nobody in the video said they would be considered halachic jews. except for the one guy who said all he would need to be is chozer b'tshuva, as he is already a jew. but what does he know...
This is the same as the search for the 10 tribes. if you read the books on the searches, you will see very similar ideas. customs kept secretly, genetics, etc. but they did not keep jewish marriage and divorce over the years. anybody who wanted to be integrated back into the Jewish community i am sure would be required to go through geirus.
I'm not convinced, the video raises more questions than it answers. For example, they show a Sefer Thilim that the Palestinian claims to have been handed down for generations, however it is a Tanya-Tehilim handed out by Chabad at bus stops.
But certainly food-for-thought. I posted other thoughts about it here: http://betweenjerusalemandtelaviv.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-there-jewish-palestinians.html
I just saw this morning that in this weeks Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew) they have a long article on the same issue. I have not yet had a chance to read the article
Very interesting, but not all that surprising. After all, the very first Christians were Jews and thus many Christians are also descended from Jews.
After the Churban, Jews were mefuzar and ended up in all sorts of places and in all sorts of circumstances. Who knows who else we share genetic similarity with around the world?
There is also information about the Pashtuns of Pakistan having come from Jews--that's millions of people. Perhaps one day genetics will be able to prove an unbroked Jewish link through the mother, like the Kohen gene can through the father. Or, perhaps, the return of prophecy in the time of Moshiach will provide that information.
"Jewish background" doesnt help if there was one islamic woman in the link in all these generations.
ReplyDeleteIts an interesting idea, though.
How about the Taliban? How about Iranians and Iraqis? Do they also have genetics like Jews? Do they have cohanic genes?
nobody in the video said they would be considered halachic jews. except for the one guy who said all he would need to be is chozer b'tshuva, as he is already a jew. but what does he know...
ReplyDeleteThis is the same as the search for the 10 tribes. if you read the books on the searches, you will see very similar ideas. customs kept secretly, genetics, etc. but they did not keep jewish marriage and divorce over the years. anybody who wanted to be integrated back into the Jewish community i am sure would be required to go through geirus.
I'm not convinced, the video raises more questions than it answers.
ReplyDeleteFor example, they show a Sefer Thilim that the Palestinian claims to have been handed down for generations, however it is a Tanya-Tehilim handed out by Chabad at bus stops.
But certainly food-for-thought. I posted other thoughts about it here:
http://betweenjerusalemandtelaviv.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-there-jewish-palestinians.html
I just saw this morning that in this weeks Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew) they have a long article on the same issue. I have not yet had a chance to read the article
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, but not all that surprising. After all, the very first Christians were Jews and thus many Christians are also descended from Jews.
ReplyDeleteAfter the Churban, Jews were mefuzar and ended up in all sorts of places and in all sorts of circumstances. Who knows who else we share genetic similarity with around the world?
Mark
There is also information about the Pashtuns of Pakistan having come from Jews--that's millions of people. Perhaps one day genetics will be able to prove an unbroked Jewish link through the mother, like the Kohen gene can through the father. Or, perhaps, the return of prophecy in the time of Moshiach will provide that information.
ReplyDelete