Return to Sikkim – Bnei Menashe “Fellows” seminar begins
At last year’s seminar in Sikkim with Rabbi Hanoch Avitzedek and Rabbi Yehudi Gin
The latest seminar for Bnei Menashe “Fellows” in India is now underway. Taking place in the same location as our 2013 seminar, 80 young men and women, representing all of the Bnei Menashe communities in Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Assam and Myanmar (Burma), are participating. The seminar is being held in a picturesque Buddhist village on the slopes of the Himalayas in the Indian state of Sikkim – a jumping off point for treks to Kanchandzongha, the highest mountain peak of India and the third tallest in the world. Some of the Bnei Menashe traveled for up to 50 hours by bus to get there. The seminar will last three weeks.
Flying in from Israel to lead the seminar are Rabbi Hanoch Avitzedek, Shavei Israel’s Director of Bnei Menashe Aliyah and Absorption; Bnei Menashe Rabbis Yehuda Gin and Gurion Sela, who will be teaching most of the courses; Yochanan Phaltual, Shavei Israel’s long-standing emissary to the Bnei Menashe who last year made aliyah himself; and Tzvi Khaute, Shavei’s coordinator for the Bnei Menashe.
As with previous seminars, a mix of Jewish studies, social get-togethers and community empowerment activities will keep the participants busy. Classes cover such topics as emunah (faith), halacha (Jewish Law), chagim (Jewish holidays) and Shabbat. The Fellows are committed to remaining in India for at least two years in order to pass on the knowledge they gain to their home communities.
Rabbi Sela flew out to India earlier than the rest of the group in order to initiate a new 6-month program in Mizoram, which will focus on the Five Books of Moses and basic Jewish law. Rabbi Avitzedek explains that the program will include a number of quizzes and tests and will conclude this summer with a festive awards ceremony in the presence of Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund.
While not returning to live in India, Phaltual will not be returning to Israel immediately after the seminar. He’ll be spending the next few months in Manipur as he picks up some of his former role, preparing the Bnei Menashe for the next wave of aliyah, which is expected to take place later this year.
You can read more about our previous seminar for Bnei Menashe Fellows and see pictures here. We’ll have more updates as the current seminar progresses over the next few weeks.