Shavei Israel Profile: Yonatan Haokip – a Bnei Menashe life in translation
Yonatan Haokip
There is a custom among Bnei Menashe women to read from the Book of Psalms every day. The women divide up into groups and split the verses among themselves, so that every psalm is recited by at least one woman on behalf of the group each month. But many of these women do not understand Hebrew – they can recite the words (and sometimes even read them), but the true meaning has remained hidden…until now.
Yonatan Haokip, 31, a Bnei Menashe who has lived in Israel since 2009, has taken on the vital task of translating the psalms into Kuki, the language spoken by the Bnei Menashe in Manipur, where Haokip himself was raised. His goal: to produce a fully translated and transliterated edition of the psalms, including commentaries in Kuki, available to every Bnei Menashe woman who steps off the plane after arriving on aliyah from India. Now that those historic flights have resumed, Haokip’s clock is ticking. Shavei Israel will be assisting Haokip in distributing his impressive achievement.
A translation of the Hebrew psalms already exists, but Haokip’s vision was to create the first translation based entirely on Jewish texts. He is using the English-language Artscroll edition as his starting point. It’s also his basis for his translated commentaries, which were not part of his initial plan but were requested by the Bnei Menashe women as the overall project took form.
Layout of Haokip’s Psalms project
Haokip’s book of psalms displays the original Hebrew text and a Kuki transliteration on one side, with a Kuki translation on the facing page. The commentary runs along the bottom of both pages. You can see a picture of the book’s layout to the right.
While Haokip is finishing up his Kuki psalms project, he decided to self-publish 300 copies of a 54-page booklet called “Women’s Prayer,” which he is already distributing to Bnei Menashe women in Israel. He has also completed a translation of “Practical Judaism” by former Chief Rabbi of Israel (and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv) Israel Meir Lau – it is now in the process of being spell-checked – as well as translations of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s “Jerusalem – The Eye of the Universe” and the “Tikkun HaKlali,” a set of ten psalms whose recital is said to serve as repentance for sins; the latter was arranged by the noted Hassidic master, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
Haokip’s most ambitious project is still to come: he aims to translate the entire Shulchan Aruch – the practical guide to Jewish Law, written by Rabbi Joseph Karo in Safed in the 16th century – into Kuki, a task he estimates could take upwards of two years. And why stop there? Going forward, “my goal is to translate the entire Bible to Kuki,” Haokip says, expectantly.
Print is important, but so is online, and Haokip maintains a number of blog sites (in Kuki of course) with material on the Torah Portion of the Week and overall information about Judaism. He hopes someday to publish a weekly magazine on the Torah Portion, much like the Orthodox Union’s well-known “Torah Tidbits” – but this one in Kuki. His personal blog is a compelling insight into modern Bnei Menashe life. Unlike the rest of his work, it is written in fluent English.
Haokip had already taken pen to paper before even leaving for Israel three years ago. He started by editing short newsletters for the Bnei Menashe back home in Churachandpur. The work was surprisingly important. “Most Bnei Menashe don’t have religious books or magazines of their own at home,” he explains. “This kind of material is their only pastime on Shabbat.”
Haokip’s route to Israel stopped first in New Delhi, where he attended university, then headed south to Mumbai, where he worked in a call center and honed his English skills. This has given him a different background from some of his Bnei Menashe cousins, he asserts. “I was already living in a big city before I came. Some Bnei Menashe are often shocked when they discover Israel is a ‘regular country’ with politics and people at different levels of religious observance. ”
When Haokip landed in Israel in 2009, he received an extended tourist visa, thereby skirting the restrictions on Bnei Menashe aliyah that have only just been lifted. He initially studied Judaism and Hebrew at the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem. On Shavei Israel’s behalf, he spent 2011 back in India as a “Fellow” to the Bnei Menashe community. He also lived for half a year in the Israeli town of Sderot, which was the target of Palestinian rockets from Gaza.
In the last month, Haokip’s life has taken another dramatic turn: he joined the second cohort of Bnei Menashe who’ve arrived on the recently resumed flights from India and has moved to Givat Haviva to be with the community. This resulted in his visa being “upgraded” to a full Temporary Resident permit. He and the group are now working together towards receiving their conversion to Judaism, which is expected in the coming weeks.
But perhaps the most exciting news for Haokip: it looks likely that his family – he has two brothers and a sister – will be on board one of the flights arriving from India later this year.
Haokip has a very positive attitude when it comes to dealing with life in his old/new homeland. “There are some people out there who can be tough,” he admits. “But I don’t fight or get angry.” Instead, he reminds himself of the profound benefits of living in Eretz Israel, where he can fully observe Jewish tradition. He brings the example of electricity: on Shabbat in Israel, most people use some kind of hot plate to keep the food warm, he notes. That’s not so easy in India where, he says, “the electricity is not on all the time. We don’t know when on Shabbat we’ll have power.” There’s nothing more discouraging than cold cholent!
Returning to his translation work, Haokip’s book of Kuki psalms will have another purpose when they’re published: as one of the texts used during the Bnei Menashe women’s monthly Seder Amenin. Held on Rosh Chodesh, the holiday marking the first of each month, the Hebrew expression refers to an inspirational activity where all the women participants recite in unison five “Amen’s” following the blessings for foods traditionally eaten on the day. Perek Shirah, an ancient compilation of psalms whose recitation the medieval Jewish philosopher Joseph Albo said guarantees a place in the World to Come, are also sung during the Rosh Chodesh ceremony and Haokip’s book will include all the required text.
The Seder Amenim tradition has helped sustain the Bnei Menashe women in India. As they now arrive in Israel, Haokip’s eloquent work will ensure that this eminently uplifting Rosh Chodesh activity will flourish here too, and that the women – including some of Haokip’s own family – will understand every word.
Please consider supporting Yonatan Haokip’s psalms project. It costs $10 to print each copy and we want to publish 1,000 books initially to meet the keen demand. We need to raise all the money up front so we can order a single print run from the publisher. Please visit our Support page to make your contribution.
Yonatan sent us a few emotional photos of the Bnei Menashe group preparing for aliyah in India – you can find them here.