"Brit-Am Now"-377
March 21, 2004
Contents:
1. Lack of Feminine Criticism?
2. Dr. Richard Griffiths: BRITAM and Racism re: Ulster of Israel - Not
"Ireland"
3. Roy Garland: More on Ireland
4. Brit-Am Note on Ireland
5. ??? about Israelite Identity and Resultant Action
(1). Judah versus Israel (2) Intermarriage (3) Living in the Land (4)
Anti-Israelism equals anti-Semitism? (5) The Holocaust (6) Learning Hebrew
(7) Circumcision
1. Lack of Feminine Criticism?
From: rosalynn
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-375
Yair;- Some things that come to my mind what I miss when reading these
newsletters: real women in it who give you real feedback, ...
people who are like-minded but give positive criticism. Democracy in that
respect..
2. Dr. Richard Griffiths: BRITAM and Racism re: Ulster of Israel - Not
"Ireland"
Yair,
I take exception to the e-mail that was published recently regarding
Catholic Ireland and Ulster implying that the south of Ireland is not of
Israelite ancestry. Unfortunately the British Israel movement has had
within it racist elements that have always sought to use this truth as a
means to denigrate other ethnic groups especially Jews and the Catholic
Irish. As I see it BRITAM recognizes that rediscovering the whereabouts
of the Lost Tribes is also about rediscovering a special mission given by
God to love God and our fellow man with all our hearts.
Tens of thousands of Irish from the south of Ireland fought gallantly for
the British Empire during the W.W.I, and others volunteered to fight for
freedom during W.W.II. The individual "F" of course ignores this fact as
well as ignoring the heroism of millions of Irish from the US, Canada and
Australia that also fought against Hitler and his racist regime. It is a
mistake for BRITAM to listen to these uneducated and racist fringe elements.
Dr. Richard Griffiths
3. Roy Garland: More on Ireland
Subject: RE: "Brit-Am Now"-376
Dear Yair
Could I comment on the contribution on Ulster/Ireland. Most people here who
would subscribe to the lost tribes idea seem to include the Republic of
Ireland as part of the lost tribes.
If there is any attempt to divide Ulster From Ireland you run into all kinds
of difficulties. Firstly three Ulster counties are in the Republic and not
in Northern Ireland. Also there are many many people here in Northern
Ireland whose ancestors were from the Republic or whose relatives still live
in the Republic. There are also people in the Republic who see themselves
as part of the ten tribes.
If you assume that people in the Republic are not Israelite what does this
say about people in Northern Ireland (approx 45%) who identify with the
Republic? When the Republic was part of the UK does that mean it was not
part of the same peoples?
Roy Garland
4. Brit-Am Note on Ireland
We wrote about Ireland in "The Tribes". At one stage a great many from
Manasseh and Ephraim settled in Ireland
but most left. On the whole the southern Irish were dominated by Simeon and
Dan with portions of other tribes and
including non-Israelite elements like all other Hebrew entities.
The note over which objection is being raised was not made by us but by a
correspondent.
Though the note did not reflect our opinion it made points we considered
worth considering
and therefore we posted it.
5. ??? about Israelite Identity and Resultant Action
Questions:
(1). Judah versus Israel (2) Intermarriage (3) Living in the Land (4)
Anti-Israelism equals anti-Semitism? (5) The Holocaust (6) Learning Hebrew
(7) Circumcision
Dear Mr. Davidiy,
I have read some of your work, which is intriguing to say
the least.
I am a Norwegian, and as such I have especially taken
interest in anything you might have to share about my
country and its connection to Israel, and the Scandinavian
region as a whole. I would like to be a bit specific in
what to ask you, so here we go (I dearly hope you can bear
with me):
(1) We (Norwegians, Scandinavians etc.) would be JUST as (and
often, even MORE) Hebrew as Jews living in Israel or
abroad? Or, do you believe there are "degrees" of how
Hebrew you are and that the Ten Lost Tribes to a lesser
degree are Hebrew than for example Israelite or
non-Israelite (living abroad) Jews?
(2) In following with this question (and if your answer would
be "yes" on the previous), then if we are practically the
SAME (Israelite and non-Israelite Jews vs Scandinavians
etc.),- brothers and sisters, then I would assume that it
would not only be ALLOWED for Jews, Scandinavians and
others of the Ten Tribes to marry, but a divine right
(seeing as they both are of the same people)? Am I correct
to assume this? I am asking out of pure curiosity and
because I know that many Jews are VERY strict about
intermarriages with non-Jews.
(3) And, if it must be allowed for Scandinavians and others of
the Ten Lost Tribes to marry Jews, then it must also be
allowed for them to live in the land of Israel (who'd deny
a sister or brother to live beside them?). In asking this,
I know that not ALL people of the Ten Lost Tribes could do
so. The land has limited space, and limited food and drink
reserves.
(4) And, still following this "red thread" if you will, I am
curious as to how you would see any persecution or
prejudice against Scandinavians or any other belonging to
the Ten Lost Tribes. Would you call that anti-Semitism,
seeing as we would be the descendants of Shem?
(5) People of the Ten Lost Tribes who were killed under WW2 by
the Germans would necessarily be included as victims of the
Holocaust if prejudice against me or anyone else of the
Lost Tribes would be anti-Semitism. Do you believe this to
be correct?
(6) Also, do you think it would be positive if Scandinavians
and other Tribes in other regions would start learning
Hebrew as a first or second language? (7) And what is the
position on circumsicion? Is it only Jews who are to
practice circumcision and not people of the Lost Tribes?
To recapitulate: What is you and your organizations policy
on the Holocaust question, "degree" of how Hebrew you are,
intermarriage, learning Hebrew as a first or second
language, circumcision and anti-Semitism?
I would really like to know more about what you believe in.
I am most interested in your ideas and your works.
I certainly hope you will respond to me and answer my
questions. It would be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance for any response I may get.
Shalom,
Erik
Answers:
I am going to reply to you as I see the situation and briefly even though
you raise subjects that both require and deserve much more detailed answers
and involved discussion. In the past we have answered similar questions and
if you peruse our Biblical Commentaries and "Brit-Am Now" archives you will
find more relevant material.
This answer will also be posted to my group and the chances are that some
members will disagree and even be offended. Even so it is preferable to put
some things in the open.
ON THE OTHER HAND, we do not claim any kind of decisive authority. The task
of Brit-Am is to spread knowledge of Brit-Am Israelite Identity and to draw
Judah and Joseph together. Certain questions DO NOT NEED TO BE ANSWERED
NOW! We can leave some things to more qualified people than ourselves who
doubtlessly will arise when needed.
The notes below are "my take" on the matter. Take it or leave it.
1. Judah versus Israel: The Hebrew nation includes descendants of all
twelve tribes together with those of other nations who were accepted.
The Jews are descended from Judah or they are descended from other
Israelite tribes (especially Benjamin and Levi) that were included in the
Kingdom of Judah or attached themselves to Judah at a later stage. The Jews
also include those of non-Israelite origin who attached themselves to Judah
and became part of her according to the Law. The Law was imparted to Judah
and as such Judah had authority to accept these people.
Also when the Lost Ten Tribes do return they will include non-Israelite
strangers who attached themselves to them and who will inherit with them
(Ezekiel 47:22).
The Lost Ten Tribes lost knowledge of their Identity. Judah did not. They
need Judah to re-affirm their portion in the Israelite people. Judah does
not need them from that point of view. There is no such thing as being
"more Israelite" than Judah.
ISAIAH AND THE RETURN OF THE LOST TEN TRIBES
The Lost Ten Tribes will also return. The Jews of Judah will meet the
return of the Lost Ten Tribes with mixed reactions:
ISAIAH (49;21) DESCRIBES HOW THE JEWISH PEOPLE UPON SEEING MASSES OF LOST
ISRAELITES RETURNING TO THE HOLY LAND WILL HAVE A SERIOUS QUESTION:
"THEN SHALT THOU SAY IN THY HEART, WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE,
SEEING I HAVE LOST MY CHILDREN, AND AM DESOLATE, A CAPTIVE, AND REMOVING TO
AND FRO? AND WHO HATH BROUGHT UP THESE? BEHOLD, I WAS LEFT ALONE; THESE
WHERE HAD THEY BEEN?" (ISAIAH 49;21)
The Zohar explains Isaiah 49;21, the question `WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE?'
"And they shall assemble together and be mutitudinous; the
Divine Presence [i.e. Heavenly Israel] will wonder and ask, `Where did you
all come from?'
`And is it not possible that
there exists amongst you someone blemished, of foreign seed?' "They will
answer, `We are all your sons. There is no foreigner amongst us'.
"And they will divide off from each other. The foreign non
Israelite element will voluntarily separate from them, and they [i.e. the
returning Israelites] will be circumcised, and convert, and these converts
will return with [and to] Israel, and they shall be one."
In other words the Zohar says that the returning Israelites
will be renew the Covenant and be re-united with Israel meaning (in terms
of the Zohar) with the Jewish people.
[Genesis 49:8] JUDAH, THOU ART HE WHOM THY BRETHREN SHALL PRAISE: THY HAND
SHALL BE IN THE NECK OF THINE ENEMIES; THY FATHER'S CHILDREN SHALL BOW DOWN
BEFORE THEE.
In the last days the righteousness of the faith of Judah will
be acknowledged:
"In those days ten men out of all the languages of the nations, even shall
take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you:
for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8;23).
Before he died Israel blessed his sons. He said unto Judah "Yehudah Atah
Yoduchah Acheecha" (In Genesis 49;9)
This is translated in the KJ as "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall
praise..." but actually in Hebrew the verse says: "Yehudah, you are he whom
your brothers shall acknowledge the righteousness of": The key
word "Yoducha" [translated in the KJ as "shall praise] means "acknowledge
the righteousness of" i.e. the brothers of Judah, the other tribes, the
tribes that went into exile and lost their identity, that did not keep the
law are destined to acknowledge that Judah had been in the right.
[Genesis 49:10] THE SCEPTRE SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH, NOR A LAWGIVER
FROM BETWEEN HIS FEET, UNTIL SHILOH COME; AND UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING
OF THE PEOPLE BE.
"SHILOH COME" usually explained to mean the Messiah.
Menasseh ben Israel was a friend of Oliver Cromwell. He was also a friend
of John Sadler who wrote a book identifying English traditional
institutions with those of ancient Israel. Menasseh was the Chief Rabbi of
Holland.
Menasseh ben Israel explained the above verse (n his book "Conciliator") as:
<<[Genesis 49:10] THE SCEPTRE SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH,
i.e. Judah shall always be recognizable as an Israelite Tribe.
NOR A LAWGIVER FROM BETWEEN HIS FEET, UNTIL SHILOH COME; AND UNTO HIM
SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE BE.
The Messiah will enable individuals from the Lost Ten Tribes to know what
Tribe they belong to.
[Isaiah 11:12] HE WILL RAISE AN ENSIGN FOR THE NATIONS, AND WILL ASSEMBLE
THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, AND GATHER THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH FROM THE FOUR
CORNERS OF THE EARTH.
OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, = The Lost Ten Tribes who will be found gathered
together in specific areas.
THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH i.e. the Jews who are scattered all over the world.
[Isaiah 11:13] THE JEALOUSY OF EPHRAIM SHALL DEPART, AND THOSE WHO HARASS
JUDAH SHALL BE CUT OFF; EPHRAIM SHALL NOT BE JEALOUS OF JUDAH, AND JUDAH
SHALL NOT HARASS EPHRAIM.
<<Concerning who did Isaiah pronounce this prophecy. He was speaking only
concerning Judah and Joseph. S aid Rabbi Shmuel son of Nachman in the name
of Rabbi Yonathan, when Joseph and Judah were arguing the Holy Angels said
to each other, Let us go down and see what is happening. Usually when a
bull and a lion confront each other the bull retreats before the lion. In
this case a bull (Joseph) and a lion (Judah) are arguing and there is a
standoff. Jealousy will continue to abide between these two until the
Messiah comes, as it says, "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" [Isaiah 11:13]. (Tanchuma, VaYigash, 4).
<<In the past Jeroboam the son of Nebat who was from Ephraim hated King
Rehoboam who was from Judah. There was a controversy between them. In the
future there will be peace between these two anointed leaders. They will
not be jealous of each other. Concerning them, it says, "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" [Isaiah
11:13]. (Brayshit Rabati page 147).
<<Everywhere you find these two tribes (Judah and Joseph) hating each other
and antagonistic to each other, etc. May we infer from this that even the
future Anointed Captain of War who will arise from Joseph and the Annoited
Messiah who will arise from Judah will (Heaven forbid) be jealous of each
other? No. There will be no antagonism between them, as it says, "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" [Isaiah
11:13]. (Agadat Brayshit 63).
(2) Intermarriage: The Lost Ten Tribes are legally "Gentiles". They have
been temporarily divorced and from a religious point of view considered
"Not My People".
LOST TEN TRIBES NOT LEGALLY OBLIGED BY
MOSAIC LAW AT PRESENT!
Jeremiah (3;8) said "I HAD SENT HER AWAY WITH A DECREE OF DIVORCE": They
were cut off. Their membership in the spiritual body of Israel, of the
People of God was as if to say suspended.
cf. "THEN SAID GOD, CALL HIS NAME LOAMMI: FOR YE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE, AND I
WILL NOT BE YOUR GOD" [Hosea 1:9].
Loammi means Lo (=not) ammi (= my people).
"YET THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA,
WHICH CANNOT BE MEASURED NOR NUMBERED; AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT IN
THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID UNTO THEM, YE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE, THERE IT SHALL
BE SAID UNTO THEM, YE ARE THE SONS OF THE LIVING GOD" [Hosea 1:10].
The Northern Ten Tribes were "divorced", they were to be termed (for a
period) "Not My People". The Talmud (Yebamot 17) says that the Lost Ten
Tribes are legally considered to be non-Jews even though in the future THEY
WILL RETURN and the covenant with them will be renewed. This is the bottom
line in a legal sense and is consistent with Scripture even though many
people (including religious Jews) have a conceptual difficulty to
comprehend it. Both "Judah" and "Israel" at this stage need to show
compassion, patience and empathy towards each other. The Lost Ten Tribes
are not Jewish in a legal sense even though they once were "Legally" and in
the future will once more be so! [By "Jewish" I mean here someone obligated
by the Laws of Moses as given in the Torah]. At present in the West there
is a return to Hebrew roots. There is a renewed interest in Hebrew and
Jewish religious practices. This is a prior arousal amongst people of
Israelite descent who instinctively realize that the time is drawing near
when they will have to return to their roots and Renew the Covenant.
The Israelite Tribes do not have to intermarry with each other though they
may well do so.
As long as the religious differences between Judah and "Joseph" and the
"Brit-Am Identity" situation have not been resolved intermarriage should be
avoided.
(3) Living in the Land: Eventually the Lost Ten Tribes will return and
settle in the Land. Settling in the Land is contingent to a degree upon
keeping the law. At present only Judah acknowledges the Law.
On the other hand, there are distinctions in the sanctity of the land that
allow a certain elasticity on this matter.
The Land of Israel stretches from Nile River to the Euphrates and includes
parts of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwaut, Jordan, the State of Israel, Lebanon,
Syria, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey and Iraq.
At all events prophecy says that the Lost Ten Tribes will return at first
to Lebanon and Syria (Gilead Zechariah 10:10 and Bashan Micah 7:14) and to
Samaria (Jeremiah 31:21). In fact the Lost Ten Tribes have an OBLIGATION to
affirm their identity and to return. Similarly Judah is obliged to work in
the same direction and inform the Lost Ten Tribes of their mutual origins.
Climatic changes are expected to occur and the capacity of these areas to
absorb great numbers of people may well increase.
(4) Anti-Israelism equals anti-Semitism? Many peoples have a blind hatred
for westerners of Israelite origin. This is especially directed against the
Sons of Joseph in the UK and USA. This hatred is similar in nature to
anti-semitism or hatred of the Jews. At the same time there is a difference
since the Jews were historically more vulnerable and still are and suffered
more and are still in great danger. For this reason our list sometimes
allows criticisms of the Britain and the USA but avoids criticizing the
Jewish people since the Jews are more vulnerable.
(5) The Holocaust: Many peoples suffered during the Second World War BUT
the Jews suffered more than others and they were picked out to be
exterminated. Most Jews of Continental Europe were killed after being
debased and degraded. It was a horrible traumatic period that the Jews
should never forget and never allow to occur once again.
The suffering of others as bad as it was should be placed in a separate
category. See our answer (4) above.
(6) Learning Hebrew: This is to be highly recommended. It helps in Biblical
studies and also adds an extra dimension to spiritual development and
understanding ancient Hebraic psychology.
(7) Circumcision: If one is converting to Judaism this is obligatory but if
not I would not say that it should be done. On the other hand there are
health advantages in this. The Biblical practice is that the male children
be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. Scientifically the 8th day is
said to be the one on which the child will have more ability to recuperate
than any other day of his life.
Other opinions exist:
www.parentsplace.com%2Fbabies%2Fnewborn%2Fqas%2F0%2C%2C244585_101139%2C00.html
Most children born in the U.S. receive a shot of Vitamin K shortly after
birth. Vitamin K facilitates the making and correct function of clotting
factors. After searching extensively, I can find no information to support
the idea that the peak level of Vitamin K occurs at eight days of age.
However, even if the levels were at the peak at that time, it is not the
level of Vitamin K which protects from bleeding problems but the Vitamin
K's effect on clotting factors which may take days to occur. I tell you
this only for your information because even if the Vitamin K levels were
low at the time of circumcision, your boy would probably not experience
complications from this due to how the procedure is done. However, I
encourage you to have your son receive the injection of Vitamin K shortly
after birth to prevent bleeding complications unrelated to circumcision.
My humble opinion is that all those who consider themselves of Israelite
origin should at the least circumcise their male children. At one stage
this was common practice in the USA and Australia and circumcision was
performed automatically on all newborn boys.
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