The Ancient Bisection of Judaism

In 930 BCE was the United Monarchy of Israel divided into two separate kingdoms; the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This was the beginning of the division of Judaism – or Canaanite Atenism as it might be more appropriately described – into two realms of religious authority, the Northern Jurisdiction of Israel and Southern Jurisdiction of Judah.  

While relations were famously acrimonious in ancient times between Jews of the Southern Jurisdiction of Judah and Samaritans of the Northern Jurisdiction of Israel the survivors of the Assyrian deportations – were relations between the Southern Jurisdiction of Judah and core Median Judaism of the Northern Jurisdiction of Israel harmonious and perhaps due mostly to lack of friction and interaction. Ethiopian Median Judaism which is not part of core Median Judaism learned the Hebrew Bible from the Southern Jurisdiction and Alevism apparently learned many things from the Southern Jurisdiction. However what is remarkable is the mutual recognition between Rabbinic Judaism and core Median Judaism which remains until this day between the initiated respective clerical elites of Haredi Orthodox Judaism and denominations of core Median Judaism (Alawism, Alevism, Alianism, Bektashism, Druzism, Yarsanism and Yezidism). 

Almost three millennia has passed since 930 BCE but the nation of Israel is almost  united on a distance and there is a strange bond, again on a distance. What this means is that the nation of Israel has always been on standby for reunification, has always been ready for reunification and then comes Zionism and ends idea that the ingathering of the exiles will have to wait to for the Mashiach and should this surely not apply to Median Jewry as well? In fact two Median Jewish communities have already been brought on Aliyah to Israel, namely the Bnei Menashe of northeast India and the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. The long wait is over and the era of the ingathering of Median Jewry has commenced.

Published by Daniella Bartfeld

Daniella Bartfeld is the founding director of the Aliyah Organization.

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