Posted on 03/14/2005 6:53:09 PM PST by blam
T h e
L e m b a
The Black Jews of Southern Africa
Historical Introduction
Over 2,700 years ago, the Assyrians exiled the ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel. "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and he carried them away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of Medes." In the years 722-721 BC (over 2700 years ago), the Ten Tribes who comprised the northern Kingdom of Israel disappeared. Conquered by the Assyrian King Shalmaneser V, they were exiled to upper Mesopotamia and Medes, today modern Syria and Iraq. The Ten Tribes of Israel have never been seen since. Or have they?
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Tudor Parfitt, the protagonist of the NOVA documentary "Lost Tribes of Israel," made a journey through southern Africa to study the unusual traditions of a black African tribe called the Lemba. This Bantu-speaking group claimed Jewish ancestry and observed many Semitic traditions such as kosher-like dietary restrictions and slaughter practices, male circumcision rites, strict rules against intermarriage, and Semitic-sounding clan names.
Once described as "a sort of British Indiana Jones," Parfitt spent many months with the Lemba, meeting their tribal and religious leaders and observing some of their most sacred rituals. He came to the conclusion that the origin of many of the Lemba traditions was indeed Semitic, not African. But whether these traditions came from Islamic or Jewish sources was impossible to discern from the historical and anthropological evidence available. It would take Y-chromosome studies to delve deeper into this question of origin.
A few years after his travels, Parfitt teamed up with a group from The Center for Genetic Anthropology at University College London to look for a genetic counterpart to the Lemba's oral tradition of Jewish descent. Using a relatively new technique in genetic studies, the team identified a particular series of genetic markers on the Y chromosome of Lemba males. They then compared these markers to other groups with whom the Lemba might have shared a common ancestor long ago.
The team collected DNA samples from Bantu (African), Yemeni (Arab), and Sephardic Jews and Azhkenazi Jews (including Cohanim from both communities) to compare the amount of similarity that existed between each of these groups. As we've seen, the more similar the Y chromosome, the more closely related are some individuals in the different groups to a common paternal ancestor. As a consequence, one can establish links between populations.
In an interview with NOVA, team member Dr. David Goldstein commented on the team's findings: "The first striking thing about the Y chromosomes of the Lemba is that you find this particular chromosomal type (Cohen modal haplotype) that is characteristic of the Jewish priesthood in a frequency that is similar to what you see in major Jewish populations. Something just under one out of every 10 Lemba that we looked at had this particular Y chromosomal type that appears to be a signature of Jewish ancestry. Perhaps even more striking is the fact that this Cohen genetic signature is strongly associated with a particular clan in the Lemba. Most of the Cohen modal haplotypes that we observe are carried by individuals of the Buba clan which, in Lemba oral tradition, had a leadership role in bringing the Lemba out of Israel."
What this study shows is that the Lemba, and more specifically some members of the Buba sub-clan, seem to have an ancestral connection to Judaic populations. Like an oral history, but written in the letters of their DNA, the Lemba Y chromosome hands from father to son a living record of the past.
The Journeys of Tudor Parfitt in discovering the Lemba's origin
Lembas believe their ancestors built the ancient city, Great Zimbabwe
B L A C K B L O O D I N I S R A E L?
* Genesis 12:16 – Not only Hagar, but many of Abraham’s servants were gifts from Pharaoh and in this period it is fairly likely that many were Nubians. (approx. 1921 BC) * Genesis 13: 6-8 – Abraham had a large number of herdsmen and 318 male servants who were born into his house. * Genesis 25 – Isaac, Abraham’s son and then Jacob inherited everything. * Genesis41:50 – Joseph fathered two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, by an Egyptian wife, automatically making Israel nearly 10 percent Egyptian. Joshua was from one of these half-African tribes, Ephraim; in later years this tribe became so dominant that the northern tribes of Israel were sometimes simply called “Ephraim”. When the Israelites were subjected to slavery under the Egyptians, they and their former servants were now all defined as Israel together; this means that much intermarriage must have taken place.
* Exodus 12:38 – After 400 years, a “mixed multitude” left Egypt during the Exodus.
That explains why he was a communist.
I did not know that Yaphet was a communist, although I knew he was a lib.
I saw that as well, and it was very interesting. I did notice in a sidebar remark by the host that tourism, which used to be the core of the Zimbabwean economy, has dried up almost completely.
I was rather impressed by the moves that Mugabe made initially to bring together elements of Shona and Matabele, which have been warring off an on for centuries. What has happened in the recent past, with the slaughter of whites (who were assured protection by Mugabe), the resulting land grabs, mass starvation along political and tribal lines, 35% HIV postive rate, etc., has led to a Rwanda-in-the-making. For those interested, here's a somewhat dated article with a straightforward perspective on Zimbabwe:
http://www.etherzone.com/2002/lamp121702.shtml
He may not formally be a commie, but like Jane Fonda, has supported every communist cause that has come down the pike, more leftist than even your average Hollywood moonbat.
Thanks. I watched that program last night. I was going to do some research on the net on this topic today. I guess you did it for me. :)
What expains it?
I like Digging for the Truth on the History Channel too. That Josh is a cutie! ;)
Are you trying to say that all Jews are traitors? Wanna back that up?
The leaders of the communist movement in prewar US, and the majority of the red diaper babies in the 20s-40s were Jewish immigrants, most of them Eastern European. For a black American to get in with that crowd, as Yaphet was, it becomes understandable that his mother was Jewish. Dig a little bit, and I bet you will find that his mother was an activist, and that young Yaphet was indoctrinated at an early age.
Well, I guess we can also smear all Christians as some of them claimed to be Christian as well, right?
Over the course of history, a small percentage of Jews became out and out communists. That does not mean that Jews were not paramount in the movement, because the Communist party never had a large number of adherents in the US--just powerful ones. It just means that idealistic and somewhat alienated immigrants from a tradition and culture that was more collectivist and urban were more prone to identify with an ideology that had as its aim the replacement of American democracy with something else. I don't condemn them too much for their views, it developed out of a naive brand of concern for the social welfare that was admirable. However, once the crimes of Stalin became known, you could not excuse those who identified with the communists. By the late 1930s, communists were no longer idealists, but wannabe tyrants, people who wanted to tear down the US and run it themselves as a dictatorship.
In any event, Christians bought into it, too, but in percentage terms, Jews were much more likely to be involved in communist politics, and a much higher percent of the Communist movement than other ethnic groups.
Thanks for the explanation. At first glance, it appeared that your comment was saying Jewish=Communist.
bttt
mark to read later, missed it last night
I saw this last night and found it fascinating.
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