Are the Yibir a Lost Tribe of Israel?

People groups are emerging from remote corners of the world. They are becoming known for their historical claims of Jewish ancestry despite having minimal visible affiliation with modern Jewish practice. One such group is the Yibir. Their oral history tells them they originated in Israel, which makes one wonder: Are the Yibir a Lost Tribe of Israel?

Who Are the Yibir?

The Yibir are a people group residing in eastern Africa, including Somalia and a neighboring region of Ethiopia. The name Yibir means Hebrew and attests to their identification as having come from ancient Israel. Today, they live among Muslim populations whose societies operate with a caste system, which ranks people sub-groups into a hierarchy of status and privilege. The Yibir, because of their Jewish origins, form one of the lowest castes. They are considered and treated as inferior to higher castes.

The Yibir lead difficult lives. They are a nomadic people living on the outskirts of society. They are denied education and healthcare and are overlooked when it comes to most social services available to others. They suffer extreme poverty, especially in rural areas where they’re forced to live in isolated villages on the far outskirts of communities that shun them. They earn scant livings from blacksmithing, leather work, and folk medicine. While the other people groups around them believe the Yibir are cursed, those same people groups occasionally give monetary or agricultural gifts to the Yibir because they understand from centuries ago that the Yibir somehow also have the ability to bless.

Outsiders

The Yibir are viewed as outsiders, and discrimination causes them to adorn Muslim clothing when in public, hiding their Jewish identity for the sake of survival amid such meager means. For the same reason, some likely converted — at least outwardly — to Islam, but they affirm their origins as from the people of Israel.

The Yibir do not question their Israelite ancestry. Their neighbors see and discriminate against them as “foreigners” despite five centuries of generations having been born and lived right where they are. But are the Yibir a Lost Tribe of Israel?

What is a Lost Tribe of Israel?

To answer that question, let’s first look at what a tribe of Israel is. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the forefathers of the Jewish people. Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, had 12 sons, and their descendants became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel. Over the centuries, these tribes multiplied and lived as a single nation called Israel. After the reign of King Solomon, the Israelites divided the kingdom in two, each with its own king. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin became the Southern Kingdom called Judah. The Northern Kingdom kept the name Israel and comprised the other 10 tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Dan, Asher, Naphtali and Gad.

Technically, a Lost Tribe of Israel is from the 10 Northern Tribes scattered when Assyria invaded Israel in the eighth century B.C.E. and their recorded history as the Kingdom of Israel ceased, thus making them appear lost as a people. However, the term can also refer to any of the physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) — including those from the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the Levites  — who, through expulsion, captivity, or migration, have become disassociated from the generally recognized worldwide Jewish community.

Are the Yibir a Lost Tribe of Israel?

The Yibir are generally believed to have emerged as a separate Jewish people group from another group in central Ethiopia called the Beta Israel. The Beta Israel’s oral history teaches that they are from the Tribe of Judah as well as the Tribe of Dan from among the 10 Northern Tribes of Israel.

Though the Yibir are not a Lost Tribe in themselves — because there was no Yibir Tribe among the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom of ancient Israel — they are a remote Jewish people group descended from one of the formally Lost Tribes of Israel. In that sense, the Yibir are considered among the Lost Tribes of Israel scattered throughout the world today.