| More Brit-Am Rabbinical
Sources
Introduction
Below are some additional Rabbinical Sources concerning the Return of the
Ten Tribes.
We will add to these. Previously the sources we quoted were those that support
the Brit-Am Israelite Identification of Western Peoples with the Ten Tribes. The
sources below however speak of the Ten Tribes in general without giving much
identifying signs. Nevertheless these sources are interesting and serve to place
the other sources in Perspective. Unlike Biblical Sources that must be believed
in, Rabbinical sources though often inspired, may be accepted or rejected, as
long as no practical application is required through them.
Rabbinical Sources that Support Brit-Am
Beliefs.
These may be categorized under the heading:
[1. Direct Evidence. Commentaries (such as those to the Biblical Book of
Obadiah) that expressly equate certain Western Nations with Israelites.
[2. Indirect Evidence. Commentaries that say the Ten Tribes were in certain
areas or had peculiar characteristics that historically help identify ancestors
of Western Peoples with the Ten Tribes.
[3. Corroboration of Biblical Verse Application. Brit-Am relies strongly on the
meaning of passages in the Hebrew Bible. Often the verses in question refer
expressly to the Ten Tribes but at other times it is only implied. Critics
looking to find fault sometimes claim that the sources in question refer to the
Jews of Judah and not to the Ten Tribes. It frequently happens however that
Rabbinical Commentaries also understand the verses as applying to the Ten
Tribes. In other words our own explanations may be confirmed and strengthened by
Rabbinical Sources.
Rabbinical Sources Referring to the
Return of the Ten Tribes in General
The sources below were quoted in the Hebrew-language article:
"Esteret HaShvatim ve Kibutz Galuyot" [The Ten Tribes and Ingathering of the
Exiles] by Rabbi Yehuda Chiun.
http://www.aharit.com/C-01.html
(a) Ten Tribes to Return from Assyrian
Exile (Isaiah 27:13).
(1) Tosefta (Sanhedrin ch.13 at the end) re:
Isaiah 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet [Hebrew: shofar
i.e. ram's horn] will be blown;
They will come, who are about to perish [Hebrew "Ha-Ovdim" i.e. who were
lost] in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the
LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
# This is referring to the Return of the Ten Tribes.
Assyria - means the Ten Tribes. #
(2) Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer (Midrash) 31: # [re the ram that was substituted in
place of Isaac (Genesis 22:13): All of the body of the Ram
is dedicated to a specific purpose] as for the right horn...the Almighty is
destined to blow it in order to gather in the Ten Tribes as it says:
"So it shall be in that day: The great shofar [i.e. ram's horn] will be blown;
They will come, who were lost in the land of Assyria,
And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in
the holy mount at Jerusalem" (Isaiah 27:13). #
(3) # When the time of Redemption arrives, God will take the right horn of the
ram....and HE will blow mightily. Then the Ten Tribes will hear that the
Almighty has redeemed Israel and they will come up to the Wilderness of Judah.
In the Wilderness of Judah the Ten Tribes will gather together with the rest of
Israel and they shall all go up together to Jerusalem. # Midrash Rashbi
(b) Will the
TTs
return Before or After the Coming of Messiah son of David?
One opinion says:
The Ten Tribes will return immediately after the Coming of Messiah son of
David.
Rav Hai Gaon.
The Midrash Rabah says:
The Ten Tribes will Return before the Coming of Messiah son of David.
(c) The Ten Tribes will fly back:
Midrash Schocker Tov [cf. Yalkut Shimeonoi]:
# In the same way as [according to legend when they came out of Egypt] God
elevated Israel in Clouds of Glory and protected and carried them, as it says,
"I bore you on eagles' wings" (Exodus 19:4), so too is HE destined to gather
them in, as it says, 'Who are these who fly like a cloud?' (Isaiah 60:8). #
(d) The Ten Tribes Will be Extracted
from their Nations of Exile
Rabbi Saadia Gaon (Maamar HaGeulah) and Rabbi Hai Gaon (Taaam Zekanin
59);
[Both early authorities, Saadia Gaon 882-942 CE and Hai Gaon 939-1038 CE, whose
opinions are highly revered.]
# The Ten Tribes will be brought back through the agency of each and every
nation amongst whom they dwelt. When our righteous King Messiah will appear, all
the nations will wish to find favor with him through the giving of offerings.
They will ask themselves, "What gift may we bring to this monarch?"
Money and implements are worthless to him but rather let us bring him an
offering of his own people and ethnos."
This is what it means in the verse,
"Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all
nations" (Isaiah 66:20).
As for those in Wilderness areas or in places where there is no nation to bring
them, they will be lifted up as the winds, as it says,
# I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them
back!' [Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth]"
(Isaiah 43:6). it will be as if they were borne forward in clouds and through
the air vapors as it says, 'Who are these who fly like a cloud?" (Isaiah 60:8).
See also:
Ten Lost Tribes and Biblical Philosophy.
Tribes
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