"Brit-Am Now"- 343

December 23, 2003
Contents:
1. Was Jesus the Messiah son of Joseph?
2. Competition or Preparers of the Way?
3. Letters on Keeping the Law
4. The Need of Judah for Ephraim
Highlights from the Brit-Am Commentary on Ezekiel
5. Report and Ongoing Needs

1. Was Jesus the Messiah son of Joseph?
It must be emphasized that the importance of the Messiah son of Joseph for
our studies lies in the fact that this person epitomizes
EPHRAIM IN THE END TIMES and as such verses that are connected to him help
us confirm our identification as to who "Joseph" is today.

A few people asked the question or raised the suggestion  as to whether
Jesus could be considered the Messiah son of Joseph. Our practice is to
avoid as much as possible religious questions but this was one can be
partially answered I hope without compromising the truth and without
unnecessarily offending anybody.
The argument goes that Jesus may be considered the Messiah son of Joseph
since his father was called Joseph and since most members of the Lost Ten
Tribes who become aware of their Israelite identity do so initially through
belief in him.
The answer to this suggestion would be that strictly speaking the Messiah
son of Joseph must come from Joseph. According to one source he will be a
descendant of Jeroboam son of Nebat from the Tribe of Ephraim.
He will lead the Ten Tribes in the future. He also represents a whole
process more than a specific person.
You could say however that anyone who fulfills even part of the role or
prepares the way also may share aspects of the final Prototype. It all
depends where one wishes to lay the emphasis.
I hope this answer is sufficient and I would prefer not to engage in a
discussion over the matter.

2. Competition or Preparers of the Way?
Brit-Am Note: Israel Feld of Sussia in the south Hebron Hills first suggested
the idea that the "Bnei Menasseh" of Burma through arousing
interest in  the Lost Ten Tribes and through sending contingents to
successfully
settle amongst Judah and in Yehuda (Judah) and Shomron (Samaria, the
so-called 'West Bank')
were in fact preparing the way for the ultimate return of "Joseph" from the
west.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/22/international/middleeast/22SETT.html

The New York Times, December 22, 2003

'Lost Tribe' Finds Itself on Front Lines of Mideast Conflict

By GREG MYRE

SHAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank, Dec. 16 ã Sharon Palian and his fellow
immigrants from India are still struggling with the Hebrew language
and remain partial to homemade kosher curry rather than Israeli
cuisine.

But the 71 immigrants, who arrived in June with the firm conviction
that they were descended from one of the biblical lost tribes of
Israel, feel they have completed a spiritual homecoming.

"This is my land," said Mr. Palian, a 45-year-old widower who left a
lush rice farm and brought his three children with him from the Bnei
Menashe community in northeastern India. "I am coming home."

Yet by making their home here, over the hill from the Palestinian
city of Nablus, they have thrust themselves onto the front lines of
the Middle East conflict.

"Israel can bring lost tribes from India, Alaska or Mars, as long as
they put them inside Israel," said Saeb Erekat, the chief
Palestinian negotiator. "But to bring a lost person from India and
have him find his land in Nablus is just outrageous."

The Indians arrived as work began on a Middle East peace plan that
would require Israel to freeze settlement activity in the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip.

Even Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has indicated that Israel may have
to abandon some settlements, if not through a peace deal with the
Palestinians, then as part of an imposed decision. That could affect
communities like the Bnei Menashe, who are among 6,000 people who
consider themselves Jews in two states in northeast India, Mizoram
and Manipur, which are near the border with Myanmar, formerly Burma.

Already, Israel's interior minister, Avraham Poraz, has frozen the
program that has permitted about 100 members of the Bnei Menashe
community to immigrate annually. He is concerned that people from
poor countries are coming to Israel to upgrade their standard of
living, rather than because of historical and religious Jewish ties.

Those already here have their own concerns. Palestinian assailants
have carried out frequent ambushes on the isolated roads outside
Shavei Shomron and on occasion have even slipped inside the
community, through a fence around the perimeter and despite an army
encampment attached to the settlement.

While Israel has been building what it describes as a security
barrier in the West Bank, the planned route will not quite reach
Shavei Shomron. That would make the community, with its 600
residents, a prime candidate for dismantling if Israel does begin
that process.

The immigrants, many of them farmers at home, wear Western clothes,
and the men wear skullcaps. The married women cover their hair with
knitted caps and wear long skirts, as they did in India.

They live a spartan existence in mobile homes, with much of their
day devoted to language lessons. Some stay in the nearby settlement
of Enav and commute to their classes in an armored bus.

They receive a monthly stipend from Amishav, an Israeli group that
seeks out "lost Jews" and has been bringing in immigrants from Bnei
Menashe for more than a decade.

But the immigrants do not yet have jobs, and with no sizable Israeli
towns close by, they meet few Israelis and leave the small
settlements infrequently.

On a sunny day here, they received their Hebrew lesson in a
classroom that also serves as a community shelter in case of an
attack.

"What do you want to study?" the teacher asked. One young woman
replied, "I want to become a doctor." But most of the Bnei Menashe
never graduated from high school in India.

Most of the immigrants have recently completed a religion course and
are now recognized as Jewish by the state, permitting them to become
citizens. In the coming months, most are expected to leave Shavei
Shomron, but they are likely to land in other settlements where they
have relatives or friends.

The local Bnei Menashe now number about 800, with most of them
clustered in three West Bank settlements and one in Gaza.

Michael Menashe, who was among the early arrivals from India in
1994, now works with the new Indian immigrants and is a shining
example of successful assimilation.

His Hebrew is fluent. He has served in the military, worked as a
computer technician and married an American immigrant to Israel. He
is one of 11 siblings, 10 of whom have now immigrated.

"We begin at zero when we arrive," said Mr. Menashe, 31. "It is
difficult to go out and live a normal life. But we don't have a
choice. This is where we want to be."

Amishav, the group that champions the Bnei Menashe, wants to bring
all 6,000 of them to Israel.

"They work hard, serve in the army and raise good families," said
Michael Freund, director of Amishav, which means "my people return"
in Hebrew. "They are a blessing to this country."

Mr. Freund said he would gladly settle the immigrants wherever they
could be accommodated. They gravitate to settlements because housing
is cheaper, and the tightly knit settlement communities are prepared
to absorb the newcomers.

But Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors settlements, says the
recruitment of far-flung groups with questionable Jewish ancestry is
part of an effort to raise the number of settlers and to increase
the Jewish population relative to the Arabs.

"This definitely contradicts the spirit, if not the letter" of the
peace plan, "because these people will live in the settlements,"
said Dror Etkes, a Peace Now spokesman.

Mr. Freund acknowledges that his group wants immigrants for
demographic reasons. But he also insists that the commitment of the
Bnei Menashe to Judaism is deep-rooted and predated plans to
immigrate to Israel.

There is no proof, though, of historical links to the Manasseh, one
of the 10 lost tribes of Israel driven into exile by the Assyrians
in the eighth century B.C.

But the group has long had traditions that resemble ancient Jewish
practices, said Mr. Freund, a former prime ministerial aide.

The Bnei Menashe did not practice Judaism before British
missionaries converted them to Christianity about a century ago.
They followed an animist religion typical of Southeast Asian hill
tribes. But that religion did seem to include some practices that
were similar to Bible stories, said Hillel Halkin, an Israeli
journalist who has written a book about them, "Across the Sabbath
River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel."

It is not clear what prompted the Bnei Menashe to begin practicing
Judaism. In the 1950's they were still Christians, but they began
adopting Old Testament laws, like observing the Sabbath and Jewish
dietary laws. By the 1970's, they were practicing Judaism, Mr.
Halkin said. There was no sign of any outside influence. The Bnei
Menashe wrote letters to Israeli officials in the late 1970's
seeking more information on Judaism. Then Amishav contacted them,
and the group began bringing the Beni Menashe to Israel in the early
1990's.

I will sift the house of Ephraim among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve;
yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth. (Amos 9:9)

  3. Letters on Keeping the Law
Regarding whether or not Ephraim should keep the Law we received a few
letters on the subject. The letters were eloquent well-reasoned
and interesting. Some of them we may publish in coming issue of our magazine.
The writers of the letters all seemed to be of the opinion that
Ephraim  should keep the law today
Some of the writers were strongly Christian while others were not . One
writer warned against enthusiasts
attempting to keep the law according to their own understanding  and coming
up with weird solutions of their own examples of which she give.
I have decided not to post these letters to our list even though they were
interesting and even important.
I wish to end the thread and return to the straightforward matter of
establishing Brit-Am identity, confirming it,
and spreading the knowledge. To my mind even progress in the religious area
as well as in other spheres
is dependent upon the basic truth of Brit-Am being accepted by both Judah
and Joseph
in both the wider (more people) and deeper (emphasis on available evidence,
additional proofs, overall strengthening
of presentation and clarification) sense.

4. The Need of Judah for Ephraim
Highlights from the Brit-Am Commentary on Ezekiel

Ezekiel (11:18) hints that first the exiles will return to the Land of
Israel and after that they shall put away their idols and keep the Law
(11:20). Ezekiel says that Judah has an obligation to help the Lost Ten
Tribes return. The complete return of Judah is dependent upon the return of
Samaria(16:53, 55, 61) meaning the Ten Tribes especially Manasseh. Manasseh
today is mainly the USA. God will renew His covenant with Judah and with
Israel (16:62).

[Ezekiel 11:17] THEREFORE SAY, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; I WILL EVEN GATHER
YOU FROM THE PEOPLE, AND ASSEMBLE YOU OUT OF THE COUNTRIES WHERE YE HAVE
BEEN SCATTERED, AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE LAND OF ISRAEL.
Eisemann understands this following passage to be referring to all of
Israel, including the Lost Ten Tribes.
Malbim: In the future God will ingather the Ten Tribes who were in faraway
lands and did not return in the time of the Second Temple.
Ramban (Nachmanides) holds the same view we have been quoting that the
prophecies are understandable on two levels:

1. The message potentially could have been fulfilled partly in the very
time of Ezekiel if the people would have repented; and

2. The complete fulfillment of the Prophecy of reconciliation will only
happen in the time of the Messiah.

[Ezekiel 11:18] AND THEY SHALL COME THITHER, AND THEY SHALL TAKE AWAY ALL
THE DETESTABLE THINGS THEREOF AND ALL THE ABOMINATIONS THEREOF FROM THENCE.
The exiles (from the Ten Tribes) will remove their idols and cease their
paganism in their places of exile. OR ELSE:
They shall first come back to the land and then they shall cast aside their
idols?

[Ezekiel 16:53] WHEN I SHALL BRING AGAIN THEIR CAPTIVITY, THE CAPTIVITY OF
SODOM AND HER DAUGHTERS, AND THE CAPTIVITY OF SAMARIA AND HER DAUGHTERS,
THEN WILL I BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF THY CAPTIVES IN THE MIDST OF THEM:
<<THE CAPTIVITY OF SODOM AND HER DAUGHTERS>>:  Moshkovitz (Daat
Mikra)   suggests that this refers to the revival of the Land of Canaan.
Sodom was overturned and all the area around destroyed. So too, after the
Roman conquest and the Arab and Turkish occupation was most of the Land
turned into a wasteland without trees or greenery. The British and the Jews
restored it in part.  The State of Israel is continuing to do so but not as
much nor as well as it should be. We have also been responsible for
ecological abuses that should be corrected. There is much that could and
should be done.
Malbim says here that at the return Samariaand Sodom(?) will be the most
important section of the Israelite nation whereas Judah will be pulled
after them and returned through them. He repeats this message in 16:55.
The Lost Ten Tribes will return. Manasseh will return. The exiles of Judah
who remained in exile will return together with the Lost Ten
Tribes.
Abarbanel (1435-1509): The Ten Tribes will return to Samaria and its
daughter-regions and so will the scattered dispersion of Judah be gathered
in from the four corners of the earth.

[Ezekiel 16:55] WHEN THY SISTERS, SODOM AND HER DAUGHTERS, SHALL RETURN TO
THEIR FORMER ESTATE, AND SAMARIA AND HER DAUGHTERS SHALL RETURN TO THEIR
FORMER ESTATE, THEN THOU AND THY DAUGHTERS SHALL RETURN TO YOUR FORMER
ESTATE.  UNTIL NOW THEY ARE STILL OVERTURNED AND HAVE NOT RETURNED UNTO
THEIR FORMER STATE.
             This is a message for Judah: In order for Judah to realize
herself and to bring back all her exiles and rehabilitate herself Judah
must also seek the Lost Ten Tribes and cause them to return! This is
important to Judah for her own sake! It is also hinting that rehabilitation
of the Land itself is somehow connected with the return of the Lost Ten
Tribes. See our Commentary on Isaiah 56:8 and Hosea chapter six, where we
have explained that according to prophecy: part of Judah would return to
the Land and begin to build it up. Then the Lost Ten Tribes would return in
two stages together with the remnant of Judah. The first part of this
process is well on its way.
<<SODOM AND HER DAUGHTERS, SHALL RETURN TO THEIR FORMER ESTATE, AND SAMARIA
AND HER DAUGHTERS SHALL RETURN TO THEIR FORMER ESTATE>>: Malbim:
[addressing Judah] For they [the Lost Tribes] shall be the most important
section in the returning and you subservient to them, and you shall return through them.
Abarbanel: There is no doubt that this promised ingathering will occur in
the Times of the Messiah. Until now it has never been fulfilled.
[Ezekiel 16:61] THEN THOU SHALT REMEMBER THY WAYS, AND BE ASHAMED, WHEN
THOU SHALT RECEIVE THY SISTERS, THINE ELDER AND THY YOUNGER: AND I WILL
GIVE THEM UNTO THEE FOR DAUGHTERS, BUT NOT BY THY COVENANT.
Judah must seek to bring the Lost Ten Tribes back. God makes the
participation of Judah in the process of returning the Lost Ten Tribes a
prior condition for the rehabilitation of Judah herself!
<<I WILL GIVE THEM UNTO THEE FOR DAUGHTERS>>: Judah will have some degree
of directional task to play in helping the Ten Tribes return and showing
them the way in which they should go. Judah however is also obligated to
get his own act together or else (God forbid) be punished.
<<BUT NOT BY THY COVENANT>>: The Lost Ten Tribes will not necessarily have
to convert to Judaism in our sense of the word though they will renew the
covenant between Israel and the Almighty and Judah is obligated to assist them.

[Ezekiel 16:62] AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH THEE; AND THOU SHALT
KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD:
God will once again accept Judah and all Israel.

  5. Report and Ongoing Needs
Despite everything the Brit-Am message in one way or other may well have
reached more than a hundred ( hundreds?)  of thousands of people. Also the
quality of the people responding as far as we can judge is something to be
very pleased with.
We may publish a more detailed report in an upcoming issue of the magazine.
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Help Brit-Am so that it may be a source of blessing.

God bless you
Yair Davidiy


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