The Cherokee Connection

Yonatan, an American-born Breslever Chassid who now lives in Israel, was driving northeast in Oklahoma headed toward Colorado. He was on a “hitbodedut” vacation, ten days of luscious personal prayer while driving and living in a rented GMC van.

 

The view overlooking the Cimarron River was breathtaking. He had to stop here, as if a hand was on his shoulder telling him to pull off the road. For some inexplicable reason, he felt like this was a special place to speak to Hashem. He draped himself in a tallit (prayer shawl), and got out of the car.

 

Yonatan lost all sense of time. He felt like he had been talking to Hashem for about ten minutes, but two hours had transpired. He then experienced a strange sensation, as if there were eyes staring at his back. He turned around and saw a small group of men and boys watching him silently.

 

“Osyio,” said the elder, with a wide semi-toothed octogenarian’s smile. He extended his hand and said, “Welcome. My name is Mitchell – John Swift Bear Mitchell. I saw you from afar. I was sure that you were in solitude prayer with Adonvido, The Great Creator. You remind me of my grandfather’s description of the way our ancestors would seek to attach themselves to Adonvido’s Holy Spirit by praying alone on the prairie. I hope you don’t mind – I called my sons and grandsons to come see…”

 

* * *

 

After hearing Yonatan’s amazing story, I looked for a drop of information that connects the Indians of North America to the lost tribes of Israel, exiled and dispersed by Sancheriv and the Assyrians in 772 BCE, and encountered a flood of evidence indicating that the Indians, particularly the Cherokees, are certainly one of the lost tribes of Israel – some say Dan, others say Zevulun.

 

18th Century explorer, trader, and researcher, James Adair from London, author of History of the American Indians who spent 40 years among the Cherokees, wrote a book named Out of the Flame, listing 23 hard proofs why he believed the Cherokees were descended from Israel. Among other things, the Cherokees were fiercely monotheistic who observed the Ten Commandments to the letter. Harvard professor Barry Fell cites an ancient carving of the Ten Commandments in North America as further proof, another subscriber to the lost tribe theory. Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, former USAF Chaplain and prominent Jewish historian, also holds that the Indians of the Americas are descendants of Northern Israel’s seafaring tribes, Dan and Zevulun. The additional list is long and exhaustive.

 

Even so, I wasn’t really convinced until I started learning some Cherokee language. Examine the following table (with thanks to the Cherokees of powersource.com in California for their help):

 

camel           Ge’mili           gamal

dog               Qi’li               qelev

egg               We’tsi            betsa

mosquito      To’si               yetosh

turtle             Du’si              tsav

The Lord       Adon’vido      Adonoi

tree               atsina             etz

 

As you can see, the phonetic similarities are astounding.

 

Personal prayer played such an important role in traditional Cherokee daily routine, that there’s even a guideline for holy prayer in solitude. Here are a few of the main points; note their amazing similarity to Judaism:

 

1. A man must not be under any influence of alcohol and drugs.

 

2. A man must wear long pants and long sleeves.

 

3. A woman must never be scantily dressed, and especially during solitude prayer.

 

This past year, I’ve heard from almost a dozen Cherokee descendants who have converted or are in the process of converting to Orthodox Judaism. Sound strange?

 

The prophet Isaiah teaches us that an in-gathering of the exiles will herald the day of Redemption, for:

 

Imagine, Laura Broken Bow’s great-great granddaughter is now an Orthodox Jewish mother in Jerusalem. Hanna White Deer’s great grandson learns Torah in a Yeshiva for newcomers to observant Judaism. Isaiah’s prophecy is in the works – Mashiach and the rebuilding of the holy temple are only a matter of time, so it’s time to get ready.