COMMUNITY MAGAZINE April 2021

50 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE The Israelite nation that left Egypt and stood at Mount Sinai, becoming Gd’s Chosen Nation, consisted of thirteen tribes. Today, however, the Jewish Nation as we know it consists of only three tribes. What happened to the other ten tribes, and will we be reunited with our lost brethren at the time of Mashiah? Each of the thirteen tribes descends from our forefather Yaakov. Eleven were named after his sons and two were named after his grandsons, the children of Yosef. The tribes lived together for several centuries in the land of Israel, separating into separate kingdoms after the passing of King Solomon. However, in the Hebrew year 3205 (555 BCE), the unrepentant Northern Kingdom of Israel, which consisted of ten of the tribes ruled by the King Hoshea, was invaded and captured by the mighty Assyrian Empire led by the king Sanherev 1 . The entire Northern Kingdomwas exiled to an unknown, distant land. Ever since this calamity, the Jewish nation fromwhich we descend is assumed to consist only of the tribes Yehuda, Binyamin, and Levi. Indeed, after the fall of the Northern Kingdom the Scriptures refer to the Jewish Nation as “ Yehudim ,” or “Judeans,” because they are mainly from the tribe of Yehuda. 2 Throughout Megilat Esther , for example, the Jews are called “ Yehudim .” A Three-Pronged Exile The exile of the ten tribes occurred in three distinct stages over a period of approximately twenty years. The first to be exiled were the tribes of Zevulun and Naftali, in the Hebrew year 3187 (573 BCE), during the rule of the Israelite king Pekach. Eight years later (3195/565 BCE), the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and half of Menashe were driven into exile, during the rule of King Hoshea. The final stage occurred in 3205 (555 BCE), when Shomron, the Northern Kingdom’s capital city, was conquered, at which point all those remaining from the ten tribes were captured and exiled. 3 The Assyrians attempted to capture the Southern Kingdom of Yehuda and Binyamin as well, eight years later, during the reign of the righteous Judean King Hizkiyahu. They succeeded in conquering the majority of the kingdom, but when the Assyrian troops reached the capital city of Jerusalem, where the Bet Hamikdash stood, an angel sent by Hashem destroyed their army overnight. 4 To Where Were They Exiled? The book of Melachim II (17:6) relates that the Assyrian Empire exiled the ten tribes to the countries of Halach and Havor along the river of Gozen, and in the cities of Madai. The Midrash 5 explains that in each of the three stages of exile, the captives were brought to a different, more distant region. The ten tribes were scattered to such an extent, the Midrash comments, that the distance separating the different groups among the ten tribes is the same as the distance that separates the land of Israel and the river of Gozen. The Midrash adds that the third and final group of exiled tribes was driven to a remote location beyond “the mountains of darkness.” A different Midrash 6 tells how many members of the ten tribes sincerely repented on their way to exile, and Hashem, accepting their teshuva , sent them a heavenly cloud which lifted them to a magnificent country behind the great seas of ice. These penitent Jews live in that unknown country and will return to us at the time of Mashiah. The River Sambatyon The commentaries 7 identify the river Gozen (literally, “the throwing river”) as Sambatyon, the churning river which throws sand and boulders all week long, resting only on Shabbat. The name Sambatyon stems from the root “Sabbat” (Shabbat) and thus alludes to its resting on Shabbat. The Talmud 8 relates that the Roman governor Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva for proof of the sanctity of the Sabbath, and Rabbi Akiva noted that the river Sambatyon proves the status of the seventh day as the world’s day of rest. There is also a documented story of a person who took a bottle of sand from the river Sambatyon, and throughout the week it would churn inside the bottle, settling only on Shabbat 9 . A number of sources comment that the river actually begins its rest on Friday afternoon, two hours before sundown, in accordance with the requirement of tosefet Shabbat (adding onto Shabbat) 10 . Some sources 11 also note that no water flows in the Sambatyon during the week, as it consists entirely of sand and rocks churning like thewaves of the sea. It is only on Shabbat that water flows in the river. Travelers who have seen the river testified that the churning noise is louder than thunder, and could be heard as far as two days’ walking distance away! 12 The ten tribes were driven across this river, where they have remained trapped ever since. They cannot cross during the week because of the rocks, and of course not on Shabbat because Jewish law prohibits swimming and boating on Shabbat. Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Part VIII R’ ELIYAHU CHAIM ABOUD