Pashtunwali and Judaism, connected by Israelite Religion From Moses

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

                              Pashtos at the Wall in Jerusalem on a visit:  the visit of the first ever Pathan/Pashtun delegation to Israel. The delegation consisted of members of Anjuman al-Pathān, an organization that claims to represent the Pathans/Pashtuns of India.  This was cited in January 2016.  The delegation visited Israel from 15th to 25th November 2015 at the invitation of Amishav, a Jewish Israeli organization dedicated to the search for the remnants of the lost tribes of Israel. The author, Eyal Be’eri, was the local guide to the delegation.  (updated 8:21pm)

American forces are pulling out of Afghanistan.  They are leaving their ammunition for the Afghan force.  It's now become a very dangerous place for the translators who worked with the US army forces.  Most of them are Pashtuns.  

Pashtunwali (Pashto: پښتونولي‎) is the traditional lifestyle of the Pashtun people. Scholars widely have interpreted it as being "the way of the Afghans" or "the code of life". Pashtunwali is widely practised by Pashtuns in the Pashtunistan regions of Afghanistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Northern Balochistan.

 Thirteen principles form the major components of Pashtunwali. They are headed with the words of the Pashto language that signify individual or collective Pashtun tribal functions.

The three primary^[16] principles:

1. Melmastyā́ ( مېلمستيا): Hospitality – Showing hospitality and profound respect to all visitors, regardless of race, religion, national affiliation or economic status and doing so without any hope of remuneration or favour. Pashtuns will go to great lengths to show their hospitality. This comes to Pashtos and Jews through Abraham.  
2. Nənawā́te ( ننواتې ): Asylum – Derived from the verb meaning to go in, this refers to the protection given to a person against his enemies. People are protected at all costs; even those running from the law must be given refuge until the situation can be clarified. Nənawā́te can also be used when the vanquished party in a dispute is prepared to go into the house of the victors and ask for their forgiveness: this is a peculiar form of "chivalrous" surrender, in which an enemy seeks "sanctuary" at the house of their foe. 

1.                                                    
   
   A photo of former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell dressed in traditional Afghan attire during his stay in the village of Sabray during the summer of 2005. For days, Mohammad Gulab and his fellow villagers protected him from a Taliban-linked militia in northeastern Afghanistan. Luttrell 

1. went on to write the best-selling memoir, Lone Survivor.
      
2. A notable example is that of Navy Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of a US Navy SEAL team ambushed by Taliban fighters. Wounded, he evaded the enemy and was aided by members of the Sabray tribe who took him to their village. The tribal chief protected him, fending off attacking tribes until word was sent to nearby US forces. Luttrell, the only survivor, was left unconscious with a number of fractures, a broken back, and numerous shrapnel wounds. Members of SEAL Team 10 attempted a rescue during the firefight, but their helicopter was shot down, and all aboard were killed. Luttrell regained consciousness and evaded the pursuing enemy, with the help of local Pashtun villagers, one of them being Mohammad Gulab, who eventually sent an emissary to the nearest U.S. base to secure Luttrell's safe rescue and ultimately saved his life. He was rescued on July 2 by Army Rangers and Afghan National Army soldiers in the woods when Gulab and several villagers were trying to get Luttrell to a safe location.  A movie has been made about it.  In the film Lone Survivor (2013), Luttrell was portrayed by actor Mark Wahlberg.
3. Nyāw aw Badál (نياو او بدل): Justice and Revenge – To seek justice or take revenge against the wrongdoer. No time limit restricts the period in which revenge can be taken. Justice in Pashtun lore needs elaborating: even a mere taunt (or "Peghor/پېغور") counts as an insult. Monetary compensation can be an alternative to badal, for example in murder cases.

The other main principles:

1. Túra (توره): Bravery – A Pashtun must defend his land, property, and family from incursions. Death can follow if anyone offends this principle.
2. Wapā́ (وفا): loyalty – Pashtuns owe loyalty to their family, friends and tribe members.
3. X̌egә́ṛa (ښېګړه): Kindness – Pashtun should do act in the welfare of others.
4. Jergá (جرګه): Arbitration – Disputes are resolved through the Jirga.
5. Groh (ګروه): Faith – Contains a wider notion of trust or faith in God (Allah). The notion of trusting in one Creator generally comports to the Islamic idea of belief in only one God (tawhid).
6. Pat aw Wyāṛ (پت او وياړ ): Respect and Pride - Pashtun's pride [وياړ], has great importance in Pashtun society and must be preserved. They must respect themselves and others in order to be able to do so, especially those they do not know. Respect begins at home, among family members and relatives. If one does not have these qualities they are not considered worthy of being a Pashtun. As per the poetry Khushal Khan Khattak “The loss of life and wealth should not matter, what matters is Pat (پت - respect)”.
7. Nāmús (ناموس): - Female Honour – Pashtun must defend the honour of women at all costs and must protect them from vocal and physical harm.  The killing of women is forbidden in Pashtun culture.
8. Nang (ننګ): Honour – A Pashtun must defend the weak around him.
9. Meṛā́na (مېړانه): Manhood or Chivalry or Courage – Pashtuns must demonstrate courage (مېړانه). A turban is considered a symbol of a Pashtun's chivalry.
10. Hewā́d (هېواد): Country – A Pashtun is obliged to protect the land of the Pashtuns. Defense of the nation means the protection of Pashtun custom.
11. 
    

Dr. Shalva Weil held a world Conference I believe at Hebrew University in 2018  about the Pashtuns and what she had gathered showing that they were indeed connected to the Lost 10 tribes of Jacob, taken away and lost to the Israelites by the Assyrians in 721 BCE by King Nebuchadnezzer of Assyria .  They've been lost to us up until now, that is, when evidence shows some amazing similarities after all these 2, 742 years of separation.  Some customs have not died.  “From their side, every Pashtun knows their roots are in Israel,” Nadav Sofy, spokesman for The Association of the Bani Israel of Afghanistan told Breaking Israel News. “At this point, we are just trying to raise this awareness among the Jews and to build bridges.”

                                                                     

Some customs and practices are said to be similar to Jewish traditions: lighting candles on the sabbath, refraining from eating certain foods, using a canopy during a wedding ceremony and some similarities in garments. There are some recognized stories of  Pashtun practices virtually identical to Jews: Lighting candles on Friday night, separation of meat and dairy, and covering graves with stones.

Moreover, some Pashtu names derive from Hebrew. For example, Asif, Assaf, Binyamin, Kenan, and Barak (Barak is the name of the known Barakzai tribe, which traces after Barak son of Avinoam, officer- warrior of the ancient Israeli Kingdom.  Barak means glance, sparkling, flash. The other names mentioned in the Torah: Asif (harvest in Hebrew), Assaf (gather in Hebrew), also known as the compositor of the Levi’s (Liwan tribe) choir, Binyamin (fool of power), the 12th Israeli tribe, and Kenan (lamenter in Hebrew) the fourth generation of the humanity.  These names are quite ordinary in Israel and in Pashtun areas. Names that do not originate from the Torah, like Tameer (high in Hebrew/hideen in Aramaic) and Timor (carved decorating shape of palms found at the Jewish temple), are also common among the two groups, as well as Shir and Sahar.

Religious names and tool share common characteristics.

In Pashtu, names of God are known as Khudai; while in biblical Hebrew God is referred to as (El) Shadai. The Jewish prayer shawl (talit) issue also has a great resemblance to the Pashtu/Urdu word tolia which means towel.

Weil cautioned, however, that this is not proof of any genetic connection.

                                                                

This was in 2018.  At a groundbreaking conference on Thursday, experts gathered in Jerusalem to discuss the status of Pashtun, a tribal nation of tens of millions of Afghani and Pakistani Muslims who believe they are descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The experts will discuss how reconnecting Israel to the Pashtun will have enormous consequences, most notably as their prophesied return.

                                                                         

DNA on later testing does show a connection between the Afridi Pashtuns and the Jews, however.  Why just the Afridi?  The Afridis, Yusufzais and other Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been alleged to be the descendants of the lost Jewish tribes such as the Efraim. However, DNA and other research towards validating such claims had been inconclusive, but new testing reveals more.   If from the tribe of Ephraim, that means that they were from the more northern of the 2 Israelite kingdoms.  Ephraim included the hill-country in central Palestine and was noted for its fertility.  Ephraim was the younger son of Joseph, who was the first son of Rachel and Jacob and turned out to be Jacob's  11th son. 

In the period of the Judges before kings were created in Israel, Ephraim claimed priority among the Israelite tribes, partly because their rellgious center was situated at Shiloh in its territory.  The secession of the northern tribes after Solomon's death in 920 BCE centered on the tribe of Ephraim to which Jeroboam, the 1st king of the northern kingdom of Israel, belonged.  The prophets later spoke of the House of Judah and the House of Ephraim as representing the 2 branches of the Hebrew people.  

                                    Afghana, father of the Pashtuns:  According to the Tanakh, King Saul (Talut) was the son of Kish, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel (1 Samuel 9:1–2). Saul married Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz and had four sons and two daughters. The sons were Jonathan, Abinadab, Malchishua and Ish-bosheth. Saul's daughters were named Merab and Michal. Pashtun folklore and some historians  suggest that King Saul had five sons instead of four, the fifth was named Irmia (Jeremiah).

Here's what happened that caused the 10 Tribes to be taken away.

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1. The 10 northern tribes ceded from Israel in 920 BCE when Solomon died.  Now they were weaker without Judah.  

2.  Judah and parts of Benjamin were left alone in the South with Jerusalem. 

Judah had always been the largest tribe, weaker without the other 10. . 

                                                           

     

2.  Assyria attacked the 10 northern tribes in 721 BCE and carried the best  of the people and goods away.  

I, an Ashkenazi Jew, may also have some DNA connection to Pashtuns as discovered in 2019.  https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2019/01/possible-connection-in-dna-of-pashtuns.html  My father's line is Q and some Pashtuns  also have this Y haplogroup.

The Scriptures are replete with messianic quotes. In Deuteronomy 30:1 Moses prophesies that, after the Jews have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, there will come a time when they will repent and return to Israel, where they will fulfill all the commandments of the Torah.The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Joel and Hosea all refer to the messianic era.

It is interesting to note that the wall of the United Nations Building in New York is inscribed with the quote from Isaiah (11:6), “And the wolf shall lie with the lamb.”  We are seeing a return to Israel of people claiming to be from the Lost Ten Tribes.  The prophet Zachariah foretells that all the nations of the world will come to Jerusalem on Sukkot in the days of the Redemption. Thus, the holiday reaches out to the nations of the world.

The Taliban is a very famous movement being they are terrorists.  The Taliban or Taleban, who refer to themselves as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamist movement and military organization in Afghanistan, currently waging war within the country. Since 2016, the Taliban's leader has been Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada. Wikipedia

Founded: September 1994, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Operating areas: Afghanistan

Founders: Mohammed Omar, Abdul Ghani Baradar Afghanistan and Pakistan share a 2430 km border, it is called ‘the Durand line’. No Afghan [Pashtuns are the original Afghans] accepts it, they say the border has no geographical nor historical base.

Video shows 22 Afghan commandos executed by the Taliban

The Lead

CNN's Anna Coren is in Kabul with new evidence of the atrocities committed by the Taliban as video emerged of Afghan commandos being shot dead after an apparent surrender. The Taliban rejects the video, saying it's fabricated.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/07/12/video-afghan-commandos-taliban-coren-pkg-vpx.cnn

Resource: 

https://cafedissensus.com/2016/01/07/impressions-from-the-visit-of-the-first-ever-pathanpashtun-delegation-to-israel/

Jan 16, 2010l  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1itX-No0Foo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashtunwali

https://www.israel365news.com/102954/connecting-pashtuns-ten-lost-tribes/

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/22782