Mizrahi Indigenous

I had the lush and exuberant experience of attending a Yemeni Hena — this is a ceremony many thousands of years old, in Hebrew and Aramaic, which blesses the bride, the groom and the whole community. The palpable ancientness of this experience stands in direct contrast to the ridiculous meme currently circulating around that Jewish people are just another example of white people “colonizing” the Land of Israel. Ha!

No one who witnesses a Hena could possibly miss the authenticity of this ceremony. It exudes middle eastern indigeneity from every pore — the food, the regalia, the flowers, the music, the dancing. I had a gigantic grin on my face the entire time, and the food and music — all in Hebrew were incredible.

Moreover, it would be impossible to describe the people at this Hena ceremony as “white.” In the fotos, you can see both the bride and groom and their parents are of Yemeni origin.

Jews are the most racially diverse group of people in the world, and Israel contains every color of Jew imaginable. More than 50% of the population in Israel are MIzrahi — “Eastern” — Jews, who never left the Middle East, as other diasporas fled to Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas. And DNA testing reveals that even Ashkenazi (European diaspora) Jews have 50% middle eastern blood.

In Israel currently these Ashkenazi Jews are mixing back in with the full Mizrahis, making Israel a very colorful country indeed.
More fotos and videos to follow!