The Origin of the Jews

May 1, 2017
In this multicourse intellectual feast, Weitzman, a professor of Hebrew and Semitic languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, tries to explain how the Jewish people began while exploring various approaches to the question. Given that the Bible is no longer regarded as a reliable historical record, Weitzman tries to determine what can be ascertained with any certainty about the first Jews, noting that the issue is complicated by the lack of consensus as to how the Jewish people is defined: “a nation, a race, a religion, an ethnicity.” He then approaches the mystery through genealogy, paleolinguistics, psychoanalysis, and genetics. He concludes that the “history of the Jews has to start somewhere, but it is not clear whether, after many centuries of trying and failing to establish that starting point, scholarship has developed or will ever develop the ability to do so.” Weitzman’s facility with making complex points accessible to the lay reader, and his ease with synthesizing a wide range of research and prior analyses, make this an invaluable resource for both novice and scholar. His rigorous critiques will resonate even for those readers with little or no prior interest in the book’s central questions.

April 15, 2017
Where did the Jews come from, and what does that question really mean?Weitzman (Hebrew and Semitic Languages, Judaic Studies/Univ. of Pennsylvania; Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom, 2011, etc.) explores the question of Jewish origins in almost tortuous detail, demonstrating that what seems like a basic inquiry is in fact a tangle of theories, approaches, and prejudices. The author explains that three viewpoints prevail in the search for Jewish origins. The first is that simple "sleuthing" will lead to a single, obvious answer to the question, "where do Jews come from?" The second is constructivism, a view that origins must be seen as a story or narrative. The third is a postmodern view that is critical of the very search for origins at all. Weitzman begins with genealogy, which may seem an obvious tool but which the author soon discounts. From there, he explores linguistic and source document theories for the origin of Jews from Near Eastern ancestors. Alternatively, he looks at theories that emphasize the origin of Jews as a people distinct from the biblical Israelites. Weitzman goes on to explore ideas of Jewish origins as espoused by Darwinists and by Freud, the archaeological evidence for Jewish origins, and ideas on Hellenism's effect on Jewish identity. Finally, he examines the role of DNA testing in understanding ethnic origins, a practice filled with promises and pitfalls. In the end, readers may be disappointed by Weitzman's anticlimactic (though perhaps inevitable) conclusion: "The history of the Jews has to start somewhere, but it is not clear whether, after many centuries of trying and failing to establish that starting point, scholarship has developed or will ever develop the ability to do so." The author is comprehensive, erudite, and honest, but the book is too academic and theoretical to assist general readers with questions about what it means to be Jewish. An accomplishment for the academy. Readers seeking a less theoretical approach would do well to try Jon Entine's Abraham's Children (2007).

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May 15, 2017

How did the Jews come into being? What is their origin? These are questions that Weitzman (director, Ctr. for Advanced Judaic Studies, Univ. of Pennsylvania) addresses in this new book. One immediate answer might be that the Jews originated from the Hebrew people, as described in the Old Testament. However, scholars have found that the question of Jewish origins is complex and have approached the matter from a variety of perspectives. Weitzman carefully considers many of these approaches, noting their limitations and underlying assumptions and biases. He considers the origins discussion in terms of the Old Testament and source criticism, paleolinguistics, genealogy, archaeology, ethnology, psychohistory, constructivism, and genetics. Weitzman ultimately finds no solid answers, and in fact, one of the reasons he writes this book is to challenge the idea that this kind of exploration of Jewish heritage is effective. Thus, readers may feel as if they have traveled on an intellectual journey without ever reaching the final destination, but they will have learned a great deal as well. VERDICT Those interested in Jewish scripture, history, and culture will find this work informative and useful.--John Jaeger, Arlington, TX

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