The Ashkenaz of Japheth and the Ashkenazim of Shem

Debunking the Myths of the Black Hebrew Israelites

A Common claim you will hear repeated within Black Hebrew Israelite circles is that “Jews are not of Shem. Jews are of Japheth.” They make this claim from a misunderstanding of general Jewish history. Their belief stems from a passage in the Torah about the sons of Noah and their descendants listed in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. Specifically the three verses listed in Genesis 10:1–3 as listed below.

1And these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and sons were born to them after the Flood.

א וְאֵ֨לֶּה֙ תּֽוֹלְדֹ֣ת בְּנֵי־נֹ֔חַ שֵׁ֖ם חָ֣ם וָיָ֑פֶת וַיִּוָּֽלְד֥וּ לָהֶ֛ם בָּנִ֖ים אַחַ֥ר הַמַּבּֽוּל:

2The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal, and Meshech and Tiras.

ב בְּנֵ֣י יֶ֔פֶת גֹּ֣מֶר וּמָג֔וֹג וּמָדַ֖י וְיָוָ֣ן וְתֻבָ֑ל וּמֶ֖שֶׁךְ וְתִירָֽס:

3And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.

ג וּבְנֵ֖י גֹּ֑מֶר אַשְׁכְּנַ֥ז וְרִיפַ֖ת וְתֹֽגַרְמָֽה:

As we can see above Noah had three sons. One of these sons Japheth (which means “to expand” in Hebrew) had a son named Gomer, who in turn had a son named Ashkenaz or אַשְׁכְּנַ֥ז in Hebrew. This is where the misconception begins. The Ashkenazi Jew in the eyes of the BHI is the quintessential impostor and usurper of all BHI history, language, and culture. Ashkenazi Jews clearly identify themselves with the lineage of Shem, another of the three sons of Noah. BHI see that Ashkenaz is the grandson of Japheth and believe the Ashkenazim are lying about being descendants of Shem. So what is really going on here?

Being that Noah and his three sons and wives are given the responsibility of repopulating the world after the great flood, people over the centuries have attached some myth to how these three sons of Noah broke out and established different races/nations. The Torah describes this daunting task in Genesis 9:19 below.

19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the entire earth spread out.

יט שְׁלשָׁ֥ה אֵ֖לֶּה בְּנֵי־נֹ֑חַ וּמֵאֵ֖לֶּה נָֽפְצָ֥ה כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ:

As the author, I am not ascribing to these myths placed on Noah’s sons, I am simply stating these ideas exist and are prevalent. That being said many times in claims and myths like these there are truths mixed in untruths. In these myths Noah’s son Ham has been attributed to be the father of the black race. He is said to be the father of the African nations. Alternately Japheth has been attributed as being the father of the white race. He has been attributed to populating and settling Europe, and being the father of the “Caucasian”.

The third brother Shem on the other hand holds a level of blessing high above the other two brothers. Abraham the progenitor of many nations and ultimately the nation of Israel was a descendant of Shem. The same myth and stigma of skin color and race does not seem to be attached to Shem and his descendants as there seems to be with Japheth and Ham in later post Biblical writings. As we will see the BHI do attach a stigma of skin color to Shem, which really is a rather new invention. What we do know is that Shem is the son who is blessed and the Torah is quite clear of this as we can see in Genesis 9:26 below.

26 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them.

כו וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בָּר֥וּךְ יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹ֣הֵי שֵׁ֑ם וִיהִ֥י כְנַ֖עַן עֶ֥בֶד לָֽמוֹ:

Canaan is the son of Ham. He receives a curse upon his descendants after the narrative with Noah getting drunk from wine of his vineyard and exposing his nakedness. Shem and Japheth act with respect and modesty towards their father’s drunken state, while Ham acts in an immoral way and receives this curse from his father when he awakens. We can see this play out in Genesis 9:20–27 which ultimately ends with the curse in question in verse 25 as we can see below.

25And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a slave among slaves to his brethren.”

כה וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָר֣וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו:

There are many reasons why these stigmas of race have been attached to the sons of Noah which is a topic in and of itself. This is beyond the scope of our topic at hand. Either way the BHI weigh heavily into this narrative, at least concerning Japheth being attached to whites. Although BHI are for the most part “black” people, they do not associate themselves with Ham or his descendants. They will claim Egyptians, Ethiopians, etc. are the sons of Ham while they, “The Hebrew Israelites” are actually the true descendants of Shem. Where they draw the line between who is a “black” Hamite and who is “black” Shemite becomes very hazy and the goal post for belief is moved around quite freely to fit whoever’s narrative that is being taught at the time.

With this all being said you can see how a movement which is basically a movement for black power, built on hate of others, as a staple belief would place a hatred on the “white” Japheth. Non believers and other nations are seen as “heathens” much in the same way Islamic Jihadists view non believers as the “infidel”. The descendants of Ham and Japheth are viewed as “heathens” by BHI. On many occasions I have seen African American BHI turn on their African BHI brethren and call them Hamites while those brought to the Americas in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade in their opinion are the true Shemites whose plight was described in Deuteronomy 28:68.

Now that we have the back story laid out a bit let’s look more at who Ashkenaz, the grandson of Japheth was and who the Ashkenazim are who the BHI blindly hold such much hate for. We have already seen above in Genesis 10:2–3 that Ashkenaz was the grandson of Japheth. We can see this same genealogy again confirmed I Chronicles 1:4–8 below.

4Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

ד נֹ֥חַ שֵׁ֖ם חָ֥ם וָיָֽפֶת:

5The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

ה בְּנֵ֣י יֶ֔פֶת גֹּ֣מֶר וּמָג֔וֹג וּמָדַ֖י וְיָוָ֣ן וְתֻבָ֑ל וּמֶ֖שֶׁךְ וְתִירָֽס:

6And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Diphath, and Togarmah.

ו וּבְנֵ֖י גֹּ֑מֶר אַשְׁכְּנַ֥ז וְדִיפַ֖ת וְתֽוֹגַרְמָֽה:

7And the sons of Javan: Elisha and Tarshishah, Kittim, and Rodanim.

ז וּבְנֵ֥י יָוָ֖ן אֱלִישָׁ֣ה וְתַרְשִׁ֑ישָׁה כִּתִּ֖ים וְרֽוֹדָנִֽים:

8The sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim, Put and Canaan.

ח בְּנֵ֖י חָ֑ם כּ֥וּשׁ וּמִצְרַ֖יִם פּ֥וּט וּכְנָֽעַן:

Japheth, Ham, and Shem were born subsequently around the years 2203–2205 BCE. We are not told in the Torah at what year Ashkenaz was born but we can see his grandfather Japheth was born over 4,200 years ago. Needless to say Ashkenaz of the Table of Nations is an ancient personage. In Jeremiah 51:27–28 we can get a bit more of a glimpse into the geographical place Ashkenaz was equated with during the lifetime of Jeremiah the Prophet who lived around the year 500 BCE.

27Raise up a standard in the land, sound a shofar among the nations, prepare nations against her, gather against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint over her a marshal, bring up horses like bristling locusts.

כז שְׂאוּ־נֵ֣ס בָּאָ֗רֶץ תִּקְע֨וּ שׁוֹפָ֚ר בַּגּוֹיִם֙ קַדְּשׁ֚וּ עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם הַשְׁמִ֧יעוּ עָלֶ֛יהָ מַמְלְכ֥וֹת אֲרָרַ֖ט מִנִּ֣י וְאַשְׁכְּנָ֑ז פִּקְד֚וּ עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ טִפְסָ֔ר הַֽעֲלוּ־ס֖וּס כְּיֶ֥לֶק סָמָֽר:

28Prepare nations against her, the kings of Media, her governors, and all her officers, and all the land of his rule.

כח קַדְּשׁ֨וּ עָלֶ֚יהָ גוֹיִם֙ אֶת־מַלְכֵ֣י מָדַ֔י אֶת־פַּֽחוֹתֶ֖יהָ וְאֶת־כָּל־סְגָנֶ֑יהָ וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־אֶ֥רֶץ מֶמְשַׁלְתּֽוֹ:

Jeremiah’s prophecy is a vision of Babylon’s impending destruction and a calling of foreign nations to come against Babylon in war for the extra suffering Nebuchadnezzar and his armies caused Israel, which was punishment far more severe than they deserved.

Ararat is a mountainous area in the far east of Turkey. It is right on the border of Armenia. The term and geographical area are likewise described in Jeremiah 51:27. “Minni” or מִנִּ֣י in Hebrew is most likely referring to Armenia. The term Armenia’s origin is most likely made up of two Hebrew words. “Har-Minni”. The term “har” or הַר means “mountain” in Hebrew. Har-Minni or Armenia would then basically be the mountainous area of Minni just east of the mountainous area of Ararat. Media is also mentioned in verse 28 as another people/place called upon by G-D to punish Babylon. Media is basically Persia in brief. The area both west and southwest of the Caspian Sea can be considered Media. The Medo-Persian Empire conquered Babylon so their name being present here seems historically accurate to what was soon going to be the fate of Bavel.

As we can see all three names listed above Ararat, Minni, and Media are all in the same general area. We can safely assume that the lands of Ashkenaz during the time of Jeremiah was close by.

The first century historian Josephus writes in that Ashkenaz relates to the Rhegines which are the people of Rhegium. Rhegium is now modern day Reggio de Calabria which is in Southern Italy. This is quite a distance from our earlier established area we were looking at during the Prophet Jeremiah’s lifetime.

By Talmudic times Jews were already referring to the lands of Germany as Ashkenaz. Most likely this is attributed to the similar phonetic sounds in the name Germanya and Gomer the father of Ashkenaz. We also see Togarmah, the brother of Ashkenaz name being identified in Talmudic writings as a reference to the lands surrounding Germany. In Hebrew over time the name Ashkenaz or אַשְׁכְּנַ֥ז became synonymous with Germany and Europe in general.

So why are Ashkenazi Jews called Ashkenazi Jews when they claim to be from Shem but are literally named after a son of Japheth? You can see where the confusion comes in. This is made especially true for Black Hebrew Israelites who use the Bible as their only source of reference for truth. They see the name Ashkenaz in the table of nations and they see a group of Jews whose name identifies with that character. Not being a part of the Jewish people, and having no frame of reference for understanding Jewish history except the Bible you can see where the error is made. It is clearly an error on the part of the BHI though, and I will explain why a group of Jews who later became so numerous are known by the moniker of the Ashkenazi Jew.

We will begin to unravel the history of the Ashkenazim and see if if it leads back to the Ashkenaz of the Table of Nations. Today around 30–40% of Israels 9 million Jews are Ashkenazi.

The Holocaust of Europe brutally devastated Ashkenazi Jewish communities that began over a thousand years earlier in the 8th-9th century. In some cases Ashkenazi Jewish communities may have existed in certain parts of Europe all the way back to the 5th century, most likely coming from Italy.

We can follow the literature of the sages of Israel throughout the ages that came out of Europe to find a glimpse into the past. While Europe went through the Dark Ages and its population was practically illiterate, Jewish communities in Europe continued to stay rather isolated, teaching their own in cheder. We can see amazing religious works of Ashkenazi Jewry throughout Europe just as their Sephardic counterparts continued to write and author religious works consistently as well in great number.

One example we can look at is Rebbenu Gershom or Gershom ben Yehudah who lived from 960–1028 CE. His is maybe most famous for instituting the first official ban on polygamy in Ashkenazi communities around the year 1,000 CE. He lived in Mainz which at this time began to be a center for Torah scholarship with many sages coming from Babylon as the Babylonian Yeshivot began to die out in the 9th century. He was said to be brothers to a man named Makhir we will discuss soon. He named his main teacher as Yehudah ben Meir HaKohen Leontin. One of his students, Jacob ben Yakar became the teacher of one Ashkenazi Jewry’s most famous Rabbis, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzachi, most famously known by the acronym Rashi.

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki was born in France in 1040 CE. He died in the year 1105. His influence on Ashkenazi Jewry is inescapable. He wrote a comprehensive commentary on the Torah as well as the entire Tanakh in Hebrew commonly relating back to Old French which he was familiar with as that was his place of birth. He also authored a commentary on nearly the entire Talmud which is invaluable to Talmudic scholarship today. One of Rashi’s mother’s relatives was either related or a student of Rabbi Gershom of Mainz. Yakov ben Yakar taught Rashi until his death, where he continued to study in the yeshiva of Worms, Germany with Rabbi Yitzchak ben Eliezer HaLevi who died around the year 1070 CE.

Another famous sage of Ashkenazi Jewry who is a monumental figure during this era was a man named Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan. He lived in the 11th century and was the head of a large yeshiva based in Narbonne France. Rashi refers to his teachings often in his commentary on the Torah. Unfortunately we do not have copies of any of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan’s writings and have to learn most about him from his students who were many.

There was an area in the south of France that existed between the 12th and 15th centuries called the Hachmei Province. It was a province in Occitania that was a center for Torah learning for Ashkenazi Jewry. All of the above men helped the explosion of Ashkenazi Jewry to take off in Europe in general. France and Germany were both major centers of Torah learning 1,000 years ago.

So how did all of the famous sages of Israel who were so well learned in the Torah end up in Germany and France in the first place? A large reason for all of these men being in France and deciding to grow communities in Europe instead of Bavel any longer was the enticing offers made to them through the King of the Franks at the time Charlemagne himself. Charlemagne also known as Charles the Great ruled large areas of Western Europe from 768–814 CE. He was essentially Emperor of Rome at the time. He offered through the Jewish Exilarch Makhir if he would consider bringing Jews from Babylon as merchants to start communities there in Europe. He afforded the Jews physical and financial protection to accomplish this. By the 9th century many of the yeshivot in Babylon were dying down. It was seen as perfect timing to bring Torah sages from Bavel to Charlemagne’s territories as well as Jewish merchants and start building communities that benefited the King financially. The King also had a war effort that was said to have benefited from this arrangement.

The son of Charlemagne who succeeded him after his passing was Louis le Debonnaire. He ruled from 814–840. He also afforded the Jews protection to continue in the area as merchants. Simultaneously their yeshivot were also beginning to thrive and all of our famous Ashkenazic Jewish sages as listed above were able to flourish in Torah study, just as they had done in the yeshivot of Bavel for the past 600 years.

As was mentioned previously, there was an Exilarch named Makhir who was the man Charlemagne convinced to start this process of the move to Europe in large numbers by Jews to start communities in the Rhineland. For those not familiar with the term Exilarch I will explain. The Exilarchs were Jewish leaders of the Babylonian communities after the Roman expulsion of Jews from the land of Israel. The Exilarchs were chosen by descent according to a Davidic family lineage. King Jeconiah also known as Jehoiachin is said to be the first Exilarch as he was King when the exile began under Bavel. In II Kings 24:15 we can see Jehoiachin being taken to exile in Bavel.

15 And he exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother and the king’s wives, and his officers and the dignitaries of the land, he led in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

טו וַיֶּ֥גֶל אֶת־יְהוֹיָכִ֖ין בָּבֶ֑לָה וְאֶת־אֵ֣ם הַ֠מֶּלֶךְ וְאֶת־נְשׁ֨י הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ וְאֶת־סָרִיסָ֗יו וְאֵת֙ אֵילֵ֣י (כתיב אֵולֵ֣י) הָאָ֔רֶץ הוֹלִ֛יךְ גּוֹלָ֥ה מִירוּשָׁלַ֖םִ בָּבֶֽלָה:

The last Exilarch was Chizkiya II, who was deposed from his position as Head of the Yeshiva in Pumbedita Babylon in the year 1040 CE. He was ultimately executed by the Caliph of Baghdad in 1068. Our Exilarch in question again who was responsible for bringing Jews to the Charlemagne’s Carolingian dynasty was the Exilarch “Makhir” who died in the year 793 CE. The Caliph Harun al Rashid seems to be the one who passed the message from Charlemagne to Makhir. Makhir ben Yehudah Zakkai of Narbonne (Theodoric of Narbonne) was the descendant of a previous Exilarch “Bustanai”.

Bustanai was the first Exilarch under Arabian rule. He was born 618 and died in the year 670 CE. He was said to be Nasi from 642–665. Interestingly enough one of Bustanai’s descendants was Anan ben David (715–795) who is seen by many as the father of Karaism and who wrote the famous Karaite work Sefer Ha-Mitzvot. Bustanai was the son of a previous Exilarch by the name of Haninai or Haminai Ha David who was Exilarch from 581–589 in Babylon.

I believe it was this Makhir ben Yehudah Zakkai of Narbonne who started the Narbonne Yeshiva which ultimately spawned the birth of Ashkenazi Jewry as we know it today. The picture really seems to be quite clear in how Jewish centers of cultural spread and grew so increasingly large in Ashkenazi communities of the Rhineland and the Iberian Peninsula. Under Moorish rule of the Iberian Peninsula Jews were relatively free to practice their religion without threat of violence. For this reason Sephardic communities flourished before Christian domination of the area. This changed as Christianity dominated Spain, leading to Jewish expulsion during the Inquisition in 1492 under Ferdinand and Isabella.

Charlemagne gave this same opportunity to the Ashkenazim and allowed their communities to grow stronger. Until the Christian Crusades began, things seemed to be promising in Europe. Once the first Crusade broke out in 1096 things took a turn for the worse. After this point Europe became a literal hell for the Ashkenazi Jew.

Substantial Jewish communities seemed to have built up in Italy before this all transpired. This makes sense when we look at how Italy/Rome was the epicenter of the Roman Empire. Jews traveled throughout that empire both willingly and unwillingly over the existence of Rome. A prominent family who seems to have been the progenitors of the Yeshiva in Mainz, Germany was the Kalonymos family. They held prominent positions in Italy and later came to hold prominent positions within European Jewish communities. Kaiser Charles the Large invites the Kalonymos family to settle in Mainz much in the same way Charlemagne convinced Makhir to come to France. Kalonymos of Mainz actually saves the King’s life during the Battle of Cotrone”. The Kalonymos family continued to expand its reach in Europe marrying into some of Europe’s noble families as well as with the descendants of Makhir of Narbonne.

There has been a never ending transmission of information within the Jewish people no matter what we have been through. Starting with the men of the Tanakh, carrying on through the period of the Maccabees, the Chachamim of the first century, the Zugot, to the men who were responsible for the composition of the Talmud. The Tannaim. The Amoraim. The Savoraim. The Geonim. The Rishonim, until the Acharonim of our day. This unbroken chain is spoken of in Pirkei Avot. It is repeated clearly in the Rambam’s Mishnah Torah. The Ashkenaz of Japheth and the Ashkenazim of Shem are not related. These European lands once conquered and settled by Noah’s Grandson Ashkenaz 4,000 years ago became the home of a large branch of the Jewish Nation some 3,000 years later. What started in the Kingdom of Charlemagne as such a promising hope of a new world where Jewish communities and merchants could flourish soon became the destructive place the Ashkenazi Jew lived through for the next 900+ years until the culmination in the Holocaust. Ashkenaz is not our ancestor. The lands of Ashkenaz are not our home. It was exile. That exile is ending. It has been unfolding since 1948.

Literary Sources:

1. A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France, (768–900) by Arthur J. Zuckerman
2. Sharsharet Hadorot, Vol 17 №2
3. Abraham Ibn Daud of Toledo — Sefer Seder HaKabbalah or Book of Tradition (1161)
4. Josephus — Antiquities of the Jews (1st Century CE)
5. The-Bonet-Kalonymous-ShemTovs (Direct Descendants of King David and the Princes of Septimania) by Andres J. Bonet

6. Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne — Cambridge Historical Journal, VI, №2 by F.L. Ganshof (1939)

7. Pirkei Avot, Ch.1 (3rd Century)

8. Mishnah Torah (Introduction) — Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides) (1180)

9. Jewish Encycopedia 1906

10. Abraham Zacuto — Yuchasin (Early 1500's)

11. Anan ben David — Sefer HaMitzvot (715–795)

12. Tanakh with Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) (11th century)

13. Neubauer, “Medieval Jewish Chronicles, I. 196

14. Benjamin of Tudela — The Travels of Benjamin (12th century)

15. Sefer HaEshkol — Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne aka Raavad (1080–1158)

16. The Codex Judaica — Rabbi Mattis Kantor (2005)

17. “Philomena” (“Histoire Générale du Languedoc,” iii., Addenda, p. 29)