🕎📜 Shlomo Sand and the Invention of the Jewish People

✡️ Who Is Shlomo Sand?

Shlomo Sand, an Israeli historian and professor, has gained worldwide attention for his provocative works challenging the conventional story of Jewish history. His central claim is that the idea of the Jewish people as a single, continuous nation descending directly from ancient Israel is a modern construction—a narrative shaped by Zionism and reinforced by nationalist historiography.

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📜 The Invention of the Jewish People — Shlomo Sand’s Provocative Thesis

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📖 Introduction

In 2008, Shlomo Sand published The Invention of the Jewish People, a groundbreaking work that stirred both admiration and controversy. The book challenges conventional wisdom about Jewish history and raises fundamental questions about identity, nationhood, and memory.

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🏛️ 1. The “Invention” of Peoplehood

Sand argues that the image of the Jewish people as a single, continuous nation descending from ancient Israel is largely a modern nationalist construction. Like many European nations in the 19th century, Zionist historiography shaped a past that would serve the political needs of the present.

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🕊️ 2. No Roman Exile

Contrary to popular belief, Sand maintains that after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (70 CE), there was no mass exile of Jews.

• Most inhabitants remained in the land.

• Many later became Christians, and over time, Muslims.

• The Jewish diaspora was not born of exile but of proselytism.

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🌍 3. Judaism as a Missionary Religion

Sand stresses that Judaism once welcomed converts:

• Groups such as the Edomites, Itureans, Nabateans, Khazars, Berbers, and Himyarites joined the faith.

• These converts formed the foundations of many Jewish communities worldwide.

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🏹 4. The Ashkenazim and the Khazar Theory

• According to Sand, the Jews of Eastern Europe (Ashkenazim) largely descend from the Khazars, a Turkic people who converted to Judaism in the 8th–9th centuries.

• Over time, they migrated westward, adopting European languages and customs.

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🌅 5. Sephardim of Spain and Portugal

• Sand claims the Sephardic Jews were mainly descended from Berbers and Arabs in North Africa who had converted to Judaism before moving into Iberia.

• Their unique culture was forged by intermixing with local peoples.

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🌍 6. Jews Beyond the Mediterranean

• Ethiopia (Beta Israel): Linked not to Israelite descent but to local African tribes influenced by early Christian-Jewish contacts. 🪘

• Yemen (Teimanim): Descendants of South Arabian Arabs who have strong historical links to the Himyarite Kingdom of South Arabia, which adopted Judaism before the rise of Islam. 🏜️

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⚖️ 7. Reception and Criticism

Sand’s writings—especially The Invention of the Jewish People—have been both celebrated and condemned.

• Supporters see them as a bold revision of nationalist myths.

• Critics accuse him of:

• Selective use of sources 📖

• Flawed methodology 📉

• Political bias 🎭

• Undermining the Jewish claim to self-determination 🕊️

In short, Sand’s thesis continues to provoke debate about identity, history, and nationhood in Israel and beyond.

✨ Conclusion

Shlomo Sand’s The Invention of the Jewish People is not a denial of Jewish history, but a call to re-examine the myths we live by. It invites readers to see Jewish identity as dynamic, cultural, and open, rather than an exclusive national inheritance.

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💡 Quote Highlight

“I don’t think books can change the world, but when the world begins to change, it searches for different books.”

— Shlomo Sand

— Azahari Hassim

Founder, The World of Abrahamic Theology