Continued Mourning For Our Ten Lost Tribes Of 8th Century BCE

Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

 

At the last census that Moses took, Judah had 76, 500 people in his tribe, 

more than the others.  Simeon was the smallest tribe with 22, 200.  Joshua, the Exodus leader after Moses died,  directed the tribes on the land as to where they should live.  

Moses was from the tribe of Judah.  Joshua was from the tribe of  Ephraim of 32,500. 

Jews have mourned over the loss of our 2nd Temple and have a fast day of remembrance for it  The other mourning we continue to have has been for our Ten Lost Tribes of  Reuben,Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin.  The southern tribes of Levi and Judah were spared from the Assyrian attack in 721 BCE.  Our more northern 10 tribes of the 12 brothers had become captives and were taken from us.  We have never forgotten them, for at the end of times, we are to be together again.

I must explain.  Jacob, the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, ultimately had 4 wives.  He married Leah first who bore Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Juah, Issachar, Zebulun and his only daughter, Dinah.  He then was able to marry his true love, Leah's sister, Rachel who bore Joseph and Benjamin.  He married Leah's handmaid Zilpah who bore  Gad and Asher.  Then he married Rachel's handmaid, Bilhah who bore Dan and Naphtali.  These 12 sons became the fathers of the 12 tribes of our history.  The  remaining tribe of Judah had always been the largest of the 12, and the remaining tribal people called themselves the Jewish people, of which we Jews are.  This is our history.  In the end, some Benjaminites and a few of the others were living in Judah at the time who survived the attack.     

Travelers, adventurers and scholars have set out looking for the Sambatyon River which has become a myth by now because beyond this river was said that the Ten Tribes of Israel lived who were exiled by the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE.  They must be living beyond this mighty river.  This river would not have been the Jordan River that divided their land that they were familiar with.  It must have been the faint memories and stories of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of Mesopotamia.    Or maybe they had known about the "Indus" River. The Indus River is one of the main rivers of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the Indian subcontinent. It flows through China, India, and Pakistan.    

According to the legend, the 10 tribes would have returned at once to the Holy Land following their exile if they could, but G-d had encircled them with this river.  It was said that the river, this great and terrible river seethed with wild rapids, churning great rocks and billowed up to the heavens.  It was only on the Sabbath, however, that the river rested from its fury, but our 10 Tribes couldn't cross because of their great piety and their reverence for the Day of Rest as this even happened after being with Moses on the 40 year Exodus, and they were well-schooled in followed the Laws of Moses from G-d.

                                                     

Our history of the 10 Tribes has gone on since the 8th century BCE to the 17th century CE; 27 centuries of aching for their lost cousins.  That ache has surfaced once again, especially since the re-birth lately of Israel on May 14, 1948 in remembrance of the expectation of being united again at the end of times. 

                                              

               A false messiah;  Rabbi Shabbatai Tzevi (1626-1676) born in Smyra, attracted to Kabbalah in his youth, had manic-depressive traits. A heavenly voice told him he would redeem Israel.  When in Israel in 1665 and was hailed the messiah by Nathan of Gaza, but then excommunicated by the rabbis of Jerusalem, the Harvard of Rabbinical education.  

During the 17th century CE Jews experienced a false messiah, Shabbetai Zevi who had  his own prophet, Nathan of Gaza.  Rumors were then flying that the armies of the 10 Tribes were advancing from the desert to fight the Turks.  There were other rumors that they were about to conquer Mecca.  The stories were so persistent that in 1665, the Moslems of Tunis actually cancelled their pilgrimage to their  holy city.   Other stories abounded, announcing the arrival of the legions of the Tribes or describing their kingdom somewhere in the hinterlands of Asia or Africa that have surfaced regularly since the Middle Ages.  They were heard about in the Middle East and Europe in letters written by Jews, in reports of Christian diplomats, or in occasional publications.  These legends were passed on through the generations.  In the 16th and 17th centuries, these legends were spreading messianic propaganda in the Jewish world, and also played into the political interests of the Christian European states in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire.  

The "New World" was being explored and "scientific theories began to emerge where scholars and missionaries tried to identify various tribes with the Ten Lost Tribes.  They looked at their customs to Biblical traditions. Anglo-American Protestant clergymen and scholars supported this search primarily and this trend continued into the 20th century.

Modern anthropologists have looked into the effects of the Lost Tribes and their theories upon different native groups around the world and how they are serving a political function.  This would explain the Maori Jews of New Zealand, the Ashanti Jews of West Africa, and others like them.  These were oppressed groups who were exposed to missionary activity who could identify with the 10 Lost Tribes. 

                                               

 Today is another story.  We have identified the Pashtuns of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as some of the Lost Tribes of Israel.  A few have even visited Israel.  This is because we have had individuals and organizations continuing in the search for the Ten Lost Tribes.  At the same time, several groups in South America, Asia and Africa have identified themselves as descendants of these tribes. declaring their commitment to link their fate with the Jewish people and the State of Israel.   However, the Pashtuns, and they number greatly, continue to be content as Muslims.  

Today we have the means of identification with DNA testing.  Pashtuns have stated that they know who they are and don't need testing, but we need this verification.  So many people have declared they were among the lost 10, such as some of the British royal family which brings doubt.  

Pakistan was used for testing.  Pakistan covers a key geographic area in human history, being both part of the Indus River region that acted as one of the cradles of civilization and as a link between Western Eurasia and Eastern Asia. This region is inhabited by a number of distinct ethnic groups, the largest being the Punjabi, Pathan (Pakhtuns), Sindhi, and Baloch. 

 Afghanistan was also used in another study.  The present study addresses this lacuna by analyzing 190 Pathan males from Afghanistan using high-resolution Y-chromosome binary markers. In addition, haplotype diversity for its most common lineages (haplogroups R1a1a*-M198 and L3-M357) was estimated using a set of 15 Y-specific STR loci. The observed haplogroup distribution suggests some degree of genetic isolation of the northern population, likely due to the Hindu Kush mountain range separating it from the southern Afghans who have had greater contact with neighboring Pathans from Pakistan and migrations from the Indian subcontinent. Our study demonstrates genetic similarities between Pathans from Afghanistan and Pakistan, both of which are characterized by the predominance of haplogroup R1a1a*-M198 (>50%) and the sharing of the same modal haplotype. Furthermore, the high frequencies of R1a1a-M198 and the presence of G2c-M377 chromosomes in Pathans might represent phylogenetic signals from Khazars, a common link between Pathans and Ashkenazi groups, whereas the absence of E1b1b1a2-V13 lineage does not support their professed Greek ancestry.  

 Other returnees of Lost Tribes have been India's Bnei Menashe when 162 entered to join the 1,700 already in Israel who had been arriving over the past 15 years while there are 7,000 more wanting to immigrate to Israel.  You Tube has many segments showing this group.  

                                                        

 69 people from Ethiopia also arrived at about the same time.  They, too, have been coming in installments as soon as they can leave Ethiopia.  There are many other groups from other corners of the world who have already entered Israel.  We've been seeing THE RETURN.   

Resource: 

Letters From Beyond the Sambatyon-the myth of the ten lost tribes-edited by Simcha Shtull-Trauring

https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-015-1290-1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3449065

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2015/08/pashtuns-and-jewish-redemption.html/

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-ten-lost-tribes

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2018/10/life-for-israelites-from-assyrian-days.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2015/08/pashtuns-and-jewish-redemption.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2019/01/possible-connection-in-dna-of-pashtuns.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2019/01/jews-and-pashtuns-sons-of-israels.html

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