Re: [Cz-L] Our Origins - conversions to Judaism and mixing of populations

I read that there were Poles in the 17th or 18th century, who became
Protestants. In Poland they were being persecuted, so they moved
to Bukovina and eventually some of them converted to Judaism.
When I lived in Czernowitz, there was a sect of Christians we called
"Subbotniki", because they celebrated the Sabbath on Saturday rather than
on Sunday. During WW2 they helped Jews and one peasant woman of their
religion, would secretly and against the law, bring my family cheese and
butter. Once she broke down in tears and said to my mother:
Oh God, Oh God, what do they want from you poor Jews!

In Wikipedia it says about the Subbotniks:

Subbotniks (Russian: Субботники, literally, Sabbatarians) are one of the
Russian religious bodies known under the general name of "Judaizing
Christian sects". On the whole, the Subbotniks originally differed probably
very little from other Judaizing societies. They first appeared during the
reign of Catherine II, toward the end of the 18th century. According to
official reports of the Imperial Russian government, most of the sect's
followers kept brit milah, believed in absolute monotheism rather than the
Christian Trinity, accepted only the Jewish Bible, and observed Sabbath on
Saturday instead of on Sunday.

In the Jewish Encyclopedia there is more about the Subbotniks:
> http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14094-subbotniki
Also about Judaizing Christians:
> http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9030-judaizing-heresy-
> zhidovstvu-yushchaya-yeres

Because they were being persecuted in Russia and Ukraine, it is believed
that some Subbotniks and other Judaizing Christians converted to Judaism.

Mimi

On 4/20/12 12:02 PM, "Robert Burton" <robert.burton_at_rogers.com> wrote:

> Dear Hardy,
>
> I can't remember when or who, but I was told many years ago that Arthur
> Koestler, the German historian, asserted that back in the mists of time many
> native people converted to Judaism when Jews migrated to their regions.
>
> Bob
>

-snip-
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Received on 2012-04-22 10:47:51