Are Jews in Chapterhouse: Dune the same cultural group as in our universe/timeline?

Question

Religion features a huge role in Dune universe and there are many religions involved in the story line.

These fictional religions are mostly ecumenical or syncretic combinations of existing religions in our universe. However, in Chapterhouse: Dune Judaism appears to be a pretty much unchanged religion as we know it in our times.

Even names are the same. Note that Atreides became Odrade over time, but Rebecca is still called Rebecca just like now or in antiquities.

Now, my question is:

Are these Jews really descendants of the same cultural and religious group as we know it today? Or maybe there is a different explanation, like that their culture and religion changed somewhat over time, or maybe they are a group that tries to restore a religion from ancient times (from their perspective)?

Not that I would find any explanation implausible, when it comes to a book which features direct descendants of Ancient Greeks in far future as main characters.

Answer 1

In the book itself there is nothing that suggests that the Jews of Chapterhouse are not descendent from today's Jews. The names are the same, the rituals and practices are the same, and so are the beliefs. And this makes sense historically, because Jews have already been around for at least 3 thousand years. They have managed to survive conquests, dispersion, centuries of persecution, and multiple attempts at their genocide, while retaining their cultural and ethnic identity and their belief system. Extend this trend tens of thousands of years into the future, and you get the Jews of Chapterhouse.

By the way, Jewish names do change in the book. Rebecca is the anglicized version of Rivkah. :)

Answer 2

There's no canonical evidence to show that they aren't descended directly from today's Jews, so we should probably assume that they are.

The only thing we know about their descent is that they've taken care to acquire some Atreides genes, so they've obviously done some breeding from outside their group. But since it's not implied that those genes have to be passed on by the mother that's still no reason to assume that they're not "proper" Jews via the matrilineal line.

Answer 3

The book is totally explicit. These are Jews descended from the present Jewish tradition rather than revivalists. They live in a "hidden Israel" of their own design. The threat of planetary annihilation has made them ultra-cautious about revealing their roots.

They periodically hide behind the cover of 'revivalism' if they're discovered by outsiders:

"The people to whom your attention has been called are the Jews. They made a defensive decision eons ago. The solution to recurrent pogroms was to vanish from public view. Space travel made this not only possible but attractive. They hid on countless planets -- their own Scattering -- and they probably have planets where only their people live. This does not mean they have abandoned age-old practices in which they excelled out of survival necessity. The old religion is sure to persist even though somewhat altered. It is probable that a rabbi from ancient times would not find himself out of place behind the Sabbath menorah of a Jewish household in your age. But their secrecy is such that you could work a lifetime beside a Jew and never suspect. They call it 'Complete Cover,' although they know its dangers."

Lucilla accepted this without question. That which was so secret would be perceived as dangerous by anyone who even suspected its presence. "Else why do they keep it secret, eh? Answer me that!"

The crystal continued to pour its secrets into her awareness: "At the threat of discovery, they have a standard reaction, 'We seek the religion of our roots. It is a revival, bringing back what is best from our past.' "

Lucilla knew this pattern. There were always "nutty revivalists." It was guaranteed to blunt most curiosity. "Them? Oh, they're another bunch of revivalists."

_{^{Chapterhouse Dune - p58 (ebook edition)}}

Answer 4

There are only 2 good reasons to presume the Jews of Chapterhouse are in fact descended from the modern Jewish ethnicity:

1) If they weren't, the first one to defect and become a reverend mother would reveal it to the Bene Gesserit, and then give the Bene Gesserit a firm and dangerous hold over them.

2) Jewish emphasis on geneology and matrilineal descent means that Jews keep pretty close records. Even if only to 5 generations. But, given those records, and Bene Gesserit being allowed to hear the recitations of them at bar and bat mitzvas, they will be logged indefinitely.

There are several reasons to wonder why they have modern praxis...

by Chapterhouse, its 26,000 years from the modern age; given the amount of change in documented praxis since the year 600, it's highly likely that any praxis should have morphed enough that only the written references should be recognizable.

The Bene Gesserit should have, at some point, been messing around with messianic cults within them. Such cults nearly destroyed judaism in the 1st century CE; a more thorough Rome might have destroyed them.

The Domination by the machines resulted in a lot of people losing track of their ethnic backgrounds. It damaged many religions. It rendered much of society a relatively fresh slate.

The Issue of their praxis raises questions...

Realistically, the use of modern praxis is probably an accommodation for reader comfort and ability to identify them.

In setting, it's quite likely that the Bene Gesserit helped restore some older praxis set by examining Other Memory for the correct rituals, and/or keeps reinforcing that in small ways.