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The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel are the ancient Tribes of Israel that disappear from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. Many groups of Jews and Christians have doctrines concerning the continued hidden existence or future public return of these tribes.

This is a subject that is partially based upon authenticated and documented historical fact; partially upon written religious tradition and partially upon extreme speculation. There is no specific source that can be relied upon for a complete answer.

The Tribes in history

According to Genesis 49, Jacob (whose name had been changed to Israel - Gen. 32:28, 35:9) gathers his sons (12 of them - Gen. 29: 31-35, 30:1-13, 35:22-26) and gives them a prophecy (Gen. 49:1-29). These are the Tribes: From the Eastern Tribes: Tribe of Judah, Tribe of Issachar, Tribe of Zebulun; The Southern Tribes: Reuben, Tribe of Simeon, Tribe of Gad; The Western Tribes: Tribe of Ephraim*, Tribe of Manasseh*, Tribe of Benjamin; The Northern Tribes: Tribe of Dan, Tribe of Asher, Tribe of Naphtali. *These are the sons of Joseph, who had been in captivity (Genesis chapters 37 through 45) and bore them with the daughter of the Pharaoh's Priest of On, Asenath (Gen. 41:45-52). The Tribe of Levi was set apart to serve in the Holy Temple (Num. 1:47-54, 2:33, 3:6-7). The arrangement of the Tribes were given by the LORD in Numbers 2.

It is now believed by many that the exiled tribes, who were, according to the Second Book of Kings, transported to the region of Media in what is now northwestern Iran, most likely simply assimilated with the population of the area, losing any special sense of Israelite identity. There is also Biblical and Talmudic testimony that much of the population of the "lost" tribes was simply reunited with the rest of the Jewish people when they, too, were exiled and, later, returned to the Land of Israel. However, many over the years, in order to hide their Jewish or Israelite identities during tribulations, crusades, and continual exiles, have scattered among the whole earth and believed to have assimilated into the mass population.

There is now genetic testing being done to representatives of at least two groups -- the Lemba in Africa, and the B'nei Menashe in India -- in attempts to verify claims of descendancy from the "lost ten tribes". So far, there is nothing conclusive, though in the case of the Lemba, there is a definite link [1] to Levite Hebrew ancestry, specifically Kohen.

Background to the controversy

Since at least the 17th century (the time of Oliver Cromwell and Sabbatai Zevi) both Jews and Christians have proposed theories concerning the lost tribes, based to varying degrees on the Bible accounts. An Ashkenazic Jewish tradition speaks of the Lost Tribes as Die Roite Yiddelech, "The little red Jews", cut off from the rest of Jewry by the legendary river Sambation "whose foaming waters raise high up into the sky a wall of fire and smoke that is impossible to pass through". [Rosen, 1987] There are also ethnic groups such as the Pashtun who traditionally claim descent from the Lost Tribes (see Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites).

Varied claims

There are quite a number of peoples today who cling to the ancient tradition that they are descended from the Jewish Lost Tribes: the tribesmen of Afghanistan, the Mohammedan Berbers of West Africa, and the six million Christian Igbo people of Nigeria. Unquestionably, they all practice certain ancient Hebraic customs and beliefs, which lends some credibility to their fantastic-sounding claims. (cited on p. 217, Pictorial History of the Jewish People by Nathan Ausubel, 1953).

On December 23, 1649, after Manasseh ben Israel, a noted rabbi of Amsterdam had been told by Montezinus that some of the Lost Tribes were living among the Indians in South America, he wrote to the English Puritan John Dury ...

... I think that the Ten Tribes live not only there ... but also in other lands scattered everywhere; these never did come back to the Second Temple and they keep till this day still the Jewish Religion ... (ibid, Ausubel)

LDS (also known as "Mormon") theology puts forth the claim that the peoples of South America are descendants of Manasseh due to certain scriptures in the Book of Mormon.

In the 1600s Manasseh ben Israel petitioned Oliver Cromwell to allow the Jews to return to England. Since 1290, Jews had been prohibited by law from living in England. The reason why Cromwell expressed an interest in the return of the Jews to England is because several other theories abounded at that time relating to the end of the world. Many of these ideas were fixed upon the year 1666 and the Fifth Monarchy Men who were looking for the return of Jesus as the Messiah who would establish a final kingdom to rule the physical world for a thousand years. They supported Cromwell's Republic in the expectation that it was a preparation for the fifth monarchy - that is, the monarchy which should succeed the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and Roman world empires. Mixed in with all of this was a background of general belief that the Lost Ten Tribes did not represent ethnic Jews who partially formed the ancient Kingdom of Judah, but tribes who maintained a separate capital at Samaria. Some have attempted to dismiss this complicated saga by stating that it is nothing but Supersessionism. However, the ideas behind these various competing theories are far more complicated, especially when Sabbatai Zevi, the "messiah" claimant and his supporters postulated that he represented groups in addition to those identified as being Jews. However, Zevi lost his credibility to all but the Donmeh when he converted to Islam and became an apostate to Judaism in 1666.

During the latter half of the 18th century variations on this same theory were advocated by some who believed that the British Empire of nations was a manifestation of ancient prophecies recorded in the Book of Genesis predating both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. In the 19th century factions of the Pentecostal church and others who predated Jehovah's Witnesses advocated similar beliefs. A fascinating book concerning the biography of Pastor Charles Taze Russell (founder of the group that became Jehovah's Witnesses), and subtitled An Early American Christian Zionist was written in 1990 by David Horowitz, who for many years led the United Israel World Union.

David Horowitz

David Horowitz was the founder of the United Israel World Union and one of eight children of Cantor Aaron and Bertha Horowitz whose family immigrated to the United States in 1914. He first went to the land of present-day Israel in 1924 as an ardent Zionist. He married and moved to Poland in 1927 where he lived with his wife's parents during her pregnancy and played a part in trying to rescue Jews from the Nazis. He moved to the U.S. in 1943 where he became an accredited correspondent to the United Nations and founded the United Israel World Union. The purpose of his organization was to preach a universal Hebraic faith for all humankind based on the Decalogue and the other universal commandments of the Torah. The hallmark of the organization was Isaiah's prescription that:

My house will become a house of prayer for all peoples ...

This is the same verse that Herbert W. Armstrong used for his reason to build the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, California, and Armstrong once announced a plan to assist in the building of a Jewish/Christian/Islamic center at Mount Sinai with the blessings of both Egyptian and Israeli leaders.

Nathan Ausubel

In his 1953 work Pictorial History of the Jewish People, Nathan Ausubel compiled the following list of peoples connected in one way or another to this legend:

Baghdad
Iran
Kurdistan
Yemen
Georgia
Bokhara
Hadhramaut
Mountain Jews
Afghanistan
Bene-Israel
Cochin
China
Egypt
Algeria
Morocco
Libya
Tunisia
Djerba
The Sahara
Cave Dwellers = Atlas Mountains south of Tripolitania and Tunisia. Closely related to the Jews of the Sahara, they believe that their ancestors were brought as captives from Judea by Titus after 70 AD. They cut out tiny paper boats which decorate their synagogues where they pray: May a boat soon come and carry us to Jerusalem.
The Falashas = Lake Tana, Ethiopia. Claim to have come with the Queen of Sheba to visit King Solomon.
The Samaritans = Nablus (Shechem). Claim to be "the real Jews" and built a rival Temple on Mount Gerizim in the days of Ezra. See article on link.
Karaites (See article on link).

British Israelism

British Israelism (sometimes called Anglo-Israelism) is a complex set of theories, not necessarily compatible with each other, that have in common the idea that the British are the direct lineal descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. The theory is held by a minority of Christians, usually Protestants of British descent.

British Israelism is typically based on the idea that large numbers of the tribes were deported by Sargon, king of Assyria, on the fall of Samaria in 721 BC. Critics of the theory point out, however, that the Assyrian chronicles of the time claim that only a small number of Israelites were deported.

Herbert W. Armstrong

In the 20th century Herbert W. Armstrong compared all of the tribes of Israel to the populations of individual states within the U.S. He would explain that not all American citizens are Californians, but that all Californians are American citizens. He therefore did not distinguish between the Tribe of Judah and the other tribes who appeared to have become "lost" to history. Consequently Armstrong established many links between his Radio Church of God and the present state of Israel, while Stanley Rader, who was a Jew, often served as mentor and always as right hand man to Armstrong. It should also be noted that Armstrong took great pride in his personal relationships with Israeli leaders and he provided students for many years from his own Ambassador Colleges to join students from Hebrew University in archaeological digs in Israel. The work of Armstrong was not unknown to David Horowitz who held the belief that ...

... the idea that the "Lost Tribes of Israel", though scattered among the nations, and having lost their identity, would be part of the masses of "Gentiles" who would turn to the Hebrew faith, and join the Jewish people in pioneering a Messianic age.

After Armstrong's death in 1986, the World Wide Church of God, changed its format and no longer promoted his ideas and beliefs. Several splinter groups emerged, the most popular being Philadelphia Church of God, under the leadership of Gerald Flurry, continued Armstrong's message. Armstrong on his radio and TV show The World Tomorrow offered a free book called The United States and Britain in Prophecy to his listeners viewers. In this book the Twelve Tribes mystery is explained from Armstrong's perspective. After the Philadelphia Church of God began printing Armstrong material, the Worldwide Church of God promptly sued stating that they had the copyright to the material. The Worldwide Church of God won and then sold the rights to the Philadelphia Church of God.

Biblical Support of the Ten Lost Tribes

Isaiah 11:11

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall set his hand A Second Time to recover the remnant (Other Part Of His People), which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the Islands Of The Sea." (That's Many People From Many Places)

Verse 12: "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: EPHRAIM shall not ENVY JUDAH and JUDAH shall not VEX EPHRAIM."

The term Ephraim was given to the Northern Kingdom

The term Judah was given to the Southern Kingdom'

Ezekiel 37:19

"Say unto the children of my people: "Thus said the LORD GOD, Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the Tribes Of Israel His Fellows and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick and they shall be ONE IN MINE HAND. verse 22: "I will make them ONE NATION in the land upon the mountains of ISRAEL....NEITHER SHALL THEY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS ANYMORE AT ALL.

The LOST TRIBES were people who had gone against the Law of GOD. They were sent into exile and later scattered amongst the nations - they assimilated with the nations, because they forgot their IDENTITY - today there is an awakening - they have not been affected by the destruction of both the Temples since they have been missing 2,700 years and their generation are unaffected by Rabbinic Judaism.

Antisemitic interpretations

There are various factions who have interpreted totally different meanings from the term Lost Ten Tribes, often with antisemitic elements.

These groups, now referred to as the Christian Identity movement, seem to have also emerged during the 19th century. Many groups who identified themselves as Christian felt the need to identify their groups with the Lost Ten Tribes in order to set themselves apart from mainstream Christianity, which they despised for various reasons including Zionism, humanitarian ideas, and for connections to Judaism.

Most of these adherents differentiate between the term "Jew" and "Israelite" suggesting Jews usurped the identity of the true chosen people of God. The verses of Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 provides for them a basis for their beliefs rooted in scripture. Also Genesis chapter 38 should be studied, the story of Judah, one the original 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) and his daughter in law, Tamar, in that here could be a cause of separation between certain seed lines of the Judah family, since Judah intermarried with a Cananite woman.

This interpretation created a problem for these groups since they could no longer accept Jews as being related to the same family origins and the same Biblical history which recorded the division of the united Hebrew Kingdom into two competing factions. To create this distinction it became necessary for groups mainly identified with the movement to invent a totally new history that removed Jews. Among the well-known believers of such ideas have been individuals such as the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh (see Elohim City).

Some Black groups such as the Black Hebrew Israelites and Black Hebrews make similar claims to be descended from the "real" Israelites, claiming the Jews are impostors.

Groups claiming descent from specific lost tribes

Bene Ephraim (from southern India) claim descent from the Tribe of Ephraim
Bnei Menashe (from northeast India) claim descent from the lost Tribe of Manasseh
Beta Israel, also known as Falashas - Some of this ancient group of Ethiopian Jews as well as several Jewish scholars believe they are descended from the lost Tribe of Dan, as opposed to the traditional story
Persian Jews (especially the Bukharan Jews) claim descent from the Tribe of Ephraim
Igbo Jews claim descent variously from the tribes of Ephraim, Menasseh, Levi, Zebulun, and Gad
The Lemba tribe (from South_Africa) claim to be descendants from a lost tribe which fled from modern Yemen and journeyed south.

References

Riff, Michael. The Face of Survival: Jewish Life in Eastern Europe Past and Present. Valentine Mitchell, London, 1992. ISBN 0853032203
Rosen, Moses. "The Recipe" (published as epilogue to The Face of Survival, 1987).
Ausubel, Nathan. Pictorial History of the Jewish People, Crown, 1953.

External links

@@ Line 141: / Line 141: @@
 ==External links==
+* [http://ezinearticles.com/?id=102968 The Plain Truth about the Lost Ten Tribes]
-*[http://www.britam.org Brit-Am Lost Tribes of Israel - Yair Davidiy
+*[http://www.britam.org Brit-Am Lost Tribes of Israel - Yair Davidiy]
 *[http://www.kulanu.org/ Kulanu ("All of us")]
 *[http://www.shavei.org/ Shavei Yisrael ("Return of Israel")]