Timeline for Why are we called 'Jews'?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17, 2019 at 22:28 | comment | added | Jonathan | @RayButterworth It is possible that the Assyrians settled in Germany and brought their captives with them. There is, for example, some evidence that the Romans entered China. Perhaps it is true. We would need more DNA samples though to form an official opinion. As for Queen Victoria, it is rumored that she courted a Jewish man. Some think that Prince Harry looks like Seth Rogan. Jokes aside, it is possible that this explains why they did the rite on the 8th day. I guess we shall never know for certain, but it is thought-provoking and it makes us think. Thank you for telling me about this. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 22:02 | comment | added | Ray Butterworth | @Jonathan says "many Christians practiced this rite, and still do". True, but most don't do it specifically on the 8th day, and even fewer by a Jewish mohel. Queen Victoria is known to have believed (correctly or not) that she was a descendant of Israel's King David. Again, I'm not trying to convince anyone that it's true, only that many people believe it, and have done so for a long time, so it's not a recent pop-conspiracy theory. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 21:53 | comment | added | Ray Butterworth | @Jonathan, I'm not trying to convince anyone of the truth of this, only to let people know that the theories do exist, and they are plausible in many ways. The German city of Trier for instance claims to have been founded by Trebeta, the son of Assyrian King Ninus, long before Rome was founded. It's not unreasonable to follow the Assyrians taking the captive 10 tribes to Germany with them, and then centuries later, those Israelites (now identified as Germanic) moving further westward into Britain etc. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 20:12 | comment | added | Jonathan | Although the initiators of British Israelism were philo-semites, I think they have little evidence (Mormon claim they are the "lost ten tribes.”) On the other hand, the world is filled with Jews. Many Jews who were persecuted abandoned Judaism for Christianity. Many others converted into Judaism. Ivanka Trump converted. President Lyndon B. Johnson and President Abraham Lincoln also descended from Jews. Of course, many of them are no longer halachically Jewish, but like it or not, if the father is Jewish and not the mother, their children or even grandchildren contain "Jewish blood.” | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 20:12 | comment | added | Jonathan | @RayButterworth While these are interesting theories, they are a kind of science fiction. Angles, Saxons, as well as the Jutes were Germanic, all of these groups settled in southern Britain at one point or another. Actually, "Brit-ish" is Latin for Britannia, not the same as Brit in Old Hebrew or in Old English. Regarding circumcision, many Christians practiced this rite, and still do. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 14:15 | comment | added | Ray Butterworth | @Jonathan, England is largely populated by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes that arrived from Europe in the 5th century CE. Note the similarity between "Saxons" and "Isaac's Sons", "Jutes" and "Jews", and "Brit-ish" and Hebrew for "covenant man". The British coronation stone is believed to be Jacob's Pillow, and British royal males are circumcised on the 8th day by a Jewish Mohel. These and many other facts are perhaps coincidence, but many people do believe it. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 7:13 | comment | added | Jonathan | There are a whole bunch of theories. The truth is, we may never know what happened to the “lost ten tribe.” All we can do is hope that the messianic age comes and restores the “lost ten tribes” of Israel. G-d willing. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 7:10 | comment | added | Jonathan | @RayButterworth You are aware that the British and French people (although at the time they were not named British, etc) existed in the times of the Bible. They couldn’t be Jews in the “lost ten tribes.” The theory reminds me of the Hungarian nationalistic claim that Hungarians are Jews from ancient Persia. | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 0:52 | comment | added | user16556 | @Ray Butterworth I doubt that any son of Europe or son of Africa has any connection to the lost tribes of Israel. Iaphreth and Ham can't claim lineage to Avraham Avinu, not to mention Yaakov. But then again, my doubt is just my doubt. In the messianic era (shall it come in our lifetimes) I'm all up for surprises! =) | |
| Dec 17, 2019 at 0:44 | comment | added | Ray Butterworth | @Ilja, the Jews are the tribe of Judah and the remnant of Benjamin and some Levis. The Kingdom of Israel (separate from the Kingdom of Judea) was taken into exile by the Assyrians and never returned. There are many theories about what happened to them (e.g. Nordic Israelism - Wikipedia say that Denmark is the tribe of Dan; others say that Joseph became the British people, Reuben the French, etc.). | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 22:04 | comment | added | AKA | @Ilja Correct - if any still exist! | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 20:18 | comment | added | Micha Berger | There are other cases, like in Melakhim, where "Yehudi" is a tribal affiliation, and in Ezra (e.g. 4:12) it may mean "Jew", or it may be referring to those Israelites then in Judea. But Mordechai is neither of the tribe of Judah nor residing in the land of Judea. | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 20:13 | comment | added | user16556 | @AKA But the scattered descent from Avraham Avinu, Yitzchak and Yaakov just like us. | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 20:12 | comment | added | Micha Berger | You might want to mention sefaria.org/Esther.2.5?lang=bi , in which Mordechai is identified as being of the tribe of Benjamin, but still, a "Yehudi". Perhaps the first recorded use of "Yehudi" where it had to be meant as as a nationality rather than tribal affiliation. | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 20:00 | comment | added | AKA | @Ilja Other way round - the scattered northlings are lost. We're from the south. Exiled to Babylon, returned 70 years later, exiled again by the Romans around 2000 years ago. | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 19:44 | comment | added | user16556 | So the scattered northlings of Israel are basically us? | |
| Dec 16, 2019 at 19:41 | history | answered | AKA | CC BY-SA 4.0 |