Benjamin H Hary Haggai Ben Shammai

Paul Wexler, an American-born Israeli linguist and Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, has dedicated his career to studying the historical development of languages, particularly focusing on bilingualism and various specialized linguistic fields like Slavic, creole, Romani, and Jewish languages.

His work is most recognized for challenging conventional understandings of Yiddish and Modern Hebrew origins. Wexler proposed that Eastern Yiddish is not derived from German but rather from a Judaeo-Slavic base, a hypothesis widely disputed by many linguists and geneticists. He further suggested that Modern Hebrew itself is fundamentally a Slavic language, relexified with Semitic vocabulary, based on his interpretation of its structure and historical development. These theories posit a significant role for Slavic populations and even the Khazar Empire in the ethno-linguistic formation of Jewish groups, suggesting that Jewish identity is more a religious community of diverse ethnic origins than a purely Semitic people.

Paul Wexler is primarily known for his provocative hypotheses regarding the origins of Yiddish, a topic that has deeply divided linguistic scholarship. While the traditional view held Yiddish as a form of German, and later theories suggested Romance or West Slavic influences, Wexler proposed a radical departure. He argued that Eastern Yiddish ultimately emerged from a Judaeo-Slavic foundation, suggesting a deep and early contact between Jews and Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe. This theory posits that Yiddish developed not from German but from a distinct Judeo-Slavic dialect, with Sorbian playing a crucial role in its formation. Wexler's approach breaks from mainstream linguistic consensus, which largely traces Yiddish back to Middle High German, and has been met with significant skepticism and rejection from many specialists in the field.

Extending his linguistic analysis, Wexler also applied his theories to the origin of Modern Hebrew. In his work, he contended that Modern Hebrew is not a direct descendant of ancient Hebrew but is, in essence, a Slavic language that underwent a process of relexification. He argued that the language spoken by Israelis is a form of Yiddish that was relexified using Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew vocabulary. Wexler supported this view by noting historical minority opinions that questioned the Semitic character of Modern Hebrew, suggesting instead a European or Slavic basis. This perspective implies that the linguistic and ethnic foundations of modern Israeli identity are rooted in Slavic rather than solely Semitic traditions, a notion that further contributes to the controversial nature of his research.

Wexler's linguistic hypotheses are intrinsically linked to his broader theories on Jewish ethnogenesis. He challenges the notion of Jews as a singular Semitic people, instead proposing they are a religious community formed from diverse ethnic backgrounds. His work suggests that groups like Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews may not be of Mediterranean or Iberian origin as commonly believed, but rather descendants of proselytes from Slavic, Turkic, Iranian, or Berber backgrounds. Wexler posits that Jewish languages developed from various proselyte groups who adopted new vocabularies while retaining the grammatical structures of their original, non-Jewish languages. This perspective reframes Jewish history and identity as a complex tapestry woven from multiple cultural and ethnic threads, with linguistic evolution playing a central role.

The theories proposed by Paul Wexler have consistently faced strong criticism from the academic community. Many linguists, including prominent figures like Alexander Beider, have questioned the validity of his methodologies and conclusions, with some suggesting his work aims to provoke rather than present established linguistic facts. Critics argue that Wexler's approach deviates from accepted methods of historical linguistics, such as the comparative method, leading to conclusions considered speculative. Despite the widespread rejection of many of his earlier hypotheses, Wexler has continued to refine his ideas, exploring concepts like creolization and Afro-Eurasian influences in Yiddish, and co-authoring studies that utilize genetic analysis to propose alternative origins for Yiddish speakers, though these too have faced methodological critiques.

“the Khazar Empire and its Turkic minority population probably did not play a major role in the ethno-linguistic genesis of Yiddish and the Ashkenazic Jews ... the Khazar Empire did emerge as a central venue for the creation of several Jewish languages (including Yiddish and its forebears) and for the conversion of many non-Turkic non-Jews to Judaism who desired access to the lucrative Silk Road trade that was dominated widely by the Jewish merchants.”