Prophecies that Came True and What’s Next

In this article I’ll outline some of the prophecies about the people of Israel that already came true and what’s going to happen next.

First I have to say that I’ll mention 2 types of prophecies. First are prophecies that are written in the bible. Second are events that were predicted by the prophets but were not written and were only passed orally, until our Rabbis wrote them later on in the Midrash or in the Talmud. What I won’t mention are vague prophecies that can be interpreted in a lot of ways, but will only mention explicit prophecies.

All the prophecies are written in Hebrew or Aramaic, and unless I specified otherwise, all the translations are mine.

What Has Already Happened

The Prophet Moses said about the exile of the people of Israel, more than a thousand years in advance (Deuteronomy 28:62-64):

“And only a few of you will remain after you’ve been a huge people like the stars of the sky, and God will spread you to all lands all over earth”.

Moses further said about the time of this exile that it’ll be tough for the people of Israel, and predicted anti-Semitism (Deuteronomy 28:37):

“And you’ll be laughed at amongst all people…”

He also wrote about that exile (Deuteronomy 28:65, 28:67):

“And amongst those people you won’t have peace…. And God will make you anxious and afraid and bring sorrow to you souls, and you’ll be scared in nights and days and you won’t believe in your life. In the morning you’ll pray to live until the night, and at nights you’ll pray to live until the mourning, because you’ll be scared that much from what your eyes will witness”.

He further said (Leviticus 26:38-39)

“And you’ll be lost in the countries of other nations, and the countries of your enemies will exterminate you. And the ones who are left would suffer greatly for their sins in the countries of their enemies, and because they sinned themselves, they’ll suffer greatly even for the sins of their ancestors”.

Jewish Exile
Depiction of Jews going to exile after destruction of the Holy Temple

Moses also wrote (Leviticus 26:32):

“And I’ll make the land (the holy land) a desert, and your enemies won’t be able to build it, so the land will be a desert and your cities will remain in ruins”.

Moses predicted that the enemies of the people of Israel won’t be successful in this land, although they’ll try. And so said the Ramban in his commentary on this verse, about 800 years ago. And Mark Twain (The Innocent Abroad 1867) said that the land of Israel is a desert and it is like it is cursed. Now that the people of Israel returned to it there’s no curse any more.

Prophet Moses also said that the people of Israel would survive the exile (Leviticus 26:44):

“And even when they’ll be in the countries of their enemies, I (God) won’t be so disgusted of them as to kill them all, and by that to break my covenant with them, because I am their God. And I’ll remember the covenant I made with their ancestors when I saved them from Egypt in front of other nations, and called my name upon them, I am God!”

Not only did Prophet Moses know the people of Israel would survive the exile, but he explicitly said the people of Israel would return to their land (Deuteronomy 30:4-5):

“If you’ll be lost in the end of the sky, even from there God will unite you and take you. And God will bring you to the land he gave your ancestors and it’ll be given to you, and he’ll bring blessing to you and make you prosper even more than your ancestors”.

Well this prophecy is still in the process of coming true, waiting for the rest of the people of Israel to return to the holy land (Jews abroad as well as the Igbo, Pashtuns, and other lost Israelites) and for the great blessing to come. This process has obviously begun.

Pashtun
Pashtun

It is written in the book of Zohar (a Midrash of Kaballa) on page 116 about the following prophecy that was passed orally to the Rabbis who wrote the book:

“In the year 5600 (5600 years since Adam and Eve according to the Hebrew calendar) the gates of wisdom will be opened above, and the springs of lower wisdom too, and the world we get prepared to be fixed for the 7th millennium” (‘springs’ is a literal translation from the Aramaic word ‘Mabuee’, which doesn’t fit perfectly in English).

According to the Hebrew calendar, this year, 2016, is 5776, so 5600 is 1840, which is the last year of the Industrial Revolution when the “lower wisdom” (science) advanced tremendously. Some think the “higher wisdom” is the Hassiddic branch of Judasim, but this is less obvious than what the “lower wisdom” that advanced was.

It is written in the Talmud on Megila, page 6:

“Rabbie Yisshak said, what does this verse mean (Psalm 140:9): ‘God, do not grant the desires of the wicked; do not let his thoughts succeed, for they are constantly haughty (Chabad translation)’? Yaakov said to God, ‘the king of the world, don’t grant Esaw (Yaakov’s brother) his desires, don’t let his thoughts succeed’. This is Germanya of Edom (recognised by the commentaries of the Talmud, hundreds of years ago, as today’s Germany, which is called in Hebrew Germanya). If they do not go, they destroy the world. And Rabbi Hama son of Hanina said, there are 300 kingdoms in Germamya of Edom (Germany), and 365 dukes in Rome, and every day they go out one against the other and one of them is killed, so they are too bothered for uniting under one king.”

According to this oral prophecy, Germany’s 300 kingdoms would not unite because they fight the Romans, and once they’d stop fighting them, they’d destroy the world. The “Holy” Roman Empire ruled over more than 300 kingdoms of Germans prior to 1806. Then came Napoleon and conquered the Germans. As a result, The Germans united. In 1882, Italy joined forces with Germany and Austria-Hungary, so they officially stopped fighting. In 1914 Germany started WW1, which caused the death of over 16M people (about 9M of them were civilians). In that war Italy actually didn’t help Germany even though they made a pact, but a few years later, Germany started WW2 with the help of Italy, which caused the death of 50M-85M people, which basically means they destroyed the world.

Prophet Yehezkel wrote (36:20-24) (Chabad translation):

“And they entered the nations where they came, and they profaned My Holy Name, inasmuch as it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and they have come out of His land.’ But I had pity on My Holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had come. Therefore, say to the house of Israel; So says the Lord God: Not for your sake do I do this, O house of Israel, but for My Holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations to which they have come. And I will sanctify My great Name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord-is the declaration of the Lord God-when I will be sanctified through you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you to your land.”

In the book of Zohar, second part, page 124, it is written:

“Rabbi Hiya said: Because the people of Israel are getting circumcised, they beat their enemies and get their land”.

Based on those prophecies, the Ramban wrote in his commentary of Song of songs chapter 8:

“After he mentioned the redemption of Efrayim, who are the 10 tribes (who are the Pashtuns who will return to Israel soon), he mentioned the redemption of Yehuda (the Jews), and said ‘even with the blood of your Brith I sent you away’ (meaning that in general, circumcision should prevent the people of Israel from being sent away from the holy land, and this case was special because even though they were circumcised, they were still sent away). He hinted here that at the end of days, there will be a generation that is all bad, the Torah will be forgotten from them, there’ll be a lot of insolence in that generation, but one right they’ll all have – circumcision”.

Biafrans in support of Israel
Biafrans in support of Israel

Now, those 3 writings fit reality very accurately. Basic theology says that the righteous get a reward, so it might come as a huge surprise that after 2000 years of keeping the Torah, and even giving up life for keeping it, refusing to convert religion, it was a generation of secular Jews who didn’t keep the Tora who returned to the holy land and created the state of Israel. Surprising as it might look, Prophet Yehezkel said that returning to Israel won’t be a reward, but an action of God protecting His name. By letting the secular Jews return to Israel he also saved a lot of secular Jews from mixing with other people, and, by that, stopping their Jewish lineage (The high mixing percent of the secular Jews in the US and Europe prove just that.) And here comes the Ramban and analyzes that prophecy and the prophecy-hint in the Song of songs, saying that generation will have one thing going for it – circumcision. In fact, those secular Jews who returned to the holy land, although being secular, were all circumcised and they all circumcised their children, even though this commandment is one of the strangest of all the commandments of the Torah. (By the way, please notice that the realization of these prophecies is very bad news for those who thought God left the people of Israel.)

It is also written in the book of Zohar, in Va’Erah, page 32 (written before Islam and a lot before the Arabs conquered the holy land):

“Damn that moment that Yishmael (Ismail) was born and got circumcised. What did God do? He kept the chlidren of Yishmael away from being mentally close to him and gave them a grip on the holy land, as a reward for their circumcision. And in the future (our present) the children of Yishmael would control the holy land when it is empty of anything, like their circumcision is incomplete, and they’ll prevent the people of Israel from returning to their land, until their reward for their circumcision will be over”.

What’s Next?

In the book of Zohar, it is written (Va’Erah, page 32):

“The children of Yishmael will start big fights in the world, and they’ll make the people of Edom (Europe, Russia, US) unite and attack them. They’ll fight them in the sea and in the land, and there will be a fight close to Jerusalem. And Edom will control Yishmael, but the holy land would not be given to Edom. Then another nation from the end of the world will start a war against the evil Romans (Edom), which will last 3 months, and a lot of nations will unite against that nation but they’ll fall, until all the people of Edom (Europe, Russia, US) will unite, and then God will say enough is enough”.

ISIS are playing out that prophecy accurately. We would expect something in the sea, although maybe all those ships that are firing on Syria is a fight in the sea. Then the Europeans/Russia/US/All of them would conquer some countries of the Arabs. A fight near Jerusalem might occur in Jordan. Then some other nation, who knows who (China? Iran who aren’t Arabs? Korea?) will attack Edom in the last war.

We also know that the tribes of Israel (the Pashtuns, Igbo, Lemba, and others) will come back (Deuteronomy 30:4-5, already written above):

If you’ll be lost in the end of the sky, even from there God will unite you and take you. And God will bring you to the land he gave your ancestors and it’ll be given to you, and he’ll bring blessing to you and make you prosper even more than your ancestors.

We know that from other prophecies too (Jeremaya 31:16):

(God tells Rachel, the mother of Binyamin and Josef (father of Yusufzai, Afridi – Pashtun tribes, and Menashe), but actually talking to the people of Israel who are called by her name, like we are called by our father’s name Israel/Yaakov) “There is hope for those who remain of your children, said God, and sons will return to their land”.

Yishaaya 51:11:

“And those who were saved by God will return, and they’ll come singing to Zion (Jerusalem), with a huge happiness with them. they’ll have joy and happiness, and all graveness and sorrow will be gone”.

Yehezkel 37:16-22:

“(God is telling prophet Yehezkel) And you, son of Adam, take a piece of wood and write on it “for Yehuda (the Jews) and for Benei Israel his friends”, and take another piece of wood and write on it “for Yosef, the tree of Efrayim (Afridi. The tribes that lived in the kingdom of Yehuda were called simply Yehuda and the other tribes were called simply Efrayim/Yosef), and for all the house of Israel, his friends (the friends of Efrayim – the rest of the Pashtun tribes)”. Bring them closer to each other, make them one in your hand. When your people will ask you – what is your business with those? answer them: The lord God has spoken – I am taking the wood of Yosef which is in the hand of Efrayim and the tribes of Israel, his friends, and I’m putting on it the wood of Yehuda, and I am making them one wood, so they will all be one in my hand. (God keeps on speaking to prophet Yehezkel) And put those pieces of wood in your hands in front of their eyes and tell them – So has spoken the lord God: I am taking Bene Israel from the other nations where they went, and I’ll unite them from all corners and bring them to their land. And I’ll make them one people in their land – the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule them all (son of King David), and they will never be separated to 2 kingdoms again”.

Jews of KaiFung China
Jews of KaiFung China

We also know this from a lot of other prophecies. And how will that happen? In the book of Magid Mesharim, an angel told Rabbi Yossef Karo (Ssaw, right before the part on slaughtering):

“(Kings 2, 7:9) ‘This day is a day of tiding’, like you thought. Prophet Yishaaya said about that day (41:27): ‘The first one to Zion, behold, behold them, and for Jerusalem I will give a herald’ (Chabad translation). The way of the world is that when a king comes back to its house, a few heralds are coming to give the tiding of the king’s return. The first one says that the king is coming in 10 days, the second says he’s coming in 5 days, the fourth says the king’s coming in 4 days, etc. Finally the last one says the king is very close to the city. The prophet said that at the redemption of the people of Israel, it won’t be like that, but it would happen all of a sudden, and the first herald will say that they are here! the tribes of Israel are here, and their return will be so sudden that even though they’ll be very close, the people of the city won’t notice them until the herald will tell them that in Zion – the palace of the king…”

From here we learn that some time in the middle of the predicted war between Yishmael and Edom, or during the last war, the tribes of Israel, who are mainly the Pashtuns as well as other groups like the Igbo, Bnei Menashe, Lemba, and others will return to their land very quickly. This will happen so quickly that the Jews in Israel will notice it only after a lot of them will already be in Israel.

We also know that in that time, the people of Israel won’t be too righteous (maybe most will be secular like they are now), because Prophet Malaahi said (3:22-24):

“Remember the Torah of my servant Moses, whom I commanded in mount Sinai, laws and justice over all the people of Israel. I’m sending you Prophet Eliya before the big day of God. That he may turn the heart of the fathers back through the children, and the heart of the children back through their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with utter destruction” (partly Chabad translation).

Let’s all remember a rule the prophets taught us – good prophecies will surely come true, but bad ones depend on our ways. If we fix our ways, a punishment (bad prophecy) can be cancelled. And lets all wait for this great and awesome day, when all the people of the world will know God is one and only one, blessed Him, and He’ll show us great miracles, even greater than those our ancestors witnessed in Egypt and the Sinai desert, more than 3000 years ago.

The Pashtuns are the Tribes of Israel

The Pashtuns, who live in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, have a very special tradition, which says they are Bene Israel, and is widely spread among some of the Pashtun tribes. In this article we intend to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this tradition is true, and they are in fact the descendants of the 10 tribes of Israel, who were taken to Afghanistan thousands of years ago.

The fact is that some Pashtun tribes have a tradition of being the people of Israel (Bene Israel), meaning they descended from our father Yaakov. It is even told that the Afghan king once asked the Afghan Jews from which tribe they are, when they answered they don’t know the king said that the Pashtuns do, and that the king is from the tribe of Benyamin. In particular, I heard myself from Pashtuns from the tribes of Lewani, Benyamin, Afridi, Shinwari and more, that their grandfathers told them they are Bene Israel, and it is well known that this tradition is spread through most (or all) of the Pashtuns tribes.

Some Pashtuns, especially from young generations, are doubting that this is true. In this article I’ll explore the possibilities of how this tradition could have originated. From this exploration it will become clear that doubting the truthfulness of this tradition is irrational. I would also outline some common traditions of Pashtuns and Jews, some of them are based on the Torah, which further confirm that this tradition is true and that Pashtuns are really Bene Israel. I’ll then say a few words about DNA testing and finally talk about the implications of this tradition.

The possibilities for the origin of the tradition

There are 2 possibilities for how this tradition could have originated. The simple one is that it is true. The more complex one is that it is false. If it is false, it had to originate somehow. There are 3 possible ways this tradition could have originated if it is false:

  1. At some point in time someone forced the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.
  2. At some point in time someone convinced the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.
  3. At some point in time some Pashtuns created this tradition in a major conspiracy.

Anyone who has doubts in this tradition must explain how it originated. We will now go through those possible explanations (assuming the tradition is false) and show that each of them is far-fetched and as close to impossible as it gets.

Someone forced the Pashtuns into believing in this tradition

According to this explanation for the origin of this tradition, at some generation A, someone (or a group of people) came along and threatened the Pashtuns that if they won’t teach their children they are Bene Israel, something terrible is going to happen to them. Time had passed, and at generation B the tradition was already so acceptable, that not only many (probably most) of the Pashtuns believed it, but they completely forgot that once, at generation A, someone forced their ancestors into believing it (it is a fact that now no one remember of such a person who forced the Pashtuns into believing in this tradition).

For this explanation to be rationally accepted, we have to believe that:

  1. Someone had a motive for forcing the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.
  2. That person had the means to force generation A into believing it.
  3. In some of the generations that followed generation A, there had to be someone who shared this motive and those means, or else, after 1-2 generations this tradition would have been recognized as false and it would have disappeared.

I think that it is safe to say that we have no rational reason for believing that any of those conditions is true, because:

(1) It doesn’t seem reasonable to believe that anyone had ever had a motive for forcing the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.

(2) In addition, we clearly see today that Pashtuns would not let go of their traditions without a fight, and we have no reason to think it was different in any previous generation. Therefore, even if anyone had the motive, he would probably have to kill many Pashtuns before he could force this tradition upon them. If that happened, it would have been remembered, both by the Pashtuns themselves and by their neighbours, and there would have been some archaeological and historical records of this genocide. As far as I know, there isn’t any such evidence.

(3) Finally, if believing it was possible at one generation is far-fetched, believing some people did that for many generations is close to insanity.

(4) Even if we ignore the problems outlined above, it would still be highly unlikely that this event of forcing this tradition upon the Pashtuns would have been forgotten.

Therefore, the belief that Pashtuns are not really Bene Israel cannot be rationally based on this explanation.

Someone convinced the Pashtuns into believing in this tradition

According to this explanation for the origin of this tradition, at some generation A, someone (or a group of people) came along and convinced the Pashtuns that they are really Bene Israel, although they never heard of it before. Time had passed, and at generation B the tradition was already so acceptable, that not only many (probably most) of the Pashtuns believed it, but they completely forgot that once, at generation A, someone invented it and convinced their ancestors it is true.

For this explanation to be rationally accepted, we have to believe that:

  1. Someone had a motive for convincing the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.
  2. That person had such strong arguments that he managed to convince people they are something they are not.
  3. In some of the generations that followed generation A, people who questioned this tradition were convinced again and again that it is true using those arguments.
  4. The Pashtuns at generation A had to have no tradition of their true origin, or they let go of their previously held tradition because the arguments they are Bene Israel were so strong.

I think that it is safe to say that we have no rational reason for believing that any of those conditions is true, because:

(1) Like we said before, it doesn’t seem reasonable to believe that anyone had ever had a motive for convincing the Pashtuns into believing they are Bene Israel.

(2) What could have been those arguments? If we ignore the tradition the Pashtuns are Bene Israel, even with the other common traditions of Pashtuns and Jews, there aren’t strong enough arguments to convince anyone, especially not the Pashtuns themselves, that the Pashtuns are something they are not (remember that at generation A the Pashtuns didn’t have any tradition of being Bene Israel according to this explanation).

(3) Even though some people are stupid, there are always, in every nation, those who are smart and ask questions. If enough people, at generation A or at the following generations, were smart, there’s no way this tradition would have been accepted, and I don’t think it is rational to believe that some generations of Pashtuns were so stupid. In fact, a lot of Pashtuns are very intelligent people, and from that we can safely conclude that their ancestors were intelligent too.

(4) There’s no historical record for this event of convincing the Pashtuns they are something they are not.

(5) It is unlikely that the Pashtuns in generation A let go of a previously held tradition, no matter what arguments were given to them. We’d have to believe they had no idea who they are.

(6) Even if we ignore the problems outlined above, it would still be highly unlikely that this event of convincing this tradition upon the Pashtuns would have been forgotten.

Therefore, the belief that Pashtuns are not really Bene Israel cannot be rationally based on this explanation.

Some Pashtuns created this tradition

According to this explanation for the origin of this tradition, at some generation A, some Pashtuns decided they are Bene Israel. Then they convinced or forced the other Pashtuns, although no one has ever heard of it before. Time had passed, and at generation B the tradition was already so acceptable, that not only many (probably most) of the Pashtuns believed it, but they completely forgot that once, at generation A, some Pashtuns invented it and convinced or forced others it is true.

The same arguments that were given above are all relevant to this explanation, only now the problems are much more profound, because we have to believe that the ones who forced or convinced other Pashtuns were Pashtuns themselves (and if it was done by convincing, they had to be superb liars).

Therefore, the belief that Pashtuns are not really Bene Israel cannot be rationally based on this explanation.

Conclusion

We previously outlined taxonomy of all the possible explanations for the origin of the tradition that Pashtuns are Bene Israel, assuming it is false. Because all of the explanations are irrational, we must conclude that the tradition is true, and at some generation A the Pashtuns really lived in the land of Israel and knew for a fact they are Bene Israel. They were then taken to Afghanistan and the area around it (according to the bible, they were taken by the Assyrians), where they lived and passed this tradition from generation to generation.

Common traditions of Pashtuns and Jews

Although the common traditions of Pashtuns and Jews might not be enough on their own to prove Pashtuns are Israelis, they can certainly be used for further confirmation that our conclusion is correct. Amongst the common traditions are:

Lighting candles before Saturday (Shabbat):

Not eating sea-creatures such as lobsters, shrimps, and crabs, and animals like camels and horses, and meat with cheese. These are, in fact, not Kosher (cannot be eaten) according to the Torah given to the people of Israel by God through Moses.

Circumcision on the 8th day:

The days of the week are called by their numbers, like in Hebrew, except for Friday which is called by its Arabic name Jummah جمعه (it is a holy day for Muslims) and Saturday which is called Shambah, in the Torah (and in Hebrew) it is called Shabbat (Shabath).

Wearing a small hat, In Hebrew they are called Kipa:

PI-Kipa

Wearing a square piece of clothing by men. In Hebrew it is called Talith. In Pashtun, it is Shawl/Sadaar:

PI Talith

A man marries his dead brother’s widow if the brother didn’t have children. In the Torah it is called Yibum.

In Weddings there’s a piece of fabric hanging above the marrying couple. In Hebrew it is called Hupa. In Pashto it is called Dolaye,

In some Pashtuns weddings, the bride breaks a glass (in particular, I heard it is done by Pashtuns in Kandahar). In Jew’s weddings the groom breaks it. This is actually a relatively new tradition that Jews do for the remembrance of the destroyed Temple, so it is likely that Pashtuns heard of this tradition after they have already been exiled and added it to their other Israeli traditions.

Some Pashtun women grow side brows (called Kamsai in Pashto). A lot of Jewish males do that too (mainly Hasidim (Ashkenazi) and Yemen Jews). Jews and Pashtuns are probably the only ones in the world who do this:

PI sidebrow

Using names like Yaakov (Christians use Jacob but only Jews and Pashtuns use it as it should be pronounced), Israel, Barak, Asaf, Benyamin, Kenan, Tamir, Timor, Shir, Sahar, etc.

Other evidence includes names of places in Afghanistan and Kashmir that resemble ancient towns in Israel that are mentioned in the bible. And some say that until not so long ago, one of the names of the Amu Darya (River Oxus) was Gozan, which is mentioned as one of the placed the damn Assyrians exiled the people of Israel to. There are also the names of tribes that resemble the children of Yaakov (the names of the Israeli tribes), like Lewani (Lewi), Daftali (Naftali), Yusufzai (children of Yussuf-Yossef), Rubanni (Reuven), Afridi (Efrayim) etc. Also parts of the Pashtunwali resemble some parts of the Torah.

Some Pashtuns also have Jewish artifacts. For example, I heard first hand from a Lewani Pashtun that his grandmother had these jewelries:

PI Artifacts

If we add those traditions to what we said above, we can be confident that our conclusion is correct.

DNA Testing

Here it is said that almost half of Indian Afridi Pathans are very close genetically to Jews. I heard from some Pashtuns that Pathans are actually Pashtuns that mixed with other nations, so I was set to try to do a DNA test myself on friends of mine who are pure-blood Pashtuns. I already got an offer from a commercial company, when I suddenly remembered something I read not long ago – a Wikipedia article about Jewish genetics. I’ll outline some of the conclusions of those studies, and explain their relevancy afterwards.

Male linage studies: A book published in 2012 that surveys previous studies concluded that all major Jewish groups share a common Middle Eastern origin, and claimed that the theory that some Ashekenazi Jews are Khazars is refuted. Another study done in 2012 claimed to prove that North African Jews are genetically close to European Jews. Another showed that Ashkenazi Jews from Germany are much closer to Sfaradic Jews than to non-Jewish Germans. Another study in 2013 found no Khazar evidence for Ashkenazi Jews and again concluded that most of the Ashkenazi Jews have common Middle Eastern origin as the Sfaradic Jews.

Female linage studies: In 2008 someone found that about 40% of Ashkenazi Jews had 4 female founders (consistent with Jewish tradition of being the children of Yaakov’s wives – Lea, Rahel, Zilpa and Bilha), but that the same is not true for Sfaradic Jews (basically claiming that many women converted to Judaism and married male Jews). In 2013 someone said the exact opposite – that about 88% of the Ashkenazi Jews had non-Middle Eastern female ancestors, suggesting that Jewish males migrated to Europe and took new wives from the local population, and converted them to Judaism. In 2014 another study contradicted both other studies.

Other studies: Looking at the whole genome, one study concluded that most Jews from all communities are descendants of ancient Hebrew and Israelite residents of the Levant. Some studies concluded that some Ashkenazi Jews are in fact descendants of Khazars. There are many other studies; many of them contradict each other.

Now to our point, we clearly see that most studies are consistent with the Jewish tradition of being mostly children of Yaakov (except for non-Israelis who accepted the Israeli religion). But, and this is a huge but, some studies (especially in the maternal case) show something completely different.

One explanation for the inconclusiveness of the DNA testing of Jews, especially in the maternal linage (which is the more important one, because according to the Torah (implicit) and Ezra (explicit) being Israeli is determined by the mother), is that a lot of women around the world converted to Judaism, but it wouldn’t be a full explanation of the facts, because we would then expect that all studies would show this or that percent of non-Middle Eastern maternal origin.

A better explanation is that DNA testing is over-hyped, and it will take some more development until we could rely on it. Commercial companies and researchers would surely disagree, but they have a personal interest.

Because we showed that it is basically impossible to believe that Pashtuns are not Bene Israel, DNA is not necessary for proving this tradition. It can only be used for proving another Pashtuns tradition – that Pashtuns did not mix with other people, but I personally think that given the current knowledge of DNA and mutation frequency, and how much the environment affects it, any result of a DNA test could be debated.

Pashto

Some Pashtuns think that because Pashto is not a Semetic language it means Pashtuns are not Semetic, but it isn’t a strong enough evidence to contradict what we said above. To contradict what we said one has to explain how this tradition originated, and it is impossible.

Anyway, we should say that not only this evidence is not strong enough; it is actually not evidence at all. Jews in Europe spoke 3 languages – Hebrew, the language of their country (French in France, German in Germany etc) and Yidish. Yidish has only a few Semetic elements and is closer to German, and was used for daily communication between Jews in Europe. Jews in Spain and Portugal also spoke 3 languages – Hebrew, Spanish and Ladino. Ladino was the Yidish of the Jews in Spain and Portugal. In Arabic countries, again, the Jews spoke 3 languages – Hebrew, Arabic and Judeo-Arabic. The later was the Yidish of Jews in Arabic countries.

It is true that the Pashtuns do not speak Hebrew, but I think it is highly probable that Pashto is the Yidish of Pashtuns. It is also possible that Pashtuns didn’t need another foreign language (like Jews needed to know German or Spanish) because unlike Jews, Pashtuns had their own territory. It might be just a wild theory, but it might have been used, like Yidish, so that Pashtuns won’t mix with other nations.

Other nations who claim they are Bene Israel

From the same reasons outlined above, I believe every nation that has a wide-spread tradition of being Bene Israel, are really descendent of Bene Israel. That said, being Bene Israel and having our father Yaakov as an ancestor is not the same thing. There are 2 types of nations who are Bene Israel:

  1. People who kept the religion of Moses and Israel (what is called now Judaism) all along. They are Bene Israel because non-Israelis who married them, accepted the religion too, and Moses taught Bene Israel that if someone accepts that religion and goes through a certain process (called Giyur in Hebrew), he becomes an Israeli himself (Moses’ own wife, Sipora, was actually a convert).
  2. People who are descendents of Bene Israel who didn’t keep the religion of Moses and Israel, but didn’t mix with other people.

The faces of all the people who claim they are Bene Israel prove they mixed, and they generally do not deny that they mixed. Jews mixed too, but they kept Judaism, so they fall in to the first category (Jews who married non-Jews were thrown out of the Jewish community and were considered dead to them. This is still true for today’s religious Jews, and until not long ago, all Jews were religious). On the other hand, those other people who both mixed and did not keep Judaism, although they are descendants of Bene Israel to some extent, they are not Bene Israel themselves, as they do not fall into either category.

What’s special about the Pashtuns is that although Pashtuns do not keep Judaism today (except for some small portions like not eating some non-kosher animals), according to Pashtuns’ tradition, they did not mix. And unlike other nations who have the tradition of being descendants of Bene Israel, the face of the Pashtuns prove they did not mix.

So the question is whether one believes the tradition that Pashtuns didn’t mix with other nations or doesn’t. It is less provable than the tradition of being Bene Israel, because if Pashtuns did mix and stopped mixing at some generation A, it is possible that the tradition of not mixing was created at a later generation B, if they didn’t mix for enough generations.

That said, I think it is more likely that they didn’t mix than that they did. One reason is because the current situation is that most Pashtuns are not mixing. Another reason is that I can’t find a good reason why at some generation A they’d stop mixing after they mixed before that. And finally, we know from Moses (Deuteronomy 30), from Yehezkel (37), from Yirmiya (31), Yishaaya (51, 27), and from many other prophecies that the Bene Israel are out there (those who were exiled by the damn Assyrian). Because we know they don’t keep Judaism, the only possibility for them to exist as Israelis is by not mixing, and there is one, and only one, nation that fits those conditions, and it is the Pashtuns.

I should note that if some of the Pashtun tribes are descendants of Bene Israel and others aren’t, and the Pashtuns mixed within themselves, that would exclude Pashtuns from category 2. Yet, as far as I know, mixing even between tribes is rare (or at least was rare until recently). So I guess that if you are a Pashtun and the elders of your tribe say you are Bene Israel and that your tribe’s ancestors didn’t mix with tribes that aren’t Bene Israel, then you are Israeli. Otherwise, there might be some doubts in case some tribes (those that don’t have this tradition) weren’t original Pashtuns but adopted the Pashtuns’ culture at some point in history.

Implications

Well, as a Jew who prayed for and dreamt of meeting the other (non Jews) Bene Israel, I am extremely excited. If you are a Pashtun and you don’t want to admit being an Israeli, I think you are not being rational.

First, being Israelis is a source of pride. It means you are the children of Prophet Yaakov. It means you were the first to believe in the one and only God, more that 1500 years before the Arabs. Your ancestors prayed to the one and only God while the Arabs were complete pagans, bowing to all sorts of idols who don’t have power over anything. It is also very likely that other prophets are your forefathers. For example, it is very likely you are descendants of Prophet Moses himself if you are Lewani. Your great great… great grandfather might have been Moses’ best student – prophet Yehoshua if you are Afridi, etc. Your ancestors saw with their eyes what God did to Egypt – stuff that no other nation but the Egyptians themselves have witnessed. They heard God talking to them on Mount Sinai, etc.

Second, If you think Israel or Jews are some kind of evil maniacs, then you should read this. Once you learn the truth you could be happier with being from the same nation as the Jews. In that article you can also find out why Jews are so excited to realize the Pashtuns are Bene Israel.

So if you are a Pashtun and you are comfortable with the fact that we are you and you are us, you are invited to our facebook group – The People of Israel – Pashtuns and Jews. If you are a Jew and you are excited you are welcome too of course. PI Veameha

Side note for Jews

Some Jews might doubt the un-provable (given current genetics science) tradition of Pashtuns not mixing. I would like to prove to them that our Rabbis of the Mishna and Talmud knew that they won’t mix. First of all, there are many prophecies that the 10 tribes are going to return to the holy land (like Yehezkel 37, Yirmiya 31, Yishaaya 51 and 27, and many others, that talk about the 10 tribes specifically).

Second, if a non-Israeli marries an Israeli woman, they are not really married according to Halacha (Jewish law), but if he is Israeli from the 10 tribes, then they are really married and she must get divorced according to Halacha if she wants to marry an Israeli. On this topic, the Talmud says in Yevamot 16: “If a non-Jew married an Israeli woman according to Halacha, we are concerned that they might actually be married, because he might be from the 10 tribes”. The Talmud then asks: “But when someone is in front of us and we don’t know who he is, we assume he came from the majority of people, and the majority of people are not from the 10 tribes, so we shouldn’t be concerned”. The Talmud then says that this is only true in their land – the land where the 10 tribes live, because over there they are the majority. So the Talmud believes that the 10 tribes are still the majority in their land. If they had mixed this would not have been the case, unless there was only a little mixing going on.

Finally, we have the Mishna in Sanhedrin 10:3, where Rabbi Akiva said the 10 tribes don’t have a part in the next world, while Rabbi Eliezer said they have. Rashi simply said that they talked about the generation that was exiled, but even Rabb Akiva admits that their descendants surely have a part in the next world. There’s no doubt this is the case, otherwise Ribbie Akiva would be in a disagreement with Yehezkel, Yishaaya and Jeremaya, and we know he can’t be.

So the prophets and the Talmud all say that the 10 tribes are out there, in their land they are the majority, and they are still Israelis, even after all these years. There’s one, and only one, nation that doesn’t look like they mixed, has Torah-based traditions, has a tradition of being Bene Israel, and even has a tradition of not mixing. They are the Pashtuns, our brothers, Bene Israel.

So a Jew who believes in the prophets and that our Talmud’s Rabbies knew what they were talking about shouldn’t doubt the tradition of the Pashtuns not mixing with other nations. And I’m not a Rav myself, but I think there might be a consequence for Halacha here – if we meet a random Pashtun, we can’t ask him to do something that is forbidden on Shabbat, serve him anything not Kosher (from the non-Kosher stuff they do eat – some of the Kosher laws the Pashtuns do keep), etc, because as the Talmud said, in their land they are the majority.

The author originally published this piece on the Pashtun Times