Return of the Israelites to their Jewish Home

I just saw this amazing trailer for a documentary on the re-emergence of Judaism in Nigeria. In 1999, I made “Quest for the Lost Tribes” where I argued that there are millions of people in various places in the world who preserve a consciousness of being either Israelite or Jewish. The Jewish people are used to being a persecuted minority. As a result, they don’t realize that once we were the only monotheistic game in town. For 1500 years prior to the advent of Christianity, there was only Judaism. Islam came more than 2100 years after the Biblical Exodus. Is it any wonder then that in the 1st century CE 10-20% of the Roman Empire was Jewish? In fact, it was the attraction of Judaism for Romans that paved the way for Paul’s version of Christianity to take over. In other words, if not for Paul the majority of the world today would be Jewish. So is it any wonder that millions of people preserve an Israelite/Jewish identity? Today, from Burma to Ghana to Nigeria people are reclaiming their Jewish identity. Unfortunately, instead of embracing them with open arms too many non-Jews and Jews stick to European stereotypes as to what a Jew really looks like. It’s time that we drop the stereotypes and celebrated the return of Israelites to their Jewish home.

Click here to see my recent article “Palestine: History of a Name” on The Times of Israel.