"Brit-Am Now"-309

10-21-2003- (5764)

Contents:
1. Twelve Tribes or Thirteen and the Universe
2. Sharon Lindstrom: Drunkards of Ephraim
3. Joan Griffith:  Drunkards of Ephraim
4. April: Drunkards of Ephraim
5. Sherrie:  Brit Am Group
6. Theodor Opatowski: Prayer for Ten Tribes
7. Messiah son of Joseph
8. Biblical Proofs no.36 :Ruled by Sons of David
9. Money

1. Twelve Tribes or Thirteen and the Universe
We have noted several times that actually there were 13 tribes but a quorum
of 12 is always maintained in the Bible. When Manasseh and Ephraim are
counted as separate tribes then Levi is not counted or (in one case)
Simeon is considered together with Judah and when both Levi and Simeon are
counted then Ephraim and Manasseh are included as two parts of the Tribe of
Joseph.
Nachmanides wrote on this subject and we have quoted from him in the past.
The reason for this is due tot he spiritual significance of the number twelve.
We do not know anything about why the number twelve should be more
important than any other number  but as a principle it may be structured
into the very foundation of the Universe.
The Jerusalem Post magazine ("The Jerusalem Post UpFront" October 17, 2003)
p.19 has an article by Hillel Halkin, "Trouble with Infinity".
<<The universe, if you've been wondering, is finite. it is also shaped like
twelve-sided soccer ball.
That, anyway, is the theory published by several American and European
mathematicians in the latest issue of the scientific journal Nature. It;'s
based on the an analysis of back-ground radiation from outer space as
recorded by a NASA satellite.....
<<But there really are mathematicians who have come tot he conclusion that
we're living inside a vast dodecahedron, around which you could travel for
73 billion light-years and find yourself back at your starting point.>>


2. Sharon Lindstrom: Drunkards of Ephraim
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-308

Hello and shalom Yair,
     That was a very interesting article on the Drunkards of Ephraim and I
agree wholeheartedly with the interpretation. Too often churches and
preachers use these verses to teach against literal drinking while ignoring
the deeper lesson behind Isaiah 28. While it is true that Ephraimites, and
his branches, are the heaviest drinkers in a literal sense, Isaiah's use
of drunkenness as an analogy was no mistake-- God used this specific example
because He knew where Ephraim's weakness would be and He knew the arrow of
His message would shoot straight to the heart of the issue-- which
was (and now is) a figurative "drunkenness." Not so much in the way of
worldly money or power or material gain, but in Ephraim using God's holy
word to achieve personal power, financial gain and self-glorification.
     I have yet to meet a Scot or a Finn or South American or Brit or an
Irishman or an American who doesn't either have a drinking problem or close
relatives with one. I know of no Ephraimite who is not in some way affected
by alcoholism. I know this personally, having previously had my own
struggles with alcohol and having many family members who are alcoholics.
     This also brings to mind the American Indian and his peculiar
predisposition to severe alcoholism. Modern science believes it is due to
the Indian having never been exposed to alcohol prior to the white man's
arrival, thereby making his tolerance level lower. Yet the contradiction
stands that alcoholism is genetic, which cannot be weeded out over thousands
of years of usage. The commonly held belief by science is that resistance to
alcoholism is due to a given ethnic group building up an immunity to alcohol
through thousands of years of drinking and that Europeans, Indians, Africans
and such have not had "enough time or experience" with drinking to have
developed a resistance. To me, this sounds ridiculous, as though someone is
trying to make new medical discoveries fit with the already established
notion of evolution. It is more and more being found that alcoholism is due
to a specific genetic make up. It is not taught, or untaught-- it is
inherited.
     My best to you and God bless...
Sharon


3. Joan Griffith:  Drunkards of Ephraim
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-308

Hi Yair,
I suspect you are right about the drugs=drunkards. Possibly if our peoples
were not so rich, they might be doing something more productive than...
sleeping away their lives. Maybe that is the point of the scriptures that
talk about sleeping and waking up--like Arise, shine, for your light has
come! Only drunks don't rise and SHINE! What a tragedy that thousands of
years later, prophecy can still pinpoint our peoples. Do you remember that
guy who said he and his family did not use alcohol because of an oath to
their father? I sometimes wonder if that oath is still in force today in
that family.

The meeting report from Sukkoth was also inspiring. Please don't be so
pessimistic--it was one more time to get out the word, right? You know what
they say: you may drop a seed to the ground, never know where it fell, but
in time, it will grow and bear much fruit. Also, Don't despise the days of
small things. I know that is difficult...

Joan G.

Brit-Am Comment: I must have given the wrong impression concerning my
reaction to the Brit-Am meeting. On the whole the meeting was very
inspiring, uplifting, and confidence building. We are reaching good people
and have a rapport with them and supplying a need who fulfillment will be
for the good of all the Tribes of Israel.


4. April: Drunkards of Ephraim
Dear Yair?--or others that may read:

Regarding No 35 and Alcohol... I had never thought of a literal
interpretation regarding the readings in Isaiah.
You may well be right, but I tend to believe that the "drunkards" are those
who have drunk intoxicating wine (OF missionaries, etc...), and have
committed spiritual fornication-- as drunkenness often does lead to
fornication.  Where there is a lot of Alcohol, there also tend to be no laws.

Sincerely,

April--
Bat Noach

5. Sherrie:  Brit Am Group

>Dear Yair,
>     I have moved to Denver, Colorado, and see that you do not have a Brit
> Am group here.  I am interested in helping.  Do you have any literature
> regard starting up a group?
>  Any information would be greatly appreciated.    Thank You, Sharon

Answer:
Brit-Am groupings are going through a phase of re-thinking as to what
their purpose is to be and how they should be comprised.
Maybe we pushed this issue forward too early?
We would appreciate input from our subscribers on this matter.

6. Theodor Opatowski: Prayer for Ten Tribes

As a matter if interest, did you know that Orthodox Jews pray for the
restoration specifically of the ten lost tribes every day (including Shabbat)?

In the prayer just before the Amidah we say;

"Rock of Israel, arise to the aid of Israel and redeem, as you pledged,
Judah and Israel."

Now, since Judah is mentioned separately, Israel can only refer
specifically to the lost ten tribes.

Regards

Theodor Opatowski
topabook@aquanet.co.il

Brit-Am Comment:  There is also a blessing in the Main Prayer (said three
times a days):
<<Blow with a great shofar for our liberty, and gather us together from the
four corners of the earth>>
According tot he "Etz Chaim" commentary the first part of this phrase, Blow
with a great shofar for our liberty,
entails a request that the Lost Ten Tribes should return.

7. Messiah son of Joseph
Question:
  At 20:39 20/10/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>In a message dated 10/19/2003 6:36:29 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>britam@netvision.net.il writes:
>Mashia(c)h ben Yoseph is usually taken to be someone from Ephraim and a
>descendant of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Jeroboam caused the initial
>division between Joseph and Judah and his descendant will heal it.
>
>Dear Yair
>This is the first time i have ever seen a reference to a sort of father to
>son transmission of the Mashiach Ben Yosef traced back to Yeroboam,
>similar to what is commonly said to exist for the Mashiach ben David
>traced back to David.  I had always assumed thaT the soul of the Mashiach
>ben Yosef was transmigrated into a selected individual in every generation
>, selected by G-d, but that the only genetics involved was that the
>individual was of the tribe of Ephraim, and not that the individual had to
>be a direct descendant of a particular person in Ephraim, in this case
>Jeroboam.  ( and even here there is some reference in the writings of
>Chaim Vital which i do not claim to understand well, where he alludes to
>being called the Mashiach ben Yosef of his generation and that the Ari
>told him he came from the "leading tribe, Judah"?!)
>do you have a primary source reference for what you state above?
please advise
Best Wishes
David M
New Jersey

Answer:
In our book <<Joseph>>,  we quoted Targum Yehonatan on Exodus 40:11
concerning the ancestry of the Messiah son of Joseph. Other sources say the
same.
As you know these sources reflect traditions and not laws. Other sources
could conceivably
contradict these ones and also be legitimate.
Strictly speaking the whole idea of a Messiah son of Joseph  is not a
Biblical principle though ultimately derived from the Bible.
The message behind the traditions involving Messiah son of Joseph has
been  adopted by Jewish Philosophers and Mystical thinkers. The Messiah son
of Joseph (as well being a definite person who will one day appear) has
come to represent a complete process.
That is why and how we can take concepts represented by the Messiah son of
Joseph and see how they are fulfilled by the historical involvement of
Britain and the USA with Zionism and the State of Israel without this
application contradicting other ones.
You alluded to the "Ari" and Chaim Vital.
The "Ari"  (Isaac Luria) Chaim Vital (1543-1620) were major Jewish mystics
who lived in Safed, in the Land of Israel.  Concepts that are applied in
Mysticism do not necessarily have to be compatible with general sources.
Very roughly, we can say that in Mystical terms in every generation we have
individuals who fulfill tasks or potentially are able to do so parallel to
those of great men in the past even though they are not necessarily related
to those men.
For example, there exists the idea that in every generation there is
somebody like Moses meaning in the right circumstances he could perform
similar tasks to those of Moses or what he does do is somehow parallel to
what Moses did. This person is considered to have the same "spirit" as
Moses or even to share some aspects of his soul. It does not mean that he
must be descended from Moses or really is Moses.
These are spiritual abstract ideas that the ordinary person does not
understand and is not necessarily expected to.
Chaim Vital  may have been descended from Judah yet in some way in his
generation he was preparing the way for the future and in some repects
fulfilling the task of Moshiach ben Yoseph:  This is on the assumption that
the quotation from the Ari is correct since it has been claimed that not
all the writings attributed to the sages of Safed really originated from them.


8. Biblical Proofs no.36 :Ruled by Sons of David

The Future

             In the future descendants of King David and of the Levites
will be exceedingly numerous (33:22). The seed of Jacob will return and the
seed of David will rule over them (33:26).

[Jeremiah 33:22] AS THE HOST OF HEAVEN CANNOT BE NUMBERED, NEITHER THE SAND
OF THE SEA MEASURED: SO WILL I MULTIPLY THE SEED OF DAVID MY SERVANT, AND
THE LEVITES THAT MINISTER  UNTO ME.

David was promised that the Rulership over Israel (or at least part of it)
would come from him.

This is what we wrote in our commentary in Jeremiah:

[Jeremiah 33:23] MOREOVER THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAH,
SAYING,

[Jeremiah 33:24] CONSIDEREST THOU NOT WHAT THIS PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, SAYING,
THE TWO FAMILIES WHICH THE LORD HATH CHOSEN, HE HATH EVEN CAST THEM OFF?
THUS THEY HAVE DESPISED MY  PEOPLE, THAT THEY SHOULD BE NO MORE A NATION
BEFORE THEM.

[Jeremiah 33:25] THUS SAITH THE LORD; IF MY COVENANT BE NOT WITH DAY AND
NIGHT, AND IF I HAVE NOT APPOINTED THE ORDINANCES OF HEAVEN AND
EARTH;

[Jeremiah 33:26] THEN WILL I CAST AWAY THE SEED OF JACOB AND DAVID MY
SERVANT, SO THAT I WILL NOT TAKE ANY OF HIS SEED TO BE RULERS OVER THE SEED
OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB: FOR I WILL CAUSE THEIR CAPTIVITY TO RETURN,
AND HAVE MERCY ON THEM.

             Literally speaking, the promises to David and to the Levites
do not necessarily mean that they will always have rulers and ministers
over the Houses of Israel. Rather, the Biblical promises may be understood
to state that descendants of David and Levi will always be available to
fulfill their ancestral functions whenever the Promised Messianic Order
shall be instituted or whenever the Children of Israel are worthy.

             Even so, it may be that many of the Rulers over the exiled
Israelites and those who ministered to them in Britain, America, and
elsewhere are (and were) descended from the Houses of David and Levi.

OK. The verse does not have to be taken literally in our time but rather as
applicable to the future. NEVERTHELESS, the verse could best be understood
to say that throughout the history of these peoples they would be ruled
over by descendants of David.

This in effect is what has occurred as partially explained in our work Ephraim:


THE HOUSE OF DAVID AND THE LOST TRIBES

Jeremiah ch.33;14 "..THE DAYS COME.THAT I WILL PERFORM THAT GOOD THING
WHICH I HAVE PROMISED UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND TO THE HOUSE OF JUDAH.
33;15 "IN THOSE DAYS.. WILL I CAUSE THE BRANCH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS TO GROW UP
INTO DAVID; AND HE SHALL EXECUTE JUDGEMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE LAND.
  33;17 "...DAVID SHALL NEVER WANT A MAN TO SIT UPON THE THRONE OF ISRAEL.

             DAVID had numerous sons. Solomon the son of David had 300
wives and 700 concubines and children were borne to him. Most of the kings
of the House of David had several children each of whom also would have
raised a family of his own. It follows that numerous offspring on the male
side must have belonged to the House of David. Descent through the male is
what Scripture, strictly speaking, requires in order for the descendants to
call themselves by the House of their (male) ancestor even though, in
Jewish Law, anyone borne of a Jewish mother is considered Jewish. The House
of David reigned in Judah and quite a few families amongst the present day
Jews trace themselves back to David. The Jewish Biblical Commentators Rashi
(10401105) and Abarbanel (1435-1508), the family of Dayan in Spain and
Syria as well as the Maharal (1512-1609) and many other famous Rabbinical
scholars were descended from King David. A good number of Jews should be
able today to trace themselves back to King David. Apart from descendants
of David who are to be found amongst the modern Jews there are others.
Numerous people from the Tribe of Judah were also exiled together with the
Lost Ten Tribes. The Sons of David had once been appointed as
administrators over all Israel (2-Samuel 8;18). Later members of the House
of David had intermarried with leaders of the Northern Kingdom and passed
over to live in those areas. In this and other ways descendants of David
must have penetrated the ranks of the exiled Israelites.

An Aramaic inscription mentions a "House of David" somehow in connection
with Dan in the Galilee. There was a Judaean entity known as Yadi in
southeast Turkey which was attached to Judah in the south, "he recovered
Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel" (2-Kings 14;28).
The rulers of Yadi had Hebrew names like Gabbar, Bamah, Hayya, Saul, and
maybe represented a minor branch of the House of David. Yadi disappeared
together with the northern Ten Tribed Kingdom of Israel.

             Part of the Lost Ten Tribes became known as the Sakae or
Scythians. The Sacae-Scythians once had an independent kingdom named
"Sakastan" in eastern Iran. The ruling dynasty of Sakastan believed itself
descended from King Solomon the son of David. In Iberia (Georgia in the
Caucasus in southern Russia), which also belonged to the Scythians there
was too, a dynasty (related to the Arsacid Kings of Parthia) that traced
itself back to  David.
The ruling houses (of David) of the SakaeScythians in Sakastan and Scythia
were interrelated and had familial connections with the monarchs of the
Guti (Goths) and Parthians and they with each other.  From these monarchic
and aristocratic lines came the early kings of Scandinavia, of the Franks,
and of the AngloSaxons.

Another fount of the Davidic line may have penetrated West European
nobility via France! There was once a semi-autonomous Principality in
Narbonne (southern France) described by Arthur J. Zuckerman (A Jewish
Princedom in Feudal France, 768-900, New York, 1972). It was ruled by a
Jewish Prince of the House of David whose offspring intermarried with the
aristocracy and Royal Line of France and these with that of Normandy,
Scotland, and England. Amongst the Welsh, Scottish, English, and other
groups in Europe there were families who believed they descended from King
David of Judah.

             It may be that many of the Rulers over the exiled Israelites
and those who ministered to them in Britain, America, and elsewhere are
(and were) descended from the House of David.

This is a proof since:

a.       The literal application of Jeremiah 33:26 is that amongst the
rulers of Israel there would have to be at least some descendants of David.

b.      We have reasonable proof that amongst some of the ruling bodies of
certain nations in the west there are descendants of David.

c.       If one was searching for nations descended from Israel it would be
reasonable to look at those nations amongst whose ruling elites descendants
of David were present.

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