Jewish Rus?

I just happened to be reading up on the Kievan Rus, particularly the Christianization, and I noticed a rather strange passage.

In particular, it states that Vladmir the Great sent envoys to several different faiths, to choose which to convert to. Islam was rejected because it prohibited alcohol among other things, Judaism was rejected because their god had failed to protect the lands of his chosen people, and Roman Catholicism was rejected because the envoys found their ceremonies to be "boring". But so impressed was Vladmir's envoys with the Byzantine's churches, that the Rus converted to Orthodox Christianity.

Of course, it it highly unlikely that it really happened like that. Vladmir later married the sister of the Byzantine emperor, so his conversion may have been influenced by that marriage. Also, Vladmir's conversion may have been influenced by his personally close ties with Constantinople, which dominated trade on the Black Sea.

Is there any way we can have the Rus convert to Judaism? On another random note, would this conversion in any way influence the survival of the Khazars?
 
The thing is, your best bet really is Orthodox Christianity. There are a variety of political and economic reasons for them to have chosen it, in particular the strong influence of the Byzantines.
 
The thing is, your best bet really is Orthodox Christianity. There are a variety of political and economic reasons for them to have chosen it, in particular the strong influence of the Byzantines.

The Byzantines would have to be a lot weaker for Judaism to be a wiser choice...
Perhaps this scenario happened. The Umayyad Caliphate attacks and severely weakens the Byzantines, and gains a strong foothold on trade in the Black Sea. The Kievan Rus now need to either please the Byzantines or the Umayyads. Perhaps, like the Khazars, they choose Judaism as an attempt to find middle ground?
Is there any way this scenario could come about, and would it affect the other influences significantly?
 

NothingNow

Banned
Is there any way we can have the Rus convert to Judaism?
Not really. It'd take some serious stuff happening to bring it about, like a (minor) Prophet appearing, or someone seeing the significance of such a happening, and really working toward it, maybe even emphasizing to the envoy that G-d is not so much concerned with his lands as much as his people, pointing out the history of the Jews as a strong race of warriors, et cetera. Of course, a good majority of Jews then might not see the Rus as legitimate Jews because of the conversion.

On another random note, would this conversion in any way influence the survival of the Khazars?
If this happens in or shortly after Sviatoslav I's time (the 940s to 1000,) probably not. The Caucuses and Crimea might stay very Jewish, but the Khazars as a power would be non-existant. If it's in the 800s, they might become allies, they might not, and maybe they tag team the Pechenegs into oblivion, or they could just be ambivalent about each other. Either way, Sviatoslav I is butterflied, so the Khazars and Bulgars get a bit of a reprieve.
 
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