkenazi Jewry: The Controversy Unraveled by Jits van Straten

Who are Ashkenazi Jews and how are they related to non-European Jews


Historically, it is thought that Jews did not marry non-Jews, and they never converted non-Jews into Judaism. Then how is that after 2,000 years of diaspora, they have different physical features? Jews could be of European origin, Moroccan, Indian, or Ethiopian origin. Did they originate from the ancient Israel? This book goes into the roots of Judaism and interprets the results of genetic archeology from historical perspectives and traces the lost Jewish tribe of Ashkenazi Jews. The author offers his own insight into the possible differences between Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jews. Ashkenaz, according to the Hebrew Bible, is one of the descendants of Noah. He is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch.

Ashkenazi Jews are popularly contrasted with Sephardi Jews, who settled in the Iberian Peninsula, and Mizrahi Jews who remained in the Middle East. When Romans commanded by Titus destroyed the Second Temple, and the city of Jerusalem. A large population of Jews were either killed or held for slavery. The reminder fled to other continents.

Recent genetic studies suggest that Ashkenazi Jews has Middle Eastern ancestry complemented by European admixture. Various studies have arrived at diverging conclusions regarding both the degree and the sources of the Middle-Eastern admixture in Ashkenazim particularly with respect to the extent of the non-Levantine genetic origin observed in Ashkenazi maternal lineages. Jews migrated to France and Germany in eighth century C.E; and another migration occurred to Iberian Peninsula from Central Asia. The author also postulates that just before common era, there was also a large migration from Middle East to Khazar Empire (Southeastern Russia). During the Khazarian Empire, Judaism prospered and there was a large-scale conversion of local population into Judaism. When the empire was defeated by Kievan Rus, the Ashkenazi migrated to Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania. In the first millennium before common era, the genetic background of East European Jewry was very heterogeneous. Admixture with local population changed that. The author also suggests that since the migration of ancient Jewish tribes into different continents, there was admixture with local population wherever they went, and this led to phenotypic differences among Indian, European, and Ethiopian Jews.

Religious persecution of Jews was of common occurrence throughout Europe by Christians, and later by Muslims in the Middle East. But in India, Jews lived in peace and harmony largely due to dharmic principles practiced by Hindus. Acceptance of alternative ideas of religion and spirituality was respected throughout its history since Vedic times. In fact, Buddhism grew into a prosperous religion in India before the common era.

This book is fascinating to read for readers interested in understanding the racial diversity of Jews throughout the world. Some of the observation of the author must be substantiated by more archeological and genetic data.