Joseph Eidelberg

Joseph Eidelberg (Hebrew: יוסף אידלברג) (February 8, 1916 – August 21, 1985) was an Israeli military commander and a plant manager of large Israeli corporations. During his career he developed a hobby of exploring religions’ roots and languages. He became a linguistics researcher, a scholar speaking seven languages, an Historian explorer, and an author of three books. His research work focused on the two most puzzling mysteries in Jewish history:

In 1969, while working in the Ivory Coast, Eidelberg claimed to have found that a tribe in Mali, named

The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel

In 1980, after spending a year in a Shinto Shrine, Eidelberg published his second history book “The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel”, by the publisher Zur-Ot. The book expanded his theory of the route, which the exiled Lost Tribes of Israel took from Samaria, though Asia and which ended up, according to his theory, in Japan. The theory also includes additional similarities in traditions, mythological stories, writings, and rituals, as well as hundreds of Japanese words and symbols whose genesis were narrated from ancient Hebrew. The book was translated into Japanese by Kazuo Nakagawa and sold at an estimated 40,000 copies.^[11] Its 2nd edition was published 24 years later, in 2014, by his son with Gefen Publishing House.^[12] A similar theory was presented in 2003 by Avigdor Shachan in chapter 14 of his Hebrew book, “Towards the Sambation: a Journey following the footsteps of the 10 Tribes” (Hebrew: אל עבר הסמבטיון מסע בעקבות עשרת השבטים) .^[13] Shachan's book was translated into English in 2007 with the title In the Footsteps of the Lost Ten Tribes.^[14] Both of these books by Shachan have considerable reference to Eidelberg's related discoveries as well as other educational organizations.^[15][16] Other academic institutes raised doubts about Eidelberg's findings saying that "some of his much too far fetched, or even crude, etymological comparisons arouse doubts rather than cause convicting”.^[17] A similar view is shown in the following academic publication. "In 1980, an Israeli researcher and writer, Joseph Eidelberg, published a book called The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, in which he examined most of the Japanese publications on this subject and proposed the existence of a Japan-Jewish connection dating to the seventh century. In it, he claims that the word Yamato, the center of ancient Japan, is similar to Yehoamato—the people of God. He argues that the ancient Japanese began their journey in history in a year called Kinoye Tora, which he connected with the Hebrew words Kenei Torah (Torah reeds). The title “Agata Noshi,” awarded by a Japanese emperor to his nobles, was identified by Eidelberg as close to “Aguda Nassi,” or “Nessi Aguda” (meaning “chairman of the association”). All this sounds far-fetched and not plausible, although it is certainly interesting."^[18]

The Biblical Hebrew Origin of the Japanese People

Following the publication of his second book, Eidelberg deepened his research about the relationship between the Japanese and the ancient Hebrews, in his third book, “The Biblical Hebrew Origin of the Japanese People”. In this last book, he tabulated hundreds of words in Japanese with similar sounds and meanings to Hebrew. His research ended shortly before his death in 1985. After his death, the manuscript of the book was organized by his sister and published in 2005 by his son with Gefen Publishing House.^[19] The book was translated into Japanese by Arimasa Kubo in 2012.^[20] Eidelberg's theories were cited in book publications which followed, such as "Jesus From India to Japan".,^[21] and theological organizations such as "The Christian Bushido" ^[22] His theory about the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel was also presented in a series of seven episodes by a Japanese TV broadcasting station ^[23] , and in Japanese Youtube videos.^[24]

Reaction

The mysteries about Exodus and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel led to many theories about where it took place and where they ended up. It is therefore expected, that Joseph Eidelberg's theories about these mysteries, will create mixed reactions, where historians, writers and editors may support, doubt, dispute, question or combine it with other theories, as shown in the following examples.

Historians

• Doubt: "The author's thesis does need more investigation in order to substantiate a majority off his claim"^[25]
• Dispute: "The Japanese are not Hebrews!"^[26]
• Combine: "Eiji Kawamorita, a hebraic scholar took a view that was a combination of Kubo and Eidelberg"^[27]
• Support: "Paying thanks to the engineer, researcher, Joseph Eidelberg whose books "Bambara", and "The Japanese and the Ten Lost tribes of Israel", lightened my way for forty years until I wrote this book".^[28]

Articles and Editorials

• BOOK COMMENT - The Biblical Hebrew Origin of the Japanese People^[29]
• Words, words, Words^[30]
• Priests in Japan from the Ten tribes?^[31]
• The route of Exodus,- Today^[32]
• Researcher Eidelberg view of the Bambara Tribe in Mali^[33]

Personal life

Joseph's father, Haim Eidelberg, an industrial construction entrepreneur in Haifa Bay, was a Russian soldier, who was wounded in World War I. He immigrated to Palestine with his wife Clara, son Joseph, and daughter Dina Harris who was for many years the secretary of Yad Hanadiv. His brother, Jonah Eidelberg, was born in Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) and became a naval academy cadet and a demolition officer in the IDF. During the 1947–1949 Palestine war (Hebrew: מלחמת העצמאות), he fought in Al-Nabi Yusha'.^[34] He later went to the US to study engineering, followed by an engineering management career. Eidelberg was married to Zipora Zitrin in 1943 and was separated in 1964. His son, Boaz Eidelberg, is a mechanical engineer and a university professor.^[35] His granddaughter Yael completed Law and Business schools. His grandson Tal Eidelberg is a Computer Science entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of a Healthcare scheduling company.^[36]

References