Judaism's Strange Gods, Michael A. Hoffman, self-published, 2000, 115 pages with 13 pages of references.

I read this book in 2001 and was stunned by the things about today's Judaism that I didn't know. You can get this book at Amazon where there is a LONG raging debate on it through comments and book reviews. Some people defend it as refreshing expose. Others attack it as neo-nazi and offensive. A friend of mine who was a CONVERT to Judaism attacked it as neo-nazi and filled all the margins of my paperback copy with notes. Read it yourself and decide. I just here want to point out that Mohammed lived in Bhagdad for a time BEFORE he started The Koran in Arabia. Many items from Jewish texts seem to have found their way into The Koran. This book might be useful as a beginning point for a series of book reviews I am about to start (hopefully 1 per day) about Islam, Jihad, the United Nations, nuclear weapons, and politics and prophecies of The Middle East. These books are by some well known authors. The extensive list of references (~10% of the book) is impressive. Hoffman, who is Jewish himself, was a reporter for The Associated Press and has authored several books.

--RPC, Monday, November 2, 2009

The Thirteenth Tribe,  Arthur Koestler,  Random House,  1976,  187pp.

This book traces the history of Khazaria, a nation formed around 550 A.D. from a major migration of peoples from areas around today's Kashmir, North Pakistan, and northern India. They settled north of The Black Sea and The Caucasus Mountains. The Caspian Sea formed it's eastern boundary, The Danube River it's Western. The Kagan (the kingly title) converted the entire 6 million population to Judaism in 650 A.D. Invasions from the east finally drove The Khazars westward to settle in Poland, East Germany, Hungary, and Romania. They formed the cradle of western Jewry. Today, according to this study, about 70% to 80% of all people in the world today who believe they are Jews actually are NOT as they are not descended through Abraham but are these Ashkenazi "Jews" descended through Indic roots. Ashkenaz was a descendent of Japheth in the Book of Genesis. Another son of Noah, Shem, led to Abraham's line.

The author discusses some parallel evidences that give clues to the origins and influence of these people including a study of Yiddish roots, physical anthropological and cultural anthropological studies, and the origins of the "Shield of David" (Star of David) which had become associated with a Jewish messianic leader in the Twelfth Century named David al-Roy.

There are way too many details, names, place names, etc. to list here. It is ENGROSSING reading! There are also 23 pages of appendices and 9 pages of references.

--RPC, Thursday, October 29, 2009