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Could one of the Lost Tribes have found its way to the East? FL-,

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR

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0: For a long time, I have been in-
trigued by the Beilis case, the
"blood libel" incident in Czarist Rus-
sia. It began in 1011 when a 12-year-
old boy was discovered murdered in
a cave outside Kiev. Despite the fact
that the chief of Kiev's police de-
partment declared that the boy had
died at the hands of a band of lo-
cal crooks, rumors persisted that
the Jews had in fact been responsi-
ble for the murder, allegedly be-
cause they "needed blood for
Passover matzah." One Jew,
Mendel Beilis, was singled
out and even brought to tri-

Q: Because I keep kosher, I
Q: I seem to remember hearing
don't eat lobster. A friend sug- rumors that the Japanese are ac-
gested I try dining on monkfish be- tually descendants of one of the
cause it is supposed to taste just Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. Is there
like lobster. I know not all fish are any truth to this notion, and how
kosher, though, and I never heard did it get started, anyway?
A: Certainly one of the most
of monkfish. What is it, and can I
amazing facts of history is that
eat it?
A: The monkfish (squatina virtually every nation, every

squatina) gets its name from ethnic group, every religion,
its large, wing-like pectoral fins every collection of oddballs on
that look like a monk's hood. the planet claims to know for
It is, in fact, a type of shark, certain that they are the "real"
descendants of the Lost Tribes.
and so is treife.
Interestingly enough,
AP BY JEROME DELAY
there is a way to trace
the claim regarding the
Japanese. It goes back to
al.
the mid-1800s, when au-
thor N. McLeod wrote a
Beilis eventually was
book called Epitome of
found innocent, of course,
the Ancient History of
but it's difficult to believe
Japan. Published in
these things actually hap-
Tokyo, the book suggest-
pened in the 20th century.
ed a connection between
the first king of Japan,
One of the most interest-
Osee, who ruled around
ing aspects of the case was
730 B.C.E, and the last
a petition on behalf of Beilis,
king of Israel, Hoshea,
drafted by Christians in the
who died in 722 B.C.E.
United States and mailed to
Nonetheless, unusual
coincidences do exist be-
the Russian czar. Can you tell
tween Japanese culture
me a little more about that?
and the Jewish religion.
A: It is indeed a re-
For
example, Japan is
markable document,
home to two villages
copies of which are still
called Goshen and Man-
contained in the archives
asseh, whose obviously
of the American Jewish
un-Japanese names
Committee.
have never been ex-
Signed by leading
plained.
Deepening the
Christian clergy of every During a recent visit to the Middle East, Japanese Prime
mystery: How did a
denomination, the peti- Minist er Romiichi
Muraya, flanked by two Japanese
tion was sent to Nicholas school girls, lays a wreath at Yad Vashem. Could they be structure called David's
Shrine come to be near-
II and reads, in part, 'We family
by,
and what of the an-
are convinced that the
cient well, in Usumasa,
blood accusation against the
The Torah, in Parshat Japan, inscribed with the word
Jews, which has been made spo-
radically, is ... unfounded." It cit- Shemini (Leviticus 11:9), and "Israel"?
Some scholars also note sim-
ed declarations by four popes, Parshat Re'ey (Deuteronomy
and even by Russian leaders in- 14:9), specifies that only those ilarities between one of Japan's
cluding Alexander I, which de- fish that have both fins and most fascinating sects, the
Samurai, and ancient Israel.
nounced "blood libel" charges scales may be used as food.
The
first is the name itself,
Although
the
monkfish
has
and called the suggestion that
Jews use blood for matzah "a fins and scales, the scales are Samurai, which they say
baseless and wicked invention." not the kind that qualify as harkens back to Samaria.
The Americans were not ko-sher: .A -kosher fish- h-as-cy- Others are the Samurai tradi-
alone in their appeal. The first cloid or ctenoid scales — cir- tion of a ceremony marking the
such protest was held in 1912 in cular and hinge-like that can "redemption of the firstborn"
England, followed by similar be raised and scraped, leaving and the group's extensive use
demonstrations throughout Eu- the skin intact. The monkfish of the Magen David, or Star of
and other sharks have placoid David.
rope.
You may be wondering what- scales — hard and tooth-like
ever happened to Mendel Beilis. that pull off bits of skin when Send questions to Tell Me Why,
After the trial, he lived for a scraped.
The Jewish News, 27676
In some places, the monk- Franklin
time in Jaffa, Palestine, then im-
Road, Southfield, MI
migrated to the United States. fish is called angelfish. There 48034, or fax to (810) 354-6069.
He spent the rest of his life in are other fish of the family All letters must be signed and in-
New York, expressly living a Chaetodontidae that also are clude the writer's address. Ques-
quiet life and working in a print known as angelfish and are tions answered in the column will
shop and as an insurance agent. perfectly kosher. Seafood feature only the writer's initials
lovers, beware.
He died in 1934.
and city of residence.

G—<

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