LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.30 (01) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 30 November 2009 - Volume 01
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Beste Ron,

You wrote:

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.


Re "Merging of Ashkenazi": ...and with even other Easterners.

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*.
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".

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.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
 Subject: Etymology

Thanks, Luc.

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.

Sand's book came out in Hebrew first (?מתי ואיך הומצא העם היהודי‎ *Matai
ve’ech humtza ha’am hayehudi?*, "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.

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shlomo_Sand
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Invention_of_the_Jewish_People

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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