Yesterday's letter from Grandmother White Eagle stimulated some interesting reactions from the four corners of the globe. Here are a few:
YMG from London writes:
Just wondered if any of your readers noticed the expertise Grandmother White Eagle showed in her letter to you - her analysis of the lessons to be learnt from the wolf could lead to a doctorate in the in the University of the Trail (referring to Chapter 3 of The Trail to Tranquility - LB)! I wonder who'll be teaching who when we become reunited with our lost brethren. Warmest regards from chilly London
Rabbi HK from NYC writes:
Your post from yesterday was a kiddush Hashem (sanctification of Hashem's name - LB), especially when the Cherokee elder wrote, "Your loyalty to G-d's word shows the world why only the Jews could be trusted to pass down the word of G-d without changing as much as one letter". When the wise people of the nations praise those loyal Jews who walk the path of Torah, then the Shechina (Divine presence - LB) is raised from exile. I wish our own people would realize the importance of preserving Torah to the letter...
Miriam W. from Jerusalem writes:
I got chills up my spine when I read yesterday's post. I am a gerras Tzedek (convert - LB), and my mother was half Cherokee; my grandmother's name was Helen Lightfoot, a full Cherokee from Oklahoma. Strangely, I always had a deep love for the Jewish people, and once I came here to Israel, I knew I had come home. Your articles about the Jewish roots of the Cherokee are not only fascinating, but in my heart and brain I know they're true. I join Grandmother White Eagle in applauding Wa ya Udo - Rabbi Wolf Brother.
Brian from San Francisco writes:
I checked out your site after seeing you quoted in a Bay-area Jewish newspaper. I had always heard that the Orthodox, especially the ultras like the Hassidim, are intolerant and insular. I was floored to see a letter between you and a Cherokee elder. Seeing how much Grandmother White Eagle respects the Jewish people makes me want to learn more about my own people...
I'll conclude this post with another amazing Jewish-Cherokee tidbit: Grandmother White Eagle wrote me that the Cherokee have a custom of ritual immersion and purification seven times in a river or other natural body of fresh water, called Atawastiyi, the Cherokee version of mikva. In ancient Arameic, the daily jargon that the Northern tribes of Israel spoke, Asa vest, which is amazingly similar to Atawastiyi, means "the menstrual period has gone", indicating the exact time of required ritual immersion.
May we see an ingathering of all the exiles soon, amen.
