The Exiles will Fly Back. Redemption Begins from America.
Adapted from "Joseph USA" soon to be published.
See similar articles on these matters under heading:
"Hebrew America."
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/america.html
We identify the USA with Manasseh.
A Midrash says that in the End Times Manasseh will be the first to be redeemed.
The following article entails two subsidiary queries:
a. How do we know the USA is Manasseh.
b. Why Should Manasseh be the first to be Redeemed?
Historically there were many who considered the Amerindians to be Lost Ten Tribes. This was mistaken but the subject is of interest and a research of this matter leads to evidence that the USA today is where the Lost Tribes are.
Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel (1604-1657) studied sources concerning the Lost Ten Tribes and came to the conclusion that they were in the Americas. He was not entirely wrong but simply was speaking before the prophecies he based his premise on had come to fruition.
Menasseh ben Israel had reputedly (it is not certain) been born on the island of Madeira off the coast of Africa. At that time Madeira belonged to Portugal and it still does. His family had come from Spain and were descended from Jews. For generations they had kept some Jewish practices in secret in fear of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1610 the family moved to Amsterdam in the Netherlands where they could live as Jews openly. Menasseh became a rabbi and an author, and also a printer. Menasseh was well-known and something of a celebrity. Rembrandt and other artists drew or painted his portrait. Menesseh wrote a book on Reincarnation in Jewish sources. He also wrote other works including "The Conciliator" resolving difficulties and answering queries concerning points of Scripture. These works are still referred to in our time.
In the 1600s a lot of rumors were circulating concerning the Amerindians. They had been discovered not that long beforehand. Information took a while to circulate and verify. It was said the Amerindians had all kinds of customs that indicated they were of Israelite origin. Books were written on the subject that were considered reliable and authoritative.
In 1644 a Portuguese marrano (descendant of Jews forced to become Christian) who had been in South America named de Montezinos persuaded Menasseh Ben Israel that he had found one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel living in the jungles of Ecuador. He was certain that the Amerindians he had met in the wild had spoken to him in Hebrew. He may have been in a state of delirium at the time. It is not known how much Hebrew he himself knew. At all events in Amsterdam Montezinos swore an oath on a Torah scroll in the presence of Rabbis (including Menesseh ben Israel) that the Amerindians had said a few words in Hebrew to him.
At that time both Jews and non-Jews (especially Christians in England, Scotland, and the Netherlands) anticipated the coming of the Messiah. They were certain this would involve the return of the Lost Ten Tribes. Menesseh ben Israel also felt that the readmittance of the Jews to England would further the Coming of the Messianic Age.
Menasseh also corresponded with leading figures in England including John Sadler the secretary of Oliver Cromwell. At that time England was ruled by the Puritans headed by Cromwell.
Oliver Cromwell was sympathetic to the Jewish cause, partly because of his believe in the Bible and its literal meaning. He was also tolerant by nature, and too foresaw possible benefits for English commerce from the participation of Jewish merchants, some of whom had already made their way to London. He also thought that politically the Jews could help England, and that he was duty bound by the Almighty to protect them. Cromwell believed that the English themselves were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. Source: Lapide, Pinchas E. (1984). Hebrew in the Church: The Foundations of Jewish-Christian Dialogue. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802849175. p. 73. John Sadler the secretary of Cromwell was an historian, a Constitutional Theorist and an MP. Sadler also believed the English were descended from the Lost Ten Tribes. He spoke of it in the House of Commons, and wrote a book about its implications. Menasseh ben Israel may also have inclined in this direction in addition to his Amerindian predilections. The Restorationist Movement to return the Jews to their own kingdom in the Holy Land also began about this time. Some of the advocates of Jewish Restoration also hoped the Jews would convert to Christianity. This however was already more of an incidental wish that was not indispendable.
Menesseh came to England and spoke with Cromwell and others. Officially nothing was decided but unofficially the Jews were allowed to come without restriction.
The visit of Manasseh to England in 1650 had been preceded in 1644 by the publication of his book (in Latin) "Hope of Israel." The "Hope of Israel" in English Translation was first bought to our attention by Israel Feld of Sussia. Israel is the brother of Rabbi Avraham Feld. The book was acquired from a friend and via Rabbi Avraham Feld it was passed on to Yair Davidiy. Much of the following chapters are based on that book. The "Hope of Israel," is about the Lost Ten Tribes in general but mostly concentrates on the Amerindians (or a part of them) as belonging to the Ten Tribes.
This is the work in question:
INDIANS OR JEWS? MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL'S THE HOPE OF ISRAEL by Lynn Glaser, USA. 1973
Facsimile of The Hope of Israel by Manasseh ben Israel (Second amended edition, London, 1652). p. 1-85. First published at Amsterdam in Latin in 1644, the English translation represents the first widespread speculation regarding the idea especially among Puritans.
The arguments that Menesseh adduced were not really applicable to the Amerindians in his time.
They do however apply to North America in our day!
The Government of Cromwell did not officially allow the Jews to return to England. They told them to come over without permission. It transpired that no legal impediment existed and it was better not to say anything.
Charless-ii who succeeded Cromwell continued this policy. Cromwell also allocated a pension for Menesseh for the rest of his life but Menesseh died shortly after.
Menesseh in the 1600s had expected the Messianic Age to arrive in his time.
Menesseh quotes from Biblical texts proving in his view that the Lost Ten Tribes will return in the future from the area of America.
In his mind this was proof that the Lost Ten Tribes were there as well as elsewhere. He identified them with the Amerindians.
Menesseh was wrong in identifying the Amerindians as the lost Ten Tribes BUT he was right in saying they would come from America!
This is what the Bible says. We can use the explanations of Menesseh to confirm it.
Menesseh ben Israel continues his exposition (Sect. 27) with a discussion of Isaiah and Hosea.
Isaiah 27:
13 SO IT SHALL BE IN THAT DAY:
THE GREAT TRUMPET WILL BE BLOWN;
THEY WILL COME, WHO ARE ABOUT TO PERISH IN THE LAND OF ASSYRIA,
AND THEY WHO ARE OUTCASTS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT,
AND SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE HOLY MOUNT AT JERUSALEM.
#.... the outcasts (which are in America) shall come by the Mediterranean Sea to Alexandia in Egypt....
And because the gathering together of the Captivity, shall begin at those who are in America, therefore Isaiah says,
Isaiah 60:
9 SURELY THE ISLES SHALL TRUST IN [WAIT FOR] ME, AND THE SHIPS OF TARSHISH FIRST, TO BRING THY SONS FROM FAR, THEIR SILVER AND THEIR GOLD WITH THEM...
# They shall then come with seed from those countries, prostrating themselves at the Mountain of the LORD in Jerusalem, as the Prophet Hosea says of that Redemption:
Hosea 11:
10 THEY SHALL WALK AFTER THE LORD.
HE WILL ROAR LIKE A LION.
WHEN HE ROARS,
THEN HIS SONS SHALL COME TREMBLING FROM THE WEST;
11 THEY SHALL COME TREMBLING LIKE A BIRD FROM EGYPT,
LIKE A DOVE FROM THE LAND OF ASSYRIA.
AND I WILL LET THEM DWELL IN THEIR HOUSES,
SAYS THE LORD.
So says Isaiah:
Isaiah 60:
8 WHO ARE THESE WHO FLY LIKE A CLOUD,
AND LIKE DOVES TO THEIR ROOSTS?
[9 SURELY THE ISLES SHALL WAIT FOR ME, AND THE SHIPS OF TARSHISH FIRST, TO BRING THY SONS FROM FAR, THEIR SILVER AND THEIR GOLD WITH THEM, FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD, AND FOR THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, BECAUSE HE HATH GLORIFIED THEE. ]
Menesseh ben Israel thought the Amerindians to be at least in part descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes. Part of his evidence included Biblical verses referring to the End Times. He lived in the 1600s and like many others of his age evidently believed that the End Times were just around the corner. The verses quoted spoke, in his view, of the Ten Tribes coming back from America. The USA as a nation at that time did not exist. It now does. The USA today (in the 2020s) fits Biblical prophecy much better. In at least two instances the prophecies quoted indicated a return by flying. These days we fly in airplanes. It is quite common and relatively easy. In the 1600s they did not have airplanes and may not have even imagined the possibility of such things. We may therefore take Menesseh as having been correct concerning a future return from America but being mistaken as to who the returnees were to be.
Isaiah 60:
8 WHO ARE THESE WHO FLY LIKE A CLOUD,
AND LIKE DOVES TO THEIR ROOSTS?
Hosea 11:
10 ...THEN HIS SONS SHALL COME TREMBLING FROM THE WEST;
11 THEY SHALL COME TREMBLING LIKE A BIRD FROM EGYPT,
LIKE A DOVE FROM THE LAND OF ASSYRIA....
Brit-Am has opined that the Ten Tribes in America will be the first to be redeemed. We based this, among other things, on a Midrash saying that the Redemption will begin from descendants of the Tribe of Manasseh in Gilead east of the Jordan. The Midrash comments on the good deed of the people of Jabesh Gilead in the territory of Manasseh east of the Jordan. King Saul at the beginning of his reign had saved these people from disaster.
In Hebrew History we find the following Phases:
1. The Patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob give birth to the Hebrew Nation.
2. Slavery in Egypt, Deliverance, Receiving the Torah, Journey through the Wilderness.
3. Conquering and Dividing the Land of Canaan.
4. The Judges. Inspired charismatic leaders who periodically arose to save the Israelites from alien oppression.
5. The Kings and Division of the Tribes.
6. Exile to Assyria of the Ten Tribes and to Babylon of Judah.
7. Judah returns to Jerusalem from Babylon.
The Early Wars of Israel and Benjamin.
In the Time of the Judges there had been a Civil War in Israel between Benjamin on one hand and the rest of Israel on the other. The concubine of a Levite traveler had been raped to death in Gibeah, a township of Benjamin. The Tribe of Benjamin refused to surrender the culprits so the rest of Israel (i.e. 11 out of the 12 Tribes) made war with them. The Tribe of Benjamin lost all of its womenfolk in this conflict. The rest of the Tribes had taken an oath not to give any of their daughters to a Benjaminite. After the war there remained 600 Benjaminites without wives. The Tribes of Israel were worried lest the Tribe of Benjamin die out. The city of Jabesh Gilead east of the Jordan had defied the rest of Israel and not participated in the war against Benjamin. The other Israelite Tribes made war on them. They were all executed apart from 400 virgins who were given to Benjamin. There still remained some of the Benjaminites without wives. New partners were found for these by abducting girls from Shiloh who had been dancing at a festival in the vineyards (Judges 21). Shiloh was in the territory of Ephraim and the place of the Tabernacle. East of the Jordan, Jabesh-Gilead was apparently later re-settled by their kinfolk (from Manasseh) from neighboring areas. These would therefore have been related to many in Benjamin through the women who had been given to Benjaminites. Meanwhile the Tribe of Benjamin recovered. The Hebrews eventually felt the need for a king of their own. Saul from the Tribe of Benjamin was chosen. He was anointed Monarch by Samuel the Prophet. At the beginning of his rulership Saul was not accepted by everyone. There were those who lacked confidence in him (1-Samuel 10). On the other side of the Jordan Jabesh Gilead was besieged by King Nahash (the name "Nahash" means "Snake") of Ammon. Saul summoned the Benjaminites along with the rest of Israel and went to their defense. These events are described in Scripture.
1-SAMUEL (NLT) 11:
1 ABOUT A MONTH LATER, KING NAHASH OF AMMON LED HIS ARMY AGAINST THE ISRAELITE TOWN OF JABESH-GILEAD. BUT ALL THE CITIZENS OF JABESH ASKED FOR PEACE. MAKE A TREATY WITH US, AND WE WILL BE YOUR SERVANTS, THEY PLEADED.
2 ALL RIGHT, NAHASH SAID, BUT ONLY ON ONE CONDITION. I WILL GOUGE OUT THE RIGHT EYE OF EVERY ONE OF YOU AS A DISGRACE TO ALL ISRAEL!
3 GIVE US SEVEN DAYS TO SEND MESSENGERS THROUGHOUT ISRAEL! REPLIED THE ELDERS OF JABESH. IF NO ONE COMES TO SAVE US, WE WILL AGREE TO YOUR TERMS.
4 WHEN THE MESSENGERS CAME TO GIBEAH OF SAUL AND TOLD THE PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR PLIGHT, EVERYONE BROKE INTO TEARS. 5 SAUL HAD BEEN PLOWING A FIELD WITH HIS OXEN, AND WHEN HE RETURNED TO TOWN, HE ASKED, WHATS THE MATTER? WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING? SO, THEY TOLD HIM ABOUT THE MESSAGE FROM JABESH.
6 THEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAME POWERFULLY UPON SAUL, AND HE BECAME VERY ANGRY. 7 HE TOOK TWO OXEN AND CUT THEM INTO PIECES AND SENT THE MESSENGERS TO CARRY THEM THROUGHOUT ISRAEL WITH THIS MESSAGE: THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE OXEN OF ANYONE WHO REFUSES TO FOLLOW SAUL AND SAMUEL INTO BATTLE! AND THE LORD MADE THE PEOPLE AFRAID OF SAULS ANGER, AND ALL OF THEM CAME OUT TOGETHER AS ONE. 8 WHEN SAUL MOBILIZED THEM AT BEZEK, HE FOUND THAT THERE WERE 300,000 MEN FROM ISRAEL AND 30,000 MEN FROM JUDAH.
9 SO SAUL SENT THE MESSENGERS BACK TO JABESH-GILEAD TO SAY, WE WILL RESCUE YOU BY NOONTIME TOMORROW! THERE WAS GREAT JOY THROUGHOUT THE TOWN WHEN THAT MESSAGE ARRIVED!
10 THE MEN OF JABESH THEN TOLD THEIR ENEMIES, TOMORROW WE WILL COME OUT TO YOU, AND YOU CAN DO TO US WHATEVER YOU WISH. 11 BUT BEFORE DAWN THE NEXT MORNING, SAUL ARRIVED, HAVING DIVIDED HIS ARMY INTO THREE DETACHMENTS. HE LAUNCHED A SURPRISE ATTACK AGAINST THE AMMONITES AND SLAUGHTERED THEM THE WHOLE MORNING. THE REMNANT OF THEIR ARMY WAS SO BADLY SCATTERED THAT NO TWO OF THEM WERE LEFT TOGETHER.
12 THEN THE PEOPLE EXCLAIMED TO SAMUEL, NOW WHERE ARE THOSE MEN WHO SAID, WHY SHOULD SAUL RULE OVER US? BRING THEM HERE, AND WE WILL KILL THEM!
13 BUT SAUL REPLIED, NO ONE WILL BE EXECUTED TODAY, FOR TODAY THE LORD HAS RESCUED ISRAEL!
14 THEN SAMUEL SAID TO THE PEOPLE, COME, LET US ALL GO TO GILGAL TO RENEW THE KINGDOM. 15 SO THEY ALL WENT TO GILGAL, AND IN A SOLEMN CEREMONY BEFORE THE LORD THEY MADE SAUL KING. THEN THEY OFFERED PEACE OFFERINGS TO THE LORD, AND SAUL AND ALL THE ISRAELITES WERE FILLED WITH JOY.
Consequently, Saul became king. At the end of his reign he was killed with three of his sons fighting the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines then fastened the dead bodies of Saul to the wall of Beth-Shean. The people of Jabesh-Gilead went and took the bodies down.
1-Samuel (NLT) 31:
11 BUT WHEN THE PEOPLE OF JABESH-GILEAD HEARD WHAT THE PHILISTINES HAD DONE TO SAUL, 12 ALL THEIR MIGHTY WARRIORS TRAVELED THROUGH THE NIGHT TO BETH-SHAN AND TOOK THE BODIES OF SAUL AND HIS SONS DOWN FROM THE WALL. THEY BROUGHT THEM TO JABESH, WHERE THEY BURNED THE BODIES. 13 THEN THEY TOOK THEIR BONES AND BURIED THEM BENEATH THE TAMARISK TREE AT JABESH, AND THEY FASTED FOR SEVEN DAYS.
The Midrash (Perkei DeRabbi Eliezer, ch. 17; Yalkut Shimeoni, Psalms 60) comments:
"Where do we learn about the duty of doing Acts of Kindness to those who are Mourning? We learn it from the people of Jabesh Gilead [who said to themselves]: 'Are we not obligated to repay kindness to the man who saved us from being disgraced by the people of Ammon?' Consequently, all the valiant men amongst them stood up and went all night long till they reached the walls of Beth-Shean, as it says, "ALL THE VALIANT MEN AROSE, AND WENT ALL NIGHT, AND TOOK THE BODY OF SAUL (1-Samuel 31:12).
God therefore said unto them, I will give you a reward in the future for I am destined in ingather Israel from the four corners of the earth, AND FIRSTLY HE INGATHERS THE HALF-TRIBE OF MANASSEH. This is written in Psalms (60:7) "Gilead is Mine, Mine is Manasseh", and after that He ingathers Ephraim, as it says, EPHRAIM ALSO IS THE STRENGTH OF MINE HEAD" (Psalms 60:7).
It may be asked what was so great about this act of Kindness to the Dead? A good deed- sure, but why such a great reward?
It may be not so much the deed itself but the character trait it reflects.
The Sages said that Kindness to the Dead is so heavily valued because it is done without hope of requital.
Anything else one does may always involve some hope, somewhere, in some way, of getting something back for it.
Helping the dead is a pure deed. It shows the willingness to do good for its own sake.
Descendants of Manasseh were to have this quality.
We identify the USA as dominated by the Tribe of Manasseh. The above Promise of being the first in line for Redemption may therefore apply to America!