Ten Tribes Studies (14 February, 2014, 14 Adar-1, 5774)
Contents:
1. Poem. "If"Â by Rudyard Kipling, 1895
2. Sylvia Halpert: Frequent BANs give Daily Encouragement!
3. The Prophet Hosea (ch.5) Warns Judah Not to Get too Close to Ephraim.Â
Nevertheless they shall return at about the same time with Judah coming first and the TTs a little afterwards.
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1. Poem. "If"Â by Rudyard Kipling, 1895
If you can keep your head when all about you
 Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
 But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
 Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
 And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream, and not make dreams your master;
 If you can think, and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
 And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
 Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
 And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
 And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
 And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
 To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
 Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
 Or walk with Kings, nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
 If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
 With sixty seconds, worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
 And, which is more, you'll be a Man, my son!
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 2. Sylvia Halpert: Frequent BANs give Daily Encouragement!
re Brit-Am Now no. 2216. Ten Tribes Studies.
http://hebrewnations.com/features/6/2216.html
#2. Prospective Changes: Options for almost Daily Updates (as at present) or a short Weekly Rundown.
Dear Yair,
 I hope you continue sending out frequent emails. I shall miss them if you don't. To me it is easier to quickly read through a short, daily update than to read through a long weekly one. It also gives daily encouragement.
Just my thoughts on the subject. I understand that others may feel differently, however.
 Sylvia
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3. The Prophet Hosea (ch.5) Warns Judah Not to Get too Close to Ephraim. Nevertheless they shall return at about the same time with Judah coming first and the TTs a little afterwards.
Hosea 5Â and the Brit-Am Preliminary Commentary, Extracts.
http://britam.org/hosea5.html
The Ten Tribes will be wicked and sin. Judah will imitate Ephraim and suffer because of it. Ephraim will seek to buy his way into heaven. They will have borne children to foreign women which will prevent their repentance being acceptable. Ephraim will retain a degree of Biblical Awareness. Ephraim will seek the help of Assyria but this will be to no avail. Judah due to oppression will return to its religion and to the Land of Israel at an early stage and prepare the way for the other Tribes.
In general the Prophets were against Judah and Ephraim forming too close a union. The usual reason was that Judah was inclined to copy the bad example of the northern kingdom instead of the opposite.
cf. 2-Chr. 20;37Â Â Â Â Â
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 [Hosea 5:7] THEY HAVE DEALT TREACHEROUSLY AGAINST THE LORD: FOR THEY HAVE BEGOTTEN STRANGE CHILDREN: NOW SHALL A MONTH DEVOUR THEM WITH THEIR PORTIONS. Â
 "Strange children" refers to children born from non-Israelite mothers which is one of the reasons (says the Talmud, Yebamot 17) the Ten Tribes were disowned until the End Times. At the end times there will be an ingatherng. According to the great commentator Abarbanel at that time the returnees will come with their non-Israelite women and their children will be recognized. It will not be as it was in the time of Ezra when the foreign women with their children were sent away.
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Don Isaac Abarbanel
(1437-1509) was a descendant of David. Born in  Lisbon, he  became treasurer to the king of Portugal but was forced to flee to Spain which he left when the Jews were expelled in 1492. He entered the service of the king of Naples, Italy, then moved to Corfu, then Apulia, and later to Venice. Everywhere he went he served as an advisor to the Heads of State. He wrote a copious Commentary on most books of the Bible. He seems to have read every book (Christian and Jewish) ever written on the Bible and related matters that was extant in his day. He gives the impression in his works of having been pro-English.
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CONVERSOS
At that time hundreds of thousands of Jews had been forced against their will to become Catholics. Some of these secretly remained faithful to Judaism. They are known in popular literature as "Conversos" or "Marranos." The Conversos were often pro-English. There may have been a tendency for them to intermarry with descendants of the Visigoths and related peoples amongst the Spanish population. The Marranos were hated and persecuted for both racial and religious reasons. Famous conversos include Christopher Colombus who discovered America and Cervantes, the author of "Don Quixote." A good portion of the crew on the ship of Colombus (including the first known white man in that era to set foot on American soil) were Conversos.
 Literature about the Conversos and discussions of their status and future also involves that of the Lost Ten Tribes whose position is similar from a conceptual point of view. Descendants of Conversos in South America have made contact with me and are interested in literature concerning the Lost Ten Tribes. Ben Zion Netanyahu (father of Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister of Israel) is one of the foremost world authorities on the history and study of the Conversos.
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... Judah behaved like "squatters" on the territory of Ephraim. They were so eager to imitate Ephraim it was as if they were "stealing" the identity of Ephraim and encroaching on his "territory". In other words Judah will be so eager to copy "Joseph" that he could be accused of attempted impersonation. The Prophet speaks with sarcasm ("Daat Mikra").
[Hosea 5:15] I WILL GO AND RETURN TO MY PLACE, TILL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENCE, AND SEEK MY FACE: IN THEIR AFFLICTION THEY WILL SEEK ME EARLY.
Judah will be oppressed and will seek to return to God and the Land of Israel before the End Times. This is what is happening at present. Returning to the God of Israel ultimately involves returning to the Land of Israel. The book "Am HaBonim" (following Rabbi Zvi Kalischer) applies this verse to the Future Redemption and the Future Return of Judah and the Ten Tribes.
Quote:
         # "If a great community of those who were lost in the Asyrian Exile would be ingathered first of all, how could they be brought to a wasted and desolate country? Without doubt they will have to be preceded [by their brothers from Judah] in order that the land may bring forth bread. Afterwards all of them will be able to come to country full of God's blessing.
           "The wilderness shall be a fruitful field" (cf. Isaiah 32;15), full of fields and vineyards restored by the hand of Israelites. #
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