Twelve Tribes Chart: Majority of "Israelites" Don't Believe Ahrayah's Visionary Claim
The 12 Tribes of Israel Chart is a Highly Sectarian Document Produced by the Former Leader of a Radical Faction on the Far Fringe of the Hebrew Israelite Movement
The central thesis of Hebrew Israelism is this: people thought to be descendants of enslaved African persons in the Western Hemisphere are the true, ethnic Israelites. Deuteronomy 28 is the locus classicus of this 130-year old thesis. That date is based upon this claim from COGASOC.org, a Church of God and Saints of Christ website (COGASOC is the group founded by “Prophet Crowdy”, more on him later):
“While in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on Tuesday, September 13, 1892, the Lord GOD appeared unto William S. Crowdy in a vision, telling him that He wanted him to redeem Israel out of spiritual and mental bondage.”
Advocates of Hebrew Israelism believe applying Deuteronomy 28 to black Americans is the only way to explain the Transatlantic Slave Trade, antebellum slavery, Jim Crow, and similar acts of oppression. Hebrew Israelite author Avdiel Ben Levi (Zion Lexx) writes that
“The Torah is the ONLY literary work, which answers the questions of why slavery occurred, why G-d allowed it and who or what is the True National identity of the Slaves of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.”1
This is THE central claim of black Israelism: since the true Israelites were disobedient, they have been subjected to the curses of Deuteronomy 28. In the process, they lost knowledge of their own identity, which is now being recovered as people are “waking up” to the truth. According to the pro-Israelite website, the Hebrew Israelite Research Center:
“In our Hebrew tongue, we are known as YASHARALA . Today, we are referred to as Negros, Latinos, and Native American Indians. We have been spread to the corners of the world as the Bible said we would be and today have rediscovered and are waking up to the truth of who the biblical Israelites are according to our Holy Scriptures.”
Zion Lexx (quoted earlier) is a Tanakh-Only Hebrew Israelite. He does not embrace Jesus as Messiah or the New Testament. Neither does he embrace a document known as The 12 Tribes of Israel Chart. In fact, The Twelve Tribes of Israel Chart is usually embraced by only one ideological faction within black Israelism: 1 Westism.
Despite its near Saturday ubiquity on at least one corner of most American cities, most proponents of Hebrew Israelism don’t believe the 12 Tribes Chart. Most Hebrew Israelites accurately understand the chart as a sectarian innovation, neither biblically nor historically accurate. For example, Hebrew Israelite author Yeshiah Yisrael writes that the chart “is not Biblically sound”2 and ideas about it are “not accurate”.3
Part of the rejection of the 12 Tribes Chart also derives from basic common sense. Yeshiah Yisrael, who also goes by Vincent Hutchinson, plainly states the painfully obvious: “it is basically impossible to try to pinpoint where each tribe is”.4
The chart is a 1 West invention. Hebrew Israelites who are not ideological descendants of the old school at 1 West 125th Street in Harlem, New York do not usually agree with the claims of the 12 Tribes Chart. The 12 Tribes Chart illustrates one of the many fundamental divides amongst black Israelism.
“Israelites” who adhere to 1 West Israelism focus on Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33 as the basis for their 12 Tribes of Israel Chart. Proponents of 1 West Hebrew Israelism teach these chapters demonstrate the modern people groups who are descendants from Jacob. According to the Hebrew Israelite Research Center
“Each of the 12 Tribes’ connection to the modern People of today can be identified through examining historic records and Biblical prophesy [sic]”.
YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE THESE REASONS …
In 1 West thought, those who belong on the 12 Twelve Tribes of Israel Chart fulfill the curses of Deuteronomy 28. The 12 Tribes Chart includes more than black Americans and people in the West Indies; the 12 Tribes of Israel Chart also includes Latinos and Native Americans. For example, modern day Mexican peoples are said to be the descendants of Issachar. A Hebrew Israelite blogger known as “Black Simba” explains the standard rationale for this claim (note: original spelling and grammar retained):
“Issachar is symbolized as a donkey, donkey’s are sturdy, built well for stability being lower to the ground than horses and as such, can handle heavy loads of work very well; this also symbolizes the Mexican people as they are hard workers willing to work humble jobs.”
Additional proofs are given by “Black Simba”:
“Siesta is an essential part of Mexican culture and this also is described in Jacob’s first sentence above that rest is good. Mexico is a world favorite vacationing spot because of the beautiful weather and sites, this is also what initially drew Issachar to that land as it is stated above that the land “was pleasant.” The tribe of Issachar settled in the Americas in the Northern central region that is now known as Mexico. There they setup great ancient civilizations such as the Aztec empire”.
As bizarre as it may sound, this interpretation is standard fare for 1 West Israelism. The claim that peoples of Mexican descent are actually from the tribe of Issachar is said to be based specifically on Genesis 49:14-15, which reads:
“Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.”
MINI-HISTORY OF THE 1 WEST SCHOOL
The ideological descendants classified as 1Westers have their beginning in a religious school that was headquartered at 1 West 125th Street in Harlem. The school began around 1969. It was originally called the Israelite School of Torah and located on 5th Avenue in Harlem. The school was originally led by “Abba Bivens”. Later, it would be led by a group of leaders called “The Seven Heads”. Prior to starting his own group, Bivens joined the Commandment Keepers of Harlem under Chief Rabbi Wentworth Arthur Matthews.5
Eventually, Bivens rejected the Old Testament only teaching and broke away from the Black Jewish congregation. Around 1969, Bivens began the aforementioned Israelite School of Torah. Bivens was later considered to be John the Baptist reincarnate by some of his followers, but evidence from his students indicates he did not claim that role for himself. Apparently, the “ceremonial practices” of the school (and some of its offshoots) “originate from the late Elder Peter Sherrod (Ya-I-Qab), . According to an earlier version of the House of David website, Yaiqab “acquired teachings from the late Elder Bibbins and the late Elder W.A. Matthew in the 1960s” (spelling variations original).
Bivens was murdered by some Muslim men he debated in Newark, New Jersey. Three of his students, Arieh, Mosheh, and Yakob (Ahrayah’s father) began a new school, right around the corner at 1 West 125th Street in Harlem. They changed the name to the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge. Arieh, as he was then known, introduced a number of significant innovations, such as belief in the King James Bible. He later introduced the failed year 2000 prophecy. Ahrayah predicted Christ would return in 2000, based on his understanding Hosea 6:13. Ahrayah also promoted an ahistorical version of Hebrew known as “Lashawan Qadash”.6 The most visible and controversial innovation Ahrayah introduced was the 12 Tribes of Israel Chart.
TWO PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH CHART CRITICS
When I was a speaker at the Legacy Conference in July 2018, I planned a mini-missions trip to downtown Chicago with my friends Laron and Cherry. After an intense and lengthy debate with the Great Millstone Israelites of Chicago (GMS), we walked over a different group, called Israelites Tried & Refined.7 This group was once part of GMS Chicago but left over some doctrinal disagreements. One of the disagreements was on the 12 Tribes Chart. Israelites Tried & Refined no longer believed in the chart. That evening, we peacefully yet passionately discussed many important topics, from reincarnation to Gentile inclusion. We also discussed the chart. After hearing his criticism of the 12 Tribes chart (video here), I commended their leader for his disavowal of the chart and said, “as far as your criticism of the chart … those are valid criticisms”. Since then, I’ve met many adherents of Hebrew Israelism who deny the chart’s validity.
In fact, one of the men present that day in Chicago was actually a Hebrew Israelite from Michigan. We stayed in contact after my trip to Illinois. His name was Inap, and he was once a member of GMS Detroit. Over time, he saw some of the errors, left GMS, and became part of a new camp called The Good Samaritans. In June 2019, I was in Detroit for an urban apologetics conference, and we met up and had a healthy dialogue (video here). While I was there, he informed me he was writing a book, which I later bought. Inap also criticizes the 12 Tribes Chart on page 53:
“You have a select group(s) that claim descendancy [sic] based solely on Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. This is clearly in error as the scriptures tell us ad nauseam that the twelve tribes were to be scattered to the four corners of the earth”.
Notice he wrote that the 12 Tribes Chart “is clearly in error”. 8 He then spends his time in pages 53-113 giving a completely sane and well-balanced interpretation of what Genesis 49 actually means … not what the 1 Westers claim it means!
The men I’ve been discussing in this closing section still consider themselves to be Hebrews. They were brought up in the 1 West doctrine, as taught by GMS. Yet, they, like so many others, have now rejected it. I believe this trend will continue. Let us pray they then step all the way into the light of the full gospel, which is Good News for Jew and Gentile alike — not just the people listed on a chart invented in the latter half of the 20th century.
VOCAB MALONE
PHX AZ, JAN 26 2022
Excerpt from a talk where I discuss the 12 Tribes Chart and its lack of widespread acceptance by the Hebrew Israelite community:
NOTES
Adviel Ben Levi, It Was Written and Engraved: A Series of Essays on Torah: From the Blueprint of Creation to the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade (n.p., 2016), 91.
Yeshiah Yisrael, Deuteronomy 28:15-68: History Untold to the Masses (Danite Publications, 2016), 3.
Yeshiah Yisrael, Deuteronomy 28:15-68: History Untold to the Masses (Danite Publications, 2016), 229.
Yeshiah Yisrael, Deuteronomy 28:15-68: History Untold to the Masses (Danite Publications, 2016), 2.
There are many books on this congregation: The Black Jews of Harlem: Negro Nationalism and the Dilemmas of Negro Leadership by Howard M. Brotz (1964); Black Jews in America: A Documentary with Commentary by Graenum Berger (1978); Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism by Tudor Parfitt and EmanuelaTrevisan Semi (2002).
Nasi Barak, who knew Bivens personally, states in an interview that this innovation was put forth after Bivens received an (angelic?) visitor in his kitchen.
Sometime after THE SHIELD SQUAD interacted with this group, they turned Non-Messianic and no longer embrace the New Testament. Last I knew, their new name was simply “The Chicago Israelites”.
Martyr Ministries, Blessed Is He That Readeth: Exposing Doctrines of Men, Vol. 1 (Martyr Ministries: 2020), 53. Even though his name is not in the title, this book was written by Inap of the Good Samaritans Camp from Detroit, Michigan in 2020.