‘BaLemba more Arabic in descent than Jewish’

Obituaries
travelling & touringL:with Burzil Dube LAST week’s edition on the BaLemba ancestry was meant to be an egress on this biblical Jewish lineage, which continues to send tongues wagging and might linger until kingdom come.

travelling & touringL:with Burzil Dube

LAST week’s edition on the BaLemba ancestry was meant to be an egress on this biblical Jewish lineage, which continues to send tongues wagging and might linger until kingdom come.

Despite genetic tests, which somehow did prove that there could be traces of Jewish heritage among these Zimbabwean Jews (read BaLemba), the whole issue is still subject to debate.

Yours truly has written a couple of news articles on the country’s various tribes, but the BaLemba clinch the gold medal due to their “systematic” controversy.

This could be an indication that they are gradually proving to be a force to reckon with despite the proverbial odds stacked against them.

However, while there is unanimity concerning their Jewish lineage, the multi-billion dollar question on the so-called classification of this particular tribe still remains.

Recent articles in this column have been concentrating on the linkage between the VaRemba and the biblical Hebrews who migrated from Egypt to the promised Canaan.

The 840km journey took a record 40 years and the Lemba claim that their ancestors were part of that particular epic migration.

It is said the forefathers of this tribe played a pivotal role in the transportation of the sacred Ark of the Covenant, which was designated as a storage facility for The Ten Commandments.

Its movement and storage was executed by the priests and according to Ba Lemba this was “their” tribe’s prerogative as they are also of biblical priestly lineage.

In other words, yours truly automatically jumped to the conclusion that there is a symbiotic relationship between the Jews settled in what today is known as Israel and BaLemba.

However, such findings have been brought to scrutiny by Dr Paul Renan-Zelezniak, who categorically stated that the two tribes were like chalk and cheese in terms of metamorphosis.

He argued that while the BaLemba’s roots can be traced all the way to Yemen, this did not, however, automatically make them direct descendants of Israeli-Jews.

In fact, he opined that the Falashas, who are primarily based in Ethiopia, could have a right to claim direct Jewish ancestry as it has been proven by both DNA testing as well as through oral tradition.

Without delving much, the Falashas prefer to be called Beta Israel, while on the other hand they are also commonly known as Ethiopian Jews.

As the last name suggests, this group is mainly found in the northern and northwestern parts of Ethiopia.

According to the Ethiopian allegory, the Falashas are direct descendants of Israelite tribes.

They are reported to have arrived in Ethiopia under the leadership of Menelik 1 the purported son of King Solomon.

It is said that Menelik as an adult went back to his father and later resettled in Ethiopia where he took with him the Ark of the Covenant.

Now to what Renan-Zelezniak sent me via my email.

Dear Mr Dube I very much enjoyed your article written in The Standard on the Lemba, and particularly appreciated the points you made in favour of an Arabic origin of many of their paternal ancestors. The question of a Jewish origin for the Lemba is more vague. You may like to read the most recent South African genetic study on the Lemba (Dr Soodyall, Lemba Origins Revisited) in which the genetic markers are examined at a more extended level, showing a Semitic Arabic origin, but no relation to Jewish ancestry.

Many of the tribes to which the Lemba belong may still be found in Yemen today, which attests to this hypothesis. You mentioned a correlation between the Lemba and the Falasha of Ethiopia. The religious rites of the Falasha are very close to the rites of mainstream Jewry, which is why they were accepted as co-religionists in Israel. Lemba practices seem to have many more African elements. It is possible, however, that Jews arrived with Arabs during this migration.

They may have been converts (there was a kingdom in Yemen that made a wholesale conversion to Judaism) This would explain the genetic similarities with Yemenis and differences with other Jews.

The possession of the Ark of the Covenant seems to have little basis in fact. Ethiopians make a similar claim all round Ethiopia. Without looking into the archaeological aspects, this would directly contradict Jeremiah and the Maccabees, which clearly state that the Ark will never be seen or found (in the latter case, until the return of the Messiah).

Thank you again for your article, and I hope this is useful to your research.

Kind regards, Paul Renan.

However, the issue did not end with this mail alone.

Dear Mr Dube I very much enjoyed your article. I was interested to hear that Kruger had designated the Lemba as Jews. In terms of whether they actually practice Judaism, the Israeli authorities regard them as non-Jews. Rabbinical Judaism goes by maternal descent, Lembas come from a line of African mothers who became Lemba in a very un-Jewish way. Unlike the Ethiopian Jews, they did not have a Bible in a semitic language, or practice Judaism. Their circumcision took place at a time of youth, not infancy, which is an African custom.. The fact that they abstain from pork would be more likely attributable to their Muslim ancestry. In addition to this, as you pointed out in your article, DNA is foolproof (in that it is neutral). However, it is also limited. Now they can examine millions of markers (the original study used only six), it currently seems that they are more Arabic in descent than Jewish.

A very important point is that even if they did have a lot more Jewish ancestry that was provable by genetics, it would not make them Jewish. The Spanish people have 20% genetic Jewish ancestry, and the Portuguese even more (well over 30% I understand) which makes them genetically far more Jewish than the Lemba.

Nobody, however, would ever call the Spanish and the Portuguese “Jewish”. In fact, they were very cruel to the Jews during the Inquisition, which is why many Jews pretended to be Christian and intermarried with them. Ironically, Spanish anti-Semitism resulted in all of Spain having a lot of Jewish ancestry, for the reason mentioned above.

However, none of us have all the facts, and who knows whether genetics may find out more. It is clear that many Lemba regard themselves as Jews and are working towards cementing this identity with more clearly defined practices of Judaism. If they do indeed descend from the Lost Tribes, God knows it. As it says in the Word, let God be true and every man a liar.

You might want to get into contact with Falasha communities in Ethiopia or Israel, and the head of the Lemba here (a lovely personality), and make a comparison in your quest for the truth. As always, I am here to add my penny’s worth!

Kind regards

Paul

Is there anyone out there who is willing to add or subtract?

Till we meet again.

l Comments always welcome on: [email protected]