| | The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?Page 1 of 1 | I am wondering if anyone here has heard of a community called the Twelve Tribes of Isreal before and or had or know of anyone who has had any experience with them. They are apparently all over the world and have had some controversy in the States. I have a really good friend who has had an 11 year " friendship" with one of the members and the whole 11 years he has tried to convince her to join them. There has been some odd stuff happen and I have not heard from her in quite awhile...I'm a little concerned..her family is not too sure where she has decided to "travel" to either...
She has always said that she knows what she'd have to give up to join and would never, but they have come into her home and " persuaded " her before to go with them and she ended up having to hitchhike home to Kelowna from Nelson. They have a community in Nelson and one in Winnipeg.
Anyone have any knowledge or experience that could shed some more light on these folks?
... Much appreciated....thanks..   | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/5/2007 10:19:31 AM | Yeah-thanks for the link-I've perused the site..what I was hoping for was anyone who's had direct/indirect dealings with them. The web site of course will be promotional and say what THEY want people to know or think about them, but I was hoping maybe some folks have either utilized thier bussinessness or know someone who's joined or left or whatever. I know in Winnepeg they have a coffee shop called Common Ground. They live in colonies outside of cities, sort of like hutterites. Apparently they welcome travellers etc to stay with them and have booths at folk festivals etc....so anyone run across them???  | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/5/2007 6:17:24 PM | | ... I THOUGHT they sounded familiar! All i knew is that common ground (used to be resteraunt before they moved) was run by some sort of cult. that pretty much sums up public knowledge of that group in winnipeg. | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/6/2007 1:29:16 PM | I'm not familiar with them, but I looked at their website.
When I clicked on their "beliefs" and read them: they seemed to me to be no different than any mainstream Christian sect.
But after reading, on another part of their website, about their "culture", they appear to be a cult.
a few people with childlike hearts who left the popular culture of the world, walking away from their old lives.
They started giving up their houses, farms, and businesses to become part of the new life that they had found
With conviction, we took our children out of the public school system in order to teach them at home. We realized that everything we did would be in vain if we left our children to be corrupted by the disrespect, independence, and peer pressure of the old culture If the members are walking away from their old lives, and giving up their homes and every aspect of their previous life, as well as sheltering their children from the "indepence" of the rest of the world: I'd define this group as a cult. | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/6/2007 10:19:01 PM | just as a reminder to all, this is the topic
I am wondering if anyone here has heard of a community called the Twelve Tribes of Isreal before and or had or know of anyone who has had any experience with them.
thread cleaned of all off topic posts
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/6/2007 10:35:46 PM |
They have a restaurant and a communal home in Hamberg, outside of Buffalo NY. There was controversy because of their anti-gay stance, and many local businesses stopped carrying their products. Many gay and gay support people have been boycotting the common Ground restaurant there. The people seemed nice and harmless, but a little glazed over. Group mind stuff, and a bit cloudy. Compared to many Christian cults going on all over in the open, they seem about in the middle. The women seemed, repressed. Not happy. But the men seemed bright, and the children looked very healthy.. But I just met about a dozen from this one group. Hard to generalize on that. Personally, I do not agree with any constrictive religions, and they seem a bit more constrictive than most. I’d be concerned for your friend, but she has had a lot of years to make her mind up.
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 2/7/2007 12:46:19 AM | Thank you ravincause, for your input.
Sadly enough your experience-and from a different place- sounds very much like what my friend has described. She has stayed with them and, had a few of the women as close friends for a time-but she felt that her privacy to converse with them was always restricted by the men, always felt that someone was listening to phone calls and mail intercepted etc. It seemed that the men were -although still working...seemed to have much more leisure time than the women and it always sounded to me that the women were there to serve a purpose and that was that. She ( my friend) was aware of the authoritative presence the men seemed to hold over the group instantly on her first encounter with them.
In Nelson, and in Winnepeg they drink some sort of tea that she said " made her feel a little funny". I cannot remember the name of it-apparently it comes from Brazil...I think...hmmm...begins with an m...mata or something..hmmm???
I feel the need to expand a bit on my friend's involvement. She's no dummy...her parents left a religious community with her and her siblings when she was young-so she's fully aware of the signs of and problems with these groups-I think she truly has allowed herself to believe that this one man is her future- in some way- and she's headstrong so....sigh...she - I suspect- felt that because of her family's involvment and uh-successful withdrawl from a similar "community"-that she was somehow qualified to help "save" him from the obvious brainwashing that was taking place. She had always tried to be up front with them about not joining them-but they seemed to be always trying a different angle to get her in...
They would say that -of course thier members were allowed to have friends and communication outside of the community-but this did not turn out to be the case-they "watched over " all outside communication of any members and dominated any visits.
Because they seem to be everywhere-I am hoping to hear from people from other continents as well...please... Thanks....cheers...
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familiar with them?
Posted: 10/29/2007 10:59:35 AM | Despite the name this group has nothing whatever to do with Judaism.
Their main page states:
We follow the Messiah, Yahshua, the son of the living God. He gave up His life for us so that our sins could be forgiven. This is why we love Him. Our love for Him is expressed in our daily care for each other… As such, they are simply a Christian group.
I have no objection to them, except for the name being somewhat of a misnomer. But they make no claims within their website to actually be the the lost tribes or any such thing. In fact they specifically disclaim any such thing, albeit a little awkwardly:
Why are you called Twelve Tribes? The fact that we are called the Twelve Tribes has nothing to do with mystical tribalism, as in the beliefs of the Mormons, the Rastafarians, or British Israelism. Rather, we are speaking of people actually dwelling together in unity, living a tribal life in twelve different geographical areas on the earth, so as to be a demonstration of how God has always wanted His people to live. No, I don't know what British Israelism is either! 
But I'm willing to drink to that!   | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familiar with them?
Posted: 10/29/2007 11:08:10 PM | They were my neighbours for two years in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Some of them became my friends, some of those friends left the group, and some of them stayed. I don't share all their beliefs, but I did have some common ground with them and they were always decent and good neighbours. What I observed of their daily lives, their worship, their ceremonies, and what they expressed as their beliefs would cause me to describe them as a Christian or Messianic group that follows Jewish traditions and teachings. Theirs is is a blend of conservative Judaism and Christianity. So they believe in Jesus ("Yeshua") as Messiah and Saviour, circumcision of adult male believers, strict observance to the Sabbath and regard that as Friday Sunset to Sunday sunrise, and the dietary laws of the OT. There's more, but that should give enough to get a sense of what I mean.
My advice? Go talk to them. Their elders/leaders were always open to me. I was always respectful of their beliefs. Even if i disagreed with them I explained why if asked. They respected that I knew what I knew and had come to a different conclusion than they had. The best way to get to know a group's beliefs is to go ask them. If they are defensive and secretive, walk away. If they are open and honest, listen. You could learn something. :-) | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 1/4/2009 4:07:05 PM | This is the letter from a jewish fater about his son and the tribes. We have a common ground here in Denver I think they are on the up and up.
JEWS
In answer to the charge that the members of the Twelve Tribes are anti-Semitic, I would like to offer my facts.
As the father of a young man who has been a member of the one of the Twelve Tribes for over ten years, I have come to know the organization intimately. It is easy to make suppositions when you see a group that does not fit in to the status quo, but it takes work to get the facts.
I, myself, was also immediately offended that my son chose this new path for his life, considering his Jewish upbringing. But I also realized that his life had taken a radical turn into rebellion and searching for the deep meaning of life. It had gotten to the point where I had to ban him from coming around our household because of his negative influence on his younger brother. Many could relegate this time in his teenage years to youthful bad judgments, but his radical ideas were beyond my ability to subdue.
Then, all of a sudden, I find him in what seemed to be a “strange cult” way up in New England. He called me, speaking in a very civil manner for the first time in years, and invited me to visit him. I finally got past my initial offence and made a trip to see what he had gotten himself into. I was met with a lifestyle and a genuineness that I did not expect. The leaders took time with me to make sure all my questions were answered, and there was open hospitality offered. I did not sense dark corners where I would not be allowed to look.
Since then I have spent many an enjoyable weekend with my son in the different communities where he has lived. I have found the sincerity universal. Not without their faults, they are a people who seek God and adhere to the scriptures of both the Old and New Testament. They actually believe both the Old and New Testament. That leaves them being more faithful to the Jewish laws than I am, and also they are convinced that at some point most of the Jews did not follow their Jewish Messiah and thus went off course, as the story in the New Testament clearly states. Though I do not agree with this statement, a major portion of this world claims to be “Christian” and believe the New Testament. Thus, it should be hard for any of them who really believe to not say that Jewish people went off course.
The Messiah that my son follows was Jewish, and all the leaders of the movement he started 2000 years ago were Jewish. Even after the one they believed to be Messiah was killed, his disciples continued attending synagogues and proclaiming there that the Messiah had come and that only a small percentage of their Jewish brothers had listened to his message. The name of that Jewish Messiah they call Yahshua, which is a Jewish name, but was later changed by anti-Semitic Christians to a Greek name, Jesus.
Of course, I do not believe that Yahshua was the Jewish Messiah. But I do recognize that the same “cult mania” that goes around today, enflaming people to go so far as kill people that they do not agree with, was probably at work back then in my Jewish kindred. So, I can see that probably, when one who claimed to be their Messiah came on the scene, if they did not like his message they could easily have called for violence to get that movement stopped. This is what the Jewish leaders apparently did during that time, if you can believe what it says in the New Testament.
Now, since all Christians supposedly believe it, then it goes without saying that they must all believe that their Messiah’s own people caused his death. Historically, the Christians who believed these things did a very “unchristian” thing when they gained the upper hand by connecting themselves with the government of the Roman Empire. They used that same evil principle of violence against those Jews who had formerly persecuted them. But strangely it was their own Messiah who had clearly said to love those who treat you badly, pray for them, be kind to them.
My son and the teaching of the Twelve Tribes believes that the Jews went off course by not accepting the one called Yahshua as their Messiah, but they also believe that they should love all people (even those they do not agree with) and be kind, as the New Testament teaches. They are not one bit “anti-Semitic,” as they actually call themselves “Semites,” and many of them actually come from Jewish families. They strongly stress the good Jewish roots upon which their whole religion is based, and are very proud of the Jewish-ness of their leader Yahshua. They speak more Hebrew than I do, as they say that is the chosen language. And they say they are working hard to gain the Holy Land back for the Jews the right way (which will mean no conflict with the Palestinians and no bloodshed), by being a people who are obedient to the commandments and follow the Messiah.
All-in-all, they appear proud of the genuine Jewish heritage of their people, while at the same time proclaiming those Jews to be wrong who refused their Messiah. But, I can verify, that neither I nor any Jewish person who visits them is harassed or in any way treated unkindly.
On the other hand, it appears that now those same Christians who have historically treated Jews badly are now jumping on the bandwagon calling the Twelve Tribes anti-Semitic. Though they supposedly believe the New Testament, they now seem to be saying that they do not hold the Jewish people responsible for not receiving their Messiah and having him put to death. I have little knowledge of the New Testament which the Christians use, but I do know that it talks about what the Jews did to Jesus and his followers. This is also in our own history books. We never said we did not have him executed. Our history clearly shows that we have many times taken actions like that. The Torah has many cases where people were killed, stoned to death, etc., for saying things that were not received. Several of the prophets were stoned to death by people whose children ended up honoring them as prophets.
So to criticize the Twelve Tribes as being anti-Jewish is wrong. Though they clearly do not believe we did the right thing in rejecting the one they herald as the Messiah, they continue to maintain an attitude of love and kindness.
~ From a caring Jewish father | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 1/5/2009 2:32:33 AM | What do you say to something like the above "letter" that tries to co-opt a belief system but does an end run around the core beliefs of that belief system and just borrows some of its trappings for...for what? Fashion? Convenience? Name recognition? The notion of "some guy?"
Well in this world of ours, to paraphrase comedian Denis Leary, you can cover yourself in green jell-o, sing the Star Spangled Banner and run up and down FDR Drive believing whatever you want to believe...even that you are from the "12 Tribes of Israel" even if you used to be an Irish Catholic named Martin Donoghue but have now found your true calling 
As for me... if I want to know about Jews, or something Jewish, I'll head over to the local Chabad. | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 1/5/2009 8:22:16 AM | All I can think to say is that they have been and continue to be good neighbours, loving, caring, kind, considerate, helpful, good parents, decent people all the way around. I disagree with some of their theology (and those among them who are my brothers are quite aware of that) but I see the genuineness of their beliefs lived out 24/7/365.
Now to the "letter":
While "Yashua" (Heb vocalization of the Heb word translated "Joshua") is correct, "Jesus" is also. Theres nothing "anti-Semitic" about calling this person "Jesus". No-one "changed" His name. That's the Greek version of this underlying Hebrew version of His name transliterated from the Hebrew. Because the NT and most copies were written mostly in Greek "Jesus" is the most common 'name' used. You can call Him Yashua/Joshua if you want. Or Jesus (pron. gee-sus or heh-soos).
As for the clear anti-Christian message that they are responsible for anti-Semitic acts of violence against Jews, it's too convenient and it ignores historical facts. For example, Paul's "Letter to the Romans" goes to great lengths to explain how the Christian and the Jew are "brothers".He even declares with a great deal of passion that Gentiles were 'grafted' into the "Jewish tree" not replacing it. He speaks of non-Jewish Christians as those who are "adopted" into God's family.
As for his attack on modern day Christians, he brings forth nothing other than innuendo and false characterizations. That's why facts are so much more useful than idle gossip. | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 1/5/2009 10:42:03 AM | | I agree that the letter is not by a rabbi but it is a letter from a dad to let people know his son does not hate jews and is not part of a cult. If you want information on the christian view of Jews listen to a sermon about it and other topics on www.churchinthecity.com I have and know about the topic of Jesus vs Yeshua in the modern church. Please do not take the letter as support of the tribes as I am not part of the group. It is interesting to see how a dad sees the group that his son is part of in light of the posts here about that group. | |
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| The Twelve Tribes of Isreal..anyone familar with them?
Posted: 1/5/2009 11:46:20 AM |
All I can think to say is that they have been and continue to be good neighbours, loving, caring, kind, considerate, helpful, good parents, decent people all the way around. I disagree with some of their theology (and those among them who are my brothers are quite aware of that) but I see the genuineness of their beliefs lived out 24/7/365.
This is really the bottom line for me for any religion...and if they are good neighbours, good parents and decent people, I really don't care what they believe...I might think it doesn't mesh too well with my own observation of the historical and archaeological record or that of mainstream scholars, but as the saying goes, "whatever floats your ark" | |
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