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Native American Jews?
A Fulfillment of Prophecy?
By HaRav Ariel Bar Tzadok
Copyright 2010 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.
In 1650, Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel, Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam recorded an incredible story in his book
Mikveh Yisrael !e relates a conversation that he had "ith a #e"ish $%tch e&'lorer of the Americas
(he e&'lorer related ho" he made contact "ith the )ative Americans b%t after tryin* to comm%nicate
"ith them in every 'ossible +%ro'ean lan*%a*e, he had no s%ccess Bein* a #e", as "as his first mate,
these t"o be*an to talk amon*st themselves in !ebre" (o his %tter ama,ement, %'on hearin* him
s'eak !ebre" to his first mate, the )ative American chief res'onded in kind and stated, -.hema
Yisrael/
(his is only one of the very n%mero%s instances that seem not only to s%**est, b%t to act%ally 'rove that
indeed, someho", in some "ay, a n%mber of Biblical Israelites mana*ed to leave the !oly 0and, over
t"o tho%sand years a*o and by the !and of 12d fo%nd their "ay to the shores of "hat today "e call the
Americas It "as kno"n in (alm%dic times that the "orld "as indeed ro%nd and some .a*es s%**est that
there is hints to the e&istence of "hat today "e call the Americas in some of the oldest Rabbinic
literat%re
Archeolo*ical evidence to establish this claim is rather si*nificant and "ide s'read (here are n%mero%s
archeolo*ical artifacts that have been fo%nd thro%*ho%t the Americas, s'ecifically here in the 3nited
.tates that are clearly tho%sands of years old and "ritten in either Biblical !ebre" or later block
4modern5 !ebre" scri't (hese incl%de f%ll inscri'tions of the (en Commandments, etched in stone and
"ritten in 6tav Ivrit 4ori*inal 're2Babylonian Biblical !ebre" scri't5 (here is even one claim made that
an ancient 'air of (efillin have act%ally been fo%nd b%ried in an Indian b%rial *ro%nd
In 1775, +n*lishman #ames Adair, after livin* "ith )ative Americans for 80 years, recorded his
e&'eriences and '%blished a book abo%t them in 0ondon entitled, -(he !istory of the American
Indians/ Almost his entire "ork is dedicated to doc%ment and 'rove that the )ative American tribes of
the central and so%thern territories, soon to become the 3.A "ere definitively of #e"ish ori*ins and
to his day maintained a si,able amo%nt of their ancient Israelite herita*e !e *oes so far as to say that
the tribes that he kne" "orshi'ed a sin*le 1od Creator "ho they called in their lan*%a*e Ye9ho9"ah
Adair9s book created :%ite a stir and "as "idely read
+ven ;resident (homas #efferson in 1<0= "as a"are of Adair9s book and made mention of it in one of his
letters to #ohn Adams #efferson :%otes Adair9s belief that, -all the Indians of American to be
descended from the #e"s> the same la"s, %sa*es? rites and ceremonies, the same sacrifices, 'riests,
'ro'hets, fasts and festivals, almost the same reli*ion, and that they all s'oke !ebre"/
(he belief of the )ative American@Israelite connection 'roliferated "idely in the early 1<00s +ven a
ne" reli*ion "as fo%nded %'on the belief Ae have all heard of the Mormons, famo%sly of 3tah B%t
many 4non2Mormons5 do not kno" that Mormon fo%nder #ose'h .mith "as ori*inally from the )orth +ast
and 'roclaimed that his -Book of Mormon/ 4"hich serves as a Mormon Bible5 claims to tell the history of
a family of #e"ish ref%*ees "ho fled #er%salem 'rior to the Babylonian e&ile .mith claims that this
history "as revealed to him from s'ecial "ritin*s *iven to him by an an*el Yet, re*ardless of Mormon
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Copyright 2010 y Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.
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theolo*y, the )ative American@Israelite conce't "as alive and thrivin* at that time and many believed
it, not needin* #ose'h .mith to establish a reli*ion based on it
I "ill leave it to my readers to e&'lore the evidence for themselves #ames Adair9s book, The History of
the American Indians, "ritten in 1775 is still available today A co'y of the ori*inal 0ondon '%blication
can be fo%nd on Ama,oncom I also recommend to everyone a very interestin* $B$ also available from
Ama,oncom entitled Lost Civilizations of North America (his 'rod%ction also claims that $)A
testin*s have sho"n a 'ositive match bet"een certain )ative Americas and inhabitants of !oly 0and
from over C000 years a*o Dne can also do a "eb search for the Los Lunas Ten Commandments Stone
in )e" Me&ico Dne can f%rther see that certain "ebsites 'resentin* themselves as teachin* Cherokee
Spiritual Traditions certainly look s%s'icio%sly similar to ancient (orah teachin*s
In these days, "hen "e believe Biblical 'ro'hecies are bein* f%lfilled aro%nd %s and ho" in the +nd of
$ays many of the -lost tribes/ "o%ld reEoin the #e"ish nation, I "o%ld love to '%rs%e the 'ossibility of
locatin* those )ative American elders "ho may still have safe*%arded their ancient and sacred histories
and "ho may be able to shed some li*ht on this "ondro%s revelation
I once s'oke "ith an elder of a so%th"estern )ative American tribe !e told me ho" d%rin* the .econd
Aorld Aar he had served in the armed forces, "hich bro%*ht him for the first time in his life to )e"
York City Ahile there havin* time to look aro%nd, he related to me ho" in one set of b%ildin*s he
reco*ni,ed "hat for him "ere ancient )ative holy symbols !e concl%ded that there m%st be a lost
se*ment of his -Indian/ tribe in )e" York !e told me the symbol that convinced him of s%ch is "hat
"e kno" as the Menorah and the set of b%ildin*s he mentioned "ere syna*o*%es (he 0ost Civili,ations
of )orth America does sho" an ancient )ative symbol "hich, in my o'inion co%ld be nothin* other than
a menorah .o, a''arently the )ative chief kne" somethin* 70 or more years before the 'rod%cers of
the $B$ did
Rabbi Menashe Ben Israel %nderstood the discovery of lost Israelites to be a clear and immanent si*n
that "e are livin* close to the days of the comin* of Mashiah Ahile I cannot say "ith certainty that all
)ative Americans are of Israelite stock, nonetheless the "ay they s%ffered %nder the dominion of
+%ro'ean o''ressors certainly makes them no different from #e"s "ho lived in +%ro'ean lands for
cent%ries Both #e"s and )ative Americans s%ffered similar o''ression %nder the boot of +%ro'eans
(he similarities of o%r s%fferin*s %nder the boot of the same o''ressors certainly adds to the evidence
that not only are these 'eo'le historically Israel, b%t they remain s'irit%al Israel to this day, s%fferin* as
all #e"s do Maybe their #e"ish identity may be lost to o%r eyes, b%t a''arently it is not lost to the
eyes of !eaven
I am 'resently cond%ctin* an in2de'th st%dy into the ancient s'irit%al traditions of the )ative 'eo'les
"hose land I 'resently inhabit I "ant to learn everythin* abo%t them, *ood or bad, Israelite or
other"ise If there is any real connection bet"een o%r 'eo'les, if "e tr%ly are one, then I believe "e
sho%ld make every effort to discover this, validate it and 'roceed from there to reach o%t to o%r lost
family and hel' reintrod%ce them to the Boreh Dlam, Creator of the 3niverse 4the 1reat .'iritF5 and to
re%nite them "ith their lost ancient 'ast and their even better most 'romisin* f%t%re
If any of my readers kno" any leaders amon* the )ative American elders "ho "o%ld be "illin* to meet
"ith and dialo*%e "ith me as an Drthodo& Rabbi, I "o%ld love the o''ort%nity to hold s%ch a meetin*
and see "here "e can b%ild common fo%ndations and from there, see "hat !eaven has in mind
I do believe "e are ever so close to the da"n of a ne" era in h%man history "here o%r old idols and self2
dece'tions "ill finally be broken forever Maybe by findin* lost family and re%nitin* "ith them, "e can
move this *reat 'rocess alon* At least, that is my ho'e
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Copyright 2010 y Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.