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Conservative Judaism/Lost tribes
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Question
Hello again Rabbi
I would like to know about the 10 northern tribes that were exiled by the Babylonians and eventually, "Lost," into history. My question is...What was God's purpose in allowing that to happen? In the Torah (Or as I call it the Old Testament), God always has a greater purpose to all that he allows: For example when Joseph was sold into slavery he ended up saving the whole country from starvation - There was a purpose to it. So why did God allow such a HUGE historical even to occur like the occurrance with the 10 lost tribes. Is there some sort of greater significance, some sort of symbolism I am not seeing. This is perplexing me a great deal. Thank You.....Pete
Dear Pete,
You are asking a question from a religous and almost agenda-driven perspective.
It is possible that the northern kingdom was defeated by the Assyrians - they were less competent in battle? - and then tey suffered the traditional "handling" by the Assyrians of captive nations: they were dispersed into the lands of other nations and the populations of those lands were brought inot the land of the Northern Kingdom.
In this fashion, no group would ever be able to gather together to agitate for return to their lands - as did the Jews in Babylonia once Persia conquered Babylonia. Secondly, there would be no possibility of rebellion from a substantial population against Assyria because they were dispersed.
Did God do this? Did God allow this? I don't believe we gain anything by attributing this to God. Rather, when people behave badly, when they make bad political decisions, when they revolt against paying their taxes to a sovereign - there are consequences. Human decisions led to this disaster.
God didn't make this happer unless we remove forever the opportunity of free-will, which I as a modern Jew am unwilling to lose or give away. Free will was given and now it is our responsibility to make the most of life, this world and the opportunities.
Best wishes
Rabbi Dov
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Rabbi Barry Dov Lerner
Expertise
Write to me with questions about Jewish customs and law, history, philosophy and tradition for answers from a Conservative perspective or conversion. I am a graduate of The Jewish Theological Seminary and a member of the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. Having served in congregational pulpits since 1970, I now am President of the Foundation For Family Education, Inc. a non-profit educational endeavor. I established it to create new formats of hands-on programs and provide free educational downloads at www.jewishfreeware.org. In addition to general informational questions I welcome your questions about programs for social action, outreach to dual-faith families, inter-faith clergy projects, healing services, education for conversion, adult education for the congregation and the community. If you have questions about Informal and Formal Education I am ready to share my extensive experience with Youth Activities, Camping and Religious School/Hebrew High School on a congregational, community and national/international level.
Experience
I have served on the National Youth Commission for more than 25 years and serve on the Boards of the Conservative Zionist movement MERCAZ and the World Council of Synagogues. I have always dual-families and taught candidates for conversion with a great sense of fulfillment. I am very proud of 25 years on the Jewish camping staff of Camps Ramah. My greatest source of pride is my family! Ask me about them, please!:-)
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