Operation Menashe: Meet Meir Phaltual, making aliyah from Mizoram
Shavei Israel is now intensively preparing for “Operation Menashe” which will bring 899 people to Israel over the next 15 months. The first batch of immigrants is from Mizoram – it’s the first such operation from the Indian state with the second largest Bnei Menashe population in nearly 7 years. In the coming weeks, we will profile several Bnei Menashe families who will be arriving shortly in the Jewish State. Here’s the first. Meet Meir Phaltual.
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Meir Phaltual and family (with brother Harel on left)
Living an observant Jewish life in India is never easy, even today, but for Meir Phaltual and his family growing up, it was particularly difficult. One of nine siblings, he says that his fellow villagers “disliked us and insulted us because of our religious beliefs.” The taunting became so harsh that the family was forced to leave their village, wandering for a time from place to place.
“It was very hard for our parents,” Phaltual says. “They didn’t have a proper job. They couldn’t earn enough to meet our needs.” But Phaltual’s mother and father consoled the young Meir. “Don’t worry, we are in G-d’s hands, they would tell me. Someday, G-d will surely bring us out from this hardship and into the Holy Land. My brothers and sisters and I listened to our parents, and our sadness would lift for a short while.”
Phaltual’s family was originally from the state of Manipur and, after they left their home village, they tried to get by in another community in that state. But in the village they picked, “There was not a single Jew,” he recalls. “We practiced Judaism alone. We recited Kiddush on Shabbat alone. When I look back at that tough time, I realize how admirable and brave my mother and father really were.”
After two years of moving among villages, the family finally found a welcoming community of other Bnei Menashe in the neighboring state of Mizoram. “Our economic condition improved and we were finally able to practice a Jewish way of life,” he says.
For the next ten years, the family flourished – spiritually and emotionally, if not entirely financially – in Mizoram. It was at this time that Shavei Israel became active in the area as well, opening a center for Bnei Menashe in the capital city of Aizawl. Phaltual became a regular there and began studying with Rabbi Yehuda Gin, a Bnei Menashe leader who now lives in Israel but regularly travels to India to teach on Shavei Israel’s behalf.
Rabbi Haonch Avitzedek, Shavei Israel’s director of Bnei Menashe aliyah and absorption, heard Phaltual’s story and agreed to let the tenacious young man stay at the Shavei Israel center rather than return home to the village. Shavei Israel supported the young Phaltual financially during that time. “I learned so much from Rabbi Gin,” Phaltual says. “From that time, I’ve been able to practice Judaism ‘full swing.’ And I am so grateful to Shavei Israel for everything they provided me personally.”
Phaltual is now married to Orit and they have two young daughters – Abriana and Sharit. Phaltual’s brother Harel lives with them as well. The family is looking forward to immigrating with the next group of Bnei Menashe. “With the help of G-d, when I make aliyah, I will try my best to look after my family and be a good citizen. I am just so thankful that I will be able to follow my dream of practicing a Jewish way of life in the Promised Land.”
Here’s another picture of Phaltual, being called up to the Torah:
Meir Phaltual at the Torah