Community Magazine May 2021

48 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE ruler and was succeeded by David’s older brother, Yosef, who appointed him 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, his attempts at garnering support initially met with resounding success. He managed tomeet 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 on 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. The letter described the vast territories and wealth possessed by the ten tribes, the peaceful life they enjoy, and their faithful observance of all the Torah’s laws. The leaders also offered consolation to their brethren, the rest of the Jews in exile, adding that Hashem does not allow them to leave their countries and assist the rest of the Jewish people until the end of days. Although there were those who doubted the authenticity of the letter, it was reprinted and circulated throughout the Jewish world, inspiring hope that we will one day be reunited with the lost tribes. The Undiscovered Country Long ago, there were vast regions, like the American continent, that were unknown to the civilized world, so the possibility of an undiscovered country was very much palatable. Today, with all the advances in science and technology, many of us may find it hard to believe that today there exists somewhere in the world an unknown place where millions of Jews from the ten tribes could reside with kings and armies. This question has been raised by many Jewish scholars and philosophers over the years. Though the discovery of a small heretofore unknown aboriginal tribe does sometimes make news in our time, the generally accepted explanation for the continued concealment of the lost tribes is far more mystical. Since the beginning of time, Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden where Adam and his wife Hava lived right after creation) and Gehinom have existed somewhere in this world, but remained hidden from our view. Similarly, the location of the ten tribes is also concealed from us specifically because Hashem wishes it to remain this way until the end of days. National Claims There are also many legends and much speculation about nations or distinct tribes from around the world which claim, or are believed to be, descended from the ten tribes. These theories are not necessarily a direct contradiction to the aforementioned accounts of the ten tribes living in a remote, unknown region. Individual groups could have splintered off from the original ten tribes and settled just about anywhere on earth. Below are a number of the theories that have surfaced concerning discrete peoples who may have descended from the lost tribes of Israel. Tribes in Afghanistan There are many who say that certain tribes in Afghanistan descend from the ten lost tribes and practiced Judaism until the Moslems conquered the area and forced them to follow Islamic law. A number of different factors appear to support this claim. For one thing, Afghanistan is situated in the area of the ancient country of Madai, which is one of the destinations to which the ten tribes were exiled according to the Prophets. Secondly, there is an established tradition conveyed by many Afghan natives and officials that they descend from the tribes of Reuven, Shimon, Gad, and Efrayim. Additionally, some of the Afghan tribes’ names – Afritim, Gadgim, Shinvarim, and Raavanim – clearly resemble the names of Efrayim, Gad, Shimon, and Reuven. Thirdly, these tribes observe customs that closely resemble Jewish practices. Rabbi Menashe Ben Yisrael