Bani Israel, Jews & Ashkenazi Jews

Initially, Bani Israel consisted of 14 tribes of the descendents of children of Jacob (Yaakup AS). Later on, Joseph (Yusuf AS) was excluded while his children Ephraim dan Manasseh became 1/2 tribe hence leaving only 12 tribes. They led a semitic life in the dessert areas between Sinai, present Jordan and the mountains of Syria before they infiltrated into Canaan and Palestine 3 times.

It is said that King Solomon fell away from God towards the later part of his life and after his death, his son reverted to idol worship and lost half the kingdom as the result of the rebellion of the 10 tribes . The kingdom split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the smaller southern Kingdom of Judah.  It is said that all the kings of the Kingdom of Israel were cruel and many of them met with violent death. The Kingdom was finally destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BCE and the tribes were scattered.

Meanwhile, Judah tribe,  the largest of them all, together with half of Benjamin who still preserved their religion became known as Jews (Yahudi). the  They had a better record than the northern kingdom. Their kings of the line of David served God until a marriage with a member of the court of the northern kingdom broke David's line. All the kings henceforth were wicked and the kingdom was later swept off by the Babylonians in 566 BCE. Thousands of other Bani Israel were absorbed when they were brought to Babylonia during the First Diaspora. The diaspora lasted two generations.

It is said for the sake of survival they developed a unique type of social organization with only minor adaptation when necessary - they maintained their religion, separateness and communal brotherhood. After being released by King Cyrus, only a few returned to Jerusalem. Previously when they were in Jerusalem, most of them had been farmers. While in Babylon where land was waterlogged, they had learned to live as merchants.

Another report says that in fact, only the professionals, the wealthy and craftsmen were deported to Babylonia to begin life in exile. Ordinary people were allowed to stay back. Another group settled in Egypt.

Whatever the case may be, most of them had choosen to remain in Babylon after they were set free. Some went to other countries and henceforth the Second Diaspora.

The descendants of Jacoh's twin brother Esau-Edom were later called Edomite. While they were Hebrew , they were never Jews. Later they went into Spain and Portugal and settled there until they were evicted in 1492. These people were called Sephardic Jews. Israel later accepted them.

Noah's great-gfrandson, Ashkenaz, lived in Babylon. His descendants were later called Ashkenazi Jew. They were not Semitic nor Hebrew nor Bani Israel.

Then there were the Khazars who were a Turkic people who originated in Central Asia. The early Turkic tribes were quite diverse, although it is believed that reddish hair was predominant among them prior to the Mongol conquests. In the beginning, the Khazars believed in Tengri shamanism, spoke a Turkic language, and were nomadic. In the 7th century, they founded the independent Khaganate of Khazaria and later under King Bulan, adopted Judaism as the official religion. They called themselves Ashkenazi Jews. In the 10th century, the Russians broke their power and the Khazars disappeared westwards into Hungary, Romania and Poland mixing with other Jewish communities.

Today Ashkenazi Jews constitute 90% of today's Jews and almost 1/2 of them are in the US. Most of the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh are now in England and the US.