We respond to every follow-up question submitted, but only publish selected ones.
In order to be considered for publication, questions must be on-topic, polite, and address ideas rather than
personalities.
Question: I am trying to discover which of the twelve tribes I descend from. Can you help me with this?
Answer: Unless you are a Kohen or Levi (in which case you are a descendant of the tribe of Levi), there is no way to tell for sure which tribe you are from. Ten of the tribes (there were thirteen because Joseph’s tribe was split into two parts, Ephraim and Menashe) were exiled, and have not been heard from in 2500 years. Therefore, you are most likely from either the tribe of Judah, Benjamin or Levi.
Rabbi Meir Goldberg
