Are Jews Indigenous to Israel? | Explained

Israel, a land of ancient heritage and diverse cultures, is deeply intertwined with Jewish identity. Along with ancient biblical narratives and modern archaeological discoveries, Yirmiyahu Danzig delves into his own family’s history to uncover the profound historical connection all Jews have with Israel, no matter where their families “come from.”

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Yirmiyahu's life as a Jew of color
01:36 Descendants of Abraham
02:25 Jews from Guyana / Caribbean Jews
04:15 The Spanish Inquisition / Iberian Jews
05:28 The Roman Empire / Jews of Judea
06:03 The Great Jewish Revolt / Jewish expulsion
07:14 British Mandatory Palestine / Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi
08:07 Jews of Germany
08:26 The Bar Kochba Revolt / Jews of Judea
12:01 Jews of Jerusalem / The Old Yishuv
12:25 Perushim / Students of the Vilna Gaon
16:10 Jews of Iraq
17:52 The Babylonian Empire
19:04 Jews as a diasporic people
19:43 Where are Jews from?

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Recommended video—Who Owns the Temple Mount / Al Aqsa?

Let’s connect:
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Image and footage credits:
NBC
Columbia Pictures
Sony Pictures
A24
ABC
Fox
Warner Bros
Roadshow Entertainment
20th century fox
Orion Pictures
Paramount Pictures
New Line Cinema
Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan
Walt Disney
OSO City Nation
Shotgun BomBom
Universal Pictures
Dreamwork Pictures
20th century studios
Wrestling with god
HBO
British Pathe
Library of Congress
United Artists
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Co-Executive Producers:
Dr. Shmuel and Evelyn Katz

Platinum Level:
Stephanie & Gilad Abrahami
Barry Skolnick

Gold Level:
Charles Crane Family Foundation

Silver Level:
Corie & Michael Koss
Lustman family

Bronze Level:
Julia & Brad Berger
Mimi & Akiva Friend
Marci & Andrew Spitzer
Stephanie & Ilan Ulmer

This video is in partnership with The Weisfeld Family Charitable Foundation
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Translation credits:

About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.
Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between.

About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.

#history #family #story

[patricks]

This video is spine-chilling! Greetings from a Brazilian Jew living in Hungary.

[paholainen]

Interesting. I'm from Australia and I'm not Jewish but this has inspired me to learn Hebrew, not out of political or religious reasons though. I am a linguist and find the Hebrew language and Jewish history fascinating.

[Chestermcfly]

I’m an Italian Jew and I was always too Italian to be Jewish and too Jewish to be Italian😮

[The-Carpenter]

What caught my attention is that the Jews could have simply melted away in the new lands they found themselves in, but were always drawn to their traditions, their way of life and maintained their identity under extreme persecution.

It is my sincere prayer as a Christian that the enemies of the Jews would just stop this continued persecution.

Thank you for a wonderful video.

[mellyp]

I am Puerto Rican, I also have 3% Jewish in me, and I am very happy for that. I love God, and always will.

[alisameireis]

I am a Jew of African descent. My Paternal ORAL history places our Origins in Ethiopia. However, Paternal DNA places our Origins in The Levant (Typically known as “Israel” today) then to Eastern Africa (Malawi Bantu and Kenyan Bantu) to Western Africa/Angola/Nigeria (Igbo) to Central America (Indigenous Yucatan Peninsula) to the United States (Indigenous North American Peoples). Because all of this is from my Father (and not my Mother), I made formal Return (Teshuvah) to comply with Halacha. FYI - I don’t believe the Igbo DNA trek from Nigeria to the Yucatán Peninsula was voluntary. Also - FOR ME: It’s not about being Jew-ish….For many in Diaspora….We didn’t get to attend services in Synagogues. For us it’s about the oral history about being descendants of Ya’akov, which is proven out via our DNA, coupled with the oral traditions (keeping Shabbat, etc) handed down thru all the generations that seals it for us. Am Israel Chai!! 🥰✡️

[dafnimbus]

Thank you. I am a German Jew from Massachusetts who is 72 years old.

[relaxchil]

Deuteronomy 28:64 (NIV):

"Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known."

This verse is part of a larger passage in Deuteronomy 28, which outlines the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. The dispersion of the Israelites among the nations is one of the curses for turning away from God.

[sw]

I grew up hearing adults say Jews were like our (Catholics) older cousins. My grandpa served in WWII in the Brazilian navy and I remember him telling stories, one of them was the moral imperative of accommodating Jewish families that were brought in so they could thrive and grow in numbers to make up the loss during the Holocaust… I miss grandpa..

[YaakovEzraAmiChi]

Literally the best episode youve made to date. Hearing you speak on how our ancestors stayed strong and rooted.

We really are a beautiful people. Of many different looks. We are like a small group that resembles the world as there are Jews that look Asian, look European, look African, etc. We are like a nation of nations but one nation. Despite all the troubles of being a Jew, I still love and am proud to come from such a strong and resilient people.

[jeffe]

I'm an American Jew living in Colombia. My father was a Galizianer, born on the Lower East Side. We've got a good idea that his line came from Spain. My mother was a Litvak from Boston. So, I am from a mixed marriage. haha When I was in college, I was told on more than one occasion that I looked like I was from the Mediterranean region, anywhere from Italy to Greece. This stayed with me and it took me many, many years to realize that I looked Mediterranean because both sides of my family originally came from Israel.

[laurasilbermandeswiszcz]

I never thought I would be so moved by a YouTube video about the history of the Jewish people… With tears in my eyes and a gigantic feeling of pride and love for my identity (most of which grew so much since last Oct 7), I’d like to send you my admiration from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Huge fan of yours!!!!

[Heinbarnavi]

It is evident from observing these videos that Ashkenazi Jews from Europe receive significantly more attention and more exposure compared to Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East. It is unfortunate that the descendants of the Jews who settled in the Middle East, who are geographically closer to the Promised Land, do not receive the attention they rightfully deserve. hope next vids they post more length vids on Mizrahi Jews.

[elleobi]

Watching this makes me emotional in ways that I don't readily understand. I'm not Jewish. I appreciate getting such an accessible primer on the history. More people need this education

[amitelbaz]

Watching this video brought me to tears. As a Jew with a family mosaic spanning Portugal/Spain, Libya, Bulgaria, Poland, Morocco, and Romania, I feel the profound weight of our complex history in every fiber of my being. It's utterly heartbreaking to witness how Jews have tenaciously clung to their identity through millennia of relentless persecution, only to face continued existential threats and challenges in our ancestral homeland.
The intricate tapestry of Jewish experiences, including my own family's arduous journey, all converge in Israel – a land that pulses through our veins and echoes in the depths of our collective memory. It's beyond frustrating to see our unbreakable connection to this sacred soil questioned when it's so deeply embedded in the very fabric of our history, culture, and soul.
In every generation, we bear witness to the awe-inspiring bravery of individuals who selflessly sacrifice to shield the flickering flame of Jewish life from being extinguished. It's emotionally draining and profoundly sad. We yearn for nothing more than to live in peace, to breathe freely, and to pour our hearts into building a vibrant, thriving society in our eternal homeland, Israel. The world's unrelenting hostility and fixation on our destruction is both utterly incomprehensible and soul-crushingly disheartening.
This video serves as a searingly powerful reminder of our unbreakable bond with Israel and the paramount importance of safeguarding our heritage, even as many Jews today may not identify with the religious aspects of our identity. Ours is a story of unparalleled resilience, of rising from the ashes time and time again. I fervently hope that more people can open their hearts to understand and respect the singular nature of our journey – a journey that has shaped the very course of human history and continues to inspire generations to stand tall in the face of adversity. Am Yisrael Chai.

[arifmaghribi]

We Cricket lovers know about Guyana, they and other islands play as one team that is West Indies. Ivanhoe Mordecai Barrow, to give him his full name, made 105 at Old Trafford when the West Indies toured England in 1933 — not only the first and only Jewish centurion but the first cricketer to reach three figures for the West Indies overseas. So cheers.

[christophersmith]

IM DESI & JEWISH. I HAVE FAMILY IN GUYANA / RICHMOND HILL ON MY DADS SIDE. LIVICH FROM LITHIANIA ON MY MOMS SIDE.

[dafna]

exciting! My father's family came to Mesopotamia in the Babylonian exile, after more than 2500 years as foreigners they fled to Israel with the establishment of the state
My mother's family came to Portugal, my grandmother's family moved to Bulgaria during the Inquisition - my grandmother immigrated to Israel after the war at the age of 14 as part of the youth ALIYA.
My grandfather immigrated to Israel on the children's train from Istanbul to Eretz Israel - which smuggled children to Israel when rumors of the concentration camps arrived.
My grandmother and grandfather met when they founded Kibbutz Gvulot in the Negev.
We all returned home and stole nothing, It's time for our Arab neighbors to understand this.

[SA-ooxk]

The Palestinians are the actual descendants of Jews, at least according to Ben Gurion (Eretz Israel in the Past and Present, 1918)
: "The fellahin are not descendants of the Arab conquerors, who captured Eretz Israel and Syria in the seventh century CE. The Arab conquerors did not destroy the agricultural population they found in the country. They expelled only the alien Byzantine rulers and did not touch the local population. Nor did the Arabs go in for settlement. The greater majority and main structures of the Muslim falahin in western Eretz Israel present to us one racial strand and a whole ethnic unit, and there is no doubt that much Jewish blood flows in their veins — the blood of those Jewish farmers, “lay persons, ” who chose in the travesty of times to abandon their faith in order to remain on their land."

[GlobalCRO]

Amazing. ❤ Greetings from Croatia ! 🇭🇷❤️🇮🇱