We know that all 12 tribes of Israel (The tribe of Benjamin and Judah plus the 10 lost tribes) were given the Torah at Mount Sinai. And we know that since the destruction of the first temple all tribes were scattered throughout the world. So It would be safe to assume that today there are hundreds of millions of modern day Israelites (not part of Judah but part of the other lost tribes of Israel) that are descended from at least one of these tribes and don't even know it. Therefore, would anyone descended from one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel still be obligated to keep the 613 mitzvot to this day? (barring the fact that its not possible for all commandments to be kept at this time)
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wouldn't this apply en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinok_shenishba– rosendsCommented Feb 8 at 19:14
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1@rosends unless they are hiding in a cave somewhere, then the answer is not even that. They aren't Jewish anymore, it's been too long, they have fully assimilated. Miguel, if a person doesn't have an unbroken chain of mothers and mother's mothers, all the way back to Sinai, one isn't Jewish I am afraid.– Rabbi KaiiCommented Feb 8 at 19:54
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1This question also mentions that the tribes were scattered at the destruction of the temple, but that's not true. They were scattered around 722 BCE, during the time of the First Temple– Rabbi KaiiCommented Feb 8 at 19:58
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@RabbiKaii According to Jewish law, the religion is passed down through the mother, so if a Jewish woman marries a non-Jewish man, she is still Jewish, and so are her children.– MiguelCommented Feb 8 at 20:36
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1@RabbiKaii In Sanhedrin 110b, there's a 3 way dispute: Rabbi Akiva holds that the ten tribes are not coming back; Rabbi Eliezer holds that they are; and Rabbi Shimon says that it depends on whether they repent. Extrapolating from this, all the opnions hold that somehow the ten lost tribes have remained jewish. Otherwise what would the argument be for gentiles to return?– ShababnikCommented Feb 8 at 21:36
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