Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, deputy director at the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought and senior advisor to the provost at 鶹ýӳ, was awarded a Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism at the .
Rabbi Dr. Halpern won the second-place award in the category of Excellence in Writing about Jewish Thought and Life for his piece “.” The article explores a long-forgotten theory that, with the discovery of the Americas, some believed the New World’s Natives might in fact be the lost Ten Tribes.
“A fascinating and detailed account of the intriguing theory that native Americans might just be the 10 lost tribes,” the American Jewish Press Association (AJPA), which hosts the awards, said. “Delightfully written.”
The article traces the history of the theory, starting in 1650 with a testimony from a crypto-Jew named Antonio de Montezinos found in Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel’s book Mikveh Yisrael, where de Montezinos claims to have met members of the tribe of Reuben in modern-day Colombia. Other famous figures who considered the theory include Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush and Mordecai Manuel Noah, a colonial Jew who published the pamphlet “.” Noah even attempted to build a homeland for the Jewish people, hoping the scattered Ten Tribes among the Native Americans would join him.
To read Rabbi Dr. Halpern’s piece, .
The AJPA is a network of Jewish media organizations, journalists and communications professionals that works to ensure a bright future for Jewish journalism and the Jewish community by promoting robust, independent and financially healthy Jewish media. The AJPA fosters the highest ethics, editorial quality and business standards to help its members navigate their challenges and responsibilities, especially those unique to the Jewish media. The AJPA shares resources and expertise, provides access to professional development and, when appropriate, advocates for the network’s collective interests.
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