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Where are the Ten Lost Tribes?
Part 2 |
Back to Part 1
Beyond the Sambatyon
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Historical Introduction
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Benjamin of Tudela
New World Part I |
New World Part II |
The False Messiah |
Tribal Groups
Japan
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Beta Israel-Ethiopia
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Chiang-Min China
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Columbus departing on a voyage. Colored engraving,
16th century.
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New World Part I
Boundless opportunity and fortune awaited Columbus and his
crew as they set out on their voyage in 1492. The lands they
discovered promised a new and better world. But for one
Spanish missionary, the cruel enslavement and exploitation of
the native Americans was not the picture of the New World he
envisioned.
In the early 16th century, Bartholeme de Las Casas became the
champion of the Native American Indians, devoting his lifetime
to improving the conditions—in the West Indies, Peru and
Guatemala. Las Casas wrote: "These Indians can bring near the
redemption. If we treat them humanely in this world and
convert them to Christianity, we are preparing for the
redemption of the Western world in the messianic era. Their
conversion is apt indeed, as I am convinced the Indians
originate in Ancient Israel. Indeed, I can bring proofs from
the Bible that they are of the Lost Tribes."
The association of the Indians with the Lost Tribes was heard
again and again. The report by Portuguese traveler Antonio
Montezinos some 120 years later aroused remarkable interest.
"It was a thrilling journey I took in South America. Now that
I am back in Amsterdam, I must share with you some incredible
news. There is a Jewish Indian tribe living beyond the
mountain passes of the Andes. Indeed, I myself heard them
recite the She'ma (the expression of the Jewish faith) and saw
them observe the Jewish rituals." Christian theologians
awaiting the Second Coming were thrilled to receive this
welcome news. For tradition held that when the Ten Tribes were
found, reunited and restored to the Holy Land, the messianic
age was close at hand.
Native Americans from Peru.
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New World Part II
Menasseh ben Israel, a Dutch Jewish scholar widely respected
in both Christian and Jewish circles, played a central role in
strengthening the association of the American Indians with the
Lost Tribes. Deeply influenced by Montezinos' report and
stimulated by his own mystical disposition, Ben Israel
gradually fashioned his most important and best-selling book:
The Hope of Israel. In 1655 Menasseh ben Israel met
with Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, at
Westminster. He dedicated The Hope of Israel to
Parliament and submitted his petition for the recall of the
Jews who had been expelled from England.
Ben Israel's approach was shrewd indeed. He reiterated the
belief that the dispersion of Jews to all corners of the Earth
was the beginning of the redemption. The first stage had been
realized—Israelite tribes had been discovered in the
Americas! By completing the dispersion of the Jews, Cromwell
himself could hasten the messianic era. He must readmit the
Jews to England. Ben Israel associated the Hebrew word for
"the end of the Earth" with the medieval term "Angle-Terre" or
England. He wrote, "...All which things of necessity must be
fulfilled, that so Israel at last being brought back, to his
own place, peace which is promised under the Messiah may be
restored to the world; and concord, which is the only Mother
of all good things."
These words echoed the hopes for a better world, awakened in
the second half of the 18th Century during the American and
French revolutions. Many abolitionists, for example, claimed
that the Messianic Age would be ushered in when the slaves
were freed and when the native Americans, descendants of the
Ten Lost Tribes, were converted to Christianity. It would have
given Menasseh Ben Israel considerable satisfaction to know
how deeply his ideas had influenced social theory and the
human rights movement.
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A true portrait of Shabbetai Zevi, sketched by an
eyewitness in Smyrna, 1666.
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The False Messiah
In the year 1665, a fantastic manifesto made its way like
lightning to all corners of the Islamic, Jewish and Christian
worlds. Publicized by the charismatic rabbi, Nathan of Gaza,
the letter announced that the Messiah had arrived:
"Hear ye, brethren in Israel that our Messiah is come to life
in the city of Ismir and his name is Shabbetai Zevi. Soon, he
will show forth his kingdom to all and will take the royal
crown from the head of the Sultan and place it on his own.
When nine months have passed, our Messiah shall vanish from
before the eyes of Israel, and no one should be able to say if
he is alive or dead. He will cross the river Sambatyon, which
as all men know no mortal has ever crossed. There, our Messiah
shall ride forth through Jerusalem, with Moses and all the
Jews of old mounted on horses. He himself shall ride on a
dragon, and his bridle rein shall be a snake with seven heads.
On his way, he will be attacked by Gog and Magog, the enemies
of Israel, with a mighty arm. But the Messiah with the breath
of his nostril shall he rout them, and by his word alone,
shall he utterly destroy them. And when he is entered in
Jerusalem, God will send down a temple of gold and precious
stones from heaven, and it will fill the city with its
brilliance. And on that day shall the dead throughout the
world rise from their graves. I hasten to tell you these
tidings."
The news that the Messiah had arrived brought a wave of
excitement in country after country. In a Messianic fervor,
many Jews began to sell off their property and prepare for the
trip to the Holy Land.
Who was this so-called Messiah? His name was Shabbetai Zevi.
He was born in Smirna in Asia Minor in 1626 and he was
ordained as a rabbi when he was eighteen. Drawing upon the
mystical teachings of the Kabbalah he proclaimed to the
suffering Jewish world that redemption was at hand. His ideas
reached Christians and Jews alike, in Morocco, Tunis, Egypt
and Italy. Rumor was rampant that an army comprised of the
lost tribes was marching up through Africa in the direction of
Mecca. The Turkish authorities became concerned. In 1666,
Shabbetai Zevi was arrested and not long after, he was
converted to Islam. The story ends in bitter despair and
disappointment. Following the example of their Messiah,
thousands of Jews converted to Islam as well.
Members of the Lemba tribe.
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Tribal Groups
Straddling the boundaries between Afghanistan, Pakistan and
Kashmir lives the world's largest tribal grouping—the
Pathans. All of the 15 million Pathans, who comprise some 60
tribes, claim descent from Kish, an ancestor of the Biblical
King Saul. Many of them also claim to be them children of the
Lost Israelites. The Pathans perform circumcision of the
eighth day, wear a fringed garment similar to the Jewish
tzizit, light candles on Friday nights and observe food
taboos similar to the laws of Kashrut. In South Africa,
Zimbabwe and Mozambique, tens of thousands of blacks have, in
recent years, declared themselves descendants of one of the
Lost Tribes. The Lemba claim to have been cut off from
mainstream Judaism hundreds of years ago. They are well-versed
in the Old Testament and avoid marriage outside their
community. From every imaginable corner of the world theories
arise linking different peoples and tribes with the Ten Lost
Tribes: the Crimea, the Caucasus, Kenya, Nigeria, Armenia,
Persia, Central Asia, North Siberia, West Africa, Peru, South
America, Australia, Ireland. While the evidence may at times
seem flimsy, the Jewish elements in these tribal cultures
continue to fascinate scholar and layman alike.
Continue: Japan
Where are the Ten Lost Tribes?
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Tudor Parfitt's Remarkable Journey
Mystery of Great Zimbabwe
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