1650: Rabbi Menasseh published Hope of Israel
Described Kaifeng before 1642 flood
Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel (马纳塞, 1604–1657) was born on the Madeira Island one year after his parents fled Portugal Inquisition in Lisbon. When he was six years old, the family moved to the Netherland, an important centre for Jewish life during this time.
He was ordained as one of the youngest rabbis when he was 18 years old. By this time, he had already learned to read ten languages and write books in five.
In 1626, he founded the first Hebrew printing press in Amsterdam.
Many believed the Messianic Age was not far off
By the middle of the 17th century, many believed the Kingdom of God was not far. Accordingly, scholars probed deeply into the Hebrew Scriptures to look for messianic prophecies. Hebrew became such a crucial and popular language that in a letter dated 4th July 1577, Richard Willes, a Jesuit and a Geographer, wrote to his sponsor the Countess of Bedford, “Nowadays, who studieth not the Hebrew language?”
It was believed that the Second Coming of Christ would be heralded by the Jews stepping forward as the quintessential protagonist; that is, the Messiah would arrive only after the Jews, having first been scattered “from one end of the earth to the other” (Deut. 28:64), have gathered together in one place and accepted Christ.
Descendants of Tribe of Reuben found in South America
On 19th September 1644, a Portuguese Marrano with the Hebrew name of Aaron Levi and the Christian name of Antonio de Montezinos, told Rabbi Menasseh that he had met some 300 members of the Tribe of Reuben (勒乌本) in the interior of South America.
In 1639, Montezinos travelled from Columbia to Ecuador in the company of an Indian Chief by the name of Francisco. How this native Chief prayed, grieved their losses and berated themselves as sinners led Montezinos to conclude that he and his companions must be the displaced remnants of the House of Israel.
This was during the time of the Inquisition, and they were in Spanish dominated South America, Montezinos took the risk of revealing to Francisco that he was a Jew from the Tribe of Levi; and in return, he gained the trust of Francisco, who then took him to the side of a river and on the opposite side of the river lived the Israelites.
For three days, some 300 Israelites crossed the river to see Montezinos; however, he was not allowed to cross the river. He heard them say the words of Shema, Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one, in Hebrew which he could understand. He learned that they were Israelites from the Tribe of Reuben.
American Indians descended from Lost Tribes
This was an age where many Christian scholars believed the discovery of the New World would inevitably lead to the clarification of the whereabouts of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Some claimed that the American Indians might have descended from the northern Israelite Kingdom, who in the 8th century BCE were scattered by their Assyrian conquerors.
The story from Montezinos clearly supported this theory.
Tribe of Reuben went to America via China
Based on the story told by Antonio de Montezinos, the Book of Isaiah, and the report of a Jewish colony in China, Rabbi Menasseh came up with the theory that, shortly after the Assyrian destruction of the Kingdom of Israel, the Jews first went to China; more specifically, those from the Tribe of Reuben. They, “out of Tartary … went to China, by that famous wall in the confines of both,” and from there, they went “to the West-Indies by the Strait of Anian.”
Subsequently, the natives of the East Indies defeated the Israelites and pushed them into South American, where Montezinos found them.
The discovery of the Jewish colony in China made this story wholesome. It confirmed that the dispersed Israelites did indeed pass through China and China was a stop-over for them on their way to America.
First to propose Jews in China descended from Lost Tribes
Thus, those Jews who stayed behind in China were also from the Tribe of Reuben.
Rabbi Menasseh was the first to suggest that the Jews in China descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel (失踪的以色列部落).
Isaiah 49:12 (以赛亚 49章 12节)
To strengthen this theory, Rabbi Menasseh pointed to Isaiah 49:12, which prophesied the return of the Jews from the far-flung corners of the world, "These shall come from afar, and these from the North and from the West and these from the Land of Sinim.” As for the identification of Sinim, he followed the Greek geographer, Ptolemy, who equated Sinim with the Chinese.
Jews entered China in 733–500 BCE
According to Rabbi Menasseh, the Jews entered China between Tiglath-Pileser’s dispersion of the Kingdom of Israel (733–32 BCE) and the period in which Isaiah prophesied (c. 525–500 BCE).
By and large, these ancient Jews did not leave their homeland voluntarily. Instead, they were driven from it by conquerors, forcing them to be refugees wherever they would be received.
Hope of Israel covered history of Chinese Jews
Rabbi Menasseh wrote about the history of the Jews in China in Latin, published as a pamphlet by the name of Spes Israelis. At the instigation of John Milton (弥尔顿, 1608–1674), the book was translated into English and published in Britain as Hope of Israel (以色列的希望) in 1650. The demand for the content was so overwhelming that it was eventually published in more than six languages in more than 26 editions.
The publication did a great deal to spread further the discovery of the Jewish colony in China to both the Christians and Jews in Europe.
Sinim and China
If Sinim does indeed mean China, the Book of Isiah would be the oldest existing record of Jewish presence in China; however, it is important to note that many others believe Sinim refers to Aswan in southern Egypt or use Aswan as the translation of the Hebrew text.
The first Hebrew author to use Sin to represent China was Eldad ha-Dani c. 880, although he used variants Azyn and Zyn.
In Hebrew, Sin meant China, and Sinim meant Chinese; however, this does not serve Rabbi Menasseh’s point as this association happened a few centuries after the time of Prophet Isaiah.
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (死海古卷) would put an end to this uncertainty. A complete copy of the Book of Isaiah was found, and the word Sevaniyyim was used instead of Sinim in 49:12. Scholars believe this meant Sinim is a scribal error introduced after the venerable Isaiah Scroll was written — that is, after the 2nd century. The identification of Sevaniyyim is no mystery: they were the Syenians — people who inhabited the portion of southern Egypt now known to be Aswan (阿斯旺).