Posted by Sam Richards
So it seems as though history has many strange twists and turns that remain to be discovered and challenged. This is the story of a very curious process of a culture retaining its sociological structure over the course of many, many centuries. How this happened is as close to an ongoing miracle as anything that I could imagine.
Read the article: Lost Jewish Tribe Found in Zimbabwe
I found it hard to believe this tribe was genuinely “lost” for 3,000 years. Surely someone must have known they were there; they weren’t exactly hiding. A quick google search showed that genetic testing as far back as 1996 has been proving the Lemba’s Semitic origin. Nevertheless, it’s still amazing. This group of individuals managed to maintain so much culture and tradition. They seem to be very in touch with their past. So much that they still practice many traditions such as circumcision and ritual slaughterings even though they are surrounded by other opposing cultures that do not practice such traditions. It’s completely mind boggling to think about how these traditions thrived for thousands of years even while living side-by-side with those who practice opposing traditions. It’d just be so easy for one culture to gobble up the other, especially when one is small. The Lemba try to explain how this happened, “We have been a very secretive people.” So they must have kept to themselves quite a bit. I assume keeping marriages within the tribe would be one of the most important factors in keeping themselves thriving. In just two or three generations of out-marrying, their tribe could have easily died out and became integrated with surrounding cultures.
That brings me to my next point: How long will this culture survive? It’s already a miracle that this tribe lasted this long with their cultures, can they last much longer? Will the future grandchildren of the toddlers in this tribe also have the religion stars on their tombstones? Sure, their culture and traditions have lasted thousands of years, but with globalization underway, it is rapidly becoming a struggle. One member even stated, "In the old days you didn't marry a non-Lemba, but these days we interact with others.” Sure, he only used the verb ‘interact’, not ‘date’ or ‘marry’, but talking and interacting are the first steps of building relationships and futures. My prediction is that this tribe will last a couple more generations before being integrated by their surrounding cultures. In the past, they were also fighting the odds for their culture to survive, but the odds are getting harder and harder. The story of their tribe is even being broadcasted around the world. How often did that happen three thousand years ago? With the internet bringing things such as blogging, facebook, and Wikipedia, the members of the tribe will soon learn about all the other fascinating cultures that exist in the world. The younger members might “rebel” and try to adopt it.
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phisixfly Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
It wasn’t necessarily “lost,” but you didn’t have to do a google search to see that there was genetic testing done on the members of the tribe (it says so in the article). The fact that this jewish culture survived among all the migration and immigration that occurs nowadays is amazing. It seems like people might blend in with this culture if they are outsiders rather than vice versa. If this culture is embraces around the area and is practiced the way it is, I do not really see a reason why it will not go on for a long time.
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nyd5007 Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 4:58 am
I agree with your response. I also find it hard to believe that a tribe was really lost for thousands of years. It really is amazing. Whenever I think of a Jewish person, I think a male or female with very fair skin but it is not impossible for these people to be Jewish. Jewish is a culture and they practice this culture. I think that this culture will survive and grow. As their children grow up and begin to learn the culture, it will began to expand especially with the exposure these people are now experiencing. Even though it is harder to keep the culture in the family because of all the interracial marriages and people marrying another person in a different culture, it will still survive.
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melevans25 Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 1:48 am
I have to disagree with your statement that Judaism will expand. I am Jewish, and, like you said with the interracial marriages and intercultural marriages, the increase in Jewish religion has actually been close to zero in latest years. It’s a concern in the Jewish religion. I agree that I think the religion will survive, I don’t see Judaism ever going completely extinct, but I don’t think the religion is going to expand simply from this new exposure. People today are finding religion to be a less and less important factor in finding the person they love and marry for the rest of their life. There are plenty of people who have very strict families and can’t marry outside of their religion, but I think, at least in America, people aren’t finding religion to be as important as it used to be.
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Furrbaybay Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 6:55 pm
While the tribe may not have been lost, maybe it's historical and cultural roots went unnoticed. The fact that a Zimbabwe tribe is jewish was kind of the mind blower for me. After being on this earth for almost twenty years, I've learned not to judge someone by how they look, but if you would have sat one of these people in front of me the last thing I would have guessed was jewish. And I don't think that if they survived this long without disappearing that it will be all that hard to keep their tribe going. I just think that it is great that they haven't abandoned their cultural roots or ancestor's ways. Over the past two hundred years America has changed greatly, probably a hundred times more than this one little tribe. They haven't all moved away, but instead held strong to the way they were brought up and the things they believe in. It's pretty inspiring to look at, when most kids today are changing their clothes or their hair just to support the fad of the day, that these people can hold on to an entire way of living for centuries. More power to them, and hopefully we can all take a little something from this story.
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This article embellishes the fact that this tribe has been lost and found recently, but there was probably a widespread knowledge of its existence for a while. It is great however to achieve something like this micro-culture so far away from its origins and keep it going for hundreds of years. It just shows how every generation embraces this culture and treats it as it is theirs. This also shows how culture can cross the great divide of the race. Judaism might be considered a white only religion, but it does show how the blacks in Zimbabwe came to embrace this culture and some the religion. I know that a lot of them are probably Christian and Muslim, but there must be a few that practice this culture as their religion, although all the people following this culture are Jewish, since it is a culture as well as a religion.
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This article doesn’t make to much sense to me. I read it and hear a story about how this object was put into a museum and all of a sudden these African Jews are claiming that it’s theirs and that it has been for thousands of years. This is also the first time that anyone has heard of these African Jews and apparently they have been in Africa growing to a tribe the size of 80000 people for the last 2500 years. Now how has no one ever before seen all these Africans walking around with skull caps on and putting stars of David on their tombstones. I would think things like these in the middle of an all black population of Africa would have stood out pretty damn well. So to me I just see this as a pretty big scam even with the “science” behind it. Cause I’m also pretty damn interested in how they find DNA of any Jews who lived thousands of years ago.
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I want to comment on “phi” post. I have always asked many people if there were black jewish people. In fact, not even my jewish friends were aware of the existence of this tribe. Maybe it is something they heard but they just don’t feel related to them, so they completely rejected the idea or issue. When was this tribe first known? When did the existence of the tribe came to the light? As “phi” says, Judaism is a culture as well as a religion, and a race for some other people. It would be interesting to compare the traditions of the tribe and a regular jewish family in Israel.
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I don’t see why it is so hard to believe this story for many of my peers who have replied and written on the story above. I think that it is easy to lose a tribe of only 80,000 people. This is such a small population compared to the entire world that it makes complete sense. What I think everyone is missing in the story is that these people are not claiming the Jewish faith but it is a historical find that many people may not be aware of. I think that many people are confused at this story because many people are wondering how there can be a people with Jewish culture that are African. Well, it exists. I have had the opportunity to meet one of these African Jews and their history and culture is unlike anyone I have ever met in my life. I think this story is a reminder that we must remain open to different cultures and people and respect their history.
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psustarfire Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
I agree. I have never met an African Jew and did not know that this existed, but I guess I am not sure why I never considered the possibility. People in that time were wanderers. However, it does make me wonder about a couple of things.
First, if we only know Jews to be white then does this mean there was some sort of interracial marriages going on back then? What this why seven men fled the Holy Land? Could it be that they fled because interracial marriages were not tolerated and they left to start their own land in which this would be tolerated? Were these seven men excommunicated of banned from the culture all together? Did these seven men just leave the Holy Land voluntarily to seek a better land? I don’t know the oral belief uses the word “FLED”. Why did they flee? Just curious.
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JusticeBurn Reply:
March 12th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I agree. I dont think that it is hard to believe at all that this is what these people are. I think that it gets lost in the article that these people did not just come out and reveal that they were Jewish. People just came upon the tribe and realized. People in society commonly associate being Jewish with being white, when in reality the two arent connected. That is why it is such a shocking thing for people to see "Black jews". I only wish i was as fortunate as you and could meet an African Jew and learn about what they have to say about this article.
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this article on the Lemba clan of South Africa was very interesting. while reading i found many parts that i was skepticle about and didnt seem quite right. these people have been around for hundreds of years and have a very deep system of beliefs. they practice such things as circumcision and ritually slaughtering animals, which other groups from their country don't tend to do so much. i feel this would lead to a strong belief in their culture and ways yet what disturbed me is that after reading that they were so in touch with their judaism ways, they were still so shocked and happy from the results of the DNA testing and the locating of the ancient artifact. if they believed in their ways so deeply, why did they need these findings to prove to themselves their own existence? also, why if they have been around for so long and the DNA research being completed many years ago, is this surfacing now?
aside from the weird findings in the article, i also thought there were many interesting parts. such as how they are deeply rooted in judaism ways and culture, yet christianity is the religion for many of the clan members. i find this strange yet very interesting. I relate to this a little in that I am a presbyterian. we follow much of the same culture as christians and roman catholics, yet our religion is far from the same.
another very interesting part was how the culture changes by generation and each generation adds more and more. the son of a well known elder in the clan is set to break out of the mold and marry outside of their clan which typically was frowned upon before. this shows how cultures evolve and change all the time. in 100 years from now the Lemba clan may look and speak completely different, yet at the same time still have their sacred prayer language and deep judaism ties. this is exactly how the clan began in the first place as stated in the article. you can see in this in everyday life even in america. the culture we live in is completely different than the culture our parents were brought up in and one thing that may have been accepted when they were our age is completely unacceptable now. the world is constantly growing and evolving as each new generation becomes more knowledgeable and grows. it will be very interesting to see the world that we bring our kids up in as it will most likely be very very different from the world we are living in each day. the smallest of events can have the biggest impact and that is why every life in the world is important.
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I want to comment on ctm post. I believe that if this tribe survived for more than 2000 years, it is impossible for this tribe to disappear. In fact, there is no reason why this tribe should disappear. I do not know how many people there is in this tribe, but if they emerged 2000 years ago, there should be a lot. In fact, it is interesting to think about that there are huge amounts of people around the world who do not consider themselves Jewish, but have Semitic blood. I want to know what other people think about this issue. If you are jewish, do you really feel connected and related to this tribe in Zimbabwe?
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The article seems to embellish upon the fact that the tribe was just discovered. It does seem rather odd that this tribe was just discovered, especially when considering the technologies that have been available in the past years. Looking past that fact, I found it very interesting that they have found a tribe that has a deep rooted culture and history related to the practices of Judaism. They do not eat pork, only slaughter animals in the "correct" manner according to Judaism, and they practice circumcision. Another interesting part of the article was the fact that the tribe did not come out and say that they were Jewish, but rather observers realized it. This article was very interesting and informing.
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I believe that the reason that this culture was able to survive within that area is because of the vast area of different cultures in that region. There are so many cultures and tribes over there in that portion of the world that it’s hard for one to have it’s dominant influence on them. With that being said it is absolutely remarkable that we are just starting to learn of this culture today and that this type of tribe exists today. I do not understand how these Zimbabweans are able to go without eating any kind of meat in this area as well. It has to make you wonder exactly how many other cultures there are in this world that we still have yet to hear about.
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Additional Blog # 1
I find it absolutely amazing that there are Jewish Africans. I never would have associated Africans with Judaism. I feel truly ignorant for even having said that, but I must remain honest. Jewish Africans would have never even occurred to me if it were not for reading this article.
I think that it is great that this lost tribe has finally spoken up about their heritage and tradition. This could possibly lead to another discovery of another lost tribe. The Lemba tribe has been here since the beginning and I never knew. They are another piece to this great big world of culture. I am so glad to know of it.
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This was a very interesting article. That a tribe kept the oral traditions for that long is pretty amazing. What is really interesting to me is how Perez Hamandishe stated that Christianity is his religion and Judaism is his culture. With a lot of the laws and restrictions of certain religions to include Judaism I just don’t understand how that could be considered a culture without being a religion. The two sides Christianity and Judaism seem to me to be so different under the context of Jesus that I just don’t see how the two sides can coexist within the same person. I could be way off here but it just seems strange to me. The only thing I can think is that maybe the cultural aspect of it is all they follow. Not necessarily the beliefs but just like anywhere else have certain cultural foods and practices that they follow. The more I think about it it doesn’t seem that outrageous
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I am not Jewish so I am not positive about this but I was under the impression that Judaism was passed down through the mother. Is it because this particular group was traced back to the high priests that migrated to other areas that they are allowed to be considered Jewish? Or is it more of a cultural thing for this tribe? I think that this particular group of people is extremely interesting and also wonder how they are accepted by other tribes in their areas that do not share the same beliefs. I would also be interested in learning whether the numbers of people that considered themselves Jewish in their tribe has increased or decreased over the years.
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One thing that I found interesting in this post was that a man that had relations to this group said that Christianity was his religion even though his culture is shaped around jewish beliefs. It must be particuarly hard to express your beliefs if you are the odd man out in what you believe in. The fact that this man is a pastor is even more astonishing. If the rest of my family and friends were Jewish I would feel slightly uncomfortable being part of the jewish culture even though it was not what I believed in. It would be difficult to not express my beliefs. This situation is a symbol of how religions can get along though.
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I think it is very interesting that the tribe can be Christian or Muslim, but act as Jewish people. I will admit that if I saw these people on the street I would not think that they are Jewish. I think that is because they stereotype of a Jewish person is a long beard, white, almost as if they were Amish. I don’t really understand why they would follow a religion but then embrace a culture that is opposite of their religion. I thought it was pretty interesting that these people had preserved their values and beliefs for such a long time.
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It's pretty incredible that seven men seem to be the ancestors of this entire tribe in Africa. Not only that, but after all these years they have preserved the ancient customs and rituals that people of Jewish ancestry practice. To me, Judaism is very deep rooted in cultural aspects, so it does not surprise me too much that the men have taken on Christianity as their religion, but kept up with Jewish practices. It's also especially remarkable that oral tradition is what passed these customs down, and the fact that it can be truly confirmed by science is so cool.
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I think it is great counteract to the previous article “The tragedy of dying languages” and also a great inspiration. I do not think this story is far-fetched at all. It can be very likely that this is where the religion was founded and people immigrated out of the land. I think this could be a great way for people who are Jewish to learn more about their history. Also, the people of Lemba may possess artifacts that take us back to thousands of years ago. This could be a great discovery for the Jews of the world to see.
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I can understand why someone would be surprised to find a Jewish community living in Zimbabwe. Would you really expect to find a group of Jews living there? According to oral tradition of the Lemba, their ancestors fled the holy land over 2,500 years ago bringing with them Jewish culture from where we would expect to find it in modern day Israel. Although hard to believe, the science that had confirmed this tradition through DNA evidence is concrete providing more than an oral legacy for the Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Practicing the traditions of the Jewish people through their food selection and preparation as well as the non-typical practice of circumcision the Lemba have found a niche in Africa that does not follow the typical culture. With their sacred payer language having roots in Arabic and Hebrew, the Lemba continue a tradition that has been handed down from Israel and Yemen. One of the most intersecting features of the Lemba is how they have adapted to practice other religions whale maintaining the Jewish culture. Not only are this people descended from people from the holy land, they chose to practice different religions other than the Jewish faith and still maintain the Lemba identity. Some Lemba are Jewish in culture, but Muslim or Christian in faith, yet adding to the complexity of this group of non-typical Africans.
Another point of interest is the “ngoma lungundu” that the Lemba keep in their possession. Although not as old as the Ark of the Covenant, the replica that is kept in their position is more than 700 years old, confirming that the tribe has been established for some time. How did the tribe manage to remain for such a long time however? Such a small population in relation to the surrounding area had to have made the preservation of the religion somewhat of a struggle without the majority being married off to another religion or the newer generations becoming more liberal. Maybe because the newer generations are more liberal the tribe continues to flourish and maintain a culture.
The concept of a transplanted Jewish culture that is more than 2,500 years old is not that hard to believe once you take into account the scope of world religion that has existed in the past. Marco Polo brought stories of Christian communities that existed in the Buddhist Asia more than 2,000 years ago, and some of those communities still exist today even if they are by far not part of the majority. There is no doubt that the Lemba are an example of a sub-culture that is a mixture of tradition and new thought that represents how diversity will show up where you least expect it.
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The case of the Lemba is interesting because it is regarded as the “finding” of a lost people. Does this mean that until science was able to back up the claims of the Lemba people, everyone simply assumed they were lying? It seems that this is a similar case to Columbus discovering America despite the fact that there was two continents worth of people already there. The Lemba have obviously been around for hundreds of years, if not thousands of years, and yet we regard them as a found people because a professor studied them for 20 years. Nevertheless, the Lemba do not help this cause be continually referring to themselves as the “special” people. But I guess some harmless ethnocentrism is excusable when your entire population has been apparently “lost” for a thousand years.
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I thought this article was unbelievably interesting and so cool. It’s pretty rare (usually, actually, I’m not quite sure, I just know you don’t see it often) to see black Jewish people. It is something that becomes almost a joke, but not in the rude way, but more so in the way where it’s funny because it’s such a rarity. The only time I’d ever seen a black Jew was on the train and the only reason I knew that black man was a Jew was because he was wearing those shawl things that the Jewish males typically wear underneath their shirts/clothing. When you hear “Jewish,” it’s safe to say that most people assume an idea of a person who is light skinned.
In any case, I found this article so interesting because of the claims that this was a tribe that was “lost,” but seems to have been “found” now. What people forget, though, is that “Jewish” isn’t a race, but a religion and a culture. It’s totally possible that the Lemba people in Zimbabwe are people that practice a culture that is closely similar to that of the Jewish faith/culture. The faith will always be passed on because with the children they have and future generations and such, the culture will be passed on as well.
I just think this article was something of such great interest because of how rare it is to see a combination of different circumstances.
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I am not so sure that finding Black Jews in Africa should be surprising to us. There is no reason to think that peoples originating from the Holy Land did not immigrate to various areas of the world where they could find a haven and the opportunity to live without harassment. What is interesting to me is that the Lemba, who number about 80,000 people, have existed for all these generations and until recently were doubted for their Jewish beliefs and claimed heritage. I picture thousands and thousands of men walking around with their skull caps with no one thinking this unusual or that they might be Jewish. The appearance of Jewish stars in the cemeteries could also be seen as a partial clue that these are not your standard Zimbabweans.
The fact that genetic testing has proven the relationship of the Lemba with ancestors from the Holy Land would seem to erase any lingering doubts as to their origin. What apparently is still in dispute is the existence of the ngoma lungundu. With carbon dating placing the ark at 700 years old it is certainly a century or two short of being constructed by Moses. Yet even if the scientists are correct on their age analysis, it must be admitted that even 700 years old is one ancient ark. The explanation that the original ark was repeatedly rebuilt after being exploded in battle certainly makes sense. Even if it is not the ark that was built my Moses an artifact that is this old must be an unusual sight in Africa as it certainly would be in the United States. How many of us worship in a church or synagogue that contains displays or memorabilia that are as old as the ngoma lungundu?
There is one aspect of the article that I found interesting. Apparently, the Lemba people are very proud of their Jewish heritage and the fact that they have possession of the ancient ark. As with many religious groups the Lemba are intermarrying with non Lemba companions and with those who do not follow the ancient Lemba beliefs. It is interesting that the distinction is made between religion and culture. “Despite their ties to Judaism, many of the Lemba are Christians…” While the article details the rituals and symbols of Judaism that have been incorporated in the Lemba lifestyle it may be that this is the true extent of the Jewish behavior of the Lemba. There is no comment made about the Lemba’s need to worship. Similarly no mention is made of attendance at synagogues or churches. Perhaps the isolation of centuries without strong religious ties to its past has left the Lemba with the cultural aspects of its heritage but not the religious characteristics.
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I found this article to be extremely interesting and pretty neat. Being Jewish myself, it’s always nice to hear of more people who are different from you, but you can still identify with them on such a profound level. It’s also pretty cool that this group is located in Zimbabwe. The only black Jews I thought existed were the Ethiopian Jews, and I always considered them to be such a novelty because they are so different from the expected. It’s also good to see that this group is coming out more into the public eye, showing the world that race and skin color doesn’t dictate culture and religion. The lines between races can always be blurred through shared cultures and beliefs, and we’re not all as different as we think we are.
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One of the things that interest me about the world is the way no matter which region of the world, it could be in the middle of nowhere, there is usually some kind of culture that follows some kind of belief. What is interesting here, is that there is a group in the middle of Africa, that can trace its ancestry to judaism culture. The idea that someone holds their beliefs so strongly to maintain evidence of an artifact that can trace back to 700 years ago, is remarkable to me.
Though my family is traditionally catholic, I don't really practice any religion. I make myself aware of other religions and their values, and follow some values that i deem important as best as I can. However, I admire those who follow their faith so strongly. People ridicule others for the beliefs, and make fun of it, but I see it as interesting. It takes great discipline and faith to follow a religion in the first place. I admire the Lemba for maintaining their faith for so long. To have it become a culture makes it even greater, since that means that the values and history from their ancestors are deeply rooted in their way of life. Its a show of respect to their ancestors and history. Many cultures in Africa lost such old history during slavery, however this group is able to trace their culture back to the origins of the Bible. The farthest back I can trace my own history to is to who my grandparents were, I would never know to what remarkable point of history my ancestors were a part of.
This article demonstrates the point to not judge a group of people based on where they live or the color of their skin. Just because they are from a region they could have completely different values than their neighbors. Originally colonist came to America not only for economic gains but also for religious freedom. Everyone can practice their faith anywhere they want no matter how ridiculous it is. I know people who follow the church of Satan who don’t look goth at all, I know people who are wiccan, pagan, catholic, muslim, budhist, every single person were different than the stereotype of their faith. Follow your faith don’t worry what other people say, speak in tongues if you want to , go to a revival. I believe people who are disciplined enough to follow something, are better human beings. People who respect others are equally so.
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What I got out of this article was not whether or not it was believable or true, but just another insight to rich, respected culture. I have such an appreciation for tradition and culture and was just fascinated to see that these people have been able to retain facets of the indigenous Jewish religion, or have an actual connection to the early Semites who were exiled. I also learned a new face of Judaism, which is always eye opening. I, like many it seems, had a very stereotypical view who is or that which is Jewish. Overall, I admire their tradition and find it cool that they have traced their ancestry back to Moses’ time. I understand how special that can make them feel.
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It’s amazing that such a tiny culture could survive so many years and continues so many rituals and traditions, especially with all the dying cultures we have in the world today. For instance, my ancestors came over from Sweden just two generations ago and sadly do not practice or really even know any of our ethnic traditions. This makes it even clearer that this group kept almost exclusively to themselves. Marrying within the culture is probably a must among them. This was no doubt one of the prime reasons they were able to survive over all these centuries. It’s nice to see people hang onto their culture when many of us lose ours.
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Being that my grandmother is actually of the Lemba clan, I find the comments posted thus far quite interesting and somewhat misguided. Before Newton had the law of gravity, gravity still was; he just made an equation for it. This is the same for the Lemba people. This is the era of scientific proof where a sizable number of people will not believe anything unless science says it is so. We are run by our doubts. Note the article said the people were excited, not shocked and taken aback. This clan has believed in their roots and culture despite the skepticism of the world. In fact, they believed it so much such that some scientists' curiosity was peaked and they went on a 20year research session. They have never doubted for a moment of their heritage and I know of this first hand, so no reasonable person can argue with me, the excitement was an "I told you so and I've been telling you so for the longest time!" kind of excitement. Keep in mind when statements are made (which I don't believe really occurred in this place) by someone whose first language is not English, read the article as a whole. Ask any Zimbabwean born and raised in Zimbabwe and he/she will tell you that English is never the first language we learn–but wait! Here's one telling you right now!
I also think people need to keep in mind that people rarely ever isolate themselves so much that they do not travel places. It’s like we have this ludicrous idea that no one was moving anywhere except the few expeditions noted in history. History only covers but a handful of people. Imagine people 1,000 years from now making comments about those of us who will never be noted in history past a few generations, being surprised we did some of the things we did or moved around the world the way we do. In fact, I’ll say, compare the way the youth of the ‘60s dressed to how we dress now. It has only been 50years and our generation can’t believe our parents used to dress that way, it’s shocking! But that was their culture of that time. So if seven guys decided they wanted to move further down the continent of Africa, as far as they did, what makes it so shocking? If you can have PSU students (your own friends perhaps) that can wake up one day and decide to drive down to California just because State College is too cold, why to the seven men have to have excessively special reasons to move further south. Putting people in small boxes that make it easier for you personally to not have to imagine great ideas is a very dangerous thing because then when someone comes along that knows more about what you pretend to understand, it won’t look very good for you. I’d rather people ask questions because they do not know, than make comments and pretend to know.
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fmh109 Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I really enjoyed reading your opinion of the article but also of people’s responses to it. I found the entire article interesting, and yes, surprising. Perhaps it is because I feel that in this time of greater technology and a more interconnected world that it astonishes me that these people and these tribes exist and thrive and this is the first I ever heard of them. I would have thought that the discovery of these people would be more newsworthy, or is it like you said, people only trust science and therefore it was not newsworthy until scientifically proven? And I mean to clarify that while I am sure this was groundbreaking to discover, it is not as widely known as I would have predicted such a find to be. I am so intrigued by this article from an historical angle, I just assume others would feel the same!
It is really neat that we have the kind of technology that can trace a person’s lineage so far back in the past. To know, without a doubt that these people originated from Arabia and even to know that they originated from a people called Cohen. That is so astounding to me in itself, but to know that they are living and thriving descendents still carrying on the traditions and rituals of their ancestors is fascinating. I found your point interesting that it is silly to believe that people around the world did not travel just because we have no documentation of it. That is so true and I never really considered the idea before. But not only did these people travel thousands of miles they, and their descendents have kept their heritage as one of the most important things inherited in their culture. It is really a testament to me how young our history is here in America and reminds me that I have no such lasting tradition in my culture. Perhaps it is because of this I find Judaism and Catholicism so compelling with the rich history and ritual that is found in both religious practices. I hope you think it is as cool as I do to be a part of a culture with such strong and long standing traditions. I hope that there are enough Lemba who believe in their ancestral ties and the importance of tradition that we will still be able to trace a line back to the Cohens in the future. While I do not find it surprising that over time some individuals have pursued other religions or decided not to live in the same isolation their ancestors did, I hope there are some who perpetuate this rich heritage into the future so that it is not lost among the smaller more interconnected world that we have today.
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I think that it is very admirable that these groups still respect their roots, cultural and religious. I believe that it is also respectable that they are able to still respect Jewish traditions and themes without completely adhering to the all the properties associated with Judaism. I further believe that the quote, "Christianity is my religion, and Judaism is my culture," truly helps to outline the position that there really are few barriers within cultures, and that cultures, religions, functions, and organizations should not be exclusive, because there are individuals who want to celebrate their ancestry to different degrees than others.
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Before reading this article, I have never thought about the possibility of Jewish Africans before. I mean, I always assumed that there wasn’t a color line making it so that there could only be white Jewish people but I couldn’t really think of any colored Jewish people. Now, to see a whole tribe of 80,000 Jewish people of color it makes much more sense because you figure that with all the people in the world, there has to be some Jewish people of color. The only problem with this tribe is that some people may not find them to be “truly” Jewish because they don’t practice the religion.
Reading this article, I was very impressed that these Jewish people were able to keep their culture intact throughout all 3,000 years. I guess that could be because of how strict the elders were in regards to marrying a non-Lemba or really interacting with anyone who was not part of the tribe. It looks like that is starting to change however, as the articles states that younger Lemba are taking a more traditional view and are starting to interact and marry non-Lemba’s, which will change their culture somewhat. After surviving 3,000 years with relatively the same culture, I think that it would be a shame for this culture to die out or drastically change now, just because of a few young liberals.
I also thought it was interesting that most of these Lemba people were of the Christian or Muslim religion. A lot of people that I know aren’t quite sure whether being Jewish is a culture or a religion, and for these people they have quite obviously decided it is a culture, and have chosen to become a different religion. I believe that there are a lot of Jewish people in the United States and around the world who believe that being Jewish is a religion as much as a culture and they are probably very unhappy and angry that these Lemba people are still considering themselves Jewish even though they don’t practice the Jewish religion.
I believe that the ngoma lungundu, a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenent, is something that the Lemba people should be proud that they have in their possession. This ngoma lungundu was carbon dated to be about 700 years old and is the closest descendent of the Ark that is known today. For something this valuable in a religious sense to be in the hands of a people that have been “lost” for nearly 3,000 years makes me believe that maybe there are other “lost” cultures out in the world that may have valuable religious artifacts just waiting to be found. I’m glad that the Lemba people allowed the ngoma lungundu to be displayed at a Harare museum rather than keeping it to themselves.
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I find this discovery interesting in light of the recent Dan Brown novels not because i don't believe the tribe was lost and found 3,000 years later but because it makes you wonder what else we missed in the history books that could be true about the traditions of the various religion. this stories sounds so much like it came from Hollywood that if there wasn't evidence we could measure it would be unbelievable but also because the bible and other religious texts are written by men who want to further their religion so you can find numerous misdirecting stories that could easily be as unlikely as this one. the fact that a tribe that could well have had the Ark of the covenant for so long is in Zimbabwe is awesome for the history but also for the cultural diversity they display they identify their religion as christian and their culture as Muslim yet they practice many ancient rituals of the Jewish faith. i find that diversity refreshing considering those three groups are in a mortal struggle everyday in the middle east. I think this story could be used to show how the three faiths are so similar in their teachings that the disputes they have with each other could be resolved through the example of this tribe
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This is truly a sociological miracle. How did this culture of Jewish heritage survive over thousands of years in the distant from the Middle East country of Zimbabwe? It’s amazing that these people have kept their heritage despite likely propaganda or groups and groups of people trying to change the way they live. The fact that DNA tests were conducted and confirmed makes it that much more incredible. 80,000 Jewish people is a great number considering how many there are in the world and this finding is a great step towards letting the world know that Judaism is not a race but a religion and in this case a culture.
Being Jewish myself and considering myself a cultural Jew, I think it’s really great to see some evidence that Judaism has no color which is what many people argue about every day. Some people don’t believe Jews can be black and this is the perfect example. There are of course Ethiopian Jews which have been on the Earth for quite a long time but are small in numbers. However, finding Jews in Zimbabwe? That's a truly awesome finding. I struggle with answering the question day to day that Judaism is not a race which it is not obviously just as Christianity is a religion as well as Muslim and Hindu. I could see the same problem happening with people thinking about being Muslim. This discrimination against Muslim is because of terrorism and unfortunately many practicing, good natured people are discriminated against just because of their religion. I think the problem that many people encounter when thinking about this question is really ignorance.
People portray ignorance because many people do know about the Holocaust and the horrible tragedies that Jews went through. What they don’t know is that all Jews aren’t white. These people take for granted since most Jews here in the United States are white then in fact Jews must be white. This is obviously not true but I suppose I can see where the reasoning might come from. These Jewish people are from all different countries and from all different backgrounds. It kind of reminds me of Sam’s point of being white. White people are all different and so are the people of the Jewish religion. However, I don’t mean to say that Jews don’t find security in recognizing their religion because I know I do. It’s that Judaism has many different forms and we are all not the same. There are three sects of Judaism Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. These three sects are very different and each of the sects is very different from each other. This incredible finding of Judaism in Zimbabwe is a perfect example of just that.
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I enjoyed reading this article and I found it very interesting. I also agree with the other people who commented and said it is not hard to believe that this tribe was "lost" for so long- it is not so uncommon for us to learn about new people and hidden cultures, especially given the fact that we used to be a nomadic people. I come from a family with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. Neither one of my parents has forced me to practice either religion, but my mother always insists that I recognize my Jewish heritage since I am Jewish by blood. For me, it's fascinating to know I have a shared heritage with these "lost" people!
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This is not anything to surprising to me. My best friend’s mother’s side of the family is Jewish. They are African Americana and believe they are the lost tribe of Israel. There are black Jewish people so that’s nothing that is to shocking. I guess it is surprising because the tribe was found in Zimbabwe but then that might make more sense to why we have black Jewish people living here in America. If they have such similarities to Jewish people they are most likely Jewish. It shows how much the world for the most part is really diverse with different cultures and religions being spread around the world.
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