States of Exile

So Jews are a teensy bit African: Reich’s team analyzed more than half a million DNA markers across the entire genomes of people from seven diverse Jewish populations — including Ashkenazim from northern Europe; Sephardim from Italy, Turkey and Greece, and Mizrahim from Syria, Iraq and Iran. They then compared the genetic data with DNA from 15 sub-Saharan African populations. Reporting in the April issue of PLoS Genetics, the researchers found that modern day Jews can attribute about 3% to 5% of their ancestry to sub-Saharan Africans, and that the exchange of genes between Jews and sub-Saharan Africans occurred approximately 72 generations, or about 2,000 years, ago. Surely this gives Israel the right to a small (3% to 5%) slice of Africa? The Lemba protectorate? What is certain is that the Lemba are emphatic about being Jewish. "I love my people," a Lemba woman told Parfitt, "we came from the Israelites, we came from Sena, we crossed the sea . . . We were so beautiful...

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? - Jeremiah 13:23 Are American Jews responsible for alleviating the plight of poor inner city blacks? David Simon thinks so . Appearing just after a major speech by Vice President Joe Biden at the opening plenary Nov. 7, Simon, best known for his graphic depictions of crime and poverty in prime-time network shows like “Homicide,” “The Wire” and “Treme,” made a plea for more Jewish philanthropic dollars to go toward poor blacks in major urban areas suffering from what he called “a Holocaust in slow motion” of neglect. Racism is opposed to the theology (mythology if you will) of Judaism, according to which Shem (Semites), Japeth (Indo-Europeans) and Ham (Africans) are brothers. Yet is Simon's way helpful to the beleaguered sons of Ham? Philanthropy of the kind Simon is proposing only breeds resentment and an unhealthy cycle of dependency. A better way to help the sons of Ham would be to open the door to converts. Rapper Shyne...