[Avodah] Ten Tribes (was Yovel)

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R"n Toby Katz wrote:

> There is a mesorah that [some?  many? most?] converts to Judaism
> are people who were really already part of the Jewish people,
> they just didn't know it. Their neshamos want to be Jewish.
> Someone could be Jewish by matrilineal descent going back
> centuries and not be aware of it. They could even go all the
> way back to the Ten Tribes, theoretically, or they could be
> descendants of forced xian converts from the Spanish Inquisition
> or from any one of many countries in many centuries.

I have not heard this before. And in fact, it would be somewhat problematic, because it would mean the the convert's siblings are also Jewish.

What I *HAVE* heard is the idea that the convert's *neshama* was at Sinai, and now realizes that it wants/needs to reconnect. This is significantly different than saying that the convert is biologically descended, mother after mother, from Jews such as you describe.

Akiva Miller


____________________________________________________________
Get Free Email with Video Mail & Video Chat!
http://www.juno.com/freeemail?refcd=JUTAGOUT1FREM0210