<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 30 November 2009 - Volume 01<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com">lowlands.list@gmail.com</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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===========================================<br></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Hellinckx Luc</span> <span class="go"><<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="gI"><span class="ik"></span>LL-L "Etymology"</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Beste Ron,</span><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br><div><div>You wrote: </div><blockquote type="cite">
What other
likely direct or indirect contacts were there between early Germanic
speakers and Greek speakers? The earliest Greek-speaking communities in
Germanic-speaking areas were probably Jews that followed the Romans.
There is no proof of lasting communities, though such communities may
well have merged with later arrivals. Greek was a major language among
Jews already prior to the development of Christianity. It was used
besides native Aramaic and mostly non-native Latin even by many in the
Jewish homeland. Greece's Romaniotes Jews trace their roots back to
ancient diasporas, mostly in Asia Minor (today's Turkey) and Egypt.
During the early part of the first millennium, these were Roman
citizens (whose ancestors had been driven from their homeland) and thus
were able to follow Roman power before and after the adoption of
Christianity as the Romans' state religion. Important Greek-speaking
Jewish communities existed in Sicily and on the southern Italian
mainland. These areas belonged to the Greek-speaking East Roman Empire.
It was primarily from this region that Charlemagne and his descendants
recruited Jews, especially merchants and specialist artisans, to settle
in the Rhineland and in the Palatinate because the feudal system left a
wide gap between the ruling class and the peasant class. (This type of
social engineering came to be repeated many times throughout history,
such as in British and Netherlands colonies in which imported Chinese
were to fill the gap, and the social repercussions were similar.) These
Jewish newcomers are the ancestors of the Ashkanazic ("German") Jews,
though they may have merged with Greek-speaking Jewish communities that
had arrived with the Romans earlier.</blockquote><div><br></div><div>Re "Merging of Ashkenazi": ...and with even other Easterners.</div><div><br></div><div>Jewish
professor Shlomo Sands (Tel Aviv) has just written a book called "The
Invention of the Jewish People". I admit, the title is provocative. One
of the things he's trying to prove, is that many (if not most) Eastern
European Jews are descendants of the Khazar people. The Khazar
converted to Judaism during the 8th or 9th century. Guess that's what
happens if you're standing between two fires *s*. </div><div>Anyway,
the Khazar were living north of the Black Sea, and are said to have
been in contact with Greek settlements along that coast. Maybe that's
another inroad for the propagation of the word "church".</div><div><br></div><div>Yes,
the hypothesis of Ashkenazi not being full blooded native Israelites
(but rather converted Jews) is older than Sands' book. Another famous
Jew, Arthur Koestler was also a firm believer.</div><div><br></div><div>Kind greetings,</div><div><br></div><font color="#888888"><div>Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium</div></font></div></div><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <</span><a style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Subject: Etymology<br><br>Thanks, Luc.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
I don't think any right-minded Jews deny that there has been mixing by way of intermarriage and conversion, albeit not on a scale that some would have us believe. It's not all about race, anyway, though some would have it that way.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>Sand's book came out in Hebrew first (?מתי ואיך הומצא העם היהודי <i>Matai ve’ech humtza ha’am hayehudi?</i>, "When and How was the Jewish People Invented?") and had already been torn to shreds prior to the appearance of the English translation, as has Koestler's. Sand has a history of association with anti-Zionist organizations and is said to be grinding that ax.<br>
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I have not read the book, and I am no expert, nor, apparently is Sand. He is an expert in French with a Marxist theme, who, according to critics cherry-picked historical bits and left out other bits, including people's important findings, not the least of which deal with DNA evidence.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Sand">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Sand</a></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_the_Jewish_People">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_the_Jewish_People</a></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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