African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem
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This article is unrelated to Beta Israel, Jews from Ethiopia.
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The African Hebrew Israelite Nation of Jerusalem (also known as The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem or Black Hebrews) is a small religious group whose members believe they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. With a population of over 2000, most members live in their own community in Dimona, Israel. They practice polygamy.[1]
The group was founded in Chicago by a former steel worker named Ben Carter, who changed his name to Ben Ammi Ben-Israel upon his arrival in Israel. Carter claims he had a "vision," in which the archangel Gabriel revealed to him that African Americans were descended from the "lost tribe of Judah," Israelites who were expelled from Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and, after migrating for 1,000 years ended up in West Africa, later transported to America as slaves.
Carter and 30 of his followers first settled in Liberia, and in 1969, began moving to Israel, entering the country on temporary visas that were periodically renewed. As their numbers grew, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel ruled that they were not Jews, and therefore not entitled to Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return. However, members of the group continued to arrive and settled in the desert community of Dimona. For two decades their population continued growing through natural increase and illegal immigration. The Israeli government refused to grant the group citizenship, yet also avoided deporting them. In May 1990, the group reached an agreement with the government whereby they were granted tourist status with a B/1 visa that entitled them to work; in 1991 they were given temporary resident status (A/5) for a period of five years, which in 1995 was extended for another three years. At the beginning of 2004, the group was granted residency status by the interior ministry, which exempted them from mandatory military service. Although the group is exempt from military service in 2004 Uriahu Butler became the first member of the community to enlist in the IDF. The IDF has agreed to accomodate their dietary and other religious requirements.[2]
Most of the group live communally in what used to be an absorption center. It is an open community which receives hundreds of visitors each year and is a favorite shortcut for Dimona high school students. The group maintains a vegan diet and abstinence from alcohol, other than wine that they make themselves, and both illegal and pharmaceutical drugs. The group also owns and runs a chain of vegetarian restaurants throughout the country.
The group rejects the Talmud and the idea that Judaism is passed down through a person's mother. They also believe that modern-day Jews are not the descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and that modern day Jews have stolen the religion, language and culture of the "true Jews" drawing parallels to both cults and Christian Identity movement.
