The Thirteenth Gate: Travels Among the Lost Tribes of Israel

Parfitt used the title "The Thirteenth Gate" to refer to ancient Jerusalem. The city had 12 gates for members of each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and a thirteenth for those not knowing to which tribe they belonged, according to the Hasidic leader, Dov Ber the Maggid of Merericz (d.1772), who Parfitt quotes in an epigraph before his introduction. For that reason, I believe that Parfitt has it exactly correct in writing of Jewish groups, some of whom are like the few remaining Syrian Jews simply held hostage (or abandoned by the world), and some of whom are not recognized as Jewish according to Jewish rabbinical law, such as Japan's "Tribe of Zebulun." In any case, all six groups described here are of great interest, whether considered Jewish under rabbinic law, or not. Parfitt's Royal Historical study of Jews in Palestine, 1800-1882 and Jews of Yemen 1900-1950 (Brill) are both more scholarly, and perhaps of greater interest to academics than this shorter and volume designed for a lay audience. But hiss writings on the Jewish communities and Jewish "fringe" of the world are always compelling --- and this book is no exception. I recommend it highly. ---Alyssa A. Lappen

Parfitt used the title "The Thirteenth Gate" to refer to ancient Jerusalem. The city had 12 gates for members of each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and a thirteenth for those not knowing to which tribe they belonged, according to the Hasidic leader, Dov Ber the Maggid of Merericz (d.1772), who Parfitt quotes in an epigraph before his introduction. Therefore, Parfitt has it correct: Jewish groups, some like Syria's few remaining Jews simply held hostage (or abandoned by the world), and some, such as Japan's "Tribe of Zebulun," not recognized as Jewish according to rabbinical law. Yet all six groups described here are of great interest, whether considered Jewish under rabbinic law, or not. Parfitt's Royal Historical study of Jews in Palestine, 1800-1882 and Jews of Yemen 1900-1950 (Brill) are both more scholarly, and perhaps of greater interest to academics than this shorter and volume designed for a lay audience. But hiss writings on the Jewish communities and Jewish "fringe" of the world are always compelling --- and this book is no exception. I recommend it highly. ---Alyssa A. Lappen