Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Some claim Ashkenazi Jews descend not from ancient Israel but from a lost Turkic kingdom called Khazaria. It’s a story recycled to erase Jewish identity and delegitimize Israel.
But history, language, and DNA all point elsewhere. Ashkenazi Jews trace back through Europe to ancient Israel, not Khazaria. The theory is myth. The people are real.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:55 What is Khazar theory?
01:28 Mainstream origin story of Ashkenazi Jewry
02:02 What was Khazaria?
04:29 The dangers of Khazar theory
05:49 Origins of Khazar theory
07:00 Can Khazar theory be true?
10:28 Are Ashkenazi Jews real Jews?
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Recommended video — Are Jews Indigenous to Israel? | Explained
youtube.com/watch?v=ZV5ddewYMok&list=PL-DNOnmKkUabqlaSQ6Srquba6iY5URCVW&index=1
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Let’s connect:
Website — https://www.Unpacked.media
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Twitter — / jewishunpacked
TikTok — / jewishunpacked
Facebook — / jewishunpacked
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Sources:
-Pink, Aiden. Jersey City Shooter Believed Khazar Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory. Forward, December 17, 2019.
-Kershner, Isabel. Palestinian Leader Incites Uproar With Speech Condemned as Anti-Semitic. The New York Times, May 2, 2018.
-Untangling False Claims About Ashkenazi Jews, Khazars and Israel. Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism, February, 28, 2024.
-Van Koningsveld, Akiva. 'Junk Science': Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Descendants of Khazar Converts. HonestReporting, July 13, 2021.
-Koestler, Arthur. The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage. Random House, 1976.
-Lipowsky, Josh. Antisemitism: A History. Counter Extremism Project, April, 2021.
-Radical Hebrew Israelites. Southern Poverty Law Center.
-Woodworth, Cherie. Where Did the East European Jews Come From?: An Explosive Debate Erupts from Old Footnotes. Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, vol. 11, no. 1, Winter 2010, pp. 107-125.
-Beider, Alexander. Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Khazars. Here's The Proof. Forward, September 25, 2017.
-Behar, D.M., Saag, L., Karmin, M. et al. The genetic variation in the R1a clade among the Ashkenazi Levites’ Y chromosome. Sci Rep 7, 14969 (2017).
-Elhaik, Eran. The missing link of Jewish European ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian hypotheses. Genome Biology and Evolution, vol. 5, no. 1, December 2012, pp. 61-74.
-Klyosov, Anatole, and Faleeva, Tatiana. Excavated DNA from two Khazar burials. Advances in Anthropology, vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, pp. 17-21.
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Harald Krichel
European Union (Photographer: Xavier Lejeune)
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
Kingkongphoto & celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA
Tyler Merbler
SPL Center
Antisemitism Policy Trust
-----------
Executive Producers:
Michael Steinhardt
Co-Executive Producers:
Marc Shmuel Levine
Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum
Gold Level:
The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
-----------
Translation credits:
Portuguese: Saymon Pires, www.livrariasafra.com.br, @safralivraria
About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.
Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between.
About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
#identity #europe #israel
Some claim Ashkenazi Jews descend not from ancient Israel but from a lost Turkic kingdom called Khazaria. It’s a story recycled to erase Jewish identity and delegitimize Israel.
But history, language, and DNA all point elsewhere. Ashkenazi Jews trace back through Europe to ancient Israel, not Khazaria. The theory is myth. The people are real.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:55 What is Khazar theory?
01:28 Mainstream origin story of Ashkenazi Jewry
02:02 What was Khazaria?
04:29 The dangers of Khazar theory
05:49 Origins of Khazar theory
07:00 Can Khazar theory be true?
10:28 Are Ashkenazi Jews real Jews?
Subscribe and turn on your notifications so you don’t miss future uploads!
youtube.com/UNPACKED?sub_confirmation=1
Recommended video — Are Jews Indigenous to Israel? | Explained
youtube.com/watch?v=ZV5ddewYMok&list=PL-DNOnmKkUabqlaSQ6Srquba6iY5URCVW&index=1
We have merch! – https://shop.unpacked.media/?utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=video-description&utm_campaign=merch
Let’s connect:
Website — https://www.Unpacked.media
Instagram — / jewishunpacked
Twitter — / jewishunpacked
TikTok — / jewishunpacked
Facebook — / jewishunpacked
-----------
Sources:
-Pink, Aiden. Jersey City Shooter Believed Khazar Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory. Forward, December 17, 2019.
-Kershner, Isabel. Palestinian Leader Incites Uproar With Speech Condemned as Anti-Semitic. The New York Times, May 2, 2018.
-Untangling False Claims About Ashkenazi Jews, Khazars and Israel. Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism, February, 28, 2024.
-Van Koningsveld, Akiva. 'Junk Science': Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Descendants of Khazar Converts. HonestReporting, July 13, 2021.
-Koestler, Arthur. The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage. Random House, 1976.
-Lipowsky, Josh. Antisemitism: A History. Counter Extremism Project, April, 2021.
-Radical Hebrew Israelites. Southern Poverty Law Center.
-Woodworth, Cherie. Where Did the East European Jews Come From?: An Explosive Debate Erupts from Old Footnotes. Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, vol. 11, no. 1, Winter 2010, pp. 107-125.
-Beider, Alexander. Ashkenazi Jews Are Not Khazars. Here's The Proof. Forward, September 25, 2017.
-Behar, D.M., Saag, L., Karmin, M. et al. The genetic variation in the R1a clade among the Ashkenazi Levites’ Y chromosome. Sci Rep 7, 14969 (2017).
-Elhaik, Eran. The missing link of Jewish European ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian hypotheses. Genome Biology and Evolution, vol. 5, no. 1, December 2012, pp. 61-74.
-Klyosov, Anatole, and Faleeva, Tatiana. Excavated DNA from two Khazar burials. Advances in Anthropology, vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, pp. 17-21.
-----------
Harald Krichel
European Union (Photographer: Xavier Lejeune)
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
Kingkongphoto & celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA
Tyler Merbler
SPL Center
Antisemitism Policy Trust
-----------
Executive Producers:
Michael Steinhardt
Co-Executive Producers:
Marc Shmuel Levine
Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum
Gold Level:
The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
-----------
Translation credits:
Portuguese: Saymon Pires, www.livrariasafra.com.br, @safralivraria
About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.
Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between.
About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
#identity #europe #israel
