The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem (AHIJ) are a spiritual community of African Americans and their Israeli-born offspring based in Dimona, Israel. They are the followers of the late Ben Ammi Ben Israel and are commonly referred to as Black Hebrews, though they prefer to be called Hebrew Israelites or Hebrews.

While they may share certain core beliefs with other Hebrew Israelite communities, or “camps,” in the U.S. and elsewhere, the AHIJ are not formally connected to any other camp. However, there are several official branches of the community, known as “jurisdictions,” in West and Southern Africa, the U.S. and the U.K.

There are approximately 3,000 African Hebrew Israelites living in Israel today, making them the largest organized community of African American expatriates (plus their Israeli-born offspring) in the world. There are several thousand more members around the world, according to community leaders. These figures are hard to independently verify.

No. They identify as Judeans, that is, descendants of the ancient tribe of Judah, and assert that they do not practice any religion. Nor are they recognized as Jews according to halacha (Jewish law) by rabbinic authorities in Israel. The Chief Rabbinate investigated their connection to Judaism in the early 1970s and found that most of the original members had been baptized and raised as Christians.

Hebrew Israelites are people of color, mostly African Americans, who believe they are genealogical descendants of the ancient Israelites. They differentiate themselves from Jews, though they often practice Hebraic customs associated with Judaism, such as Sabbath observance and male circumcision. The more radical Hebrew Israelite groups claim that they are the authentic Jews and that “white” Jews are nothing more than imposters, possibly descendants of the Khazars. There is no historical evidence to support this claim.

No. They claim descent primarily from the tribe of Judah, which was not one of the 10 Lost Tribes. There were 12 tribes of ancient Israel, named for each of Jacob’s sons; Judah and Benjamin were part of the Kingdom of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and thus not “lost” when the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel (Northern Kingdom) in around 720 BCE. Anyway, scholars consider the Lost Tribes to be a myth.

No, they do not believe in the “12 Tribes Chart” that links specific modern-day racial/ethnic groups to each of the 12 tribes of Israel. (For example, according to the chart, African Americans descend from Judah, West Indians descend from Benjamin, etc.) There is no historical basis for this chart, which was popularized by Abba Bivens and the One West school of Hebrew Israelism.

No. The Beta Israel—sometimes referred to as Falashas, though this term means “foreigners” in Amharic and is considered derogatory—and the African Hebrew Israelites are completely separate communities of Africans living in Israel. The Beta Israel are considered Jewish according to halacha (Jewish law), while the African Hebrew Israelites are not.

Ben Ammi Ben Israel (October 12, 1939 – December 27, 2014) was the spiritual leader and co-founder of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem. His followers considered him to be the messiah, and he was said to have received messages directly from God.

Born Ben Carter in Chicago, Illinois, he dropped out of high school (but later earned his equivalency diploma), served in the U.S. army, and worked as a metallurgist. In February 1966, he claimed that the Angel Gabriel appeared to him while he was meditating and revealed that it was time to return to the Promised Land and establish the Kingdom of God, as prophesied in Daniel 2:44. This vision prompted the “exodus” of about 350 African Americans to Liberia the following year.

He lived in Dimona, in a small house in the African Hebrew Israelites’ Village of Peace, and had four wives and more than 20 children at the time of his death in 2014.

Since Ben Ammi Ben Israel passed away in December 2014, the community has been led by the “Holy Council,” a group of men who hold the title nasik, or prince. They are Nasik Aharone, Nasik Eliel, Nasik Elimelek, Nasik Eliyahu, Nasik Elyahshuv, Nasik Gavriyah (formerly known as Gavriel HaGadol), Nasik Immanuel, Nasik Yadiel, and Sgan (Deputy) Nasik Issachar.

In brief, they believe that their identity as descendants of the ancient Israelites was suppressed as a result of a worldwide religious conspiracy; that their ancestors endured 400 years of slavery because they disobeyed God’s laws; and that the Western world is destined to destroy itself as a result of corruption and sin.

They subscribe to two main legal codes: Toraht Moshe, the five books of the Hebrew Bible, and Toraht Ben Ammi, the teachings of their spiritual leader, Ben Ammi Ben Israel. Like Karaite Jews, they do not accept the legitimacy of the Oral Law (the Talmud). They consult the New Testament and recognize Jesus (Yashua) as a “Hebrew messiah.”

They believe their purpose is to serve Yah; to be a “light unto the nations” and show the world a better, healthier way to live; and to achieve physical immortality through their vegan diet, exercise, and prayer.

They speak English and Hebrew at varying levels of fluency. The first and second generations speak English and basic conversational Hebrew, while the third generation, those born and educated in Israel, are fully bilingual.

Outsiders may find the way they speak Hebrew to be unusual, as if it were its own dialect. For example, they often pronounce the guttural letter chet (ח) like a kuf (ק), so ach (meaning “brother”) becomes ahk. In addition, they sometimes place the stress on a different syllable of a word than the one stressed by most Hebrew speakers. For example, they say yom SHAY-nee instead of yom shay-NEE (meaning “Monday”). (In Modern Hebrew, the stress is usually placed on the final syllable of a word.) These variations are most likely the result of a lack of formal Hebrew language training.

“Yahwah” is the way they have decided to transliterate יהוה, the four-letter Hebrew name of God known as the Tetragrammaton. It is pronounced YAḤ-wah; the “Ḥ” is a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, which means it is slightly raspy. In Judaism, the name of God is considered too holy to be uttered. The Hebrews believe that they can, and indeed should, use God’s name so that there is no confusion about whom they worship. “Yah” is a shortened form of Yahwah. (NB: The Tetragrammaton is usually transliterated as “Yahweh” and pronounced YAH-way.)

Yes. They call it divine marriage and consider it to be one of the cornerstones of their culture. Hebrew men are permitted to marry up to seven women, based on their interpretation of Isaiah 4:1. Divorces, called “releases,” are permitted but discouraged. (Polygamy is technically illegal in Israel.)

They believe that the ideal human diet was the plant-based one that God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as described in Genesis 1:29. Moreover, they assert that the human digestive system was never meant to process animal products; that consuming flesh is not consistent with a healthy, righteous lifestyle; and that plants contain all of the nutrients and minerals that human beings need to survive.

They fast for 24 hours every Shabbat in order to give their bodies a complete rest from everyday activities, including digesting. They also hope to achieve harmony with the land through fasting; every seven years, they will have fasted for the equivalent of one year, just as the land is left fallow every seven years (shmita).

A cult is a religious sect with unorthodox beliefs and practices led by a charismatic figure. This definition would seem to accurately describe the African Hebrew Israelites. However, sociologists today talk about “new religious movements” instead of cults. But the Hebrews would reject that label, too, because they do not consider themselves to be religious. They would say they are not a cult but a culture.

They consider Israel to be their ancestral homeland, the land promised to the seed of Abraham—the first Hebrew—by God. Moreover, Israel was the place to which the Angel Gabriel instructed Ben Ammi to return in order to establish the Kingdom of God. They began settling in Israel in 1969.

They cite the fact that Israel lies on the African tectonic plate and that the Suez Canal is an artificial separation between the African continent and Israel. They also point out that “Middle East” is a Eurocentric political term, not a geographical one. (Officially, Israel is located in Western Asia, but few describe it that way.)

The official explanation is that they understood from their scriptural studies that they needed to retrace the route by which they were brought to the U.S. as slaves, i.e. via West Africa, and to purify themselves in the “wilderness” before entering Israel. However, some scholars believe that they intended to stay in Liberia but encountered too many problems there.

When they started arriving in Israel in the late 1960s and early 70s, the government gave them apartments in the development towns of Arad, Dimona, and Mitzpe Ramon. The center of communal activity has always been Dimona, which they refer to as “New Jerusalem.” Today, many families live in the Village of Peace, a refurbished absorption center on the outskirts of Dimona. And yes, they know about the nuclear reactor just south of the city and are not too concerned about it.

Today, most African Hebrew Israelites hold permanent residency status in Israel. This means that they are entitled to receive health care, education, and other benefits but cannot vote in national elections and do not receive Israeli passports. (They can and do vote in local elections; they hold American passports.) About 100 Hebrews have applied for and received Israeli citizenship to date, while a small number still have no legal status in the country.

Yes. As permanent residents, they are obligated by law to serve in the IDF. They do so proudly, even fighting on the front lines in combat units. The army attempts to accommodate their beliefs by allowing them to wear cloth boots and cotton uniforms, though access to vegan food on bases continues to be a challenge.

See my blog post about their IDF service for more information.

The men work in various trades, and the women typically work within the community as teachers, seamstresses, and cooks. Many women stay home to raise their children. The community operates a vegan restaurant in Tel Aviv and a vegan food factory in Dimona. There are a number of musicians who perform around the country, as well as an internationally renowned band, the Soul Messengers. In recent years, a handful of Hebrews have started their own businesses, including a car rental company in Dimona.

Their neighbors in Dimona accept them, but most Israelis living outside of Dimona know very little about them. They are frequently mistaken for Ethiopians or African refugees. Young Israelis meet them in the army and often form close friendships with them, so their profile is rising.

Since they do not practice a religion, per se, there is no conversion process. Anyone who is willing to abide by their strict cultural guidelines can join after taking “absorption” classes in Dimona or at one of the jurisdictions that offers them. One does not have to be black to join the community, and there currently are a few non-black members.

I first read about the African Hebrew Israelites in 2003, when the Israeli government granted them permanent residency. As a student of African American history and a Jew, I was intrigued by their Afrocentric interpretation of the Torah. In 2007, I received a fellowship from Harvard University to conduct research on the community and lived in the Village of Peace for 14 months. I visited many more times from 2010-2014 and am currently writing a book about the community.