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Question: Having recently found a Jewish connection through my mom’s lineage descended from Spain, I’m having trouble finding out what tribe or tribes the Conversos during the Inquisition are most often found to be from.
Answer: It is most likely that a large majority of Jews in all countries descend from one of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. Nearly all members of the other tribes were lost following the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom (see II Kings 17) and, while individuals made their way back to the surviving segments of the nation, only the three tribes mentioned above remained largely intact.
With regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
