, 1888-07-06
JEWS oF MIXED BLOOD.
Changes of tho Original ~stock-Tribes OF
Pseudo Jews.

Changes OF the Original Of
Pseudo jews.
Since NJ. Renan, some three or foui
years ago, expressed his doubts as to the
purity Of the Jewish race, the hitherto
received opinion IN that subject has been
somewhat shaken. The question, though
unscientiically raised, can only be scien-
~tically settled; but we may point out,
as a matter of popular interest, that even
if the main body of the Hebrew people
has preserved al untainted lineage, which
is very likely, it has at any rate acquired
a considerable fringe Of Individually
spurious elements. This fringe is COM
posed partly of pseudo Jews and partly
of cryptic Jews, the former being mainly
descendants of Gentle proselytes openly
protesting Judaism, and the latter con-
sisting of more or less sophisticated de-
scendants of Jews outwardly conforming
to the dominant religions Of the countries
in which they live. but secretly observing
their ancestral faith. These two divisions
of what may be termed the borderland
between the Jewish and the Gentle
worlds have again smaller borderlands
or fringes of their own through which
they merge into one another.
As throwing light on the spasms of
Proselytism with which, in opposition to
their traditional practice, the Hebrews
have occasionally been seized, these
pseudo Jews are of considerable interest
to the student OF religious history. The
largest community of them are the Fail
ashas of Abyssinia, numbering, 1t is
said, between 200, 900 and a quarter of a
million souls. Although they pretend to
be descended from King Solomon and
the Queen of Sheba, ethnologists nave
failed to discover among them any traces
of a Hebrew type. That originally they
were strangers In the land Is, however,
shown by their name, which means elm
migrants"
Besides the Falashas, there are several
tribes in Africa protesting Judaism, or
claiming descent from Jews, who, in SO
far as their chronological type is a matter
OF doubt, must also be regarded as be-
longing to the fringe of Jewry. Among
the Beni-Mzab, on the frontiers of Al
geria and Tunis, are several pseudo Jew
ISL clans, and all over the Sahara the
Daggatoun boast of a Hebrew ancestry
while protesting Mohammedanism. A
Moorish Jew, who wrote an account of
the latter people, explains their name to
mean Jews who have changed their
faith" a doubtful piece of philology
which has, however, its historical value.
In Madagascar and on the Loango
coast are two further small contingents
of pseudo Jews, the 'Zafy Ibrahim'' or
Progeny of Abraham" and the "Ma-
vamba," or "Judeos." The former do
differ in their physical type from
their neighbors, and their Hebrew tradi-
lions and o~bservances are, perhaps, only
a remote vibration of the Judeo-Arabic
influence. The Loango 'tJudeos' are a
superior kind Of negroes, alleged to be
descended from survivors of tho 1000
Jewish children who, in. 1403, were torn
from their parents by Don Joao II, of
Portugal, and transported to st. Thomas.
Asia is full Of varying degrees of the
fringe of Jewry, if the traditions of some
scores of peoples and tribes are to be
trusted. The whole continent has proved
a happy hunting ground for the amiable
enthusiasts whose game is the Lost
Tribes. or actual pseudo Jews, as we
have defined them, there are, however,
only a couple of s~pecimens-the black
Jews Of Cochin and Malabar and the
Jew of the interior of China. Both pro-
fess fairly orthodox forms of Judaism,
and both assert that they are of pure
Jewish descent; but the Investigations of
competent observers nave shown the for
mer to be of Hindoo race, while the
little we know of the latter seems to in
dictate that they are Mongols, with a
slight admixture of Hebrew blood.
OF the Chinese Jews we have no very
precise or reliable accounts. They are
said TO he OF a very strong Monaghan
type. On the other hand, the records
prove them to nave been at least in con
tact with pure Jews; and it is probable
that they are u cross between these Jews
and native proselytes. Crosses of this de
scription are usually infertile-a fact
that goes far to prove the purity of the
main body of the Hebrew race-and the
so called Chinese Jews present all the I'M
fruitful characteristics OF hybrids. In
this respect they resemble the two great
bodies of pseudo Jews which are to be
found in Europe, the Karaites of South
Russia and the Sephardim of England
and Holland.
Historically the Karaites are even
more interesting than the Falashas,
They are a remnant of the Finnish king
dom Of the Khozars, which was con-
verted to Judaism in the Eighth century,
and which for a time disputed the sover-
eighty of the east with the emperors OF
Byzantium.
That the Sephardim of England and
Holland are not pure Jews is statement
which may cause some surprise. While,
however, the Sephardim of Italy and the
east are mostly descendants of the I'M
doubleday pure Spanish Jews expelled
from the peninsula in 1899, the bulk OF
those in western Europe are the offspring
OF Marranos, or cryptic Jews, who out
wardly conformed to Christianity in
order to escape the edict OF expulsion,
and who, to hide their religious identity
more effectually, gave up their racial dis
~hnctiveness. There is scarcely a Mariana
family which cannot be proved to have
received some infusion of Gentle blood;
and it is a singular fact that in England
at least, while the Ashkenazim, or cen.
trial European Jews, show an exceptional
fecundity the Sephardim are gradually
dying out.-St. James Gazette.
Prettiest Sight In Mexico.
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