Making aliyah: Meet Leah Singson
Leah Singson
Leah Kimtinchong Singson, 68, is part of the Bnei Menashe group that made aliyah with Shavei Israel’s help in early 2013. Growing up, Leah’s father was known as Thiempu – it means “priest” in Kuki – and he served in the Bnei Menashe leadership of their small village. Part of that role was to preserve the community’s history. Leah shares the story of how her family reached India many generations before.
“My father used to tell us about how our ancestors fled from China, many centuries after they had been exiled from the Land of Israel. The Chinese emperor disliked us for our dedication to our customs. We went so far as to disagree with the king directly, for we could never consider any other king for ourselves than the one high above who we called Chung Maangpa.
“As a result, the Chinese monarch snatched away our savun zuol – a scroll made of animal skin where we had scripts of all our ritual practices – and gave it to his pet dog! Because of this terrible event, our ancestors decided to escape from China. They traveled south until they reached Burma and [the Indian state of] Manipur.
“Even without the savun zuol, we continued to live the traditional Bnei Menashe lifestyle. One of our folk songs, we discovered years later, is found in the Bible. We called it Tuipi san kan laa – it means ‘separation of the Red Sea song’ – and it is about the children of Israel crossing out of Egypt on solid ground.
“As we learned more, we came to realize that our ancestor, who we called Manmashi was none other than ‘Menasseh’ (or ‘Menashe’), the son of Joseph, and one of the lost tribes of Israel. We knew then we must return to where we came from.
“The intervening years were not always easy. I remember that my grandmother once complained that, after Western missionaries came in the 19th century, they changed our day of rest from Saturday to Sunday. And our present day tribal identity of ‘Kuki’ [rather than Bnei Menashe] is new to us; it is a name that was only introduced by the British in order to differentiate us from other ethnic groups. But through it all, our ancestors never worked in the rice paddy fields or went hunting on Shabbat.
“I read the Bible whenever I could and, every time I did, my desire to return home [to Israel] grew stronger than ever because I feared that, like my parents, I might pass away before seeing the land that G-d promised to our father Abraham. In the Bible, it says that G-d will bring all His children back to their native land Zion. I am so grateful that with His mercy I will finally see the land of my ancestors.”
In India, Leah belonged to the main Beith Shalom community in Churachandpur. Leah has three sons and two daughters (a third daughter passed away at a young age). Leah’s husband died in 1987 and she raised her large family nearly all on her own, not an easy task in traditional, rural India. One of her sons previously moved to Israel, and her daughter Ashira, 34, made aliyah with her.
Ashira adds her own blessing to her mother’s story. “Just as with the exodus of our ancestors from Egypt, I personally feel it is happening to me as well now. I prayed day and night for the moment, and I just can’t stop praising G-d for this miraculous event bestowed upon me!”
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Leah’s story was written with the help of Ruth Haokip, a Shavei Israel “Fellow” from Manipur who also moved to Israel with her family during the recent Bnei Menashe aliyah.