"Brit-Am Now"-847
Contents:
1. Tim Murray: Basques Deserve Reconsideration
2. Steven Collins: Pennsylvania Dutch Indeed from Germany
3. Jonathan Tillotson: Questions on
(1. Authorship of The Psalms.
(2. Universality versus Particularism.
(3. Israelites in the East.
4. Jonathan Tillotson: More Points
5. DNA: Yorkshire clan linked to Africa
1. Tim Murray: Basques Deserve Reconsideration
From: Timothy F Murray <tfmurray@juno.com>
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-846
#7. Question about the Basques of Spain
Yair,
Regarding the Basques, I believe they deserve more study. There are some fascinating cultural "hints" that seem to point to Celtic and Saxon and Israelitish links. Among the most serious claimants to their ancestry, according to a scholarly article I have on file, are the ancient Georgians from the Caucasus. Also, their blood-group pattern strongly resembles that of other Atlantic coastal peoples, such as Bretons, Irish, and northern Scots. They didn't develop an elitist culture, but appointed leaders by elections (echoing Moses' dictum: choose a king from among yourselves). As in Israel, women could inherit and control property. And their land surveys were made with an interesting base 7 system, not 10 or 12--another possible echo of Hebraic roots. In both Irish and Basque sources, property is referred to as being measured with a seven-foot pole.
I don't know anything about their language roots, as to whether or not there's any resemblance to ancient Hebrew, but as I say, there's reason for more study here, I believe. (The above observations were taken from a piece by Evan Hadingham about the work of Prof. Roslyn Frank of the University of Iowa, as published in World Monitor, September 1992.)
Tim Murray
2. Steven Collins: Pennsylvania Dutch Indeed from Germany
From: Steve Collins <scollins@ll.net>
Subject: Re: "Brit-Am Now"-846
#3. Pennsylvania Dutch from Germany?
Shalom Yair,
Regarding the Pennsylvania Dutch, I have a comment. My paternal grandmother was a member of the Pennsylvania Dutch community, and she descended from German immigrants who came to America in the pre-Revolutionary War days. She always maintained that the Pennsylvania Dutch were, indeed, Germans, not Dutchmen. I also have taken several courses in German language instruction, and the teacher was quite firm that the term "Pennsylvania Dutch" was a corruption of the original term "Pennsylvania Deutsch" (i.e. the Pennsylvania Germans).
Steve
3. Jonathan Tillotson: Questions on
(1. Authorship of The Psalms.
(2. Universality versus Particularism.
(3. Israelites in the East.
Jonathan Tillotson <jon_tillotson@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Re: Psalms 65
Dear Yair,
Thank you for your commentaries on the Psalms.
Two questions. Do the Rabbis of Orthodox Judaism believe the Psalms were written by King David? In their entirety? I dont have a position about this, so this isnt a loaded question. If they were, when do you think they would have been first written down? People I believe had much better memories in those days, for remembering accurately words, so perhaps there wasnt the need?
Also regarding this passage:
[Psalms 65:2] O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER, UNTO THEE SHALL ALL FLESH
COME.
God hears the prayers of everyone. We emphasize the uniqueness of
Israel
since the Almighty reveals himself through Israel. Nevertheless the
Almighty is the creator of all flesh and he hears the prayers of
everyone.
I am sympathetic to the balanced reference to both Israel's uniqueness and God's interest and concern for all peoples. But this raises a question which I think many in the world may be wondering, and I wonder what your thoughts would be regarding it. Namely, why does God have and need to have a chosen people at all? Why cant he just reveal himself directly to all people simultaneously and directly, and on an individual basis? Does his use of a chosen people suggest that he is partial and exclusivistic and somewhat bigoted etc? Please understand, this is not what I think, but it is I think something that is thought by many people. In these days (say post 1930s) of Inter-ethnic and ideological and religious tensions, many I think are searching for a unifying thread or presence in human affairs, and are shunning the either/or, dualistic polarities of western thought. This I think can explain popular culture's escapist fantasies regarding a merely hoped for universal love, found in popular music and characterised by Hollywood; but it can also explain the allure of the east, of buddhism, taoism and hinduism, in which ultimate reality, or nirvana, is equally accessible and avialble to all, and which of course is not judgemental.
Of course, the irony about eastern faiths is that although yes 'nirvana' is not judgemantal, karma (in the form of nature and rebirth) definitely is - but oddly this doesnt seem to bother anyone. Nor are people troubled by the sense in which nirvana doesnt care about people very much (excepting maybe the boddhistava tradition of thought in mahayanan buddhism, it seems, where people choose rebirth to help others escape from it..though even here it is humans, not nirvana itself, which is interceding it seems). The somewhat unloving, uncaring quality of eastern nirvana is why I ultimately cannot be a buddhist, but i think many in the US and Europe (and also from the state of Israel, since I met many Israelis in India) are attracted to its non-judgemental indifference towards people, for the space it gives people, in disticntion to the imposing autoritarian depictions of God and authority that they may have been reared on at home.
Anyway, I dont want to ramble on..but i think this question of what it MEANS for Israel to be a chosen people in the midst of humanity needs to be clarified..especially if we seek to get away from racist and prejudicial notions of bigotry, and seek to speak to people who are determined to abandon the warring templates of humanity's savage past by turning to an eastern philosophy which, alas, seems also regrettably keen to abandon the creation itself.
How many Israelites do you think have historically lived in buddhist, hindu and taoist lands?
Interesting questions anyway (for me at least)
best wishes
Jonathan
Answers:
You asked about:
(1. Authorship of The Psalms. I need to look into this question more.
From what I understand there are differences of opinion.
Roughly speaking our impression is that:
David wrote much of the Book of Psalms and apparently also composed music to accompany them.
David also designed musical instruments (Amos 6:5).
David incorporated in some cases already existing material.
The Psalms were added onto after David but much of this additional material
was also related to David.
ALL of the Psalms are considered to be inspired at a level just below that of
Direct Prophecy, i.e. formulation of the Psalms involved a greater
degree of human discretion but nevertheless they are sanctified.
(2. Universality versus Particularism. Others on the list could probably answer this
question better than I can. We concentrate on describing how things are more
than why. At all events Israel as a whole was chosen to fulfill certain tasks.
The national mission in its entirety created internal tensions that the people could
not abide by. The nation was therefore split in two with each half taking
upon itself a different aspect.
In the future the two halves will re-unite and the two aspects will be unified.
Both sides are already subconsciously moving in this direction.
Historically Judah
http://britam.org/judah.html
and Joseph had different missions and despite a lot of failures
and frailties they fulfilled those missions.
Under the circumstances it appears doubtful that any other candidates existed and if they
did it is unlikely that they would have succeeded to such a degree
without losing their balance in the process.
The task of "Joseph" was to civilize by force or by example the non-Israelite
nations while themselves evolving and dragging the rest of the world forward with them.
The Jewish task was more in the direction of keeping and formulating the Law
while contributing to the advance of knowledge and accepted civilized values.
You probably are familiar with the anti-Semitic refrain:
'HOW odd/Of God/To choose/The Jews,"
To which was replied:
"It's not so odd, the Jews chose God".
see also:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_1_52/ai_59329724
<<'HOW odd/Of God/To choose/The Jews," wrote a British wag named William Norman Ewer
... it was all but inevitable that there should have been responses in kind, the best of which came from one Cecil Browne: "But not so odd/As those who choose/A Jewish God/But spurn the Jews"). >>
see also:
W. N. Ewer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._N._Ewer
The Pity of War - [last paragraph]
http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire050301.shtml
Mark Twain, 1899,"Concerning the Jews":
<<If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also way out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself and be excused for it. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone. Other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?
(3. Israelites in the East.
There may have been many Israelites in the east. Even Buddha may have been of Hebrew origins
and Zoroaster see:
What Spake ZARATHUSTRA?
http://britam.org/zarathustra.html
Even so, Israelites in the east either came west or were lost amongst the heathen.
They never achieved Israelite self-expression to a known degree.
They did not meet the Brit-Am Ephraimite Criteria.
http://www.britam.org/criteria.html
4. Jonathan Tillotson: More Points
From: Jonathan Tillotson <jon_tillotson@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Psalms 65
Hi,
Thanks for your remarks about David.
Regarding your second point you wrote:
'In the future the two halves will re-unite and the two aspects will be
unified.'
May I ask, does Brit Am have any position on how this unification will happen with respect to the question of hierarchy between the tribes. I have read that some envisage Joseph needing to submit to Judah's authority. They believe this in the midst of an understanding that the Nothern Kingdom's major sin in the first millenium BC was to reject Judah's supremacy. May I ask where you lie on this question? Perhaps you might believe such questions should be postponed for later but perhaps some Josephites might fear the notion of having to become Jewish, or be subject to Judah? My own vision is that there will be equality, and that it doesnt help at all to think in terms of one house being sovereign over the other.
Regarding your jokes regarding Jews, thanks for these..they are funny, and witty. I get your points, only its not exactly, strictly true is it?, that 'God chose the Jews' (although, yes, he did choose them), since he also chose the other eleven tribes who are not Jews. I am not Jewish despite my love of Judaism, just as I love my brother, even though I am different from him and do not wish to become him...
I like the idea that the Jews (or for the sake of argument, Israel) chose God and not vice versa. ...Certainly Abraham must have stood out from the crowd, in such a sea of idol worshippers where he lived. But then Abraham, to return to the broader Israel context, wasnt a Jew, clearly, since his great grandson Judah was as yet unborn.
Yes, interesting about Buddha. I had wondered about this myself...indeed a Lama actually seemed to allude to his looking somewhat different from the other Indians. Certainly his time of life would tie in conveniently with a period subsequent to the exiles, though i imagine he would more likely have been from the northern tribes, for reasons of the time needed to move eastwards and settle where he lived. Still, just a hypothesis...
best wishes
Jonathan
Reply:
Concerning who will be in charge when Judah and Joseph re-unite Commentators such as the Malbim
http://britam.org/messiah.html
said that at least at first Joseph will be politically dominant.
Jewish Commentators actually go out of their way to emphasize the need there will be in the
future for Judah to give in on some points.
See our article, "The Two Messiahs", for examples
http://britam.org/messiah.html
AND THEY SHALL BE NO MORE TWO NATIONS, NEITHER SHALL THEY BE DIVIDED INTO TWO KINGDOMS ANY MORE AT ALL. NEITHER SHALL THEY DEFILE THEMSELVES ANY MORE WITH THEIR IDOLS, NOR WITH THEIR DETESTABLE THINGS, NOR WITH ANY OF THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS:
BUT I WILL SAVE THEM OUT OF ALL THEIR DWELLING PLACES, WHEREIN THEY HAVE SINNED, AND WILL CLEANSE THEM: SO SHALL THEY BE MY PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD. AND DAVID MY SERVANT SHALL BE KING OVER THEM; AND THEY ALL SHALL HAVE ONE SHEPHERD:
THEY SHALL ALSO WALK IN MY JUDGMENTS, AND OBSERVE MY STATUTES, AND DO THEM. AND THEY SHALL DWELL IN THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN UNTO JACOB MY SERVANT, WHEREIN YOUR FATHERS HAVE DWELT; AND THEY SHALL DWELL THEREIN, EVEN THEY, AND THEIR CHILDREN, AND THEIR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN FOR EVER:
AND MY SERVANT DAVID SHALL BE THEIR PRINCE FOR EVER. MOREOVER I WILL MAKE A COVENANT OF PEACE WITH THEM; IT SHALL BE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH THEM: AND I WILL PLACE THEM, AND MULTIPLY THEM, AND WILL SET MY SANCTUARY IN THE MIDST OF THEM FOR EVERMORE. MY TABERNACLE ALSO SHALL BE WITH THEM:
YEA, I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. AND THE HEATHEN SHALL KNOW THAT I THE LORD DO SANCTIFY ISRAEL, WHEN MY SANCTUARY SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF THEM FOR EVERMORE.
[Ezekiel chapter 37: 15-28]
When the time comes the question of relative pre-eminence will be a secondary consideration.
The result of re-unification is for everybody to dwell within their own tribal apportionment
but differences abolished.
5. DNA: Yorkshire clan linked to Africa
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6293333.stm
People of African origin have lived in Britain for centuries, according to genetic evidence.
A Leicester University study found that seven men with a rare Yorkshire surname carry a genetic signature previously found only in people of African origin.
The men seem to have shared a common ancestor in the 18th Century, but the African DNA lineage they carry may have reached Britain centuries earlier.
Details of the study appear in the European Journal of Human Genetics.
The scientists declined to disclose the men's surname in order to protect their anonymity.
The discovery came out of genetic work looking at the relationship between the male, or Y, chromosome and surnames.
The Y chromosome is a package of genetic material normally found only in males.
It is passed down from father to son, more or less unchanged, just like a surname.
Rare lineage
But over time, the Y chromosome accumulates small changes in its DNA sequence, allowing scientists to study the relationships between different male lineages.
Y chromosomes can be classified into different groups (called haplogroups) which, to some extent, reflect a person's geographical ancestry.
Certain haplogroups might be very common in, for example, East Asia and very rare in Europe.
By chance, the researchers discovered a white man with a rare Yorkshire surname carrying a Y chromosome haplogroup that had previously been found only in West African men. And even there, it is relatively uncommon.
"We found that he was in haplogroup A1, which is highly West African-specific," said Turi King, a co-author on the study at the University of Leicester.
"It is incredibly rare, there are only 25 other people known worldwide and they are all African."
Family tree
The individual had no knowledge of any African heritage in his family.
Sharing a surname also significantly raised the likelihood of sharing the same type of Y chromosome, with the link getting stronger as the surname gets rarer.
[]
Analysis of Thomas Jefferson's DNA also threw up a surprise
So the researchers started recruiting people with the same last name, which starts with "R" and originates in Yorkshire.
Of 18 people they tested, seven carried the rare African haplogroup.
Turi King and Leicester colleague Mark Jobling then commissioned a genealogist to fit the men into a family tree to see how they were related and find clues about where exactly their unusual Y haplogroup came from.
"He could only get them into two trees, one which dates back to 1788 and the other to 1789. He couldn't go back any further. So it's likely they join up in the early 18th Century," said Turi King.
The majority of the one million people who define themselves as "black" or "black British" trace their origins to immigration from the Caribbean or Africa from the middle of the 20th Century onwards.
Prior to the 20th Century, there have been various routes by which people of African ancestry might have reached Britain. For example, the Romans recruited from Africa and elsewhere for the garrison that guarded Hadrian's Wall.
Different routes
Another major route was through the slave trade.
"Some of the Africans who arrived in Britain through the slave trade rose quite high up in society, and we know they married with the rest of the population," said Ms King.
"It could be either of these two routes," she said. Even if the two family trees link up in the 18th Century, haplogroup A1 could have reached Britain long before that.
"But my guess is that, because many slaves came from West Africa, it could have been through that route," Ms King told BBC News.
She added that the study showed that Britain has always been composed of a mosaic of different people.
Professor Jobling echoed this view: "This study shows that what it means to be British is complicated and always has been," he said.
"Human migration history is clearly very complex, particularly for an island nation such as ours, and this study further debunks the idea that there are simple and distinct populations or 'races'."
Turi King said she had since found another African Y chromosome haplogroup in a different British lineage.
There are other precedents for the finding. When scientists analysed the DNA of the third US president, Thomas Jefferson, they found that his Y chromosome belonged to a haplogroup known as K2.
Jefferson's father claimed Welsh ancestry. But his Y-haplogroup is rare in Europe and has not yet been reported in Britain.
In fact, genetic studies show that Thomas Jefferson's K2 haplogroup ultimately came from north-east Africa or the Middle East, the areas where it is most commonly found today.
The research on haplogroup A1 was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Thank you for your offering.
May the God of Israel bless you in every way,
Yair Davidiy
on behalf of
Brit-Am
Jerusalem
Israel
POB 595, Jerusalem 91004, Israel
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