More details on Shavei Israel’s study program for the Bnei Menashe in India during the next month
Rabbi Avitzedek (center in black jacket) during a previous visit to India
On Tuesday of last week, January 3, 2012, five Shavei Israel staff members left Israel on a six-week visit to the Bnei Menashe in India where they will be teaching classes in Judaism and Hebrew.
The group includes two Bnei Menashe leaders who have already made aliyah – Rabbis Gurion Sela and Yehuda Gin; they will guide students in Torah study. Two young Israeli women, Yehudit Eyal and Dalia Netzer Safrir, will provide instruction in Hebrew. And Tzvi Khaute Shavei Israel’s coordinator for the Bnei Menashe, will accompany the group, helping to coordinate their visits and traveling to some of the farther flung villages and towns
In addition, a sixth staff member, Rabbi Hanoch Avitzedek, Director of the Bnei Menashe Aliya and Absorption Department at Shavei Israel, left for India this week for a slightly shorter sojourn. He will join Khaute “on the road” in order to give physical and spiritual support to Bnei Menashe communities outside of the main cities of Churachandpur and Izo, as well as to reinforce their connection to both Shavei Israel and the land of Israel. Shavei Israel staff makes this trip twice every year.
The Bnei Menashe (or “sons of Menasseh”) claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago. They reside primarily in the northeastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram. 1,700 Bnei Menashe have immigrated to Israel, but another 7,000 remain in India waiting for permission from the Israeli government to join the brethren here.
The focus of the learning for this trip will be on deepening one’s personal faith, and Rabbis Sela and Gin will be using Rabbi Moshe Haim Luzzato’s classic book “Derech Hashem” (The Way of God) as their primary text. Rabbi Luzzato was a prominent Kabbalist who lived in Italy and The Netherlands in the early 18th century. “Derech Hashem” is a philosophical text about G-d’s purpose in creation, justice, and ethics.
The main teaching will take place at the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in the town of Churachandpur in Manipur. Since there are fewer students from Mizoram than Manipur, they will spend a month in Churachandpur.
Rabbis Sela and Gin will also devote part of their time in India to traveling between communities, from the small village of Moreh near the border of Myanmar (Burma) to Sialhawk, one of the most isolated Bnei Menashe settlements. Rabbi Sela grew up in Mizoram and speaks the local language of Mizo; Rabbi Gin, who is from Manipur, speaks Kuki.
While the villages may be small, they have a rich Jewish life: there are more than 50 Bnei Menashe synagogues throughout northeastern India. We wrote about the construction and renovation of two of these synagogues here.
The second pillar of Shavei Israel’s outreach to the Bnei Menashe in India is improving the community’s proficiency in Hebrew. Students Eyal and Netzer Safrir will be continuing a Hebrew learning program they began in May 2011 with 30 young Bnei Menashe men and women who are being trained to become Hebrew teachers themselves.
Eyal and Netzer Safrir will also be teaching the general Bnei Menashe population, “those who have learned the alef-bet and have the potential to study on their own,” says Shavei Israel’s Rabbi Avitzedek. “We believe this is the main key for everything: studying Torah, strengthening Jewish identity and giving them the ability to study for new professions once they arrive in Israel.”
Avitzedek is passionate about the mission of this trip. “We want all of the Bnei Menashe to feel a real ‘fever’ around Hebrew,” he says.
Also on the agenda: Rabbi Avitzedek will be visiting the state of Nagaland where there is a smaller Bnei Menashe population. Notably missing from the trip is the Bnei Menashe community in Myanmar – the border remains closed to visitors from the west.
Shavei Israel’s staff will be sending back pictures and reports “from the field” during their stay with the in India. We hope to bring you regular updates during the next five weeks. Watch our Facebook page for details.