Ten Tribes Studies (11 December, 2014, 19 Kislev, 5775)
Contents:
1. New Article. House of Israel
Terminology. When did this term apply ONLY to the Ten Tribes and When Not?
2. Rabbi Abraham Greenbaum Acknowledges Brit-Am Influences on his own Teachings
3. Recent Van Leer Conference with Some Pertinence to Ten Tribes Studies
4. Yair as an Orthodox Jews or as Ephraim Returning?
5. Proverbs 21: 10-12 Use Your Intelligence to Avoid Evildoers
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1. New Article. House of Israel
Terminology. When did this term apply ONLY to the Ten Tribes and When Not?
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/hoi.html
Contents:
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The Early Bible and the Book of Kings
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1. Introduction. Use of the Terms
2. House of Israel as the Ten Tribes
3. 1-Kings 20:31 "kings of the house of Israel" i.e. of the Ten Tribes.
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The Prophet Isaiah
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4. Judah and House of Israel as separate entities.
5. The House of Israel as Judah?
6. House of Jacob and all the remnant of the house of Israel as Judah!
7. Yehudah named Israel (Isaiah 48:1) .  House of Jacob identified as Judah.
8. The Tribes of Jacob as the Ten Tribes?
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The Prophet Jeremiah
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9. House of Israel juxtaposed to the House of Jacob as (a) Ten Tribes versus Judah (Jeremiah 2:4) and (b) as Judah Only (Micah 3:9)!
10. House of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel meaning Judah and the Ten Tribes
11. House of Israel and Judah meaning the Ten Tribes and Judah
12. House of Judah juxtaposed to the House of Israel
13. House of Israel Possibly as Judah
14. House of Israel, Jacob, and Israel probably as primarily the Ten Tribes
15. The House of Israel and the House of Judah as Both Judah and the Ten Tribes in the End Times
16. Israel and the House of Judah as Judah
17. The whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah as primarily Judah.
18. House of Israel as primarily Judah.
19. House of Israel as the Ten Tribes
20. Everything Together in Jeremiah 31
21. The House of Israel and the House of Judah as the Ten Tribes and Judah
22. Different Combinations in Jeremiah 50!
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The Prophet Ezekiel
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23. Israel in Ezekiel
Separate Entities in Prophecy. The Name Israel and its Application
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The Prophet Hosea
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24. House of Israel as the Ten Tribes
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The Prophet Amos
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25. House of Israel as the Ten Tribes Going Into Exile
26. House of Israel as Both the Ten Tribes and Judah
27. House of Israel as the Ten Tribes before the Exile
28. House of Isaac as the Ten Tribes
29. House of Jacob as Either the Ten Tribes or Judah?
30. House of Jacob and House of Israel as Judah
Extract:
 Conclusion
The term House of Israel and similar titles can mean both the Ten Tribes and Judah. It may also be applied to the Ten Tribes alone. In addition it is sometimes used for descendants of the Kingdom of Judah who also included a minority representation from the other tribes. It all depends on the context and on the prophet in question. Ezekiel, for instance, applies the words almost solely to Judah except where he expressly says otherwise in speaking of both Judah and the Ten Tribes. The term is used often. In the other prophets, apart from Ezekiel, it means Judah almost half the time. The combination "House of Judah and House of Israel" and the like is usually applied to the Jews and the Ten Tribes together. Even here however we found instances where it meant mainly Judah (e.g. Jeremiah 13:11 cf. Micah 3:9).
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 2. Rabbi Abraham Greenbaum Acknowledges Brit-Am Influences on his own Teachings
We discussed Rabbi Greenbaum in the past.
EF-129
Ephraimite Forum
http://britam.org/EF/EF129.html
1. Rav Avraham Greenbaum- 'Ephraim, Where are you?'Â Brit-Am Description and Commentary.
Rabbi Greenbaum has a few clips about Ephraim and Ephraimites though he does not (as far as we saw) relate directly to the Ten Tribes being in the west, but see below.
Ephraim, where are you? Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JxYi6JJlrU
Ephraim, where are you? Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hP5rDWgmWA
Israel Among the nations.
https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbigreenbaum
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL90D21808287E9535
Rabbi Greenbaum belongs to the Bratslaver school of Hasidic Judaism. His clips have been relatively succesful.
We heard from a reliable source that he openly admits that he was opened up to the subject of the Ten Tribes by reading our books especially The Tribes.
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3. Recent Van Leer Conference with Some Pertinence to Ten Tribes Studies
Noted non-Jewish researcher of the Jewish Diaspora, Tudor Parfitt, purchased our works in the past. Other rabbis, researchers, and people of note over the years have done the same. And that is what we know of. So far we have seen little evidence of we having influenced these people but one never knows. See the case of Rabbi Greenbaum above. We mentioned Tudor Parfitt because he was one of the guest speakers of a recently held conference. We were not aware of this conference at the time and it probably would not have meant much to us if we had have been. Obadiah Avrahami of Kol HaTor has just brought our attention to it. The conference was held at the Van Leer facilities which as we remember are quite impressive. The Van Leer institute has a reputation for hosting meetings with prestigious speakers of liberal, sometimes a left-wing, orientation. They, consciously or not, seem to have an agenda of their own.
The clip below features a series of Talks about peoples in Africa and Asia who think or were thought to belong to Israel, and other matters.
It includes a few references to beliefs about the Ten Tribes .
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Converts, Returnees, and Adherents: New Ways of Joining the Jewish People
http://www.vanleer.org.il/en/event/converts-returnees-and-adherents-new-ways-joining-jewish-people
Duration: 1.08.46 minutes
# In recent decades we have witnessed a new global phenomenon: Tens of thousands of individuals have chosen to become part of the Jewish people, most of them not through religious conversion of any kind. Some children of intermarried families in the United States are adopting the Jewish way of life of their families; in Eastern Europe, individuals of Jewish descent are returning to the roots they have hidden since World War II; in Asia there are groups that see themselves as the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes and are seeking a path to Judaism; in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, thousands now openly express the formerly hidden traditions of families that were forced to convert to Catholicism (anusim); in Israel, immigrants who are not halakhic Jews are becoming part of Jewish society and gradually becoming Israeli Jews. This phenomenon marks a fascinating change in the history of the Jewish people. For thousands of years people who were not Jews had no interest in becoming part of the Jewish people, whereas since the end of the twentieth century the trend toward joining has increased. The aim of this research workshop is to examine the phenomenon in both global and local contexts. #
One of the speakers quoted a statistic that if it were not for the Holocaust there would now be 32 million Jews instead of only 13 million.
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4. Yair as an Orthodox Jew or as Ephraim Returning?
People sometimes speak of Yair as an Orthodox Jew who believes in the Lost Ten Tribes.
There was a politician who said, "I do not care what you write about me only please spell my name correctly".
Recently S wrote to us:
... Yair, it would be a great privilege to me for us to work together in a spirit of brotherhood, with you in a metaphorical way representing the stick of Judah, whereas I in the same way, represent the stick of Ephraim.
To which we replied:
You are welcome to see matters as you do.
This reminds me of Bob Hawke. Bob Hawke was an Australian PM and I thought a reasonably good one. He also held a Guinness record for having once drank a quantity of beer in less time than anyone else in the world. I once told this to someone from Britain who asked if that was his only claim to fame.
I happen to be an Orthodox Jew by religion but in my mind I also represent Ephraim Returning to where he should have been.
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5. Proverbs 21: 10-12 Use Your Intelligence to Avoid Evildoers
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/proverbs/proverbs21.html
10 The souls of the wicked desire evil;
  their neighbours find no mercy in their eyes.
Bad people want bad things. Even the friends of an evil person become his victims. The evil man despises those closest to him.
11 When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wiser;
  when the wise are instructed, they increase in knowledge.
This is why Capital Punishment and punishment in general is efficacious. It warns others. Those who liable to go in the same way see what happens and take heed.
The hebrew word translated here as "are instructed" is "MaSKiL" from the root "SaKeL" . This connotes understanding, instruction, skill. It is probably the root of the English word "skill".
The "Online Etymological Dictionary" tells us:
skill (n.)
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=skill
late 12c., "power of discernment," from Old Norse skil "distinction, ability to make out, discernment, adjustment," related to skilja (v.) "to separate; discern, understand,"... (cognates: Swedish skal "reason," Danish skjel "a separation, boundary, limit," Middle Low German schillen "to differ," Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schele "separation, discrimination;" see shell (n.)). Sense of "ability, cleverness" first recorded early 13c.
12 The Righteous One observes the house of the wicked;
  he casts the wicked down to ruin.
The last part of this verse, " he casts the wicked down to ruin" could alternatively be rendered, "he [the wicked man] perverts evildoers for bad".
A bad person has an evil influence. He should be kept under observation while being kept away from.