"One may think that this is just an album of World music, but it is not, at least not for me. Recording this album took me on a long journey, not only through countries and continents, but also through centuries, like in a time machine. It started in the 7th century BC in the lands of Aramea and the Kingdom of Israel when the Assyrians invaded the Northern lands and deported ten Israelite tribes of the Northern Kingdom, thus starting the longest exile in the history of mankind. The ancestors of my own tribe, the tribe of Judah, remained in Judea, the Southern Kingdom, for seven more centuries before being exiled from their land by the Romans and then returning to the land of Israel 2000 years later. Logically, the tribes could have not survived assimilation and could have never been found and reunited. However, not in the history of Israel, where everything is beyond logic. Some of the tribes have already made their way back to the land of their forefathers. The Jews of Bukhara belong to the tribes of Naphtali and Issachar; the Ethiopian Jews of the tribe of Dan made an epic return when Israel airlifted them in Operation Moses in 1984 and Operation Solomon in 1991; Bene Israel of India, supposedly of the tribe of Zebulon, returned to Israel between 1948 and 1969. Right now thousands of Bnei Menashe are coming back home from North-Eastern India and Burma.  Still there are thousands of descendants of the lost tribes of Israel who remain in the lands of their exile and thousands more to be rediscovered yet.  I was blessed and privileged to witness and actively participate in fulfilling the Biblical prophecy. I, the daughter of Judah, more than 2600 years after the Assyrian exile, took a fascinating journey through Asia and Africa to rediscover and reunite with my brothers and sisters of the lost and found tribes of Israel. Unity and diversity are the paradox of the people of Israel. I hope I was able to capture this atmosphere in the music that I recorded together with the Israelite tribes during my one and half year heritage journey." 

Irene Orleansky on  her experience recording the CD "Music of Israelites and Jews of Africa and Asia

On the travelogue page, you can find about the Israelites and Jews of Africa and Asia who participated in the recording and follow Irene's photo-journey through Africa and Asia. Though most photographs were not taken with a professional camera, they captured the atmosphere of the places she visited.  Click the picture  with the name of the country to visit the page

INDIA

UGANDA

NIGERIA

ETHIOPIA

CHINA

KENYA

GHANA