HEBREWISM OF AFRICA PART 2
Those brothers and sisters in the Southern Sudan are Israelites, These Hebrews are still being taken captive and put into slavery in the Sudan, they are suffering the curses of Deuteronomy 28:
In another article By George E. Lichtblau entitled
"Jewish Roots in Africa", he gives a details about the Hebrews in west Africa.
"Claims of a historic presence of Jewish communities in certain regions of Africa, notably West and Southern Africa, seem esoteric when first mentioned. This presence goes back not just centuries, but even to biblical times.
Of course in two areas such a communal presence on the African continent remains a firmly acknowledged part of Jewish history and experience (North Africa and Egypt/Ethiopia). A Jewish presence in Egypt and the former Kingdom of Kush are described in the Book of Exodus. Yet even after their exodus from Egypt and their settlement in the land of Israel, the Jewish tribes retained certain nomadic characteristics which are reflected throughout their history.
For example, in the 10th and 9th centuries B.C.E. Kings David and Solomon sought to expand Jewish influence and trade throughout the Mediterranean, including North Africa, Egypt, the Arab Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, as well as Persia. Often such trade promotion and colonizing drives were arranged in cooperation with the Canaanite and the neighboring Kingdom of Tyre. These kingdoms often lent their military backing to these colonizing efforts, which led to the establishment of numerous settlements by Jewish artisans and traders throughout these regions.
But the subsequent scattering of a Jewish presence and influence reaching deep into the African continent is less widely acknowledged.
Pressed under sweeping regional conflicts, Jews settled as traders and warriors in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush and Nubia, North African Punic settlements (Carthage and Velubilis), and areas now covered by Mauritania. More emigrants followed these early Jewish settlers to Northern Africa following the Assyrian conquest of the Israelites in the 8th century B.C.E., and again 200 years later, when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, leading to the destruction of the First Temple.
This catastrophic event not only drove many Jews into exile in Babylon, but also led to the establishment of exile communities around the Mediterranean, including North Africa. Then, with Israel coming under Greek, Persian and later Roman rule and dependence, renewed waves of Jewish traders and artisans began to set up communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Nubia and the Punic Empire, notably in Carthage, whence they began to scatter into various newly emerging communities south of the Atlas mountains. Several Jewish nomadic groups also started to come across the Sahara from Nubia and the ancient kingdom of Kush.
The Jewish presence in Africa began to expand significantly in the second and third centuries of the Christian era, extending not only into the Sahara desert, but also reaching down along the West African coast, and possibly also to some Bantu tribes of Southern Africa (where some 40,000 members of the Lemba tribe still claim Jewish roots). The names of old Jewish communities south of the Atlas mountains, many of which existed well into Renaissance times, can be found in documents in synagogue archives in Cairo.
In addition, Jewish, Arab and Christian accounts cite the existence of Jewish rulers of certain tribal groups and clans identifying themselves as Jewish scattered throughout Mauritania, Senegal, the Western Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana. Among notable Arab historians referring to their existence are Ibn Khaldun, who lived in the 13th century, a respected authority on Berber history; the famous geographer al-Idrisi, born in Ceuta, Spain in the 12th century, who wrote about Jewish Negroes in the western Sudan; and the 16th century historian and traveler Leon Africanus, a Moslem from Spain who was raised by a Jewish woman working in his family's household, who is said to have taught him Hebrew and emigrated with the family to Morocco in 1492. Leon Africanus later converted to Catholicism but remained interested in Jewish communities he encountered throughout his travels in West Africa.
Some evidence can also be derived from surviving tribal traditions of some African ethnic groups, including links to biblical ancestors, names of localities, and ceremonies with affinities to Jewish ritual practices. Moreover, the writings of several modern West African historians and two personal anecdotes indicate that the memories of an influential Jewish historical past in West Africa continue to survive.
I still remember from my assignments in the 1960's as a Foreign Service Officer an encounter with Mr. Bubu Hama, then president of the National Assembly in Niger and a prolific writer on African history. He told me that the Tuaregs had a Jewish queen in early medieval times, and that some Jewish Tuareg clans had preserved their adherence to that faith, in defiance of both Islamic and Christian missionary pressure, until the 18th century. In several of his books Hama even cites some genealogies of Jewish rulers of the Tuareg and Hausa kingdoms.
A related story about surviving memories of Jewish roots in West Africa was told to me around 1976 by former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. He had just returned from a meeting of the Socialist International, during which he had met with then president Leopold Senhor of Senegal. In the course of their discussion about the possibility of normalizing Senegalese-Israeli relations, Senhor had told him that he too had Jewish ancestors. At that time we both smiled somewhat incredulously. Yet, indeed, there are a number of historical records of small Jewish kingdoms and tribal groups known as Beni Israel that were part of the Wolof and Mandinge communities.
These existed in Senegal from the early Middle Ages up to the 18th century, when they were forced to convert to Islam. Some of these claimed to be descendants of the tribe of Dan, the traditional tribe of Jewish gold and metal artisans, who are also said to have built the "Golden Calf".
Beta Yisrael - The House of Israel
In East Africa in the country of Ethiopia lived a people called Beta Yisrael which means House of Israel. These brothers and sisters claim descendant from the biblical Israelite tribe of Dan. Dan was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Beta Yisrael are black skinned as an Israelite would be. They were given the name of Falashas which means Stranger and Foreigner, Beta Yisrael is not indigenous to the country of Ethiopia , this is why they are called Stranger by the inhabitants of that land. We know from Scripture that Israelites have been in Ethiopia from at least the first century, or earlier (Acts 8:). Beta Yisrael practice of Hebrewism was close to that of the biblical Israelites then it was to Judaism.
Some believe the Ethiopian Hebrews are not true Israelites, in order to know if they are we have to use the identifying mark. We have to compare their living condition to what is written in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. In 1985 a civil war was waging in Ethiopia, which brought death and starvation. The Israeli Government decided to bring these Hebrews back to the land of Israel in what they called Operation Moses. Beta Yisrael living condition was deplorable, the Israeli government noted that if Beta Yisrael was not taken from Ethiopia they wouldn't survive as a people. In order for the Israeli's to allow Beta Yisrael in the land of Israel they had to convert to Judaism. This was forced upon them, they had no choice it was either convert or stay in Ethiopia and Die. They choice to convert to Judaism and are now called Jews. As I mention in order for us to know if they are really Israelites we have to see if they are suffering the curses. Since coming to Israel, they have been brought down very low, they are being treated in the same manner as we are in the Americas. Beta Yisrael is called Israel's "black underclass"
Here are some excerpts that detail their plite in the land of Israel.
Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Sunday, April 19th 2020 at 6:54PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
