Question: I have recently encountered a few individuals who claim that contemporary Jews are not the true Israelites. There is one group calling itself the Black Hebrews that claims that Ashkenazi Jews are not of Israel considering they descend from converts; and that they cannot prove otherwise considering the Romans destroyed all the lineage records in 70 C.E. Is there any truth in that? Are Ashkenazi Jews really of Israel?

Answer: While I admittedly know little of the beliefs of the “Black Hebrews”, anyone with the slightest knowledge of history shall surely place the burden of authenticity on them. The claim presented to you is really quite foolish. For starters, what records of Jewish lineage are being alluded to? They certainly aren’t the records of Ashkenazi Jewry, for that did not start until hundreds of years after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. Both Jewish and gentile sources have ample documents chronicling the migration of the Jewish society, and, following the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., much of the Diaspora was in Babylonia. From there, Jews migrated to Europe and North Africa.

Mind you, I am not negating the existence of true Black Jews (there are many living

today in Israel, mostly from Ethiopia). However, the movement you speak of is suspect; while the truth of Jewish history is readily available in numerous places for anyone who cares to look.

On a final note, to claim that someone is not of Israel considering they descend from converts is a terribly offensive statement to prepare about converts, and could not be further from the concept of converts as portrayed in the Torah.

Regards,

R’ Daniel Fleksher

Original post by ATR

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