African Hebrew Israelites in Israel

This article is unrelated to Beta Israel, Jews from Ethiopia.

A group of African Hebrew Israelites in Dimona.

The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem (also known as The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem or Black Hebrews or Black Hebrew Israelites) is a small spiritual group whose members believe they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. With a population of over 5,000, most members live in their own community in Dimona, Israel, with additional families in Arad, Mitzpe Ramon, and the Tiberias area. Their immigrant ancestors were African Americans from Chicago, Illinois, who migrated to Israel in the late 1960s.

At least some of them consider themselves to be Jewish, but mainstream Judaism does not consider them to be Jewish. The 'Glass Report' of the American Jewish Committee, 1980, decided that "The 'Black Hebrews' are not Jews by any criterion, however liberal."

Origins

The group was founded in Chicago by a former steel worker named Ben Carter (b.1939), who took the name Ben Ammi upon joining the Hebrew Israelite community in Chicago. Denouncing the name Ben Carter and calling it his "slave name," Ben Ammi says that in 1966 he had a "vision," in which the Archangel Gabriel called him to take his people, African Americans, back to the Holy Land of Israel.

Ammi and his followers draw on a long tradition in black American culture which holds that black Americans are the decendents of the Ancient Israelites (Ammi cites Bishop Charles Mason of Misissipi, William S Crowdy of Virginia, Bishop William Boome of Tennessee, Bishop CP Jones of Mississipi and Elder Saint Samuel of Tennessee as early exponents of black descent from Israelites) . Ammi claimed that the Israelites, after having been expelled from Jerusalem under the Romans, migrated and ended up in West Africa. They were later captured and transported to America as slaves.

As well as this they are influenced by the black civil rights milieu in 1960s America, including figures such as Marcus Garvey, the Black Panthers, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. From these they have incorporated elements of black separatism as well as "return to Africa" - of which they consider Israel to be a part. Israel is claimed to be located in Northeastern Africa.

Status in Israel

A child of the community, in Dimona, September 2005.

The urban Kibbutz of Kfar Hashalom, December 6, 2006.

Ben Ammi and 350 of his followers first settled in Liberia in 1967. In 1969 they began moving to Israel, entering the country on temporary visas that were periodically renewed. As their numbers grew, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled that they were not Jews, and therefore not entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return . This was compounded by their refusal to convert, as well as their insistence that most Israeli Jews are not genealogically related to the ancient Israelites.

Members of the group continued to arrive and settled in the desert community of Dimona. For two decades, their population continued growing through natural increase and illegal immigration. Throughout the 1970s Tensions between the group and the state of Israel grew as the group faced low employment, inadequate housing and attempted deportation, while the state considered them illegal aliens. Ben Ammi accused the government of racism and usurping the holy land, while claiming that "The greatest conspiracy ever conceived in the minds of men was the creation of National Homeland for Jewish People.". In 1973 the International League for the Rights of Man rejected the group's claims, sdtating that the Hebrews made little attempt to comply with the citizenship laws of Israel. In 1981 a BASIC 6 person delegation assessed all aspcts fo the community's treatment. Although the leader Bayard Rustin called Ben Ammi "a dictator" without "the same moral standards as democratic leaders", the others disassociated themselves from this.

They are not considered Jews in Israel. The Israeli government refused to grant the group citizenship, while occasionally pursuing deportation.

In May 1990, the group reached an agreement with the government whereby they were granted tourist status with a (B/1) Visa that entitled them to work; in 1991 they were given temporary resident status (A/5) for a period of five years, which in 1995 was extended for another three years. At the beginning of 2004, the group was granted residency status by the Israeli Interior Ministry.

In sports they have represented Israel at home and in Europe in track and field and national softball events, including the Maccabiah Games. Their students have and still represent Israel in international academic competitions at the highest levels. Members of the community have represented Israel in two Eurovision song contests.

In 2004, Uriyahu Butler became the first member of the community to enlist in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), and by 2006 more than 100 of their youth were serving in the IDF in regular units. The IDF agreed to accommodate some of their dietary and other religious requirements.

Way of life

The group maintains a vegan diet, citing Genesis 1:29, "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." They practice abstinence from alcohol, other than the naturally fermented wine which they make themselves, and both illegal and pharmaceutical drugs, so as to stay within the cycles of life. The group owns and operates a chain of vegetarian restaurants throughout the world. Adult members exercise three times a week, and are advised to have at least one full-body massage each month for its health benefits.

The group grow much of their own food and are authorized organic growers with the Israel Bio-Organic Agricultural Association.

Clothing is based on Biblical guidelines, consisting of natural fibres and with fringes and blue cord.

The group practise "polygyny", meaning that a man can marry several wives (up to six).. Within the community this is termed "Divine Marriage" , being based on Biblical examples such as King David. Polygyny is not required, constituting approximately 37 percent of marriages in 1992.

Beliefs

The group maintain that the Ancient Israelites are the ancestors of black Americans. They reject the term 'Jew' as inappropriate because they descend from all 12 tribes, not just that of Judah. While rejecting the religious forms of both Judaism and Christianity, the Hebrews maintain the divine inspiration of the Tanakh, as well as valuing the New Testament as a record of the words of Yeshuah, one of an ongoing line of 'messiahs' sent by God to keep the people of Israel in the ways of righteousness.

The core of the group's lifestyle is the Tanakh, Ben Ammi claims that "the Law and the Prophets...are the light; they are the essence of what is required to set man on the path and show him the way back to his Maker."

Ben Ammi claims that Africans are the victims of "a cruel plot to control us, an international religious plot that came about as a result of Blacks disobeying the law and commandments of God." The enslavement of Africans is seen as punishment for straying from the righteous path and he cites an "oral tradition that our people were cursed by God for violating His laws, statutes and commandments." He links this to Deuteronomy 28:68, which speaks of a second captivity in a second Egypt which the Israelites would be carried to in ships. The "Euro-gentile" establishment attempted "a deliberate scheme to conceal the truth that ancient Hebrews were Black" and "perpetuated the white Jesus deception".

In the attempt to overcome the history of slavery and the bondage in America, Ammi argues that it is essential to "reexamine and redefine all things...we must question every facet of existence under Euro-gentile dominion." The ability to name and classify the word and social concepts Ammi calls "The Power to Define", which in the wrong hands is "one of the greatest weapons that can be used to control men and nations," but is the key to salvation from past oppression. Thus, Ammi claims that true freedom can never be found within a society that is intrinsically corrupt but can only be attained by establishing a new society based solely on the laws of God: "No government, no party or system can bring salvation unto the Children of God...Their salvation is only of God."

Based on the Hebrew word עבד, Ammi has argued that the distinction between work and worship is false - in fact, the activity we pursue with our lives is both our work and our worship. Therefore, "every job that does not enhance God as creator is the worship of the devil. There is no neutral position."

However, Ammi's concern is not solely for his own people but for the whole of humanity - the role of the Hebrew Israelite community to serve as "a light unto the gentiles": "Black America...were initially chosen by God to guide the world out of its state of ignorance." Recently the group has also begun to claim that Hebrew status is not solely from genealogy, but can be conferred by spiritual behaviour

Ammi admits no doctrine of afterlife, preferring to focus on life on earth: "Heaven is the reality of the righteous as they live, not a place for spirits after death." This is part of his attempt to reconstruct a vibrant, living spirituality away from the abstract doctrines of "Euro-gentile" religion.

As well as considering Jews to not be descendents of the Israelites, they claim that the Palestinian Arab population are not descendents of Ishmael: "Our studies and experience have shown that the present-day inhabitants of this region are not the original people of the land. The majority of those today defined by modern historians as Arabs, are veritably the descendents of European Crusaders."

Accusations of Anti-Semitism

On several occasions Ben Ammi and the community have been accused of anti-semitism. As well as denying the Israelite heritage of world Jewry and its claim to the land of Israel, the stalemate between the community and Israel in the late 70s led to heightened tensions and according to the Jerusalem Post, "Ben Ammi mounted a worldwide public-relations offensive against the government that dripped with anti-semitism. Community newspapers compared the Israelis to Nazis and included images of money-grubbing Jews and other stereotypes". . However, relations improved during the 1990s such that Ben Ammi has distanced himself from the Nation of Islam especially on the issue of Jews and Israel. The group has since become a valued part of both the Dimona community and wider Israeli society and has pursued integration in ways such as volunteering to serve in the IDF.

Institutions

The Hebrew Israelite community has developed a number of progressive institutions that are operating successfully around the world. One of the more popular institutions is their Soul Vegetarian Restaurant chain. Soul Vegetarian is a commercial restaurant line centered around providing a healthier alternative to the mainstream fast food options and their corresponding effects.

Another international institution founded by the Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem is the African Hebrew Development Agency (AHDA). AHDA is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which operates primarily on the African continent. It specializes in "providing technical assistance, training and consultancy in essential areas... such as health, agriculture, rural development, environmental maintenance and related fields." The AHDA has also collaborated with indigenous African organizations to help mobilize the African Boreholes Initiative (ABI). ABI is a social enterprise built around the need to provide clean water to local African villages that would be otherwise incapable of accessing it.[1]

In February 2005, in conjunction with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the group set up a conflict resolution center in Dimona to teach non-violence and reconciliation to families, communities, faiths and nations.

Cultural diplomacy

The Hebrew Israelite community has maintained a very active presence in different social and political sectors around the world. Since their arrival in the land of Israel, they have been promoting their holistic lifestyle and "spiritual" worldview as a potential solution to many of the problems in the world today. [2] [3] [4][5]

Spiritual beliefs

The group believes that the value system of a society is seen through its culture. According to one source, it is therefore "important that our clothing, music, food and language reflect the glory and the higher standards of Yah (God)" [6].

See also

• Black Hebrew Israelites
• British Israelism
• Dimona

External links

• Official site
• "The Hebrew Israelite Community," 9/29/06