A Nation without Frontiers

Reading The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand

Jewish Conversion, Circumcision, Christianity

“Christianity’s final triumph in the early fourth century CE extinguished the passion for proselytizing in the main cultural centers and perhaps also prompted the desire to erase it from Jewish history” (Sand, p. 174).

In the heyday of converting gentiles to Judaism, some Jews argued that circumcision alone was sufficient. It is curious to consider this in relation to how circumcision became the dominant practice in the US in the 20th century. Though this ostensibly had nothing to do with religion, if there was a belief in some Judaic circles of power that circumcision was enough, then might it have been seen as a covert conversion policy?

(Circumcision is still 80% in the US, and much higher in many countries. See here. That John Kellogg helped popularize it as a “preventative for masturbation” would seem to be true, though he later recanted by acknowledging the harmful effects.)

In the third century CE, throughout the Mediterranean region, the number of Jews began slowly to fall, though it remained fairly stable until the advent of Islam in Judea. In Babylonia and possibly western North Africa, the diminishing number of Jews was a result not only of the mass casualties in the uprisings or of believers reverting to paganism; it was caused chiefly by people making the lateral move to Christianity. When Christianity became the state religion in the early fourth century, it halted the momentum of Judaism’s expansion. . . . In these circumstances, the large number of Jews around the Mediterranean inevitably declined at an accelerating rate. Zionist historians . . . tend to suggest that those who left Judaism in times of isolation and stress were mainly the newly converted. The “ethnic” hardcore of “birth Jews”—a term often found in Zionist historiography—kept the faith and remained unalterably Jewish. There is of course not a shred of evidence for this völkisch interpretation. It is equally likely that the numerous families that have taken to Judaism by choice, or even their descendants in the next few generations, would have clung to it more fervently than those born to it effortlessly (p. 176-77).

Judaism’s core identity policy changed direction: it expressed in the clearest ideological terms an inner censorship, accepted the decree of the Christian powers, and grew increasingly into a self-isolating group that treated seekers with suspicion and rejection. This identity policy became vital for its survival in the Christian world. But the proselytizing Jewish monotheism did not quite give up. It retreated to the margins and continued actively to seek converts. It would do so on the borders of the Christian cultural world and, in some areas, even made significant progress (p. 178, emphasis added).

The disappearance of Jews in the province of Palestine around the Middle East, Sand claims, coincided with the conversion of many to Christianity.

And then to another form of Monotheism.

Islam (Jewish Conversion-as-2-Way-Street)

Zionist historians were not mistaken in stating that this significant Jewish presence was drastically reduced following the Muslim conquest in the seventh century, but this was not due to the uprooting of Jews from the country, for which there is no shred of evidence in the historical record. Palestine, the former Judea, was not swept by masses of migrants from the Arabian Desert who dispossessed the indigneous inhabitants. The conquerors had no such policy, and neither exiled nor expelled the Judean agrarian population, whether they believed in Yahweh or in the Christian Trinity. . . . One of the secrets of the Muslim army’s power was its relatively liberal attitude toward the religions of the defeated people—provided they were monotheists, of course. Muhammad’s commandment to treat Jews and Christians as “people of the book” gave them legal protection. The Prophet stressed in a famous letter to the army commanders in southern Arabia: “Every person whether a Jew or a Christian who becomes a Muslim is one of the Believers, with the same rights and duties. Anyone who clings to his Judaism or Christianity is not to be converted and must [pay] the poll tax incumbent upon every adult, male or female, free or bond.” No wonder that the Jews who had suffered harsh persecution under the Byzantine Empire welcomed the new conquerors and even rejoiced at their success (p. 180).

The advantage of converting for both Jews and Christians to Islam was that they didn’t have to pay taxes: “Exemption from taxation must have been seen as worth a change of deity, especially as he seemed so much like the former one” (p. 181).

Did the similarity between the religions, Islam’s relative tolerance toward the other monotheisms, and the religious system of taxation induce Jewish, Christian and Samaritan believers to convert to Islam? Historical logic would say yes, though there are insufficient sources to provide a definitive answer. The traditional Jewish elites were pained by the apostasy, and tended to ignore and suppress it. Zionist historiography followed them, turning its back on any meaningful discussion of the issue. Abandoning the Jewish religion was generally interpreted by modern sensibilities as betraying the “nation” and was best forgotten. . . . It is reasonable to assume that a slow, moderate process of conversion took place in Palestine/Land of Israel, and accounted for the disappearance of the Jewish majority in the country (p. 182, emphasis added).