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THE JEWISH NEWS
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Friday, MarcE. 5, TM *;
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I THE TEN TRIBES LOST AGAIN
By
W
HAT became of the lost Ten Tribes of Israel?
Today we believe that when Sargon II (719
B. C. E.) deported the people of the Northern
Kingdom en masse, these Hebrews either were
completely assimilated and incorporated into the
general population of Assyria and Babylonia or of
the nations which later conquered those lands, or
identified themselves with their Judaean fellow
Hebrews.
LEE M. FRIEIDIVIAN
EDITOR'S NOTE:—This interesting feature
article is reprinted from Mr. Friedman's latest
book, "Jewish Pioneers and Patriots," by special
arrangement with the Jewish Publication
Society of America, publishers of the book.
To further that end, Menasseh ben Israel wrote
Spanish pamphlet which, in the same year, wait
translated into Latin and published under the titled
of Spes Israelis.
:
The Latin edition was addressed "To the Par-
liament, the Supreme Court of England." Then
it was translated into English and became that
landmark of Anglo-Jewish history published in
London, in 1650, entitled:
This was not always the general belief. When
the reading of the Bible was a daily requirement
for serious Christians, the assurance of the words
of prophecy was accepted literally. It was then
the unquestioned belief that at the appointed time
the Jews would be called from the ends of the
earth to be converted.
The Hope of Israel:
Written By Menasseh Ben Israel,
an Hebrew Divine, and Philosopher.
Newly extant, and Printed in
Amsterdam, and Dedicated by the
Author to the High Court, the
Parliament of England, and to the
Councell of State.
Translated into English, and
published by Authority.
In this treatise is shewed the place where the feu
Tribes at this present are, proved, partly by
the strange relation of one Antony Monte-
zinus, a Jew, of what befell him as he tra-
velled over the Mountaines Cordillaere, with
divers other particulars about the 'restoration of
the Jews, and the time when,
Printed in London by R. I. for Hannah Allen
at the Crown in Popeshead
Alley, 1,650.
It was inherent, therefore, in the logic of the
situation that these 10 lost tribes must somehow
have escaped from Assyria and, in the meantime,
be hidden away somewhere awaiting this calling
of the Lord. But where?
Favorite Mystery Story
This puzzle was long the favorite mystery-story
of Christendom. Fascinating solutions had a sure-
fire popular appeal. To find the answer, the public
eagerly swallowed many a traveller's tale or even
waded through ponderous theologians' discourses
to have their imaginations stirred by the discovery
of the lost tribes in distant lands amongst strange
peoples.
\
Appeal to Puritan Hopes
It is a subtle appeal to the Puritan hopes for
the Millennium. The letter from Menasseh ben
Israel to Dury, quoted in Thorowgood, is a fair
summary of the tract:
It was evident that they were more interested
in these missing Jews than in Jews close at hand.
In 1650, John Eliot, a young minister, was
preaching the gospel to the Indians in a small
settlement south of Boston, Mass., known as Rox-
bury. In order to get the English public interested
in providing funds for the support of these mis-
sionary labors, the Reverend Thomas Thorowgood
of Norfolk, England, in that year published a book
entitled, Jews in America, or Probabilities that the
Americans are of that Race. With the removal of
seine contrary reasoning, and earnest desires for
effectual endeavors to make them Christians.
Indians Identified as Jews
It proved that, at long last, the lost 10 tribes had
been found in America. By sure proof the Indian
redskins were, identified as Jews. This --was not
an original discovery.
As early as 1585, Father Duran, in a history- of
New Spain, basing his conclusions upon a fancied
resemblance between the religious rites of Jews
and American Indians, wrote: "My opinion and
srmposition is confirmed that these natives are
of the Ten Tribes of Israel that Salmanasser, King
of Assyrians, made prisoners and carried to Assyria
in the time of Hoshea, King of Israel." (Quoted
from The Lost Tribes a Myth, A. H. Godbey, Dur-
ham, 1930, p. 2) The Thorowgood book, however,
as if disclosing a new discovery, won the formal
approval and license of the official censor.
Septem. 4, 1649
I have perused this learned and pious dis-
cou•se concerning Americans, and thinking
that it will much conduce to that most Chris-
tian worke of their conversion to the faith of
the Lord Jesus Christ, I doe approve it as very
worthy to be printed and published
•
.
John Downame..
Turn to the Old Testament
By 1650 Charles I had been beheaded and the
Puritan hierarchy had taken control of the English
government. Englishmen's thoughts had turned
back again to the Old Testament and their interest
in Jews had been reawakened—an interest not
merely in the Old -Testament 'Jews but in living
Jews.
Taking literally the promise that the Millennium
would come when the Jews shall have
been dispersed to all the ends of the
earth and "called" (converted), the
Puritans looked for that happy time
as very near at hand, possibly an event
to occur within the lifetime of those
then living. -So this was a timely book
on a live topic, this finding and
identification of the 10 lost tribes of
Israel in another end of the world! •
It was a further strange confirmation.
of the truth of prophecy, and an
assurance that the Millennium was
really closer at hand than had ever
before appeared.
'1 declare how that our Israelites were the
finders out of America; not regarding
the opinions of other men, which I thought
good to refute in few words onely; and I
thinke that the ten Tribes live not onely there,
but also in other lands scattered every where;
these never did come backe to the second
Temple, & they keep till this day still the
Jewish Religion, seeing all the Prophecies
which speake of their bringing backe unto
their native soile must be fulfilled; So then at
their appointed time, all the Tribes shall meet
from all the parts of the world into two pro-
vinces, namely Assyria and Egypt, nor shall
their kingdome be any more divided, but they
shall have one Prince the Messiah the Sonne
of David.
Title Page of L'Estrange's "Americans No Jews"
prove its contentions by citations and interpreta-
tions of holy text. That was considered stronger
proof than any presentation of actual personal
observations identifying the customs and traits of
the Indians with those of the Jews. To the present-
day reader, trained in thinking based on scientific
investigation, this presentation is naturally wholly
unconvincing.
Shema-Reciting Savages
As an adjunct to his. work, Reverend Thorow
good added "An Epistolicall Discourse of Mr. John
Dury to Mr. Thorowgood. Concerning his con-
jecture that the Americans are descended from the
Israelites. With the History of a Portugal Jew An-
tonie Monterinos, attested by Manasseh Ben Israel,
to the same effect."
"I do also set forth the Inquisition of Spaine,
and rehearse diners of our Nation, & also of
Christians, Martyrs, who in our times have
suffered seuerall sorts of torments, & then
having shewed with what great honours our
Jews have been graced also by several Princes
who professe Christianity, I prone at large,
that the day of the promised Messiah fent° us
cloth draw neer, -upon which occasion 1 ex-
plaine many Prophecies."
There was appended a translation of an affi-
davit from which it appeared that this Mr. Mon-
terinos or more correctly Antonio de Montezinos,
is just plain Aron Levi. He has a long and com-
plicated story to tell. Boiled down, what Aron Levi
says is that, while traveling in South America, he
met a race of savages who recited the Shema, prac-
ticed Jewish ceremonies and claimed to be of the
tribe of Reuben.
Of course no party in a controversial religious
field has it all to itself. So, no sooner was Thorow-
good's book well launched on its way to popularity,
than the opposition made itself heard. Sir Hamon
L'Estrange, a well-known theologian, was the first
of the opposition to join issue. In 1652 he pub-
lished Americans No Jewes, or Improbabilities that
the Americans are of that Race. With many Latin
quotations,• and on the authority of many and
various authors and by a showing of chapter and
verse from Holy Script, he demonstrates, to his
own entire satisfaction, that the Americans are just
simple Indians and never Jews at all.
This proved a good start; and the heat of the
controversy only confirmed all contestants in their
preconceived opinions.
He had appeared before the authorities of the
Amsterdam synagogue; and the author submitted
the attestation of Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel that
"the author Monterinos is a vertous man, and sepa-
rate from all manner of worldly interests & that
hee swore in my presence that all that which he
declared was the truth."
Menasseh ben Israel's Appeal
The interest aroused in England by Thorow-
good's book evidently suggested the idea to Rabbi
Menasseh ben Israel that this theory of the Indians
being Jews could be made use of for the benefit
of real Jews. For some time the Amsterdam Jewish
merchants had hoped to be able to bring about
the repeal of the ban against the admission of
Jews to England which had existed since 1290.
Eliot's "Learned Conjectures"
N ext Week's Feature:
The book is a typical seventeenth
Century religious polemic seeking to
• The Jewish News will publish an exclusive article on
"DAYS IN RUMANIA," by Boris Smolar, editor of the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, in next week's issue. Mr. Smolar's
experiences in Rumania are of particular interest at this
time, in view of the latest hoax from that country about the
transportation of 70,000 Jews from Trans-Dniestria into
Palestine.
Q. )
tott4t
In the meantime events marched forward and
by the year 1660 the Stuart dynasty was restored
to the English throne and His Majesty, Charles II,
reigned. In that year, Thorowgood
decided to publish a new edition of
his book. Instead of merely republish-
ing, he entirely rewrote it. He even
changed the dedication. This time it
was addressed "To the King`s Most
Excellent Majesty" and a certificate
from witnesses appended to show that
the 1650 edition was originally to have
been so dedicated, had not God at
that time permitted violence to pros-
per. This new tract was entitled
• 1 • 1 • •
Jews in America,
or
Probabilities, that those Indians
were Judaical, made more probable
(Continued on Page 16) .