What is the view of Shlomo Sand on the Jewish people?

Shlomo Sand is an Israeli historian and professor who has written several books challenging the conventional views on the Jewish people. According to Sand, the Jewish people are not a distinct ethnic group or a nation with a common origin, but rather a collection of diverse groups who converted to Judaism at different times and places. He argues that the idea of a Jewish people with a continuous lineage from ancient Israel is a modern invention, created by Zionism and supported by nationalist historiography.

Sand's main arguments are:

There was no mass exile of Jews from the Land of Israel after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Most Jews stayed in their homeland and later converted to Christianity or Islam. The Jewish diaspora was formed mostly by voluntary migration and proselytism.

Judaism was a missionary religion that actively sought converts in the ancient world. Many groups of people adopted Judaism, such as the Edomites, the Itureans, the Nabateans, the Khazars, the Berbers, and the Himyarites. These converts became the ancestors of many Jewish communities around the world.

The modern Jews of Eastern Europe, or Ashkenazim, are mainly the descendants of Khazars, a Turkic people who ruled a large empire in the Caucasus and converted to Judaism in the 8th or 9th century CE. They migrated westward and mixed with local populations, adopting their languages and customs.

The modern Jews of Spain and Portugal, or Sephardim, are mainly the descendants of Berbers and Arabs who converted to Judaism in North Africa and later settled in the Iberian Peninsula. They also mixed with local populations and developed their own culture and language.

The modern Jews of Ethiopia, or Beta Israel, are not related to the ancient Israelites, but rather to local African tribes who converted to Judaism under the influence of Christian missionaries.

The modern Jews of Yemen, or Teimanim, are not related to the ancient Israelites either, but rather to Arabs who converted to Judaism in South Arabia under the influence of Jewish traders and refugees from Roman persecution.

Sand's books have been widely criticized by other historians and scholars for being based on selective use of sources, flawed methodology, ideological bias, and historical inaccuracies. Some critics have accused him of distorting Jewish history and identity for political purposes, and of denying the Jewish people's right to self-determination and their connection to their ancestral homeland.

Khazar

The history of this Khazar conversion to Judaism is recorded in many Jewish, Christian and Arab sources. Koestler’s book includes the 10th century correspondence between Joseph the King, or Khagan, of Khazaria and Hasdai Ibn Shaprut of Cordova, a Jewish doctor and foreign minister to the court of Sultan Abdu al-Rahm, the Caliph of Spain.

The letters were first published by the Jews themselves in 1577. Koestler records how the rabbi, Judah Halevi, knew of the letters even in 1140. Koestler’s book relates the story of how, around 930 AD, Hasdai Ibn Shaprut became aware of a Jewish nation north of the Caucusus mountains through merchants from the region coming to Spain and decided to send letters back with them to the Kagan of Khazaria to find the truth of the matter.

Shaprut thought that maybe they were some of the lost tribes of Israel that had gone into Assyrian captivity in 722 BC, and asked the Khagan if this was the case. Khagan Joseph responded that they were not the lost tribes of Israel but had descended through Khazar, son of Togarmah, son of Magog, son of Japheth. This meant that they had no Semitic bloodline at all for the Semites trace their genealogy through Shem the brother of Japheth.

Here is how Koestler relates the reply from King Joseph of Khazaria to Hasdai Ibn Shaprut: “Joseph then proceeds to provide a genealogy of his people. Though a fierce Jewish nationalist, proud of wielding the “scepter of Judah,” he cannot, and does not, claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem, but to Noah’s third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth’s grandson, Togarma, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes. “We have found in the family registers of our fathers,” Joseph asserts boldly, “that Togarma had ten sons, and the names of their offspring are as follows: Uigur, Dursu, Avars, Huns, Basilii, Tarniakh, Khazars, Zagora, Bulgars, Sabir. We are the sons of Khazar, the seventh...”

This is rather amazing, since Koestler points out that the majority of Jews in the world, the Ashkenazi, who compose about 90% of worldwide Jewry, owe their great population advantage over the Sephardic Jews due to this great influx of probably half a million Khazar Turks converting to Judaism. This has got to be one of the greatest ironies in history. For not only are the Ashkenazi the loudest voices screaming anti-Semitism, they are the one who initiated political Zionism to ‘return’ to the ‘promised land’—a land in which the majority of their forefathers never even had put one toe in!

Lists of nations, tribes, and groups that converted to Judaism

Throughout history, there have been various groups and tribes that have converted to Judaism or have been said to have Jewish origins, whether by choice, conquest, or other circumstances. Here's a list of some notable examples:

1. The Idumeans: A Semitic people who lived in what is now southern Israel, the Idumeans were forcibly converted to Judaism by the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus in the 1st century BCE. The Idumeans were eventually assimilated into the Jewish population, and they played a significant role in the development of Rabbinic Judaism.

2. The Adiabene: A kingdom in northern Iraq that adopted Judaism in the 1st century CE. Their royal family, including Queen Helena, King Izates, and King Monobaz, converted to Judaism from a Persian or Mideastern religion.

3. Kingdom of Himyar: An ancient state in modern-day Yemen, it's believed to have converted to Judaism in the 4th century.


4. The Khazars: A semi-nomadic Turkic people who ruled over a large territory in the Caucasus region during the 7th-10th centuries. In the 8th century, many Khazars converted to Judaism, making it the state religion for a period of time.

5. The Berbers: A people who lived in North Africa, the Berbers began converting to Judaism in the 1st century CE. Their conversion was motivated by a number of factors, including their desire to adopt a monotheistic religion and their admiration for Jewish culture.

6. The Subbotniks: A Russian sect that began in the 18th century. They were originally Christians but embraced many Jewish customs and eventually converted to Judaism.

7. San Nicandro Jews: A group of Italian Catholics in San Nicandro Garganico, led by their charismatic leader Donato Manduzio, converted to Judaism in the 1930s, a unique occurrence in modern European history.

These are just a few examples. It's important to note that the adoption of Judaism by some of these groups is still a topic of debate among historians, anthropologists, and religious scholars. Some have well-documented conversions, while others are based on traditions, legends, or self-identification.