The Mesopotamian "Iraqi" Jews, From the Land of Shinar

 Nadene Goldfoot                                    

Iraq was originally  called Mesopotamia. It's where Babylonia lie.  In the Torah it was also known as the land of Shinar or of Kasdim (Chaldees), as in Ur of the Chaldees-the city that Abraham was from.    Jews of Iraq are the Mizrachi Jews.  There are the Ashkenazim of Europe, originally of Germany, and the Sephardim of Spain and Portugal, and the Mizrachim of the Middle East.  Jews had gone or stayed as the Mizrachim did after 70 CE and the Roman destruction.  

The Torah says it was the cradle of humanity and also the scene of man's 1st revolt against G-d as we read about the Tower of Babel.  Many stories found in our Tanakh are found also in Babylonian literature such as the Flood story with Noah and his  Ark. 

                                                       

Abraham had migrated from the big city of Ur to Canaan where he later fought against Amraphel, king of Shinar (Gen. 14).  Babylon, another great city, had a bad reputation with our prophets, known as sin city and a symbol of insolent pagan tyranny.  The Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II (604-56BCE) inherited the Assyrian empire, and after his conquest of Judah in (597-and 586 BCE) exiled many Jews to Babylon as slaves.  

They in turn ran into the members of the Ten northern population of Israel who had been abducted 200 years earlier by the Assyrians.  Now there were a very large population of Jews living there against their will.  Many acclimated and of course, some of the younger generations knew very little about their history of why they were there, living in all Jewish cities such as Nehardea, Nisibis, and Mahoza.                                

Since the destruction of the First Temple there was a connection between Babylonian exiles and the Land of Israel. According to the Al-Yahudu Tablets, a collection of tablets from the sixth century BCE, multiple Jews were given names reflecting their families desire to return to Zion.  The Al-Yahudu tablets are a collection of about 200 clay tablets from the sixth and fifth centuries BCE on the exiled Judean community in Babylonia following the destruction of the First Temple. They contain information on the physical condition of the exiles from Judah and their financial condition in Babylon. The tablets are named after the central settlement mentioned in the documents, al-Yahudu (Akkadian: The city of Judah).

The earliest document in the collection dates back to 572 BCE, about 15 years after the destruction of the Temple, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. The most recent tablet dates back to 477 BCE, during the reign of Xerxes I, about 60 years after the Return to Zion began and about 20 years before the rise of Ezra the Scribe.

The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem in 538 BCE, , but not all chose to leave as the 1st thing that the leadership wanted to do was to rebuild Solomon's Temple that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.  They would have to start the city from it's beginnings again, and in fact it was already re-populated by Samaritans and others that had been brought in by their captors, an exchange of population.  They got rid of slaves they were tired of and were hoping for a better batch of workers who were work-oriented, such as the northern tribes, they thought.   

However, there were Jews there who did remember, and they were able to keep in touch with Jews back in Judah and even supplied some of their leaders like Hillel.  

During the Roman occupation, the Babylonian Jews rose against the emperor, Trajan, the revolt being bloodily suppressed by his commander, Lucius Quietus in 116.  Under both Persian and Parthian rule, the Jews of Babylon enjoyed an extensive measure of internal autonomy, being headed by an Exilarch of Davidic descent who was the king's representative, while the community was governed by a council of elders.  

The Jews of Babylon created the Babylonian Talmud that was rated higher than the Jerusalem Talmud.  It reflected a society mainly based on agriculture and crafts.  They were learned students in their Jewish studies and had produced works of literary merit by such people as Ezekiel, Daniel and  Tobit.  

By the beginning of the 3rd century, Babylon became the main center of rabbinic studies.  They had academies that were founded by Samuel at Nehardea and by Rav at Sura, while in the later 3rd century, the academy of Purnbedita was founded to replace that at Hehardea which was destroyed in 261.  These schools were most important as they saw the abolition of the Palestinian patriarchate in 425 when Babylon became the spiritual center for all Jewry in the Middle East and possible even Europe as well, like Rome is for Catholicism.

The 5th century of the 400s was the start of much persecution against Jews which led to the Jewish revolt under Mar Zutra II who held out for 7 years, but was finally captured and killed. Mar-Zutra II was a Jewish Exilarch who led a revolt against the Sasanian rulers in 495 CE and achieved seven years of political independence in Mahoza. Mar-Zutra II became Exilarch of the Jewish community in Babylon at the age of fifteen in 483 CE, twelve years before the revolt. Wikipedia                 

 This was when the Talmud was concluded about this period.  Jewish position in the world continued to be difficult until the Arab conquest in the 7th century after Mohammad had died in 632.  Can you imagine?  It was Arabs who ended the anti-Semitism of the others, coming to the Jews' rescue. The Jews had assisted the Arabs in the take-over of Babylonia in the hope that it would deliver them from Sassanid persecution.  After the Arab occupation, what happened to the Jews in Arabia?  Strangely, the Jews there, making up several tribes, were expelled, so they settled in Kufa.  

For centuries, the land of today's Iraq continued to be the center of Jewish life.  The Exilarch and the Gaon (Jewish leadership) was recognized throughout the Diaspora (the world).  Jews wherever they lived would submit their religious questions to the geonim whose answers were accepted as binding.  There was internal Jewish problems due to newly-founded sects of Issawites and Yudganites, and especially by the rise of Kasraism.  

Then by 1040, their 2 famous academies were closed and Iraq lost her central position in the Jewish world, although geonim are recorded in Baghdad as late as the 13th century.  The Jewish leader (Exilarchate) was suspended in 1040, and then restored 2 centuries later for a short period.  

Jews suffered from restrictions laid down by Caliph Umar/Omar but weren't strictly observed by the Arab leadership.  Caliph Al-Muktadir in 908 allowed Jews to 2 state offices as physicians and bankers.  There were Jewish physicians, scientists and scholars among the Arab population.  Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshite kinsman and later son-in-law. Following his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title al-Faruq ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's death in June 632, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) as the first caliph and served as the closest adviser to the latter until August 634, when the dying Abu Bakr nominated Umar as his successor.

On his orders, this 2nd Caliph ruled for 10 years and conquered Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia.  Most of the Jews were expelled from N. Arabia, and also asked for more taxation from the Jews.  Omar set up the temporary structure situated on the traditional site of Mt. Moriah before the modern Mosque of Omar was built by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 738.  

Because of heavy taxation on cultivated land, Jews left agriculture and concentrated in the larger towns, especially Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, where they mostly became traders and craftsmen.  Some were financiers or participated in international commerce.  

                        Mongol Invaders

Benjamin of Tudela visited Iraq in 1170 and reported places with up to15,000 Jewish people.  Then the Mongols invaded the land in the 2nd half of the 13th century who were free from religious prejudice, the the Jewish position of being considered 2nd class citizens (Dhimmis) improved as they were no longer discriminated against because they were Jews, and even the highest state offices were now open to them.  But....

Mongol rulers became converted to Islam!  Then they introduced those old discriminating laws.  In 1291, the Jewish administrator and physician, Saad ad-Daula, was assassinated, and this was  followed by a general attack on the Jews of Iraq.  Nobody heard from them for  several centuries.

The city of Timur was invaded at the end of the 14th century and Jews suffered along with the rest of the population, and then along come the Turks and their conquest of Iraq in 1534 which bettered everyone economically.  The Turkish domination was of the Ottoman Empire, and it didn't take much for Jews to be treated badly by them

                                   from Zeyad al-Ahmed

Many Iraqi Jews were doctors, pharmacists and journalists. The first Hebrew newspaper in the country, Hadover (“speaker” or “spokesman”), was printed by the first Hebrew printing press, established in 1863 by Musa Baruch Mizrahi. The Jews of Iraq had an Arabic dialect of their own, and they wrote books in Judeo-Arabic, written in Hebrew letters.. 

 In 1914, the first Zionist organization was founded by Menashe Hakim, Maurice Fattal and Raphael Horesh under the name "Zionist Association of Baghdad", to promote the Zionist cause in Mesopotamia. The short-lived organization collapsed in November of that year when the Ottoman Empire declared  war on Britain.   

Jews were appointed to high government offices and some served in the Iraqi army.  In 1932, Iraq gained their independence.   and this brought out persecution of the Jews.  At the time, Jewish leaders were speaking with the League of Nations in making Palestine the Jewish Homeland.       

Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and Haj Amin al-Husseini, speaking at the anniversary of the 1941 Iraqi coup in Berlin-right.  

  Prime Minister of Iraq, Rashid Ali  He is chiefly remembered as an ardent Arab nationalist who attempted to remove the British influence from Iraq by starting a coup against the government in 1941. During his brief tenures as Prime Minister in 1940 and 1941, he attempted to negotiate settlements with the Axis powers (Hitler) during World War II in order to counter British influence in Iraq.  WWII wasn't over until 1945.   Hundreds of Baghdad Jews were killed and wounded in a pogrom during the revolt of Rashid Ali al-Gaylani in 1941.

  Iraqi troops participated in the 1948 attack on Israel on the central front. Despite their defeat, Iraq never concluded an armistice agreement with Israel.  the great majority of Iraqi Jews left the country, chiefly for Israel in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, and their property in Iraq was confiscated, so they were left penniless.

      123,000 Iraqi Jews reached Israel since 1948.  Those that remained were subject to severe restrictions, especially after the Six Day War of 1967 when the treatment of Iraqi Jews led to international protests.  The Jewish population in 1991 was 150 who had remained, chiefly in Baghdad, where one synagogue still operates. Egyptian Jews experienced the same situation, with a few remaining to caretake the synagogue and cemeteries. 

Iraqi Jews in Israel, also known as the Bavlim (Hebrew for "Babylonians"), are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Iraqi Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 450,000.  They live mostly in Or Yehuda, Givatayim and  Kiryat Gat.                                             

 Moshe Levi, IDF Chief of Staff (Hebrew: משה לוי, April 18, 1936 – January 8, 2008) was an Israeli military commander and the 12th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He served in this position from 1983 to 1987, towards the end of the first Lebanon war and the establishment of the South Lebanon Security Belt. He was the first Chief of Staff of Mizrahi origin.  Levi, born in Tel Aviv to an Iraqi-Jewish family, was known by his army nickname Moshe VaHetzi (Hebrew: משה וחצי ("Moshe and a half") because of his towering height, which was about 1.96 metres (6 ft 5 in).  While serving as Chief of Staff and after retiring from the army, Levy lived in Kibbutz Beit Alfa in northern Israel. In his last years, he was the founding chairperson of the supervisory board of Highway 6, also known as the Trans-Israel Highway.

Resource:

Updated 7/19/22

https://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2014/02/could-iraqis-have-jewish-roots.html

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_Ali_al-Gaylani

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Yahudu_Tablets

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-archaeology-babylon/ancient-tablets-reveal-life-of-jews-in-nebuchadnezzars-babylon-idUSKBN0L71EK20150203

https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-96.html

 https://www.jns.org/opinion/iraqi-jews-share-a-deeply-rooted-heritage/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrNmWBhA4EiwAHbjEQFL1vDJM-MbFjsky1-zFvau0m6K1eX4FHPTK2vkS3b-FVaTEI8K_aRoCsS4QAvD_BwE

 

House of Levi, The Priestly Line

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

Levi was the 3rd son of Jacob and Leah. Jacob is most important to  our history as he was the grandson of Abraham.  Leah was his wife by default as Jacob thought he was marrying Rachel, Leah's younger sister.  Leah and Rachel were daughters of Laban, whose sister was Rebekah who married Isaac, the father of Jacob.  Nevertheless, Leah bore Jacob 6 sons;  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun and a daughter, Dinah.   Descendants of NAHOR II

Terah, father of Abraham, Haran and Nahor II. 1883 BCE-Ur of

Chaldees, Sumeria, Mesopotamia Iraq

1  [1] NAHOR II b: in Ur of Chaldees d: in Haran

.. +Milcah B. b: in Ur of Chaldees d: in Haran

2  Uz

2  Buz

2  Kemuel

... 3  Aram ben Kemuel

2  Chesed

2  Hazo

2  Pildash

2  Jidlaph

2  Bethuel Citizenship: Syrian

... 3  Laban

....... +Adinahand

... 3  Rebekah bat Bethuel b: in Aram

....... +Isaac ben Abraham b: 2048 in Negev

*Friend of [1] NAHOR II:

.. +Reumah the Concubine

2  Tebah ben NAHOR II

2  Gaham ben NAHOR II

2  Tahash ben NAHOR II

2  Maacah ben NAHOR II

 Levi had one daughter, Jochebed (who was born at the entrance to Egypt),  who was the mother of Moses, and 3 sons;  Gershom (Gershon), Kohath (whose son, Amram, was the father of Moses, Aaron and Mirium,  and Merari.  Levi died in Egypt at the age of 137.                                          

Moses made his older brother, Aaron, the high priest for their 601,730 Israelites.  His position had him serving from the Tabernacle and also to instruct the people.  Moses had married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, the local priest in Midian.  They had 2 sons;  Gershom and Eliezer, but they died when teens so produced no heirs.  

Moses brought a new generation of people who grew up in the Wilderness to Canaan, having traveled for 40 years.  They had to fight the Amorites, Moabites, Midianites; and Bashan, all in Transjordania.  He appointed Joshua to carry on for him when he died at age 120.  The people were prepared for a new and unique religion to be observed in its own land of a complete Monotheism and loyalty to G0d, the Creator and Father of all.  Israel was to be a holy nation, unlike others, but a model to other people.  

In the very beginning, the first-born of each family served as priest, but because of the loyalty of the Levites during the incident of the Golden Calf, they replaced the first-born.  

Each family of Levites was assigned specific duties connected with the transport and assembly of the parts of the Tabernacle in the wilderness.   They were not listed in the two tribal censuses.                              

The family of Aaron was singled out for service within the Tabernacle, but this happened later as Priests.

After the conquest of  Canaan,  the Levites were expected to teach the Torah to the people.  being therefore excluded from any territorial inheritance, but receiving 48 towns and surrounding areas throughout the country, as well as a tithe of the agricultural produce.   Certain towns assigned to the Levites were only captured a long time after the conquest, or not at all.

Some of the Levites served at High Places, especially in the Northern Kingdom after the Civil War between the North and South of Israel.   Jeroboam had instituted independent worship. 

 In his Temple plan, Ezekiel replaced the non-Jewish Nethinim with the Levites, but this scheme was never executed.  According to Chronicles, when the Temple service was organized, traditionally by King David, the Levites were divided into groups, each doing different jobs, such as singers, instrumentalists, gatekeepers, assistants to the priests during the sacrifice, etc.  Like the priests, every group was divided into 24 sections, each serving; for a week at a time.  

In 2nd Temple times, the priests outnumbered the Levites and apparently shared their tithe.  it was in 586 BCE that the Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.  By 538 BCE, the Israelites returned from Babylon and rebuilt it, and this was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans along with Jerusalem.  

In Jewish law (halakhah), the levite is regarded as 2nd to the priest at the Reading of the Law, and has the privilege of having the priest's hands before the priest blesses the people. 

 In the Synagogues, Jews are divided into 3 groups:  Cohens-who read first, Levites-who read 2nd, with this information of who they are handed down orally from father to son, and the rest are the Israelites, who read last for that Shabbat (Saturday morning). The beautiful thing is that our cousin, Herb Hochfeld, knew he was a Cohen, and DNA testing proved he was with the result of being J1 in his Y haplogroup test.  That J1 is considered to be the Cohen gene.  I've also seen men with the surname of Cohen having a different result such as E.  We must remember that Moses lived from 1391-1271 BCE, over 3,000 years ago.   

Eleazar was the son of Aaron, therefore the next high priest.

Phineas was Eleazar's son and high priest. 

Abishua was Phineas's son and high priest.  

At some time, the office was transferred from descendants of Eleazar to those of his brother Itamar. The first known and most notable high priest of Itamar's line was Eli, a contemporary of Samuel.

• Eli, descendant of Ithamar, son of Aaron, was high priest at the shrine of Shiloh and one of the last Judges in the 11th century BCE, a mentor of Samuel.  He succeeded to the high priesthood at the age of 58 and died 40 years later as a result of falling from his chair on hearing of the Philistine capture of the Ark (I Sam 4:13).  His family was subsequently deprived of the high priesthood (I Kings 2:26-7), the Bible ascribing this to the immoral conduct of his sons, Hophni and Phinehas (I Sam.2:11-36; 3:11-14)
• Ahitub, son of Phinehas and grandson of Eli
• Ahijah, son of Ahitub               
  
      Doeg slaying the priests at Nob; oil on canvas painting in Jewish Museum, New York.  Doeg (Hebrew: דּוֹיֵג Dō'ēg) was an Edomite, chief herdsman to Saul, King of Israel. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible book of First Samuel, chapters 21 and 22, where he is depicted as an antagonist of David responsible for the deaths of a large number of priests. 
• Ahimelech, son of Ahijah (or brother of Ahijah and son of Ahitub), priest of Nob. Nob was a priestly city, probably near Jerusalem on Mt. Scopus.  After the destruction of the tabernacle at Shiloh, the priests of the sons of Eli built a high-place in Nob where they officiated.  As a punishment for the assistance given to the fugitive David, Saul slew all the priests of the place.   When David fled from Saul, he was welcomed by Ahimelech, who gave him the hallowed bread and the sword of Goliath that were kept in the sanctuary.  Saul took revenge by killing Ahimelech and the other priests of Nob, the sole survivor being Ahimelech's son, Abiathar.  (I Sam 21-22). 
• Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, chief priest at Nob.  He escaped the massacre of his family by King Saul, and took refuge with David who later appointed him high priest.  Abiathar remained loyal to David during Absalom's rebellion.  In the closing days of David's reign, Abiathar supported Adonijah's claims to the succession, as against those of Solomon who banished him from Jerusalem and transferred his priestly rights to Zadok.  

Abiathar was removed from the high priesthood for conspiring against King Solomon, and was replaced by Zadok, son of Ahitub, who oversaw the construction of the First Temple. According to the genealogies given in 1 Chronicles 6:3–15, Zadok was a descendant of Uzzi (through Zerahiah, Meraioth, Amariah and Ahitub) and thus belonged to the line of Eleazar. 

Zadok*

Zadok was High Priest during the construction of the First Temple.  After Saul's death, went to David at Hebron and with Abiathar;  was David's chief priest, and annointed Solomon as king.  Solomon appointed Zadok's son a high priest in the Temple and from that time, the high priesthood remained in the Zadokite family until the period of the Hasmonean rising.

Ahimaaz, high priest during King Rehoboam's days of Judah. (933-917 BCE)

Azariah, son of Zadok,  high priest during King Abijah's {Abijam}(917-915 BCE) days.  

From Solomon's time until the Babylonian captivity (597-586 BCE)  the High Priests officiated at Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.  Information about who served in that office diverges between the Bible, Josephus and the Seder Olam Zutta. While Josephus and Seder 'Olam Zuta each mention 18 high priests, the genealogy given in 1 Chronicles 6:3–15 gives 12 names, culminating in the last high priest Seriah, father of Jehozadak. However, it is unclear whether all those mentioned in the genealogy between Zadok and Jehozadak were high priests and whether high priests mentioned elsewhere (such as Jehoiada and Jehoiarib) are simply omitted or did not belong to the male line in this genealogy.

Resource:

https://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-tribe-of-levi-and-their-levites-of.html

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2022/06/ashkenazi-levites-with-r1a-y-haplogroup.html

Tanakh, The Stone Edition

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doeg_the_Edomite#:~:text=Doeg%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%93%D6%BC%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%99%D6%B5%D7%92%20D%C5%8D',a%20large%20number%20of%20priests.

The Tribes that Made Up Judah or Us Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

The tribes that basically made up Judah were from the tribe of Judah.  who amounted to 76,500 at the 2nd census taken by Moses, the largest of the 12 tribes.  Some living in Judah were  of the tribe of Benjamin who amounted to 45,600 during the same census.  Simeon tribal members would have also been in Judah, and they numbered 22,200 during this 2nd census, having lost 37,100 since the 1st census.    

The tribe of Judah was not taken by Assyria like the 10 northern tribes were.  They are the Jews of today.  Note that the Levites from Levi were never granted any land.  They were the line of Moses and his brother, Aaron.  Aaron was chosen by Moses to be the high priest of this new group of Israelites that he freed from Egypt.  They had the responsibility if they were direct descendants of Aaron to be the next priests, which included being the 1st readers of the Torah in the synagogue.  Today's science has tested their DNA and they are of J1 (Y haplogroup). 

 The other Levites had the 2nd position in order of responsibilities, such as being the 2nd readers in the synagogue from the Torah. 

Leah                                      Rachel               Zilpah        Bilhah

Judah was the 4th son of Jacob and Leah.

The 12 tribes of Jacob and daughter, Dinah,  came from Jacob's wife, Leah and her sister, Rachel (his true love).  Then he took their handmaids and married them in order to produce more children, Zilpah and Bilhah, who we presume were from Egypt.  The land they were awarded to live on was called Judah;  later called Judea.   

Other Y haplogroups are showing up in Jews of today, so not all are J1s which would be expected for all 12 tribes being Jacob was the father of all 12 sons:  Reuben and his 5 sons;  Simeon and his 6 sons; Levi and his 3 sons and 1 daughter Jochebed-wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron and Mirium;  Judah and his 5 sons; Issachar and his 4 sons;   Zebulun and his 3 sons;  Gad and his 7 sons;  Asher and his 5 sons;  Dan and 1 son;  Naphtali and his 4 sons, Joseph  and his 2 sons-Manasseh and Ephraim who were given land that would have gone to Joseph who remained in Egypt;  and Benjamin.                   

  They all were jealous of Joseph, who was given a beautiful robe by their father, Jacob who was showing favoritism by doing so.  Judah talked his brothers out of leaving Joseph in a pit to die and instead to just sell him to  passing Ishmaelites. (Gen.37).  Possibly for this good deed, he received his father's patriarchal blessing instead of his elder brothers, Reuben, Simeon and Levi.  (Gen 49:8).  

The land they were awarded by  Joshua was one of the largest in Canaan.  The land Simeon was awarded was absorbed into Judah's land as it was in the Negev Desert. 

 Benjamin was the 12th and youngest son of Jacob and Rachel, who died in childbirth after he was born.  Jacob, of course, was exceptionally fond of Benjamin as he was of Joseph, both sons from Rachel, who he first had fallen in love.  The land Benjaminites were awarded included land where Jerusalem was.  Their territory was land of contention between Israel and Judah  who split apart, and eventually had to be divided between the two.  

After the death of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land and, dividing the territory among the 12 tribes, assigned south-central Palestine to the tribe of Benjamin. Members of the tribe were separated when two distinct kingdoms were established after the death of King Solomon (922 BC) and the territory of Benjamin was divided between them. Benjaminites in the southern kingdom of Judah were assimilated by the more powerful tribe of Judah and gradually lost their identity.

Jews belonging to the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel disappeared from history after the Assyrian conquest of 721 BC and are known in legend as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.                                            

 Modern Jews thus consider themselves to be descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin or are classed as Levites to indicate an affinity with the religious functionaries who at one time exercised the priesthood in ancient Israel. 

Saul, the first of Israel’s kings, and St. Paul the Apostle were both of the tribe of Benjamin.

After the dissolution of the United Kingdom of Israel in c. 930 BCE, the tribe of Benjamin joined the Tribe of Judah as a junior partner in the Kingdom of Judah, otherwise known as the Southern Kingdom. The Davidic dynasty, which had roots in the tribe of Judah, continued to reign in the kingdom of Judah. As part of this kingdom, Benjaminites survived the destruction of Israel by the Assyrians, but was, however, subjected to Babylonian captivity. Even though after captivity had ended, the distinction between the tribes of Benjamin and Judah was lost in favour of a common identity as Israel, subsequent instances of Jews identifying by either tribe can still be found in the Bible. 

        Queen Esther's Uncle Mordecai of Shushan, Persia

In the book of Esther, for example, Mordecai is referred to as being of the tribe of Benjamin, and as late as the time of Jesus Christ, some (notably Paul the Apostle) still identified with their claimed Benjamite ancestry.

King David was from the tribe of Judah and his becoming king caused the tribe of Judah to also be a leading tribe over the others.  David's son, King Solomon, died in 920 BCE, and the Judeans too sides with his son, Rehoboam in the struggle leading to the splitting of Israel between the 10 northern tribes and the southern tribe of Judah.  Of course, they had to remain faithful to Solomon's kin this way, even though he kept the rules made by Solomon which included overly high taxation on the people in order to finish building the Temple.  The other tribes made Solomon's superintendent of workers, Jeroboam,  their king.  Then they were taken as prisoners by the Assyrians almost 200 years later  in 721 BCE.  The northern tribes became known as the Lost Tribes of Israel. 

Simeon was the 2nd son of Jacob.  Because he wanted to protect his sister, Dinah's reputation, he talked Levi to help him con the men of Shechem, kill them all, and take the women and children captives.  It was a man of Shechem who had raped Dinah. Jacob had a fit when he was told what they did, as now they all would suffer for it.  Jacob foresaw the dispersion of Simeon and Levi's descendants later on because of it.   During the reign of Hezekiah of Judah (720-692 BCE), they took possession of the Arab areas of Seir (I Chron. 4:24-43).  Some settled in the mountains of Ephraim. (II Chron. 15:29).  

Levites were to live among all 12 tribes and teach the families, so they can be found in the northern tribes as well as the southern ones.  

Resource:

Tanakh, the Stone Edition