Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I never bothered to look too deeply into it, but the Khazar upper class were known to be redheaded and the stereotype of Jews in the Middle Ages were that they were redheads. Jews in antiquity were not known to be redheaded, and Europeans didn’t have a tradition of symbolically representing character with hair color, so this could be construed as evidence that early European Jews were Khazar in origin. IIRC the hats that the Hasids wear are also common to the region of khazaria but I could be wrong on that. I don’t think anyone disputes that the khazar upper class converted, they only dispute that this did not significantly affect the gene pool of Ashkenazim.
The fur hats are likely from Eastern Europe - which makes sense. If you live in a place where it's cold in winter, you wear a fur hat. If you are rich, you wear a hat with a lot of fur that's expensive. If you are a leader of a poor Jewish community that wants to show that you aren't worse than others, you adopt a style that reminds one worn by surrounding nobility. If you want to show you're keeping the tradition established when your ancestors lived in a poor Jewish community in Eastern Europe, you wear the same style an Eastern European rabbi would.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link