New Bnei Menashe siddur rolls off printing pressNuevo sidur para Bnei Menashé
Cover of new siddur
As the first copies rolled off the printing press last month, Tzvi Khaute was transformed. Khaute, who serves as Shavei Israel’s Coordinator for the Bnei Menashe, is normally a quiet, often times reserved individual. Mild in manner, he speaks deliberately, choosing his words carefully as he directs a penetrating gaze in your direction. But now he has been buoyed, injected with a remarkable passion, like a builder who has been laying the infrastructure of an enormous project that takes years to come to fruition, and who has now arrived finally at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Khaute’s project, although it covers words not bricks, is no less ambitious. It is at once just a book and yet simultaneously an embodiment of an entire Jewish lifestyle, providing guidance, instruction and insight. From the germ of an idea that began in 2002, Khaute’s unceasing commitment, supported all along the way by Shavei Israel, has now resulted in the first ever siddur (prayer book) created specifically for the Bnei Menashe of India, written in both Hebrew and the local languages of Mizo and Kuki, with scholarly essays, translations and commentaries.
The resulting book is more than 800 pages. It covers daily, Shabbat and holiday prayers, and comes in two versions (one for each of the Bnei Menashe languages). In addition to the liturgical component, which Khaute painstakingly typed from scratch – he wasn’t satisfied with just copying and pasting from an existing siddur – this is a teaching book.
“The Bnei Menashe had prayer books already, but they were very simple,” Khaute explains. “There are no instructions, such as when to stand, when to sit, when to make a blessing. And there were no explanations, such as what exactly is prayer, what are the differences between the morning prayers for daily practice and Shabbat, what is the meaning of the Shema and the 19 blessings of the Amidah?”
So Khaute set out to write introductions and commentaries that appear throughout the book. He worked carefully with his rabbis at the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem. There were multiple revisions and careful proofreading.
More material found its way into the siddur – prayers that the Bnei Menashe need for lifecycle rituals such as conducting a brit mila (circumcision), reciting the sheva brachot under the wedding canopy, and organizing the ceremony for the naming of a child. Even Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) – the section of the Mishna read during the Hebrew month of Nissan – is included. There are sections for holidays that play an important role in Bnei Menashe life, too, such as Purim and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day).
The need for the new Bnei Menashe siddur evolved along with Shavei Israel’s ongoing efforts in India. Over the last six years, Shavei Israel has employed Hebrew teachers and trained a cadre of local Bnei Menashe “Fellows” in the Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland, as well as across the border in neighboring Burma.
Rabbi Hanoch Avitzedek, the director of Shavei israel’s Bnei Menashe Aliyah and Absorption Department, explains that, before this, the Bnei Menashe had to use a phonetic siddur, assembled crudely from photocopied pages. “They felt ashamed and asked for a prayer book in Hebrew,” he says. “Through very hard work, the majority of Bnei Menashe can now read and write the aleph bet and can speak basic Hebrew. But they don’t necessarily understand it.”
Tzvi Khaute with new Bnei Menashe siddur
The new prayer book keeps the transliteration on one page (Khaute rewrote it entirely, as well – the previous one “wasn’t up to the mark,” he says) and places the Hebrew text on the page facing it. The Hebrew includes vowel and phonetic marks to make it easier to read – another part of Khaute’s emphasis on “teaching.” Khatute’s commentaries and translations are in Mizo and Kuki.
Rabbi Avitzedek says that a siddur of any type is about more than just prayers. “The siddur is the main expression of Hebrew in Jewish life. Hebrew is the soul of our national existence. When the Jewish people went into exile, one of the casualties was our language. Now, as we are coming back, Hebrew is too.”
Khaute agrees. Indeed, the name of the new siddur is Shavei Israel, and not only because of its connection to the organization. “Shavei Israel means in English ‘return to Israel,’” he says. “When you pray, you make repentance and return – to Israel and to G-d. For the Bnei Menashe especially, it’s about a return to our roots.”
Creating a book as important – and massive – as the “Shavei Israel” siddur takes more than hard work – the costs of printing, shipping and storage can be substantial. Shavei Israel was exceptionally fortunate to have met Yisrael Weiss on a “10 Lost Tribes” tour to India sponsored by the Shai Bar-Ilan religious travel organization in cooperation with Shavei Israel several years ago. Weiss was particularly enthusiastic after returning from the three-week tour of Bnei Menashe communities. In Israel, he runs his own publishing company; Weiss offered to make the entire printing his personal donation.
Holding the new prayer book in his own hands, after so many years of labor, Khaute declares that, “this siddur is not an individual or private thing. It is the property of all Am Israel (the people of Israel). This is the first siddur printed in Israel for the Bnei Menashe. It will be help bring the Bnei Menashe to Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel).”
Ultimately, though, it was the personal that nearly brought Khaute to tears. “My second son’s bar mitzvah was on the Shabbat just after the siddur was printed,” Khaute says. “Before Shabbat, we went to the printing press and picked up a copy. I gave it to my son as a bar mitzvah present. And so, the first time he was praying, in a tallit (prayer shawl) and wearing tefillin (phylacteries), he used this siddur! It was amazing. I could almost not control my emotions.”
Khaute’s son – like the new prayer book – is Israeli through and through. “He was born one and a half months after we landed at Ben Gurion Airport on aliyah, in 2000, and he’s the one who used it!” Khaute says.
Getting the prayer book to India won’t be as easy. 5,000 copies are being printed, weighing close to four tons – not something you can send as “overweight” luggage on the plane. The shipping cost alone is nearly $10,000, explains Rabbi Avitzedek. “As the Bnei Menashe arrive in Israel on aliyah, they will certainly receive the prayer book here. But we want them to have it back India long before, to use and treasure as their spiritual inheritance…and as practical preparation for the journey to come,” he says.
Every small contribution can help. For only $2 per book, you can make it possible for a Bnei Menashe man, woman or child in India to pray with their own copy of the “Shavei Israel” siddur today. Please click here to support this essential initiative.
“The siddur is one of the most important tools of the Jews,” Khaute emphasizes. “It is at the center of the process of return. It is much more than just a book.”
To that, we echo the frequent refrain found throughout Jewish liturgy: Amen!A medida que los libros fueron saliendo de la imprenta, Tzvi Khaute se fue transformando. Khaute, quien sirve como
Tapa del nuevo sidur
coordinador de Shavei Israel para Bnei Menashé, es generalmente una persona tranquila y reservada. Pero después de haber trabajado años en este monumental proyecto, el recolectar los frutos lo llena de alegría.
Este es el primer sidur en la historia creado específicamente para los Bnei Menashé de la India, escrito tanto en Hebreo como en Mizo y Kuki, con artículos, traducciones y comentarios.
El resultado son más de 800 páginas, con las plegarias diarias, las de Shabat y las de las festividades, y viene en dos versiones (una para cada idioma de Bnei Menashé). Además del componente litúrgico, el cual Khaute creó de cero – no se satisfizo con copiar y pegar de un sidur existente – este es un libro de enseñanza.
“Los Bnei Menashé tienen sidurim, pero son muy simples”, explica Khaute. “No hay instrucciones acerca de dónde pararse, donde sentarse, cuando recitar la bendición. Ni tampoco explican qué es la plegaria, cuál es la diferencia entre la plegaria matutina y las de Shabat, qué quiere decir el shemá y qué son las 19 bendiciones de la amidá”.
La necesidad de un sidur para Bnei Menashé fue desarrollándose junto con los esfuerzos de Shavei Israel en la India. Durante los últimos seis años, Shavei Israel ha empleado a profesores de hebreo y entrenado a representantes de Bnei Menashé para que estos enseñen a sus compañeros.
El Rabino Janoj Avitzedek, director del departamento de Bnei Menashé, explica que antes de recibir este sidur, los Bnei Menashé utilizaban un sidur fotocopiado en fonética. “Esto los avergonzaba y por eso pidieron un libro de plegarias en hebreo”.
Tzvi Khaute con el nuevo sidur
El costo de imprimir, enviar y preservar el sidur puede ser substancial. Shavei Israel fue afortunado en conocer a Yisrael Weiss, quien luego de retornar de un tour sobre las diez tribus perdidas, quedó muy entusiasmado con Bnei Menashé y ofreció imprimir los sidurim en su imprenta privada, como su donación personal.
Hacer llegar el sidur a la India no será fácil. 5000 copias serán impresas, pesando cerca de cuatro toneladas. El costo de envío será alrededor de 10.000$. Cada pequeña contribución ayudará. Con una contribución de sólo 2$, puede hacer posible que un hombre, mujer o niño reciba una copia del sidur. Por favor presione aquí para apoyar esta iniciativa escencial.
El sidur es una de las herramientas litúrgicas más importantes de los judíos”, enfatiza Khaute. “Está en el centro del proceso de retorno. Es mucho más que sólo un libro”.