Customer Reviews

The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Brewer's indispensable "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" begins its article on the Lost Tribes in the following way: "The term used for that portion of the Hebrew race that disappeared from North Palestine about 140 years before the dispersion of the Jews. This disappearance has caused much speculation, especially among those who look forward to a restoration of the Hebrews as foretold in the Old Testament." There is hardly a nation or people on the earth which has not at some time or another been identified, by themselves or by others, as the descendants of the Lost Tribes. Englishmen, Abyssinian nomads, North American Indians, and Utah Mormons are but a few of the candidates.

Though sober-sided theologians have often investigated the topic, it is not inherently without an amusing potential:

How odd of God to choose the Jews!
How odder still to lose them!

Ben-Dor is particularly brilliant in drawing out a double valence in the story of the Missing Tribes. On the one hand there is the sense of loss and desolation, often poignantly related to the terrible record of the persecution of the European Jews throughout history. On the other there is the sense of hope, promise, or expectation attendant upon the prophetic theories of eventual restoration and renewal.

It is the nearly universal implication of the myth of a large, lost population that has truly made the topic itself part of the recurrent repertory of World History. What is perhaps most remarkable about Zvi Ben-Dor's treatment is its combination of erudition and accessibility. Only a learned scholar could have written this book. Command of the primary sources for the subject demands expertise in the ancient Semitic tongues and the principal scholarly languages of modern Europe. The relevant scholarly bibliography is vast and often eccentric, to use a mild world, requiring both courage and judgment on the part of anyone bold enough to approach it. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, a Professor of World History at New York University, is one of what must surely be a relatively small band capable of undertaking the task. That would be impressive in itself. But what is even more remarkable is that such a man would have also the ability to make his results accessible to the intelligent general reader, and to point to their implications for such a wide variety of disciplines. The scholar will find here all the bibliography and footnotes needed to pursue the topic at the highest level. The general reader, on the other hand, will find a graceful and elegant introduction to a fascinating topic and to some of the very strange people who have pursued it in the past. I recommend the book with enthusiasm.

For everyone who is intrigued by the ten lost tribes, this book is must read. I thought everytime someone went looking for the lost tribes, they came away with a more acute understanding of the world, be it geography, customs of new lands, connecting bridges, new religious theories and eventually political realities.

I think while we were looking for the lost tribes, they found us. It's an ever enduring story of hope and redemption.

So far, I've read only the long introduction (about thirty pages), and I probably won't finish this book. The author seems to use the Bible as his main source of information, and since I believe the Bible is pretty much a fairy tale, I can't accept any of his Biblical quotes as evidence of anything. He also seems to believe these ten lost tribes might still be found, which seems like the start of another fairy tale.

This book is not bad, but I have read better. Maybe, due to the luck of his own adventures. Author ignores alltogehter Jewish diaspora East of Mosul. But yet, he mentioned Khazars, and for some reason, did not finish his thoughts on this subject. I would've appreciated him dedicates a few pages to this matter due to rumors and speculations by anti-semites and unti-Zionists. My grands and grand-grands from Bukhara, and they never spoke any Yiddish. Israelites(Jews after the second distraction of Temple?) were setteling in Bukhara, Samarkand in Asia along the "Silk Road" since 200-300 E.C. I would not recommened this book for Jews from Europe or Asia. Also, I had an experience with Amazon, they sensor reviews, and that would be unfortunate.