[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1510440999058{margin-right: 30px !important;margin-left: 30px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”64px”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Real Jews of Tel Arad” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1509824395974{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Led by a “prophet” who claims to be a direct descendant of the Tribe of Ephraim and equipped with “proof” that the city we call Jerusalem today isn’t the Biblical one, the members of the “House of Israel” community want to clarify to all of us that they are the real Jews. Roy Chicky Arad was almost convinced, but the negligible chances that he would survive Armageddon returned him to the bosom of boring old Judaism.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1509824611380{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]

By Roy Chicky Arad | Haaretz | May 9, 2016
Originally published in Hebrew here. Translated by Andrew Esensten and Rechavia Berman.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]1. The Belief System: The Evidence Stage

Is there a surprising twist in the fiery conflict between the world’s religions regarding the Temple Mount? “House of Israel,” a group of blacks predominantly from the United States who identify as Jews, believe that the Tabernacle of David was actually located at Tel Arad, an archeological site approximately 10 kilometers to the west of the city of Arad. They call the site “Zion,” and since last Passover they have held ceremonies, inspired by ancient customs, on the three pilgrimage holidays, to which members from around the world flock.

In 2002, Howshua Amariel, a 60-year-old native of Chicago known as the “Indiana Jones” of the Hebrew Israelites, decided that Tel Arad is in fact the Biblical Jerusalem. Following this realization, he moved to Arad and began to recruit believers for his new community from among members of the African Hebrew Israelite community in Dimona as well as black people from around the world. Amariel’s theory is fascinating, and his sources include numerous conspiracy theories and archeological findings alongside the faith of Hebrews and African Americans who see themselves as the real Jews.

The story, in short, goes like this: The root of the confusion is that the Bible mentions two cities named Jerusalem, the one conquered from the Jebusites and where the Temple stood (Tel Arad) and the one conquered from the Emorites (“Jerusalem”). In 70 C.E. the real Jerusalem where the Temple stood was destroyed and the nation of Israel went into exile. According to “The Howshua Code,” Hadrian built Aelia Capitolina—a Roman city that uncircumcised men were forbidden to enter—at Tel Arad. A few centuries after that, when the Jews were permitted to return to the land of Israel, the wrong Jerusalem—the southern one—was presented to them. The reason for deceiving the Jews was clear: To prevent the coming of the Messiah.

Neither did the Jews go into exile in Europe and Asia, as we were taught. The children of Israel fled to Egypt, and from there went south to Sudan, whose name, according to the believers, means “Soy Judan,” the land of Judah. From there they were scattered to West Africa. In Africa they were enslaved and sent to America. And now they are returning to their homeland.

White people called Jews are a fraud, since it is clear, according to them, that the Jews in the Bible had dark skin. One of the claims regarding the inauthenticity of Jews is linguistic: they are known in English as “Jewish,” and the “–ish” ending means that the thing being discussed only resembles the real thing. Therefore, Jewish people aren’t Jews but something similar to Jews (just as “whitish” means similar to white, but not quite). Nevertheless, the members of “House of Israel” want to cooperate with us, their brothers, because we share the Torah of truth with them. Howshua can prove his claims without blinking. Exhibit A is a photograph of a mosaic discovered in the ancient synagogue in Beit Alpha in which Abraham is depicted as not quite white. Exhibit B is a verse in the book of Exodus in which Moses, when he wanted to show his magic powers, put his hand in his cloak and it turned “leprous like snow,” and then it turned back to its original shade. In Howshua’s version, if the miracle was that his hand turned white as snow, it means that Moses was black to begin with. Bingo.

Howshua—who carries the titles of rabbi, imam, priest and Indian Chief, all at the same time—maintains that thousands of people in the diaspora share his views, with the potential for millions of spiritual blacks around the world to become pilgrims and flock to Arad in the coming years. At the moment, however, he has only a couple dozen followers in Israel.

Some readers will probably find all of this ridiculous, but remember that as Jews we believe that God dropped frogs from the sky in order to cause the Egyptians to despair. In addition, the claim that the original Hebrews were black is just as logical as that pale Europeans should see themselves as descendants of Abraham and claim the land promised to him for themselves. No offense, obviously.

2. The Prophet: A Chief with the Swagger of a Rapper

We meet for the first time a week before the holy day. The commercial center of Arad is already adorned with people from all over the world who have come to celebrate the sacrifice ahead of Passover. They are wearing spectacular clothes and bring a Rastafarian energy to sleepy Arad. Despite quite a bit of overlap between the two communities, these aren’t exactly the African Hebrew Israelites of Dimona, who were known for many years as ha-cushim ha-ivri’im, a nickname that is considered offensive today. The African Hebrew Israelite are vegan, and the members of “House of Israel” can eat meat and don’t hesitate to sacrifice animals here and there. One of the things that frustrates Howshua is that most of the African Hebrew Israelites don’t believe that Tel Arad is the location of the Tabernacle of David but instead insist on holding the mainstream position regarding the location of Jerusalem.

As a relatively modern religious movement, videos of the entire history of “House of Israel” can be found on YouTube and Facebook. One YouTube video shows Howshua presenting homemade stone tablets engraved with ancient Hebrew to one of the ministers of Ben Ammi Ben Israel, the leader of the African Hebrew Israelites. Howshua tries to convince him to believe the truth as he understands it, but the minister refuses to listen and Howshua is visibly disappointed. Like a modern-day Moses, he smashes the stones tablets on the nondescript Dimona sidewalk in dramatic fashion.

A video from a month ago shows Howshua at the Western Wall, elegantly dressed, holding a bag of chips and preaching to passersby that the true location of the Western Wall is Tel Arad. He attracts the curiosity of bored Haredi Jews until a security guard asks him to be quiet.

Howshua, who knows ancient Hebrew, translated the Torah to English from a copy written in ancient Hebrew that, he claims, ended up in America. He labored over the translation for 12 years; it came out to 2,152 pages. In his bag he carries a strange rock that he says has been handed down through his family from Canaan to Africa, and from there to America and then returned to Arad/Jerusalem. He claims that written on the rock in ancient Hebrew is the phrase “will learn when,” further proof of the rightness of his path. In addition, he claims that he has DNA evidence that he has a genetic likeness to bones found at Tel Arad, confirming that he is a direct descendant of the Tribe of Ephraim. However, his computer battery had died and, despite all of his heavenly connections, he couldn’t make it work. Thus, there was nothing to do but believe him.

Howshua is a happy man with a sly smile, enormous dreadlocks, and a black, antique-looking tribal leader’s staff that gives him the appearance of a chief. “Chief” is also what everyone calls him. In addition to being black, he sees himself as part of the Cherokee Indian nation. We sat on the patio outside of his house, and he shared with me his evidence that Arad is actually Jerusalem, his voice climbing with enthusiasm. A neighbor came down and politely asked him to speak softer. He smiled at her in embarrassment.

On one hand, Chief is a kind of Jesus or Jeremiah in that he and his loyal followers are convinced that he possesses a deep truth that will change the world. And yet, he has a neighbor who wants him to be quiet. In my opinion, he is more successful than Jeremiah and Jesus. Compared to those self-righteous, grumbling prophets, Howshua is friendly and cheerful and has the swagger of a rapper. Of all the faiths, religions, and cults that I’ve encountered, this is the one I like the most so far.

Fashion-wise, Howshua vanquishes almost every religious leader who comes to mind. The first time we met he was wearing an Obama t-shirt with a red sweatband around his forehead, 1980s style. Later he changed into a colorful t-shirt from the “Tnuva” dairy company that he apparently received as a giveaway at some point. Sometimes he wears Cherokee feathers on top of his dreadlocks. He has a special handshake that consists of three motions: a fist, then a “v,” then an intertwining of fingers while he says “Peace, honor, love” in American-accented Hebrew. His fashion choices aren’t connected to his current phase as a prophet but, apparently, to something earlier. His followers also dress fabulously, in different styles, sometimes like ancient Hebrews, sometimes like rappers, sometimes like they stepped out of a sci-fi movie with silver belts.

Due to his superlative knowledge of ancient Hebrew, Howshua claims he was sent for a few years on the road to locate the real Jerusalem, funded entirely by the black community in the United States. He shows me his stamped passport and says he visited Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. Between 1988 and 2000, he checked every temple and archeological ruin, but he failed to find a place that fit the description of the Temple and returned to the United States. Suddenly, in the “Chicago Jewish Star,” an article appeared about the discovery of the “holy of holies” at the fortress of Tel Arad. “Wow,” he says. “I began to shake.”

If there’s one thing that characterizes all “House of Israel” members, it is their fondness for files and documents, something to which I relate in a very spiritual way. Howshua doesn’t allow anyone into his home, but on his patio he presents before me countless maps, fragments and forms. For example, a map of the “Ten Lost Tribes” in Africa from 1836. Later he pulls out his 2009 petition to the Israel Land Administration under the title “Plan of the Ancient Community,” which requests the transfer of ownership of all land in the Arad Valley—including Tel Arad and Arad—to him. “I request all of the land. At first the Arad Valley, then all the land of Israel. Then everyone will have their own land. I want to make the Torah the law of the land. Every 50 years, all debts are supposed to be cancelled. Bank debts, too. I turned to the courts and they refused [to uphold the law]. So why is this called a Jewish state when there is no cancelling of debts? People will love it to have their debts cancelled, that the land will be redistributed.”

I agree.

 “I have a lot of enemies, but I have the nation and I have connections. Why are Jews hated all over the world? If there were shmita every 50 years, everyone would love the Jews.

“As black people, all community members say they experience racism in the streets of Israel due to the color of their skin. When our people wanted to come to Israel, they deported us and jailed us,” he says with pain. “This was in 1967. Pay attention to the year. What happened in 1967?”

The Six-Day War.

“That was a warning, and afterward they allowed us to immigrate. They said we weren’t Jews, but we are the Ten Lost Tribes.”

3. The Believers: “The Holy Spirit Called to Me”

If religious movements flow from the market square, the gathering place for “House of Israel” is an air-conditioned café in the Arad mall. There I meet Ashira Ben Israel, a man who has dedicated his life to traveling around the world recruiting black people to the faith that Tel Arad is Jerusalem. “Judah Maccabee also started with just his family,” Ashira Ben Israel harks to ancient examples. “I came here as a pilgrim. Our ancestors also went to Zion every time there was a tragedy, came and prayed, until we lost in the year 70 and the Tabernacle of David was destroyed.”

Ashira was a teacher in New York known as Kenyon Wilkerson when he experienced a personal crisis. He vowed that if God called him to Zion, he would leave his wife and children for up to three years. The next day, during breakfast, he received a phone call and was encouraged to travel to Israel for the first time to meet Howshua. I see him as the St. Paul of the group. At the mall he was dressed seriously; at Tel Arad, he wore a turban. In order to recruit people to the faith, Ashira has already gone to Egypt, the United States and Kenya, and he has spoken with people from Uganda. He plans to go to Rwanda, England, Canada, Jamaica and Trinidad soon. Through his travels and videos that he has made during the last two years, he has brought a crowd of believers to Howshua’s positions.

Another member of the group is Avshalom Ben Shlomo, 72, who moved to Israel in 1971 as a member of the African Hebrew Israelites. Ben Shlomo is one of the most respected jazz musicians in Israel. He played with the jazz legend Sun Ra. We had an initial conversation on the phone that led to a misunderstanding because our accents were incomprehensible to each other. Ben Shlomo thought the interview would concern his music ahead of a performance in Arad. He carried a leather bag full of newspaper clippings, but he was happy with the change of direction.

One of the believers who came to Israel specifically for the Passover sacrifice is Brian, a tall and elderly man from Jamaica who was exposed to the truth via the Internet. “The Holy Spirit called to me and said I needed to go to Zion. I moved into a smaller apartment and sold my car so I would have $2,000 to fly here.” A few days after we spoke, he underwent a circumcision with the help of another member.

White believers also came specifically to participate in the Passover sacrifice. One of them is Jack from London. “When you’re in Zion, you see that this is according to the scriptures. In the fake Jerusalem this doesn’t work out,” he recites.

As optimistic as the members are, the Passover sacrifice isn’t a happy occasion. “The ceremony is taking place for the second time after a 2,000-year break, during which the whole world hid the real Jerusalem from all of us,” Ashira explains to me. “We wear black on the three pilgrimage holidays because we’re in mourning. The world lied to us. In the world they don’t call us Israelites but African Americans or Jamaicans, when in fact we are one nation. Satan is keeping us apart. We came to apologize before God for the sins of our ancestors. The Jews of the world forget to do that when they come to what they call the Western Wall. They ask for things there. It’s like if I insulted and rejected you and then sent you a text message asking for $100. Jerusalem, according to the prophets, was supposed to be a wilderness until we returned, and Jerusalem isn’t totally destroyed. They apparently pray at the Beit El [where the kings of the Kingdom of Israel erected idols to compete with the original Temple in Jerusalem].

So we Jews are simply mistaken?

Herzl’s idea wasn’t to bring Jews here, but to Uganda. The Jews fled to Africa. According to the prophets, when they were to return to Israel there would be no war, but look, since the Jews arrived there’s been a war every year. This proves that they aren’t really Jews. Nasser said that Israelis can’t truly be the original people of this land who have returned to it. They left as black people and returned as white people. Why?

Why?

Because they aren’t the right people. The right people will be black. We are the people of the book, and you write in Aramaic letters and not Hebrew ones. We will bring the Messiah back. The world will know who we are soon enough. Those who are called cushim [n-word in Hebrew] with contempt are actually the Children of Israel. At the End of Days, every nation will request a pardon. Before that will be the war of Armageddon. But we won’t have to lift a finger because the Messiah will come and save us. This will happen when 144,000 people come to the Passover sacrifice on the Temple Mount. There will be a lot of destruction.

Oy.

 Only this way can God establish his kingdom here.

Even this mall will be destroyed? Including all of the waiters?

Everything in the vicinity will be wiped out so that the Messiah can establish his kingdom. Then the Israelites will arrive and all of the nations will come and give gifts to the Children of Israel, and they will serve us. But we will treat them like brothers, not like the nations of the world treated us because of the color of our skin. I know that they hate us here. They call us cushim. I walk in the street and say good morning to people and they look at me with disdain.”

Another piece of evidence that they are the real Jews comes from the world of pop. “Who started rap music?” Ashira asks. “Jews? Chinese people? If we put on a backwards cap, the whole world would copy us. It’s written that the Jews are to be a light unto the nations.”

All in all, I really support your worldview, it’s just the End of Days that scares me.

“Yes, many people will die. Only a third of Israelis will survive.”

4. The Wife: An Epiphany at Lehavim Junction

Amira (not her real name) is Howshua’s third wife. She has three adorable children and could easily be the subject of a separate article. Howshua’s other two wives live in the United States with many other children and, according to Amira, they supported her marriage to Howshua. The subject of polygamy is automatically shocking to me, but who am I to preach to a feminist who chose a specific path for herself when I come from a religion that sanctions the mutilation of babies’ sex organs? Amira left her native Druze village and family when she was young, after they tried to force her to get married, and went to college. One morning 14 years ago, she had a vision next to the Hasbani River in which she received an order to take a journey. She hitchhiked around and became interested in the Rastafarian movement. “As someone who grew up with Allah, I was interested in who this ‘Jah’ that people were talking about was.”

When she traveled to Tel Arad with a good friend to deliver photographic equipment for a friend at Tel Arad, she had a revelation that she would be the Indian Chief’s wife. She told her friend, who was horrified by the idea. She also claims to have predicted global warming before Al Gore: “At the Lehavim Junction, I had an epiphany that one day the North Pole would melt and the world would be flooded. I saw that I was starting to frighten my friend, so I didn’t say a word. When we arrived, I saw him [Howshua] dressed in ceremonial feathers and doing an Indian chant. I nearly fainted. He asked me, ‘Who are you?’ and I replied, ‘All my life I knew we would meet. We’ve known each other for a long time.’ Everyone was shaking. I felt like I sounded crazy. I asked Chief who Jah was, and he explained to me that it was the name of God and that the Messiah is supposed to appear at Tel Arad. All my life I was anti-religion. One of Chief’s friends came, and he happened to have a copy of the Bible in Arabic. I said, this must be a sign from God. I started reading the Bible, and I understood that I was connected to the nation of Israel as a daughter of Midian, from the tribe of Jethro. For an entire year I dreamt that I needed to marry Chief and have his children. I thought to myself, he isn’t Druze, he’s black, and he believes in polygamy. I left my village so I wouldn’t have to marry a chauvinist. How could I marry a man who already has two wives?”

5. Zion: The Mount of Olives Moves

Around 2002, Howshua Amariel first stepped foot on the Tel Arad archeological site. He decided that the whole world was wrong and that he had located Jerusalem. According to him, because of his dedication to the site, the archeologists gave him the keys to the site and allowed him to live in a tent and serve as a guard. He received a volunteer certificate and even helped to build the site’s front gate. Nevertheless, he admitted that they were annoyed with him when he tried to prevent visitors from entering the holy of holies, which only the High Priest could enter. He points out that today, his group and the city of Arad get along well because “we can bring lots of people here.”

Howshua hoped that his faith concerning Tel Arad would attract believers right away. It didn’t happen. “I had lots of YouTube videos, but people began to join only during the last two years, when Ashira was traveling around the world,” he acknowledges.

With Amira, Howshua and Brian, I travel in a taxi to Tel Arad. A smashed car sits on a traffic island at the Tel Arad Junction. Howshua asks the driver to stop so I can photograph the accident. I decline to take a photo. He insists but ultimately gives up. “It’s proof that because of the winds of Zion there are accidents all over the place,” he says. “You must have read The Alchemist?” Amira adds. “There are no coincidences.”

We walk as the sun beats down on Tel Arad. Howshua points to a sunken area on the side of the path and says confidently, “This is the Gihon Spring.” He says that it’s a well-known fact that after the sacrifice, dragons swarmed around Gihon and he points to some lizards. “These are descendants of the dragons of the past.” From here he takes out a map printed by the Temple Institute. The image’s resemblance to Tel Arad is, to him, evidence that the latter is the original Tabernacle of David. Brian just landed and hasn’t been to Tel Arad yet. He is very excited and eagerly drinks in the words of the prophet.

According to Howshua’s maps, the hill upon which Arad sits is the Mount of Olives. He points to a bald hill on the horizon and says that Jesus was crucified there. “The archeologists say that the City of David can’t be in the place they claim it to be. And how can the City of David and the Mount of Olives be in different places when it’s the same place? The walls have the date they were built in Muslim letters. I will convince the Jews to join us.”

For the Haredim, Howshua actually has some affection: “They wear black, and for a reason. They honor me and call me ‘Messiah Son of Ephraim.’ I have a copy of an agreement between the Christians and Saladin in Arabic that proves that Jerusalem is a fraud. The numbers don’t lie. The Palestinians know that the Temple wasn’t on the Temple Mount and they say it all the time. For example, it’s written that Jerusalem is supposed to be surrounded by mountains. How can that be when Jerusalem itself is on a mountain? He claims that, upon the discovery of Tel Arad in 1962, David Ben-Gurion went to the site and prayed. According to information that came into Howshua’s possession, Ben-Gurion immediately demanded that the site be closed. Howshua’s explanation for this is that Ben-Gurion wanted East Jerusalem to be conquered, and if it were to be revealed that the Temple Mount was in Arad, he wouldn’t have had an excuse. He doesn’t take me directly inside the Temple, but makes a circle around the fortress, “just like how with women you don’t get straight to business” he explains. As we walk around he points up and says, “This is the real Western Wall. He clarifies that this is not Solomon’s Temple, which was completely destroyed and which is also in the area, but the Tabernacle of David.

When we enter the fortress, I begin to get in the spirit of things, and I don’t want to take any risks. Maybe he’s right. I say that I’m afraid of stepping on the holy of holies, and that he should warn me first. They are excited. They see me as one of them, and ask me to repeat what I said so they can film the question and answer and upload the clip to Facebook. We stage the dialogue. Howshua is very enthusiastic and gives a long speech before Amira’s camera in which he talks about how I believe him even though many of the African Hebrew Israelites in Dimona do not. He asks them to accept the facts.

The thought occurs to me that part of the choice to put Jerusalem in Arad is connected to internal community politics. Howshua is an alpha male who wants to lead the African Hebrew Israelites, after Ben Ammi Ben Israel passed away [in December 2014] and no clear successor emerged. He also wants to move the capital of the community from Dimona to Arad. “Since their Messiah died, there’s more of a chance that they will join with us,” Howshua admits. “They believed that he was the Messiah, but I didn’t believe it because the Messiah is supposed to lead his followers to the Temple, but he led them to a different place.” Later, in a Facebook chat, he answers in the negative when I ask if he himself is the Messiah.

The taxi has arrived to take us back, but one of the workers at the site says that someone has come to the site specifically to meet Howshua. He is white and has come with his wife and kids. They look like Mormons, and they came to the site for a month because of Howshua’s videos about the identity of the real Jerusalem. Their credit cards don’t work, so Howshua offers to put them up at his farm at Har Amasa, which he calls “Ephraim’s Estate.” The two of them hug, but the taxi driver is being impatient and we are forced to continue on.

The relationship between the residents of Arad with whom I spoke and the colorful group varies from indifference to curiosity. Alongside Arad’s hidden potential, the city has a lot of problems. It is embroiled in a fight against a phosphate mine that is likely endangering the health of the residents, and in a race between secular people and Haredim, who move to the city because of the low rent. And there are those fighting with the Bedouins. When I was there, the Bnei Akiva [Zionist youth movement] coordinator warned in the local newspaper about turning “this wonderful city into the capital of camel riding.” Thus, Howshua’s colorful band is, at the moment, the least of anyone’s problems.

“This is a strange group which I don’t really understand,” says Gabi Tsentener, the friendly manager of the Tel Arad site. They believe this is the Temple. It’s true that a temple was built here based on the model of the Temple in Jerusalem. But identifying this place as Jerusalem is strange. This isn’t Mount Zion, nor Jerusalem. They say that the Tze’elim River is the Kidron River. They claim that Ein Gedi is Gilgal and that Masada is Jericho. Every archeologist will say that all of their identifications are upside down. It’s not clear to me why they decided to stick to this site of all places. And they have strange and funny ceremonies.”

To be fair, our religion is also kind of funny.

“Personally, I’m happy they’re here. They are good and pleasant people. The tourists are interested in them and they don’t cause any friction. During the year that I’ve been at the site, I feel like the phenomenon is growing. All of a sudden white people who think Tel Arad is Jerusalem have started coming. The whole thing is strange.”

Yet in his capacity as manager of the site, he is concerned about the upcoming Passover: “The pilgrims who came here for Passover were in shock. They arrive with suitcases like they were going to a hotel. They didn’t have tents, and they were unprepared to camp here for several weeks.”

Despite his sympathy, Tsentener did not permit them to slaughter a sheep on the site but demanded that the sacrifice be held outside of the fence. “I don’t have a problem with the fire, and I don’t ask where the meat came from, but to slaughter—not on these premises,” he says. Tsentener informs me that Brian, our friend from Jamaica, underwent a circumcision. We call out to Brian to come to the office and he’s happy to be in an air-conditioned building. Wearing sunglasses, he explains that only circumcised men can participate in the Passover meal and so he chose to go under the knife. I delicately ask if he has a girlfriend and he reassures me by saying that he’s single. “I feel like I’ve started my journey,” Brian says. “Many things that the church teaches you are wrong. Like the Christmas tree. That’s idol worship. Tel Arad is the right place; Jerusalem is a fake.”

6. The Sacrifice: Vegan Collaborators

The group’s Passover Seder begins on Saturday night, and not on Friday like the Seder of most Israelis. Howshua asks me to come to Arad on Shabbat. I arrive in the afternoon so as not to miss the action. After all, this is the first time I will do the mitzvah of making a pilgrimage. But when I arrived, only some of the believers were at Tel Arad and I couldn’t find Howshua. Since he observes Shabbat, I couldn’t call him.

I call Ashira and he tells me that Howshua is at his house in the city. I go there, knock on his door but he doesn’t answer. I’m desperate and nervous, fearing that the story is lost. Luckily, I meet believers who suggest that I knock louder. In the end he comes out, drowsy, and gives me the special handshake, mumbling “peace, honor, love.” Chief explains that it’s rare for him to leave his house on Shabbat and asks me to come back at 6 in the evening.

This article is very important to Howshua. Despite the advantages of his religion, the media isn’t especially interested in it, just as it isn’t interested in stories from remote places in general. In Howshua’s files there are hardly any articles about the group in Hebrew. I learned about the group by chance while spending a two-week residency in the beautiful city of Arad. He is proud of a radio interview that his wife did on a program where they interview listeners at night, and of a newspaper clip in the local paper that is actually a small ad Howshua placed on the classifieds page offering to teach ancient Hebrew. “The article isn’t just about us,” he explains. “This article can stop the upcoming war. I agreed to be interviewed in order to stop the third world war. The Jews must stop the war. Why do people hate Jews? Because they don’t observe shmita.” He asks the photographer, Eli, if he promises to help stop the war. Eli promises and they embrace.

We arrive at 6. Chief is preoccupied with organizing transportation from Arad to Tel Arad, relying on a ride with us to save on a 70 shekel-taxi ride. Despite having the appearance and passion of a high priest, Howshua reminds me more of Brian, from the Monty Python movie “Life of Brian,” than of a standard Biblical prophet. For example, a mother and her child were forgotten in Arad and we had to go back to help them. Amira is in an angry mood, and they argue like a regular couple. “This is what I get for marrying an Israeli woman,” he says nervously when she reprimands him. Perhaps in the Bible, Amos’s wife was angry with her husband who kept going on and on, but that detail was left out of the text. Nevertheless, Howshua, dressed in black, is full of euphoria and a militaristic spirit. He reiterates that he is like an IDF soldier and demands military precision in order to kill the poor sheep on time.

We are close to Tel Arad, but we turn left before the entrance toward the spot that Howshua claims is the ancient altar. I think the real reason he chose this spot is because they didn’t let him carry out the sacrifice on the hill. The sun is beginning to go down and the sheep that was bought for a few thousand shekels is being brought from a cave from which he already tried to escape today. It turns out to be a particularly juicy and fat sheep.

They grab the sheep by his legs and hold him upside down over a hole in the ground. Howshua says some words of prayer in an African language that I don’t recognize. Everyone around him says, “Hallelujah,” and he asks his first-born son to bring the knives, which he claims were handed down from his ancestors. The whole thing is spell-binding: the darkness, the spiritual focus of everyone praying out loud, their faces lit up by the stars and the lights of the jeeps, waiting for the moon to rise.

“Welcome Children of Israel,” he says and then begins to explain that the word “Hebrew” is a mispronunciation of “Obara.” Then everyone repeats the strange word again and again. He begins to enter into a trance, along with the crowd. “Only we can stop the third world war. With the Jews. We are the head, they are the tail,” he says.

Despite all of her commitment and faith, Amira remains in the car because she doesn’t want to see the sheep be killed and occasionally asks if it’s over. After several speeches, with the moon in the sky, the knife is inserted into the sheep and the blood drips into the pan. Howshua displays the red to those present and explains that the important thing isn’t the meat or the act of eating but the blood. Slowly the sheep is cut up and the children of Amira and Howshua put the chunks on a metal plate in the fire. One of his children is vegan but still felt uncomfortable saying “no” to his father, the prophet. When I asked him on the side how it felt to grab the bloody meat, he said, “Yuck.”

After they finish with the sheep, the lamentations stage begins. We walk from the altar to Tel Arad. On the way, the men pray and the women mourn the destruction of the Tabernacle of David and slavery, crying out, “Father!” in pain. The unusual procession passes in front of some visitors who had come for a family camping trip. They are standing at a barbecue and wave. One of them protests to me: “That’s primitive. They killed a sheep over there.”

In the end, we arrived at the stone hall that the site manager had reserved for us. Howshua brings out the stone upon which is written “will learn when.” “This isn’t a religious movement. This is a global movement to change the world,” he explains and smears the blood on the doorposts of the visitor’s center, underneath the mezuza.

Originally published in Hebrew here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]