Operation Moses (see text)
Where Science Meets the Book of Mormon: Come Follow Me Lesson: September 30-October 6; 3 Nephi 12-16
Jesus told His twelve disciples, whom he had chosen here in America, in 3 Nephi 15:12-24, that, “Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph. And behold, this is the land of your inheritance; and the Father hath given it unto you. And not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem. Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land. This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them: That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And now, because of stiffneckedness and unbelief they understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them. But, verily, I say unto you that the Father hath commanded me, and I tell it unto you, that ye were separated from among them because of their iniquity; therefore it is because of their iniquity that they know not of you. And verily, I say unto you again that the other tribes hath the Father separated from them; and it is because of their iniquity that they know not of them. And verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. And they understood me not, for they supposed it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that the Gentiles should be converted through their preaching. And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost. But behold, ye have both heard my voice, and seen me; and ye are my sheep, and ye are numbered among those whom the Father hath given me.”
Then He told them, in 3 Nephi 16:1-3, “And verily, verily, I say unto you that I have other sheep, which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem, neither in any parts of that land round about whither I have been to minister. For they of whom I speak are they who have not as yet heard my voice; neither have I at any time manifested myself unto them. But I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them.”
What do we know today about “other sheep, which are not of this land, neither of the land of Jerusalem,” which was not known in 34 AD, when these words were spoken, or in 1829 when these words were translated? I have given a couple of firesides on this issue, and the following is taken from those presentations. Some of my material was based upon a wonderful (1 h 37 min) 1998 documentary movie, available on Amazon, by the Canadian archaeologist, Simcha Jacobovici, entitled, Quest for the Lost Tribes. I highly recommend this amazing movie.
The introduction to that movie states, “Conquered by the mighty Assyrian Empire over 2,700 years ago, ten of the twelve tribes of Israel apparently vanished into the mists of history. But, a dedicated team of documentary filmmakers believes that remarkable new findings could confirm the Tribes’ existence and whereabouts. Pursuing clues across time and space from the Middle East to India, Afghanistan and even the Native American West, they attempt to sort myth from reality. What do new archeological discoveries say about the Lost Tribes? Can their lineage be traced across three millennia? And does their prophesied return to Israel mark the beginning of the biblical ‘end times’ -- Armageddon? Join the adventure, on an eye-opening, thought-provoking Quest for the Lost Tribes.”
In 1996, Spurdle and Jenkins discovered, “The Lemba [“non-African” or “respected foreigner”] are a southern African Bantu-speaking population claiming Jewish ancestry. Allele frequencies at four different Y-specific polymorphic loci, as well as extended-haplotype frequencies that included data from several loci, were analyzed in an attempt to establish the genetic affinities and origins of the Lemba. The results suggest that > or = 50% of the Lemba Y chromosomes are Semitic in origin, approximately 40% are Negroid, and the ancestry of the remainder cannot be resolved. These Y-specific genetic findings are consistent with Lemba oral tradition, and analysis of the history of Jewish people and their association with Africa indicates that the historical facts are not incompatible with theories concerning the origin of the Lemba.”1
People known as Beta Israel or Ethiopian “Jews,” once lived in the Simien Mountains of northern Ethiopia. They also were referred to by the derogatory term Falasha, which means “landless, wanderers.” In 1983, the Israeli Government recognized them as part of the lost tribe of Gad. Because of the extreme political unrest in Ethiopia at the time, and in fear for their lives, those Beta Israeli people fled to refugee camps in Sudan. But they were still being persecuted there and were still in danger.2
Operation “Moses” was a grassroots movement driven, in part, by the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ). The operation was a cooperative effort between Mossad, Israel Defense Forces, the CIA, the United States embassy, mercenaries, and Sudanese secret police to airlift the Beta Israelis to Israel. The secret operation was conducted between November 21, 1984 and January 5, 1985, 30 clandestine flights by Trans European Airways airlifted some 8,000 Ethiopian Israelites from Sudan to Israel.3
The second covert operation, called Operation “Solomon,” was an Israeli military operation to airlift additional Ethiopian Israelites to Israel May 24 to May 25, 1991. Non-stop flights of 35 Israeli aircraft, including Israeli Air Force C-130s and El Al Boeing 747s, transported 14,325 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in 36 hours. The operation cost Israel $26 million to pay off the dictator-led government.4
Then there was Operation “Dove Wing,” from 2010 to 2020, in which a total of over 13,000 Falash Mura Israelites were airlifted and helped to immigrate to Israel.5
In his Quest for the Lost Tribes, Jacobovici claims to have found members of the lost tribes in India, China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. 6 This film is very much worth watching.
At a Worldwide Youth Devotional on June 3, 2018 at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sister Wendy Nelson said:
“Let me tell you of an experience that taught me firsthand about the historic days in which we live.
“We often talk about living in the latter days. We are, after all, Latter-day Saints. But perhaps these days are more “latter” than we have ever imagined.
“This truth became a reality for me because of what I experienced during one 24-hour period of time that commenced on June 15, 2013. My husband and I were in Moscow, Russia.
“While President Nelson met with priesthood leaders, I had the privilege of meeting with nearly 100 of our sisters. I love our Russian sisters. They are spectacular!
“When I stepped to the pulpit to speak, I found myself saying something I’d never anticipated. I said to the women: “I’d like to get to know you by lineage. Please stand as the tribe of Israel that represents the lineage declared in your patriarchal blessing is spoken.”
“Benjamin?” A couple of women stood.
“Dan?” A couple more.
“Reuben?” A few more stood.
“Naphtali?” More stood.
“As the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were announced—from Asher to Zebulun—and as the women stood, we were all amazed with what we were witnessing, feeling, and learning.
“How many of the twelve tribes of Israel do you think were represented in that small gathering of fewer than 100 women on that Saturday in Moscow?
“Eleven! Eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel were represented in that one room! The only tribe missing was that of Levi. I was astonished. It was a spiritually moving moment for me.
“Immediately after those meetings my husband and I went directly to Yerevan, Armenia. The first people we met as we got off the plane were the mission president and his wife. Somehow, she had heard about this experience in Moscow, and with great delight, she said, “I’ve got Levi!”
“Just imagine our thrill when my husband and I met their missionaries the next day, including an elder from the tribe of Levi who just happened to be from Gilbert, Arizona.”7
So, how does our descent from the Twelve Tribes of Israel work. Here’s a very interesting paper by Ralph and Coop, published in 2013:
“We make use of genomic data for 2,257 Europeans…to conduct one of the first surveys of recent genealogical ancestry over the past 3,000 years at a continental scale. We detected 1.9 million shared long genomic segments, and used the lengths of these to infer the distribution of shared ancestors across time and geography. We find that a pair of modern Europeans living in neighboring populations share around 2-12 genetic common ancestors from the last 1,500 years, and upwards of 100 genetic ancestors from the previous 1,000 years…individuals from opposite ends of Europe…share millions of common genealogical ancestors over the last 1,000 years.”8
Adam Rutherford wrote a 2015 piece in The Guardian, entitled, So you’re related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European…[and one might add, person of European descent]. Rutherford interpreted the Ralph/Coop data to mean, “In 2013, geneticists Peter Ralph and Graham Coop showed that all Europeans are descended from exactly the same people. Basically, everyone alive in the ninth century who left descendants is the ancestor of every living European today…” Rutherford explained, “This is merely a numbers game. You have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. But this ancestral expansion is not borne back ceaselessly into the past. If it were, your family tree when Charlemagne was Le Grand Fromage would harbour more than a billion ancestors – more people than were alive then. What this means is that pedigrees begin to fold in on themselves a few generations back, and become less arboreal, and more web-like.”9
Rutherford continued, “The truth is that we all are a bit of everything, and we come from all over. If you’re white, you’re a bit Viking. And a bit Celt. And a bit Anglo-Saxon. And a bit Charlemagne.”10 And, I would add, a bit Israelite, who were scattered all over the world, including Europe. Clearly, there were Jews living in Europe at the time of Charlemagne (748-814 AD) — he had dealings with them. Charlemagne claimed to be descended from King David, which notion we now consider to be apocryphal. However, King David of Israel was born around 1000 BC, about 800 years after his ancestor, Jacob, who became Israel. King David claimed descent from the House of Judah. However, after 800 years of genealogy, he probably had genetic ties to all the tribes of Israel. Using the same logic as Ralph and Coop, and Rutherford, Charlemagne would have been descended from anyone living in Europe, and probably the Middle East, as the world population was much smaller then, 1000 before him —including King David.
Therefore, it is almost certain that Charlemagne had genetic ancestors from most, if not all, of the House of Israel. In the recent past, if a family genealogist could link your family into the nobility of Europe, they could easily link to Charlemagne and on to King David, and claim that their genealogy was complete “all the way back to Adam.” It turns out that everyone can make that claim. Because you and I are certainly descended from Charlemagne, and from everybody else in Europe in 800 AD, including the Jews; it is certain that each of us is descended from King David, and all the other Houses of Israel — all the way back to Adam. From which House our spiritual blessings flow is a matter of personal revelation.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. Spurdle, AB, and Jenkins, T., The origins of the Lemba “Black Jews” of southern Africa: evidence from p12F2 and other Y-chromosome markers, Am J Hum Genet., 59:1126-1133, 1996
2. Jacobovici, Simcha, Quest for the Lost Tribes, Film by Associated Producers, 1998
3. Lenhoff, Howard, Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes: How Grassroots Activism Led to the Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews, Gefen Publishing House, Jerusalem, 2006
4. Ibid
5. Hoffmann, Avi, ‘Wings of the Dove’ brings Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel, Jerusalem Post, 2012, jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Wings-of-the-Dove-brings-Ethiopias-Jews-to-Israel; retrieved 28 September 2024; Hoffman, Gil, Coalition crisis averted: 9000 Ethiopian immigrants to be brought to Israel over 5 years, Jerusalem Post, 2016; jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/coalition-crisis-averted-9000-ethiopian-immigrants-to-be-brought-to-israel-over-5-years-450594; retrieved 28 September 2024
6. Jacobovici, 1998; see also Scrivener, Leslie, ‘Coincidences’ cited in quest for lost tribes; Lost tribes in India, China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan visited in filmmaker's quest, Toronto Star, May 30, 1999.
8. Ralph, P, and Coop G., The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe, PLoS Biol., 11(5):e1001555, 2013
9. Rutherford, Adam, The Guardian, entitled, So you’re related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European…; theguardian.com/science/commentisfree/2015/may/24/ business-genetic-ancestry-charlemagne-adam-rutherford
10. Ibid
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