The Yehudah Project: The Chain is only as strong as its weakest link!

While affinity with the Israelites is common in broader African-American religious discourse, Hebrew Israelites identify as the literal genealogical descendants of the people mentioned in the Bible. The movement is theologically diverse; some follow the New Testament, others study only the Hebrew Bible. Israelites understand their spiritual practice not as a religion but as an ancestral way of life to which they are returning. There is no single patriarch of the Israelite movement but rather generations of 19th and 20th century leaders who taught similar messages, evoking ancient ancestry and teaching spiritual uplift.

The movement’s emergence can be traced to the late 19th century, when former slaves had their hopes for a more just United States dashed after Reconstruction was abandoned by the Federal government due to intense resistance from white supremacists. Blacks in the South became subject to restrictive Jim Crow laws and were the victims of periodic racial violence across the country.

Hebrew Israelites point to the chapter of Deuteronomy 28—in particular a passage that describes how the biblical Israelites will be sent “back in ships to Egypt” for their disobedience to God—as a prophetic foretelling of the enslavement of African people in the Americas.