African Hebrews

Michael Kadish

The question of whether or not the African Hebrews should be allowed immediate Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return asks if Israel is the land of the Jews, or the land of the B'nei Yisrael. The African Hebrews do not claim themselves to be Jews, they feel that the Jews, by not keeping the written law to the letter, have left God, and it is the job of them, the African Hebrews, to be The Light Unto The Nations, by proclaiming their claimed lineage to Ya'akov, and following the rules of the Torah.

Perhaps my scope is limited. Perhaps I have missed some crucial information. Perhaps I am misinformed, perhaps I seriously misinterpret the situation, but as I see it, the African Hebrews should not be given recognition, because as I see it, the African Hebrews are a cult. Looking at their society, a lot of their actions are similar to those of the typical cult in America. Like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Bob Applewhite, or Som Yong Moon, Ben Ammi has been raised to a level between a God and a prophet. The standard brainwashing technique used by the above groups, i.e., vigorous daily activities, with a very minute intake of carbohydrates or protein, is being employed by the African Hebrews. The African Hebrews, often while leaving people under the assumption they are Ethiopian Jews, also solicit or earn money, without informing the donor or consumer where the majority of the money goes, while of course at the same time, hiding their religious identity. This was/is true in the case of the Heaven's Gate group with their on-line programming firm and the Moonies with their various organizations. (This attitude taken by the three groups can be justified with their statements that the public does not accept their group, but all three have gone so far as to ask for money in the name of other groups, or have intentionally simply misstated to whom the money would go.) The last similarity between them, and perhaps the fact that this is a problem shows a problem in society, is the extreme amount of hospitality and friendliness offered and demonstrated by the cults.

So, maybe the African Hebrews are cults. That leaves two questions. First, "couldn't the cult descriptions be used to describe Judaism, or any other religion?" and second, "so what?"

The reasons I gave above for the African Hebrews being a cult were the dietary restrictions mixed with the strenuous activity, their questionable methods of obtaining their capitol, their hospitality, and the elevation of the leader. It does seem that these actions are not so unusual, and even practiced among Jews, or at least other religions.

Jews do have dietary restrictions. So do most religions. Christianity is the only major religion that allows the unrestricted consumption of (non-human) meat. The difference is that A) there are no necessary vitamins or minerals being deprived to weaken the body or mind. A near complete lack of proteins or carbohydrates is not generally the result of keeping Kosher, but it is intentionally used by cults to weaken the brain. The lack of sleep, and hard work added to that, without proteins or carbohydrates, makes the individual much less skeptical of his orders. As Jews, some may work hard, and some may stay up all night, but it is not halacha, nor tradition, nor normal.

The monetary practices are another issue. Many Jews give, perhaps to the dismay of their consumers, money to Israel, their synagogue, or to other aspects of their religion. It has been shown that to be a religious Jew in New York, sending three kids to Jewish schools, keep kosher, and follow the halachot the family needs (assuming they do not receive scholarships) a minimum income of seventy thousand dollars a year. But, any religion that has a full time clergy will need money to pay them. Sometimes this is contributions or donations, sometimes it is membership, sometimes it is money placed on the collection plate.

You can be a Jew however, without giving a penny to a Rabbi or to Israel. A man can be Christian, and not give any money to his church. To be in a cult however, you must contribute monetarily, to the extant where you only receive a small percentage of what you earn, while the majority goes to the leader of the group. (This is the reason why Scientology is under constant scrutiny, and is often described by many as a cult.)

The question of hospitality, perhaps in an ideal world, need not be on this list. Being friendly or hospitable are attitudes that are considered to be desired in almost any religion. Jews have a mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, Christians are told not to "turn your backs," Arabs are told to take in those who need the help. None of the groups have one eightied on this, they each do offer hospitality, yet that of a cult's is unmatched. Simply, the cults are missionaries to the world, and that is why they are so friendly. Supposedly, the master of hachnasat orchim in Judaism was Abraham, who according to legend, had a door on all four sides of his tent so that he could welcome guests from all directions. He wanted to convert them. A missionary who treats prospective converts with scorn is not going to see the prospects develop. The overly nice attitudes given by cults, though it does appear to be silly to fault them for a universally accepted "good deed," is to attract more members.

The non-Judaic religions are needed for the last grouping, that of the elevated leader. Jews have seen quite a few people arise, be it the Rebbe, Bar Kochba, Shabbatai Tzvi, or Jesus, that have been proclaimed the Messiah by a significant percent of the Jewish population, and that were elevated, during their time, (and afterwards in the case of the first and last) to a status near or above that of Ben Ammi. With the exceptions of the Rebbe, who has kept some of his elevation posthumously by a small but loud and distinct minority, and Jesus, who has a paradoxical following of Jews for Jesus, the reigns of any of the false messiahs, and there were plenty more, were limited by time. Even in the case of the Rebbe though, and especially with Jesus, mainstream Judaism will not accept the divine superiority of a man. Even in the Torah, no human is given such Kavod as to be viewed as on a level near God. Moshe Rabeinu is only mentioned once at the Pesach seder to avoid any misconstrued notions, Eliyahu hanavi is "punished" by the ritual invitation of his spirit to every Pesach seder and brit milah to prove a proclamation of his wrong. No prophet was considered on the level with God.

Other religions are another matter. Be it Jesus, Muhammad, or Buddha, there has been, according to their respective followers, a superior mortal who's level will never be able to be matched. That would seem similar to the cults mentioned, and aptly so, a cult is nothing more than an attempt to start a new religion. Most cults would love to have the status of a major religion. The religion after so many years and many generations, and on steady ground with millions of members, will still seek others to follow its prophet or lord, but the urgency is gone, and as I stated previously, their complete friendliness to strangers is reduced.

The question than asks, "Well, maybe they're a cult...so what?" A country that is passing anti-missionary bills to stop attempts to convert its people, a country where the Mormons are trying desperately to get set up and start proselytizing, a country that has more than enough religious strife as it is, such a country does not need another segment to start up in its midst. If Israel is a Jewish state, it should try to keep its Jews Jewish.