History of LDS - Jewish Connections

To this "Semitic identification" has been attributed the substitution of Judeophilia for anti-Semitism among Mormons (Mauss). Indeed, LDS doctrine has envisaged a partnership both in promulgating scripture—in Ezekiel 37:16. Latter-day Saints find allusions to the Bible and Book of Mormon—and in erecting millennial capitals: Ephraim will build the New Jerusalem in an American Zion; Jews ("Judah") will gather in "the land of their fathers" (3 Ne. 20:29) to rebuild (old) Jerusalem. This is a prominent theme in the Book of Mormon (see 2 Ne. 6, 9-10, 29; Ether 13) and the Doctrine and Covenants (sections 39, 42, 45, 110, 133).

Like several post-Reformation evangelical groups, Latter-day Saints have anticipated a return of Jews to Palestine as part of Israel's gathering.

Indeed, the Prophet Joseph Smith sent Orson Hyde, an apostle, to Jerusalem, where in October 1841 he dedicated the land and prayed "for the gathering together of Judah's scattered remnants" (HC 4:456).

On grounds that "the first shall be last," Brigham Young said that the conversion of the Jews would not occur before Christ's second coming (Green; cf. Ether 13:12). Yet Palestine was subsequently rededicated for the Jews' return by several apostles in the Church: George A. Smith (1873), Francis M. Lyman (1902), James E. Talmage (1921), David O. McKay (1930), and John A. Widtsoe (1933).

Click HERE for Ephraim's Attitude To Judah.