Ten Tribes Studies (19 December, 2013, 16 Tevet, 5774)
Contents:
1. Question on the Book of Jasher.
2. An Alternate Explanation from M: Western Europe is Canaan, Japhet, and Esau, with a TT admixture!
3. Article Posted. OUR SCYTHIAN ANCESTORS by W. Edmund Filmer B.A.
====
====
1. Question on the Book of Jasher.
Tom Miller wrote:
Mr. Davidiy,
After reading about the Hebrews in Egypt and you mentioned that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh being exempt from the building labors reminds me [as I remember reading] of what I read in the book of Jasher stating that the tribes agreed to be hired out for the work of building,only to be deceived and later enslaved to do the work.The book mentioned that the tribe of Levi did not agree to be hired out or enslaved [as I remember it].could you give some thought to mention what you think of the book of Jasher?,since it is referenced in the Bible,which is the reason that I searched it out in the first place.
Thank you.
Tom Miller
====
Brit-Am Reply:
Tom Shalom,
We said,
A Talmudic-Rabbinical tradition says that the Children of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) were not enslaved to hard labor like the rest of the Israelites but rather were used as soldiers in warfare and police-administration.
The point you quoted about the Tribe of Labor is also recalled in Rabbinical Tradition.
The Book of Yasher is mentioned in the Bible:
"Is not this written in the Book of Jasher?"--Joshua, x. 13.
"Behold it is written in the Book of Jasher."--II. Samuel, i. 18
There are opinions that the term is another name for the one of the Books of the Torah or all of them together. Or it may be the name of a work that has since been lost.
The book that today goes by the same name is a later work written in the 1600s. It comprises a mixture of Jewish, Arab, and other sources.
See:
Sefer haYashar (midrash)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_haYashar_(midrash)
God bless you
Yair
====
====
2. An Alternate Explanation from M: Western Europe is Canaan, Japhet, and Esau, with a TT admixture!
A Jewish Intellectual from France prefers to remain anonymous. Let us call him M. He is reasonably well-read in history and widely travelled.
Based on his studies and personal experiences M has his own concepts concerning the TTs.
In principle he agrees with Brit-Am and has read some of our works.
M believes the TTs to be amongst Western Peoples but as a scattered minority who in some cases come to the fore.
Concerning Western Europe M identifies the lower classes as mainly of Canaanite origin.
cf.
# And this first exile of the Children of Israel shall that are with the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath....# (Obadiah 1:20)
This applies throughout Western Europe apart from the Netherlands where many of the proletariat may be descended from Israelites.
As for Western Europe in general:
The Middle Classes are descendants of Japhet son of Noah.
The Upper Classes are descended from Esau i.e. Edom.
Descendants of the TTs may be found amongst Lower, Middle, and Upper Classes but there is a preponderance in the intermediate range.
We do not agree with M but he has arguments of his own and we thought his opinion worth noting.
====
====
3. Article Posted.
OUR SCYTHIAN ANCESTORS
by W. Edmund Filmer B.A.
[An old British-Israelite article of value, ]
http://www.britam.org/FilmerS.html