Shavei Israel publishes new book on Jewish Law for Bnei Menashe in Israel
Rabbi Gin’s “Mekor Chaim” compendium of Jewish Law
Shavei Israel recently published the first comprehensive siddur (prayer book) for the Bnei Menashe. Yonatan Haokip, a Bnei Menashe immigrant now living in Israel, has been hard at work on an edition of Psalms for the community in the Bnei Menashe languages of Mizo and Kuki. The Bnei Menashe have various short booklets for use on holidays and with specific celebrations. But the community has thus far been lacking a thorough overview on Jewish Law – something akin to the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Concise Code of Jewish Law)– which covers all the halachot (laws), albeit in Hebrew.
That’s all set to change as Rabbi Yehuda Gin, the first rabbi from the Bnei Menashe, has now added to Shavei Israel’s growing collection of Jewish prayer and study texts for the community by creating the Mekor Chaim, a compendium of Jewish Law written in clear Mizo and Kuki and illustrated with simple drawings to bring potentially unfamiliar subjects to life.
For example, while Jews in Israel may be familiar with the Four Species used during the holiday of Sukkot, in rural India, the palm frond, willow, myrtle and etrog are more exotic and mostly unknown. Rabbi Gin drew pictures for nearly every entry in the 112-page booklet. Color is also used to simplify concepts: red when something is forbidden; green when it’s OK. A picture of the sun indicates that a certain prayer is to be said in the morning; a moon means it’s intended for the night. Text is kept short and to the point whenever possible.
Rabbi Gin came up with the idea to write his Mekor Chaim (Hebrew for “Source of Life”) not from his work with the Bnei Menashe but from another job Shavei Israel tasked him with: teaching the 7 young men from Kaifeng, China, whom Shavei Israel helped come to Israel and recently to return to Judaism. The Chinese students were equally unfamiliar with much of Jewish Law. (Rabbi Gin is not currently planning a Chinese version of the Mekor Chaim.)
One hundred copies have been printed so far, 50 for each of the two cities (Migdal HaEmek and Acre) where the recent group of 274 Bnei Menashe immigrants have settled. In both cities, the Bnei Menashe have been “adopted” by the local religious communities which are providing afternoon and after-school instruction. Rabbi Gin travels north to Migdal HaEmek and Acre from his home near Jerusalem twice a week to teach, and has found his book to be a critical tool in helping the Bnei Menashe to integrate into their new homes and Israeli society.
The Mekor Chaim has a folksy charm – the pages are hand written and drawn by Rabbi Gin rather than professionally typeset. Still, because the booklet is in color, it is an expensive endeavor. We would like to print more copies for use in Israel and to send some to India as well, to prepare the 7,000 Bnei Menashe still waiting to join their families in Israel. If you’d like to help us with the printing costs, please visit our Support page today.