> John, forgive me if you've said this and I've missed this; I haven't yet
> had time to give your long posts the detailed examination they deserve.
> But so far I don't think I've seen you address the simplest, most
> conventional, and to my mind perfectly plausible explanation for the
> conversion of the Khazars to Judaism. They controlled the Caucasus and
> below, which was the geographical equivalent of a swing state. It was the
> path of invasion either of the Byzantines into various Muslim lands, or of
> the Muslims into Byzantium. If the Khazars allied with either side, they
> would have made themselves the frontline state in an eternal war with
> bigger neighbors. They wanted a situation where threats from either
> direction could be met by aid from the other. If they remained pagan,
> neither side would respect them. If they converted to Christianity or
> Islam, they would have chosen sides. So as I understand it, conversion to
> Judaism was esssentially an inspired strategic choice. Judaism was chosen
> because it was the third monotheism, which made regarded as a civilized
> rather than a barbarian kingdom. But it didn't take sides.
> I find this explanation perfectly plausible.
This theory is in a lot of the material on the subject. It seems reasonable enough, but I haven't really found historical material that supports it other than historians deducing it. If only we had a Khazar white paper on trade prospects and foreign relations with points north and south :)!
Once monotheism was adopted in the Khazar state, it actually became a multi-religious state, with Muslims, Christians and Jews involved in the government, at least according to quite a few historical sources on the topic. This might support the theory you cite, about having to have good relations with the powers north, west and south of the Caucasus region. It also could support the argument that over hundreds of years the place saw mass conversion to Judaism and an influx of Jews from ME, counter to what Chip Berlet said about it being only a conversion of a governing elite, because the major monotheisms co-existed and flourished there.
However, I was more interested in what happened to the Khazar Jews and their possible place in a theory about multiple ethnicities amongst E. European Jews--including how to account for Russian and Caucasus Jews. I also wish to delve into why the Khazar theory is so scary to some (because it points to non-Israelite bloodlines?). Or why would someone proclaiming Levantine origins be reluctant to admit that includes possible Turkic or Caucasian ancestry?. And this also brings up that thought again about the extent of conversion to Judaism in history being a topic worthy of more inquiry (not just among Khazars).
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