Book of Mormon Intro -- Jews, Gentiles, Lamanites

 The intro to the Book of Mormon is part of what makes me curious about Joseph Smith's racial identity.  It appears that this book is supposed to be designed to bring harmony to a racially divided world, although the solution proposed is to make everyone conform to one worldview only.  I think most would agree to that.  

Clearly I haven't read the Book of Mormon in a while, and my reasons for reading previously were not really interest-driven.  But I, like the Eco Kosher Rabbe,  had the impression that Mormons were claiming some kind of kinship to the Jews.  And also claiming that Native Americans are the descendants of Jews.  So I looked up the introduction to the Book of Mormon, to look at it a little closer. 

This is the paragraph I am interested in:

Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation—Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed—To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof—Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, to come forth in due time by way of the Gentile—

So here, clearly it looks like Joseph Smith has what I think history has proven to be a friendly, if perhaps patronizing attitude towards both Jews and Native Americans.  And he's not really calling himself a Jew here or a "Lamanite".  He is obviously the Gentile, whose job it is to bring the book to the modern world.  It is interesting that he isn't referred to as  a Christian, though.  He is still using a Jewish moniker to describe his identity.

Who is Joseph Smith?

I found the Book of Mormon utterly dull growing up.  There, I said it. Mark Twain said it was like "chloroform in print", and I could not agree more.  However (and this could be advancing age speaking), now I find that it has interesting and tantalizing clues, after I have been doing some of my own genealogical research.


For starters, I am related to Joseph Smith, through his maternal grandfather, Solomon Mack. Of course, as my family was faithful, this was always spoken with the utmost in pride.  It wouldn't be until later on in my life that I realized why so many people had objections about this guy.  Anyway, more on that later.

I really wanted to see if I could find out more about Joseph Smith and who he actually was. Is there some familial connection that made him different, perhaps even 'magical' or 'charismatic' to his followers?   I don't find overly emotional language all that useful, so I think I'm going to avoid some of the harsher claims circulating on the internet - that he was a pedophile, a hebephile, a conman, a liar, or a rapist.  It's not that I think those things are blatantly inaccurate, it's that I find the emotional overkill that comes with that kind of language very damaging to the person who hurls the insults, and ultimately ineffectual at changing the course of history.  Also, blood is thicker than water, as they say -- so, I have some weird affection for the guy, despite the fact that I do find life better without the rigidity of Mormonism.    I hope to avoid the mentality of always assigning good or bad emotions to an event or person, and just try to think about what things happen and why they happen.  And, I have a lot of questions to ask....