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Are the adherents of 'Hebrew Israelites' church Jews from the 'mainstream' point of view and why (why yes or why not)? I have found mixed information on the topic.

Also some of them seek conversion, some migrated to Jerusalem (??? it is real - how and why?) and some oppose 'mainstream' Jewish decominations and hold they are the true Hebrews but are not recognized by other groups.

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I don't know this group. Do you have a link with information you consider reliable about them? – Monica Cellio Sep 4 '12 at 2:35
@MonicaCellio: not really, there is a Wikipedia article but it does not dig into relation to the mainstream: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hebrew_Israelites . I know there are black Jews, who can also show Middle Eastern origins of themselves like beta Israel, but this is different. Their Christianity is also unclear to me because they hold Jesus was not a demi-G-d or a G-d but a prophet. Strange. Some of the subgroups of them according to Wiki have moved to Israel. – MichaelS Sep 4 '12 at 12:40

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up vote 3 down vote accepted

From what I gather (from here and elsewhere), the group is a Christian group which accepts Jesus as a messianic figure and which considers itself to be the only valid set of descendants from the ancient tribal sons of Jacob. They have no connection to Judaism that modern Judaism would accept (without matrilineal descent or an approved process of conversion) and claim that the proof of their connection is that black people found world-wide suffer the curses in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, and this defines who is a proper "Israelite". They deny, then that modern Judaism has anything to do with who Israelites are or that anyone else who isn't black can claim any connection.

Because they lack any actual familial tradition of connection, and do not practice Judaism, they are not accepted as Jews.

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