Posted on 05/16/2008 2:57:40 AM PDT by moderatewolverine
Before sending Lewis and Clark west, Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis to Philadelphia to see Benjamin Rush. The eminent doctor prepared a series of scientific questions for the expedition to answer. Among them, writes Stephen Ambrose: “What Affinity between their [the Indians’] religious Ceremonies & those of the Jews?” Jefferson and Lewis, like many of their day and ours, were fascinated by the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and thought they might be out there on the Great Plains.
They weren’t. They aren’t anywhere. Their disappearance into the mists of history since their exile from Israel in 722 B.C. is no mystery. It is the norm, the rule for every ancient people defeated, destroyed, scattered and exiled.
With one exception, a miraculous story of redemption and return, after not a century or two, but 2,000 years. Remarkably, that miracle occurred in our time. This week marks its 60th anniversary: the return and restoration of the remaining two tribes of Israel—Judah and Benjamin, later known as the Jews—to their ancient homeland.
Besides restoring Jewish sovereignty, the establishment of the State of Israel embodied many subsidiary miracles, from the creation of the first Jewish army since Roman times to the only recorded instance of the resurrection of a dead language—Hebrew, now the daily tongue of a vibrant nation of 7 million. As historian Barbara Tuchman once wrote, Israel is “the only nation in the world that is governing itself in the same territory, under the same name, and with the same religion and same language as it did 3,000 years ago.”
(Excerpt) Read more at primetimepolitics.com ...
I wish I could talk like this when trying to verbally bash anti semites.
It is truly a miracle, for all of us.
I was in New York for the 30th anniversary celebration. It was pretty good.
Not Jewish, but I am reflexively anti-antisemtic. Boy-o-boy, have I had fun with people who let slip antisemtic remarks. I am rarely as animated or - may I confess - articulate as when tearing into a closet antisemite. (Invariably a liberal, usually over-schooled and under-educated.) Although fun at the time, it is emotionally exhausting and painful afterwards. I tend to be avuncular and easy-going in person, I like making people feel at ease. It's just one of those things that sets me off.
I almost never hear people make racist comments about almost any other group. People know better than to belittle blacks or call Chinese coolies. Indians (Asian variety) are close to Jews in being acceptable targets for racial stereotyping, but it is rarely as vicious as that targeted at Jews.
________________________________
Gee, I guess all those Ethiopian Jews who thrived in isolation for thousands of years just don't count.
With one exception, a miraculous story of redemption and return, after not a century or two, but 2,000 years. Remarkably, that miracle occurred in our time. This week marks its 60th anniversary: the return and restoration of the remaining two tribes of Israel—Judah and Benjamin, later known as the Jews—to their ancient homeland.
The Jews, though defeated, scattered, and exiled, always knew who they were. If their restoration is a miracle, how much more so the regathering of the "lost" tribes of Israel.
Joseph isn't dead. He was sent ahead - to preserve life.
Good article though. Pali/Arab victimhood is self-inflicted.
This is an excellent synopsis of the root cause of the Israel-Palestine problems. The whole article is definitely worth reading, and saving.
Mr. Krauthammer seems to have a fairly good knowledge of just who is actually residing in Israel today. I wonder if he knows where Joseph is?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.