Includes article "Jewish Afghans?" by Aleza Goldsmith
Contents:
1. Isaiah 60 on Midian and Ephah.
2. Article.
Believe it or not, Afghanistan used to be home to thousands of Jews
By Aleza Goldsmith.
3. 2 Enemies of Israel.
1. Isaiah 60 on Midian and Ephah.
Isaiah 60: 6 A MULTITUDE OF CAMELS SHALL COVER YOU, THE YOUNG CAMELS OF MIDIAN AND EPHAH, ALL OF THEM SHALL COME FROM SHEBA; GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE THEY SHALL CARRY, AND THE PRAISES OF THE LORD THEY SHALL REPORT.
“MIDIAN AND EPHAH; ALL THEY FROM SHEBA”
Midian and Ephah and Sheba are descended from Abraham through Keturah:
[Genesis 25:1] THEN AGAIN ABRAHAM TOOK A WIFE, AND HER NAME WAS KETURAH.
[Genesis 25:2] AND SHE BARE HIM ZIMRAN, AND JOKSHAN, AND MEDAN, AND MIDIAN, AND ISHBAK, AND SHUAH.
Notice Midian above.
[Genesis 25:3] AND JOKSHAN BEGAT SHEBA, AND DEDAN. AND THE SONS OF DEDAN WERE ASSHURIM, AND LETUSHIM, AND LEUMMIM.
Notice Sheba.
[Genesis 25:4] AND THE SONS OF MIDIAN; EPHAH, AND EPHER, AND HANOCH, AND ABIDAH, AND ELDAAH. ALL THESE WERE THE CHILDREN OF KETURAH.
Notice Ephah above.
Who are Midian and Ephah?
Indications are that they may be related tot he Afghans, see below.
Midian in Ancient times was southeast of Israel ca southern Jordan and northwest Saudia Arabia of today. The Mitanni of northern Syria were probably from Midian. They adopted an Indo-European culture and moved into Europe. Pliny (6;18) puts the Matiani in Southern Russia.
Ephah son of Midian was also in Europe.
“THE MULTITUDE OF CAMELS”, “THE DROMEDARIES” appears to be a figurative usage for transportation. The Prophets spoke in terms of their own times.
Who is Sheba?
Sheba: For Identifications of non-Israelite peoples we use our own studies and other works especially those of Craig White and also a small work “Is the Bible Racist?” (1995). There are a lot of things wrong with this last work and I disagree with perhaps most of it. The author himself has changed his mind concerning some of what he wrote. He did not want his authorship mentioned. Nevertheless it does contain invaluable information and insights of value. Maimonides said we should take the truth wherever we find it. The author connects Sheba with (amongst other possibilities) the Sabines of Italy. There is a Semitic element in Italy and they are good at producing perfumes and jewellery and similar products: “THEY SHALL BRING GOLD AND INCENSE”. Hemenway also links Sheba with the Schwabians of West Germany.
Sheba is the name of both a descendant of Ham and a descendant of Shem.
Of Ham:
[Genesis 10:7] AND THE SONS OF CUSH; SEBA, AND HAVILAH, AND SABTAH, AND RAAMAH, AND SABTECHAH: AND THE SONS OF RAAMAH; SHEBA, AND DEDAN.
Sheba is a son of Raamah son of Cush son of Ham. “Cush” can refer to Africa, Central Asia, or India. Rama (cf. Raamah father of Sheba) was an important Indian idol and Sheba has been identified by some with India. “Gold” and “incense” are also plentiful in India.
Of Shem:
[Genesis 10:25] AND UNTO EBER WERE BORN TWO SONS: THE NAME OF ONE WAS PELEG; FOR IN HIS DAYS WAS THE EARTH DIVIDED; AND HIS BROTHER'S NAME WAS JOKTAN.
[Genesis 10:26] AND JOKTAN BEGAT ALMODAD, AND SHELEPH, AND HAZARMAVETH, AND JERAH,
[Genesis 10:27] AND HADORAM, AND UZAL, AND DIKLAH,
[Genesis 10:28] AND OBAL, AND ABIMAEL, AND SHEBA,
Here Sheba is a descendant of Joktan. Joktan traditionally was the forefather of the peoples in southern Arabia, Aden, Yemen, and Oman.
Josephus Flavius says:
Antiquities 1:4
# Now Joctan, one of the sons of Heber, had these sons, Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth,
Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it. And this shall suffice concerning the sons of Shem. #
The "Cophen, an Indian river" runs by Kabul the capital of Afghanistan.
Concerning Afghanistan: The Northern Alliance temporarily gained control (with help from the USA) of Afghanistan before lising it again to the Afghan Talibam. The Northern Alliance was comprised mainly of Tajiks and Uzbeks. These are mixed peoples with Turkish, Mongolian, and Persian ancestors. In the past they were always subjected by the Pathans (Pushtuns) who consider themselves the true Afghanis.
The Talibans are comprised of Pathans and Arabs from other countries and perhaps other foreign Muslim volunteers.
It has been claimed that the Pathans are of Israelite origin. It is apparent that Israelites were formerly in the area and also that the Pathans at some stage did accept some Jewish customs. It is highly unlikely however that the Pathans have much if any Israelite blood. Genetically (Cavalli-Sforza) they are classified as belong to the same stock as the Kurds and Armenians. There is a tradition that they did come from Armenia. The Armeninans according to Jewish Readitions in the east (Iran, Iraq, etc) may in part derive from Amalek who was the son of Eliphaz son of Esau (Edom) twin brother of Jacob.
The article below points out that Jews in Afghanistan were always degraded by the Afghans and that in the Second World War massacres of Jews took place due to the influence of Nazi propaganda.
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2. Article.
Believe it or not, Afghanistan used
to be home to thousands of Jews
By Aleza Goldsmith
/Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
Jewsweek.com | While most Taliban extremists have never even seen a Jew,
Afghanistan was, not so long ago, home to a thriving Jewish community.
As recently as the beginning of the 20th century, more than 40,000 Jews actually lived there quite
peacefully, says Ken Blady, a Jewish educator, writer and lecturer on the subject of Jews in
remote areas of the world.
Yet today, says the Berkeley resident and author of "Jewish Communities in Exotic Places", there is
"not a single Jewish person left there that we know of." By the time the Taliban rose to power in
the mid 1990s, the Land of Afghanistan -- which once provided immunity for Jews from the Shiite
Muslims of Persia -- was pretty much devoid of Jews.
"Jews could be found in Afghanistan as far back as early biblical times," says Blady, a history buff who
conducted much of his research in Israel through interviews with scholars. Visiting Afghanistan
under the extremist Taliban rule would do little to shed any light, he adds.
"They may very possibly have gone there with the dispersion of the Ten Tribes of Israel in 722 BCE.
Many ended up there after the destruction of the first Temple."
Also, oftentimes, the Rabbis of the Talmudic era would banish nonconforming Jews to Afghanistan.
"It was like the Tasmania of the Jewish people. Those who rejected the Talmud or were considered misfits were sent there by the Rabbinate and the Exilarch in Babylonia."
When Genghis Khan invaded Afghanistan in the early 1200s and "totally demolished what was an
advanced country with prestigious and liberal universities," he also wiped out a large percentage
of the Jewish people there.
But they later began trickling back in, especially in the 1800s when the Shiites (in neighboring Persia) began to forcibly convert them.
"In Persia they had a choice between the sword or conversion to Islam," says Blady. "Afghanistan was
not quite as intolerant. Jews... were not allowed to be forcibly converted."
Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians, however, were to be constantly reminded of their
inferiority. They were not allowed to build a synagogue that was higher than a mosque and
they could not ride on horses, "which were reserved for higher castes."
Most Jews worked in crafts, dyeing carpets, or as peddlers, importers and exporters.
"They had a rigid place in society and were generally protected by the law. Just as you
wouldn't kick your dog, you wouldn't kick a Jew."
With the Jews' early and long connection to Afghanistan, it is not wholly surprising that British
colonists once pointed out "something unusually Jewish about Afghans," says Blady. "They wore
earlocks and shawls, and it is even claimed that they lit candles on Friday nights."
But despite this amalgamation of Jewish tradition, Blady says the claim of some Muslim Afghan tribes
that they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes is a false one.
The Pashtun people, of which the Taliban are a part, for instance, claim they were Jews who
converted to Islam under the advice of another Jewish convert to Islam, a disciple of Muhammad, during the eighth century, he says. They claim that the city of Kabul "stands for Cain and Abel" and that the name Afghanistan is derived from the grandson of King Saul of the Tribe of Benjamin, Afghana.
Blady calls this mythology. "They are Aryan, Kurdish, Iranian people, not Semitic at all," he
says. They created this mythology about themselves in order to lord it over people -- to
say, when all else was primitive and barbaric, they were already monotheistic."
Blady says this Aryan descent is partly why the Nazis tried to establish solidarity with the Afghans
during World War II.
"They began dropping leaflets from the skies to establish hatred and tension towards the Jews."
Many (Jews) were killed in massacres. Others fled to Bombay, pre-state Israel, Italy, England and
America with the help of various Jewish organizations.
The few hundreds of Jews remaining in Afghanistan [now there are none] after the war left when the Soviets invaded in 1979.
"By the time the Taliban came to power there was only one Jewish family left. Then, about two years
ago, they also managed to leave."
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