"Brit-Am Now"-544

Contents:
A. 1. The Fourteen Aims of Prophecy in Isaiah
2. The Naming of America
3. Google Search For Brit-Am
4. Genealogical Interest in Joseph and Judah
5. Psalm 36?
6. ISAIAH: Brit-Am Highlights
7. The Future of Brit-Am?
8. Oil and the Tribe of Asher
9. Ian McRae: Oil from Asher in Scotland

B. Subject: Brit-Am and Burma? no.1 Reaction
Brit-Am and Burma? no.2 Sources
Brit-Am and Burma? no.3 Readers Reactions


A. 1. The Fourteen Aims of Prophecy in Isaiah http://britam.org/prediction.html

2. The Naming of America http://geocities.com/hiberi/america.html

3. Google Search For Brit-Am
First Four Matches were the Brit-Am Lost Tribes of Israel Organization (i.e. you and I) but the name is also shared by Brit-Am Soccer Academy (Steve Knapman)
Brit-Am (a Computer Company (?) in Poland (?)
Britam Defence in Dubai
(Military, Police and Security Training for the most exacting operational requirements. Aviation Security / Air Marshal Training -sounds interesting).
Britam Tobacco
Britam Insurance
Britam: A kind of radio (otherwise known as Britram 99)
Britam Defence Limited (in London, not Dubai?)
Brit-Am Drama Academy
Brit-Am Vintage Guitars
Britam Cafe Racer Club of JAPAN Britam International Ltd (UK, transport?)
Britam Insurance Brokers & Agents

There are more. I wonder what they think of us?
I wonder if they ever get mail asking about the Lost Ten Tribes?

4. Genealogical Interest in Joseph and Judah
The Northern Ten Tribes of Israel were exiled from the Land of Israel according to conventional dating in ca 720 BCE. It is now 2005 CE.
WE have about 2725 years of loss of Identity.
They separated from Judah about 200 plus years before their Exile and even before that they had tended to keep to themselves.
This is a long period of separation and a lot of changes could take place in meantime. Both Judah and "Joseph" to some degree must have intermixed with other peoples and undergone different experiences and environmental influences.
The Bible however recognizes both entities as viable bodies that have God-given missions to fulfill in the world.
The Identity of the Lost ten Tribes is what interests us and what we work on.
We do this because the Bible treats the subject with importance and we feel it is our calling.
Descendants of Jews from Judah who have assimilated amongst "Joseph" are also of interest to us but this is not a field we have concentrated upon.
It is a subject we do not specialize in though in the future if someone with the necessary talent, inclination, and interest in that direction would join our ranks they would be most welcome.

5. Psalm 36?
Did we send out a Commentary to Psalm 36?
If we did and someone has kept a copy please send it to us.

6. ISAIAH: Brit-Am Highlights

The Book of Isaiah like all of Scripture is directed primarily to the nation of Israel. "Israel" as a nation is divided into two sections: Judah, i.e. the Jews, and "Joseph" meaning the Lost Ten Tribes.
Isaiah spoke of the division between Israel (The Lost Ten Tribes) and Judah (7:17-18) (8:8). In Isaiah 7:17 the division is referred to as the worst calamity that ever overcame the Children of Israel. Isaiah also recalls situations in which the various sections of Israel will be opposed to each other:
[Isaiah 9:21] MANASSEH EPHRAIM, AND EPHRAIM MANASSEH, AND TOGETHER THEY ARE AGAINST JUDAH. FOR ALL THIS HIS ANGER IS NOT TURNED AWAY AND HIS HAND IS STRETCHED OUT STILL.
Isaiah predicted that in the Last days only a few would survive and that disasters would occur:

[Isaiah 10:22] FOR THOUGH YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA, ONLY A REMNANT OF THEM WILL RETURN. DESTRUCTION IS DECREED, OVERFLOWING WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS.
"BE AS THE SAND OF THE SEA": Descendants of Israel will be exceedingly numerous towards the end times.
"DESTRUCTION": A great calamity may take place. Only a few may survive. Likewise, Zechariah (13:6-9) indicates that two-thirds of the people will perish. The remnant will be saved and reconciled with God.
The exiles of Israel who were taken to Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the Isles of the Sea (and from there moved to other regions) will return (Isaiah 11:11).
Isaiah foresaw the re-unification and ingathering of "THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, AND GATHER THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH" (11:12).
The northern Tribes were cast out to specific regions and stayed together whereas the Jews of Judah were dispersed all over the world.
There will be an end to anti-Semitism on the part of Ephraim and fiction with Judah:
[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.
"THEY [i.e. Judah and Ephraim together, see verse 11:13] WILL CAUSE THE PALESTINIANS TO BE FLOWN AWAY TO THE WEST." (11:14 Isaiah).
Judah and Ephraim together will plunder the peoples of the east, defeat and subdue certain European nations such as Edom, Moab, and Ammon (11:14).
The Return will be accompanied by great miracles (11:15).
Isaiah prophesied before and during the exile of the House of Israel. He described the exile of the northern tribes and the land of Israel being completely emptied out (24:3).
The exiles would be taken to the west (24:14) where they are exhorted to glorify God from the fires in the Isles of the Sea (24:15) meaning in the Isles of Britain:
Isaiah says that the nation will be increased greatly and be removed unto the ends of the earth (24:16, 26:15) meaning the geographical extremities of the world such as Britain, North America, Scandinavia, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Those who had been exiled by the Assyrians and were lost together with those (of Judah) taken captive to Egypt will return with the blowing of a great shofar.
The returnees will worship God in the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem. (27:13).
Isaiah described the "drunkards of Ephraim" (28:1).
The Lost Tribes will not be familiar with Hebrew and will speak with another tongue (28:11).
They will be in islands (41:1), in the best places (translated in the KJ as "chief men"), at the ends of the earth (41:8-9).
The Lost Ten Tribes (42:6) in the islands will become "A COVENANT OF THE PEOPLE" in Hebrew a "Brit-Am".
They will be a "Light to the Gentiles" meaning a civilizing influence.
From the "end of the earth" and the "isles" they will be sea-goers (42:10).
The enemies of Israel, including those of the Lost Ten Tribes, in their places of Exile are the enemies of God Almighty (42:13).

The exiles are fulfilling the purpose of God in this world and even though they do not recognize it and are blind to it they are also His servants and HIS messenger (Isaiah 42:19).

Egypt shall be subjected to Israel. Cush (translated as "Ethiopia" but also applicable according to the Aramaic translation and related tradition to India and its neighborhood. Black Africa (Seba) will be yours.
Isaiah (43:3) predicted that Cush (India) and Seba (Black Africa) would be subjected to Israel.
Isaiah (44:28) mentioned the name of Cyrus even though he prophesied close to 200 years before his time. The Prophecies of Isaiah concerning "Cyrus" on the whole refer to the Lost Tribes as we have explained. Whatever passes via (Hebrew "yigia" translated as "labor" but really meaning "come unto") Egypt, and the merchandise of Cush (India not "Ethiopia" as translated in the King James), shall be yours and the tall Sabaean African Negroes will pass over unto you in chains (Isaiah 45:14). In the end they will acknowledge that God is with you. There is no other. Isaiah (43:3 and 45:14 and the verses around them). Isaiah (43:5-6) said that the exiles would be ingathered from the east and west, north, and south, and from the ends of the earth. Only the English-speaking nations have fulfilled these prophecies as they were written. Only they received the Promises.
Isaiah speaks of the Isles (49:1), of raising up the Tribes of Jacob (49:6), and of the preserved of Israel who will be a light unto the Gentiles and bring salvation unto the end of the earth.

The flag of Britain is called the "UNION JACK" (i.e. union or covenant of Jacob) and the nickname "YANKEE" for North American derives from a form of the name Jacob.


In an aside Isaiah refers to the Jews of Judah (49:7) who were despised in their places of exile. In the last days princes will give them honor and bow down to them because no matter what they did remain essentially faithful to the God of Israel.
Isaiah says (49:8) that the exiled of Israel will be preserved and become "a covenant of people (in Hebrew a "Brit-Am"), who will establish the world and inherit wasted heritages. They will use released prisoners to colonize these heritages (49:9), as the British did at first in North America and Australia. They shall return from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim. "The Land of Sinim" is rendered as "Australia".
Isaiah (49:13) again turns to Judah who feels forgotten (49:14). God will return and comfort Judah and recompense him for all the troubles that passed over them and greatly increase his population (49:18-20). When Judah sees the Lost Ten Tribes returning (49:21) he will ask, 'Where did these come from? I was alone and persecuted, and driven from country to country. Isaiah returns to speak of the comforting of Judah and says that those who oppressed the Jews had in effect denied the existence of the LORD God of Israel (49:26). The "Isles" shall wait for the salvation of God (51:5). The non-Israelite Gentiles shall no longer be allowed to occupy and degrade Jerusalem (52:1) as the Arabs now do. Isaiah predicts that a future Messiah, descendant of David (55:3-4), will come and deliver Israel. Whatever has been prophesied will come to pass (55:11).
The descendants of non-Israelites who attach themselves with Israel will receive an inheritance alongside their fellow Israelites (55:6).
The ingathering will be in stages (56:8). A redeemer (59:20) will come to Zion (the Jews) and to those who turn away from sin in Jacob, i.e. The Ten Tribes.

Isaiah foresaw reconciliation between Judah and the Lost Ten Tribes. The Lost Ten Tribes would be in areas where the British and North Americans and their kin now are. They would do things that these people did do. They are the only ones who fit the description.

7. The Future of Brit-Am?
We recently prepared a kind of business plan for Brit-Am.
I do not know if this plan will have much of a practical application but it does show that Brit-Am has achieved something of note, has assets (in the form of publications, raw material for future publications, subscribers, some connections, good will, etc) and much proven potential.
Brit-Am needs to expand somewhat or risk going under.
Please help Brit-Am to keep going and grow.
Your orders and offerings are what keep us going.
We believe the Brit-Am message is important and has a valuable effect and can do much good. It is what is needed now!
God bless you
Yair Davidiy

8. Oil and the Tribe of Asher
Query:
From: Will Benedetti
re "Brit-Am Now"-543
I never looked too deeply at this blessing, but always thought it was referring to olive oil rather than crude oil.
WB

{1. Oil From the Tribal Territory of Asher?
forwarded by Cherie Koch
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=857&u=/nm/20050404/od_uk_nm/oukoe_
Reply:

It is referring to olive oil according to traditional understanding. Olive oil has value for anointing the body. People who are familiar with health foods and alternate lifestyles etc could probably tell you all about it. In Ancient Times olive oil was used frequently and was considered of great value. Someone who was well off could afford to dip their feet in oil when returning from a journey or the labor of a day. This was a symbol of affluence and the Tribe of Asher was blessed with a promise of affluence to be symbolized by dipping their feet in (olive) oil. At the same time it does not mean that Scripture cannot have a double meaning.
The usual word in literal Hebrew for petroleum is NEFT whereas that for vegetable oil is shemen and shemen is the word used in the blessing. Nevertheless shemen (oil) could also represent petroleum and on a national level dipping feet in oil could refer to offshore petroleum resources.
We find deliberate double meanings like this throughout the Bible.
In "The Tribes" (3rd edition, p.334) we point out that Petroleum has been found in the north Sea area between Scotland and Norway and we relate these findings and source of wealth to the blessings of Asher.

9. Ian McRae: Oil from Asher in Scotland
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-543

Hello Yair,

I was fascinated by the story of the oilman drilling for oil in Israel, in the Biblical territory of the Tribe of Asher. In your book, "The Tribes", the territory of Asher today is Scotland, and the Biblical prophecy of "Most blessed of sons be Asher. Let him be favoured by his brothers and let him dip his foot in oil," may well be doubly relevant if Brown strikes oil in Israel, because Scotland is the part of Britain where oil is abundant, Aberdeen being the acknowledged Oil Capital of Europe. Not only that, but "dipping his foot" in it may refer particularly to Scotland, as Scotland's oil is almost all offshore in the waters of the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean.
Accurate prophecy indeed !

Best Wishes,

Ian McRae



Subject: Brit-Am and Burma? no.1 Reaction

Recently the News have been full of stories concerning the declared intention
of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to convert members of a Burmese Tribe who claim they descend from
the Tribe of Manasseh.
Several people have sent me notices urgently requesting our reaction to this information.
Until now we have tried to ignore the subject but it seems that some type of answer is required.
Below is a typical example of the type of letters that have been reaching us on the subject:

Shalom Yair,
I'm curious what you think of articles like this that claim Menashe is
coming or will come from the far east? And if the Rabbi's are so eager to
accept the lost tribes from the far east, why are they so reluctant to
accept them from the west (more in line with your research)?
Thank you,
Katy

Brit-Am Replies:
1. The plan is to convert those who wish to become Jewish and undergo the necessary course
accepting Rabbinical requirements. It is questionable if this plan will come to full fruition but even if it
does it is basically a question of converting people who wish to convert.
The Rabbinical policy on this matter can be debated but if so it must be discussed
as part of the policy concerning conversion in general. It has little to do as to whether these
peoples are descended from the Lost Ten Tribes or not.

2. These people are not descended from the Lost Ten Tribes according to Brit-Am understanding.
We are not however going to embark on a debate on this subject with anyone, at least we hope not.

3. These people have received some recognition by part of the Israeli religious establishment and also by the media
whereas Brit-Am has not. Why is that?

Answer:
Their case has been argued and promoted for a longer period of time.
More Jewish organizations and individuals support them largely because MORE know of them
but there may also be other reasons.
Many many More CHRISTIANS and people we would identify as "Joseph" support their case than support Brit-Am.
Brit-Am receives relatively little support from anyone. Even people who agree with us seem loathe to support us.
There are organizations and individuals who quite freely use our material but discourage their followers from
helping us.
Brit-Am with what it has does a very good work and is quite effective compared to similar enterprises
when consideration is taken of the modest support Brit-Am receives.

Please note: If a group or individual wants to become "Jewish" then in some way it becomes a
"Jewish" matter for Jews to notice.
If however the group or individual does not wish to become "Jewish" yet requests some kind of
"recognition" as part of the family then they must exert themselves to present their case.
Brit-Am is prepared and able to present the case BOTH to Joseph and Judah
but Brit-Am needs a minimal degree of enabling support to do so.
For better or for worse Brit-Am is the only organization capable of this task.
Brit-Am is willing and able to do the work but YOU must help enable Brit-Am to do so.




Brit-Am and Burma? no.2 Sources
EXTRACTS ONLY
Source 1.
Telegraph Report
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/17/wjew17.xml
Extracts:
Squeezed between Burma and Bangladesh, 'descendants' of the Lost Tribes of Israel convert to Judaism
By David Orr in Aizawl, Mizoram, NE India
(Filed: 17/04/2005)

Passover is around the corner and Arbi Khiangte is helping her aunt, Dovi, clean and redecorate her home for one of the most important feasts in the Jewish calendar.
The house is next door to the Shalom Zion synagogue where Arbi's uncle, Eliezer, is the cantor. Like most buildings in Aizawl, the synagogue - a large, corrugated-iron structure - is perched precariously on a hillside with nothing but wooden stilts to stop it tumbling into the ravine below.

Arbi Khiangte: 'We feel more Israeli than Indian'

Though Arbi, 20, has never travelled out of Mizoram - a remote outpost of Indian soil squeezed between Burma and Bangladesh - her heart lies thousands of miles away.

She greets visitors with "Shalom", and a silver star of David hangs from a chain around her neck. Her orange T-shirt declares that "Gush Katif is my Home" - a reference to an Israeli settlement in the Gaza Strip where her cousins and 800 other tribal Indians have moved, converting to Judaism.

She and her family hope that soon after Passover they will follow. "We feel more Israeli than Indian," says Arbi who, when not working in a hospital canteen, spends long hours poring over her Hebrew lessons. "People ask me, 'How can you be Jewish?' or 'How can you want to leave Mizoram?' Sometimes they're quite hostile, but I just smile."

The incredulity stems from the fact that nearly 90 per cent of Mizos are Christians. Their ancestors were converted by missionaries from Wales and northern England after the region's annexation by colonial administrators in 1891.

Mizoram is today a protected tribal area which foreigners may visit only with a government permit. Most people are Presbyterian - and "happy-clappy" hymns sung in English and Mizo are the staple listening of the youth.

Arbi, and 6,000 fellow believers in India's north-east, have been bolstered by a recent declaration that their claim to be descended from one of the legendary Ten Lost Tribes of Israel - said to have been driven from the Middle East by invaders in the eighth century BC - is to be officially acknowledged. Last month, after a visit to the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar, announced that a team of rabbinical judges would convert them to Orthodox Judaism. This would allow them to settle in Israel under the Law of Return, which grants the right of Israeli citizenship to Jews. "I was so glad," says Arbi, who wants to become a nurse in Israel. "It was like my dream became real."

Despite their ethnic Mongoloid appearance and Tibeto-Burman tongue, Arbi's family believe that their ancestors belonged to the tribe of Menasseh or Menashe, which travelled through Iran and Afghanistan to China.

According to tribal belief, all Mizos spring from a cave in China called Chhinlung. Their odyssey is said to have continued through Thailand and Burma before it came to these hills. Arbi and her co-believers call themselves Bnei Menashe - Children of Menashe.

Zai Zaithangchungi, a former teacher who has written a book about Israeli-Mizo links, said: "All Mizo people are children of Menashe but only a few have become Jews. It's no coincidence that before Christianity came here, the Mizos believed in a common ancestor called Manase or Manasia.

Belief in Judaism took root in neighbouring Manipur where there are now 5,000 Bnei Menashe. Arbi's uncle Eliezer and his wife Dovi changed faith in the mid 1970s and Arbi was brought up as Bnei Menashe.

In Mizo, meanwhile, Christians are alarmed. "Lying, evil spirits have led our people astray," said Dr Pachuau Biaksiama, a Presbyterian evangelist. "Physically, culturally and linguistically, we're very different from the Jewish people. It's nonsense about us having the same rituals. If you compare any two religions you'll always find some similarities."

Genetic studies at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Calcutta and a technical institute in Israel have so far established no ethnic link.

Source 2. Halkin Book Review
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shobak_news/message/1000
Hillel Halkin's ''Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel'' (Houghton Mifflin, $28)...relates an improbable story: a people on a remote border of India, Tibet and Burma want to migrate to modern Israel because they believe themselves to be descended from one of the 10 tribes exiled from ancient Israel 2,700 years ago...'Across the Sabbath River,'' in which Halkin travels to the region to investigate this story, is also a lament for a culture cut off from its past by Christian missionaries...

For as Halkin makes clear in a haunting survey of the literature, nothing could be more ridiculous than joining the ranks of those Jews and later Christians who over the past millennium have either longed to prove the existence of one or more of Israel's 10 lost tribes or claimed to have done so.

Halkin realizes that there's more going on than the desire to move to a developed country, however. He cites one anthropologist's explanation for the sudden appearance of Jews in an area that had long since been Christianized: rejecting the New Testament for the Old is a way to rebel against the missionaries without reverting altogether to the pre-Christian religion...
What Halkin needs are sources -- people who remember what it was like before the Christians came, or someone who talked to those people before they died out. He sheds the rabbi and eventually finds his man, a native folklorist, but not before falling prey to a con man...

In the last chapter Halkin lays out the dramatic results of his research.. By then we have grown fond of these would-be Jews and begun to empathize with their desire to be something, anything, for certain. (''Show me I was a Christian and I'll be a Christian,'' says one. ''Show me I was a Jew and I'll be a Jew. . . . But show me who I am.'') Halkin answers this need with wild though brilliantly argued conjectures...Halkin has an acute sense of the pathos of religious longing and has found its correlative in this astonishing story, which doesn't have to be true to be heartbreaking.

Source No.3  Arutz 7
http://israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=79370
Rabbinate Recognizes Bnei Menashe as "Descendants of Israel"

In a historic decision, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has decided to formally recognize the Bnei Menashe community of northeastern India as "descendants of Israel."

The Chief Rabbinate has also agreed to send a beit din (rabbinical court) on its behalf to the region to formally convert them to Judaism.

The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the tribe of Menashe, one of the ten tribes exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrian empire over 2,700 years ago. They reside primarily in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh. In recent years, over 800 members of the community have made Aliyah [immigration to Israel], thanks largely to the efforts of Shavei Israel...
The B'nei Menashe, known in India as the Manmassi tribe, was made known to the Jewish world almost 30 years ago by Rabbi Eliyahu Avihayil..
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund, who also took part in yesterday's meeting, praised the Chief Rabbi's decision...
This is the breakthrough that we have all been waiting for, and thank G-d, the remaining 6,000 members of the community still in India will at last be able to come home to Zion."

In June 2003, then-Interior Minister Avraham Poraz of the Shinui Party decided to halt the Bnei Menashe aliyah, reportedly because he objected to the fact that they were all religiously-observant and many chose to live in Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Rabbi Birnbaum added that once various conditions laid down by the Chief Rabbi are fulfilled, such as the construction of mikvaot (ritual baths) in India, and the dispatch of additional teachers, the Chief Rabbinate would send a beit din of its own to the area to convert members of the community to Judaism, thereby allowing them to make Aliyah to Israel.




Subject: Brit-Am and Burma? no.3 Readers Reactions


Brit-Am and Burma? no.3 Readers Reactions
Contents:
1. One-Sided Reports
2. Funding from Ephraim
3. Charlie Bassett : "just crazy"
4. William Rasmussen: A Different Perspective

1. One-Sided Reports
Yair
I can tell you that there was a huge article covering this in this month's NJ News and Opinion; interestingly they mention that DNA studies confirm that the women hail from the Mideast but that the men show no evidence of that , rather that their patterns seem more consistent with local populations ; they also mention familiar customs handed down and other such items of interest that I am sure you know about already; what bothers me is that these articles report about it as well as Rabbinic acceptance of it in Israel without mentioning other points of view or any authorities that are more skeptical but are simply accepting them as Jews since they wish to convert like anyone else can freely do so
regards
DM, New Jersey

2. Funding from Ephraim
From: davidhs@flex.com

Dear Yair,

You do provide provoking information of the 10 tribes but this is just
history.  You do not seem to take up either the Jewish or Messianic cause.
Your mission is just to inform.  As wonderful as this is, it will not
provide much support to you although you bagger the readers at every
opportunity for funding.

One might ask, where is Joseph/Ephraim to return to? ...The Israeli
government needs to be apprised of the intent of Ephraim's return and needs
to give permission to them.  If you were to take one more step and assist
Ephraim's return, I believe funding would not be an issue.

Shalom,

Mar David of Hava

3. Charlie Bassett : "just crazy"
Yair,
     This thing about Burma, is just crazy, Some time you have to wonder if people ever read the Bible, especially genesis 48-49. There is some one all the time coming up something about the lost 10 tribes, To fullfill what Jacob told the sons of Joseph only two nations match that and that is England and America. I don't blame you for not getting involved, its a loser all the way as it is empty speculation.  Charlie Bassett

4. William Rasmussen: A Different Perspective
Subject: Shalom and blessings to you from Bill Rasmussen!
Shalom Yair:  I would direct members of Brit Am to read the piece today [4/6/05] in the Jersualem Post regarding the Bnei Menashe.  The article was written by Mati Wagner and deals with the bringing of the Bnei Menashe from the borders of India and Burma to Israel.  All of this was done under the auspices of Amishav and Rabbi Eleyahu Avichail as well as logistical support by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and his Internation Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

This article is very germane to Brit Am for several reasons: first, it shows a willingness on the part of some in Israel to help fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah 11 and Ezekiel 37.  The fact that there are those in Israel who are aware of the notion that the 10 lost tribes will be brought back in the Acharit Yamim [End of Days] shows we are indeed living in prophetic times.

  Secondly, the article points out that there is great opposition on the part of the left in Israel to bring Torah observant or right leaning people to Israel as doing so will weaken their power base.  Former Interior minister Avraham Poraz was insidious in this respect.  Ophir-Paz-Pines is expected to continue the policies of Poraz as well.  Specifically, the article points out that opposition was made to the Bnei Menashe because they were right leaning and also supported the settlements.  Undoubtedly, most of the Brit Am supporters and members fall into this category, so it would be incumbent on us to deal with the opposition of the left in Israel in order to open doors in the future for the 10 lost tribes to enter into Eretz Yisrael [Land of Israel].

 Yair, you are not only a scholar, but a diplomat and ambassador who sees all the potential problems in bringing to Israel, those of backgrounds divergent from mainstream Judaism.  Rabbi Avichail may be well meaning, but his paltry efforts of bringing several thousand individuals to Israel will do little to fulfil Ezekiel 37.  The vision and mission of Brit Am however, will in fact lead to the fulfilling of Ezekiel 37 in that it has identified and is targeting the major population sources of Israelites who will ultimately return and play a significant role in the fulfillment of biblical prophecies regarding the Acharit Yamim.  It will take millions of Israelites to profoundly change the course of events in Israel and to help "fly" the Arabs in Yesha to the west.  If the 7,000 some Bnei Menashe are all that is out there, we are in a heap of trouble.  Obviously, the major pockets of those from Ephraim and Menasseh are to be found in places other than the border of Burma and India.  While I don't want to diminish or speak negatively of the Bnei Menashe, it is vital that the same people who helped to bring the Bnei Menashe to Israel see that the real fulfillment of Bible prophecy will be made with
the research and scholarship of Brit Am.

Yair, your hour is coming.  Everything up to now has been just preparation.  I believe in my heart that HaShem will highly favor you and use you in a prophetic way far beyond anything that you could ever imagine.  I look forward to the day when you stand on the tarmac in Jerusalem to welcome millions of Israelites back home!  Rabbi Avichail has his thousands and Yair Davidiy has his ten-thousands, all to the glory of HaShem!

Shalom v'b'richot, Bill Rasmussen

5. Jeremy Birningham:
From: J B <jeremiah_71@hotmail.com>
I guess Rabbi Eliyahua can look in your soul and tell if your an Israelite or not. Why do people fall for these misunderstandings of Rabbi Eliyahua Avichayail. His claims do not stand up to the Bible nor too history. I can't believe intelligent people give credit to his claims. His claims are shallow and based on misinterpretation of History and the Bible. I have put three years of my life in studying the history of the Tribes. Rabbi Eliyahua Avichayail is wrong.

Rabbi Eliyahua makes a mistake by calling these people Israelites because he states "He said that being a Jew is not a matter of race, color, culture, creed or physical genetics .." Since these people are Jews by the Rabbi's standards they are not from the Northern Ten Tribes of Israel but from Judah who was never to forget his identity or culture according to the Bible. However where Rabbi Eliyahu goes to meet these people especially in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kurdistan and Ethiopia these people are only remembering the customs of the Israelites that lived in these locations long ago. These people aren't Jews nor are they Israelites. However for him to claim that these people are from the lost tribes (plural) yet he calls them Jews we can see already that he does not understand that Ephraim are Ephraimites who are presently divorced from God and do not remember their Identity. These people seem to remember their Identity so they must be from Judah meaning one tribe not tribes. Can you see the Rabbi's misunderstanding and know he doesn't fully grasp the concept that Israel and Judah are separate. This is also a perfect example that he does not understand the scripture nor the blessing. This goes to show he is looking in the wrong direction because he starts his search in error.

In addition there is defiantly a physical order with which descendants of Israel are related by Blood. From Abraham's physical being was born his son Isaac. From Isaac was born Jacob. And from Jacob came the twelve tribes of Israel. How do we know this? Because the Bible tells us they are related by blood. Hashem wants Abraham's real blood children they are his people and they will be Israel by blood and soul. The people Rabbi Avichavil goes to, do not meet any of the blessings from God to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Genesis at all. They are not Kings of Nations nor are they blessed with the bounty of the earth. They hold no economic or political clout. They have not brought any medical breakthroughs nor have they fought and died by the thousands for freedom in the world. Israel was to be a people that would be a "light onto nations" The Jews light was to keep the Law and monotheism in the world. The Northern ten Tribes especially Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh where to police and bring peace as best they could to the world and be of economic and political strength and stability this is Ephraim's contribution to the light. Joseph was the Viceroy of Egypt in control of the most powerful nation on earth at the time! Israel especially Joseph's children will be Viceroy's in our world today not poor and destitute. The people from Afghanistan, Burma, Pakistan, Kurdistan and Ethiopia have not made any great impact in this world ... Nor on any level do they match one ounce of the Blessing in Genesis...The only way to tell who is Israelite is by the blessings in the Bible bestowed on the tribes and the people from Rabbi's Eliyahu's nations simply do not match the Blessing...Rabbi Eliyahu Avichayil forgets that the Bible and its prophesies for the end times are of earth transforming events. Like the great Exodus from Egypt when the Israelites came to the Land of Israel with Moses the whole known world at that time knew Hashem's name because of this huge event.
.../The true Israelites born of blood and soul are over here in North America and in Northern Europe in the Dark while the Jews bring their beautiful knowledge of Hashem, His word, His Oneness and truth to impostors. If only Yair, got half the support Rabbi Eliyahu gets this world would be a different place and Israel would be whole and Hashem would dwell in His Temple.

I'm insulted that I watch others move to the Land of the Living and steal my birth right and my identity. Ask Rabbi Eliyahu Avichayil to read all of Yair's books. Also ask the Rabbi to read Genesis and try and grasp an understanding of the blessings. Afghanistan which has suffered 20 years of war with Russia then getting bombed by the United States to destroy the Taliban. Ask him if they are a blessed people because of this...Also If you could bring to the Rabbi's attention some new facts because maybe he hasn't noticed this yet. America, Britain, Australia and even some troops from Canada are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Somewhere in the Bible I don't remember where exactly the verse says the modern Land of Israel will border onto the Euphrates. Guess who is in the holy land once again? Joseph is flexing his muscle and is the dominant force in the Middle East controlling the "Gates of His Enemies". I guess Rabbi Eliyahu will call the nations from the UK Gog and Magog the destroyers of Israel. However we are the ones who smashed Germany and stopped the gas chambers from killing more Jews. Also people from Gaul destroyed Rome the children of Edom's capital and set the world free from Esau in ancient times, Israel's eternal enemy.
...Greater efforts have to focus on the truth and not ignorance and almost a complete lack of the Biblical understanding of the blessings in Genesis. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob where all blood related father to son. God wants the true blood born Israelites in his Land.