Community Magazine October 2009

Many scholars concluded on the basis of this Midrash that in our times, as the end of the exile draws near, we must make attempts to determine the whereabouts of the ten tribes and reunite them with the rest of the Jewish nation. Some even claimed that restoring the ten tribes will bring the redemption closer. This added to the newfound interest in searching for the ten tribes that arose in the 15 th century, as many Jews, sensing that the final redemption would soon unfold, felt the urgent need to find the lost tribes. David Hareuveni In the year 1524 (5284 in the Jewish calendar), a man calling himself David Hareuveni – “David from the Tribe of Reuven” – appeared and claimed to be a messenger from the ten lost tribes. He said he lived in the desert of Havor – one of the places to which the prophets said the ten tribes were exiled – where the tribes of Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe resided. David further claimed that his father, Shlomo, was the previous ruler and was succeeded by David’s older brother, Yosef, who appointed him as a military general. He had come on a mission ordered by his brother, the king, to convince the Archbishop in Rome and the Christian kings of Eastern Europe to join forces with his Jewish army and invade the Muslim-dominated Middle East, in order to liberate the Land of Israel from Islamic rule. However, as noted by historians, David Hareuveni had no Torah knowledge, and he conducted himself in a manner which disturbed the hachamim of the time. Remarkably though, his attempts at garnering support initially met with resounding success. He managed to meet several times with the Archbishop, who sent him with letters of recommendation to the kings of Portugal and Chavash (Ethiopia) asking them to help validate the claims of “The Reuveni” (as he was referred to by many) and assist him in his mission. However, after several years of diplomatic maneuvering, David was arrested in 1532 by King Karl V of France on charges that he was causing many recent Jewish converts to Christianity to return to Judaism. The French authorities handed him over to the inquisitors in Spain, where he eventually died in prison. Generally, David’s claims about his origins and the mission he was sent to accomplish were met with considerable skepticism by Jews and gentiles alike. His support came mostly from ignorant Jews and, especially, the affluent anusim , Jews in Italy and Portugal who converted to Christianity under coercion and saw David as their potential savior. The Jerusalem Scholar’s Letter On several occasions over the last millennia, Jews living in the land of Israel dispatched messengers to distant countries such as India and Yemen for the purpose of meeting members of the ten tribes and delivering messages to them from the sages of Israel. One such emissary was Rabbi Baruch Gad, a prestigious scholar and dayan (rabbinical judge). In the year 1646 (5406 in the Jewish calendar), Rabbi Baruch returned from his mission with an extraordinary account of his encounter in the middle of a desert with a certain Rabbi Malkiel, who claimed to be from the tribe of Naftali. Rabbi Malkiel showed the letter sent by the sages of Jerusalem to all the ten tribes, and also brought back to Rabbi Baruch a letter from the leaders of the ten tribes. 28 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE