Associated Press
SHAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank (AP) - Some 2,700 years ago, 10 of the 12 biblical tribes of Israel were driven from the Holy Land into exile and the mists of history. Now, a group claiming descent from one of the lost tribes can be found sitting in a bomb shelter in a West Bank Jewish settlement, learning Hebrew.
Amishav delegates talk migration with Mizo hopefuls
They are born Mizo and speak the language of this far north-east Indian state bordering Burma - but they dream of a new life in Israel. There are nearly 5,000 people in Mizoram and the neighbouring state of Manipur who call themselves Jews, and 800 of them have already migrated to the Middle East.
The New York TimesSHAVEI SHOMRON, West Bank, Dec. 16 — Sharon Palian and his fellow immigrants from India are still struggling with the Hebrew language and remain partial to homemade kosher curry rather than Israeli cuisine.
But the 71 immigrants, who arrived in June with the firm conviction that they were descended from one of the biblical lost tribes of Israel, feel they have completed a spiritual homecoming.
The Jerusalem Post - Winter Supplement When Dr. Larry Rubin of Jerusalem stood in front of the congregation on Shabbat Lech Lecha to say the birkat hakohanim (blessing of the priests), many of his fellow worshippers had tears in their eyes. The reason for these tears was a profound one: Larry Rubin was the first kohen to bless this community of Jews in 500 years. As he said the words of the blessing with his prayer shawl over his head, others copied him, putting their own prayer shawls over their heads. A few brought young children up to him to be blessed. They had only heard of the birkat hakohenim, but had never seen it before.
The Jerusalem Report
AIZAWL / NORTHEAST INDIAThe hand-painted letters on the shutters of the "public phone service" announce "Sabbath close." On any other day locals can call long-distance for 42 rupees (around $1) a minute from the worn touchtone phone at this little convenience kiosk. But today is Shabbat and the booth's owner is at home in a sparse cinderblock cubicle at the back, which serves both as a tin-pot kitchen and a single-cot bedroom, and is dissected diagonally by the underside of stairs belonging to the residence above. She's a petite woman in a knitted white cloche, and is just saying kiddush over Styrofoam cups of grape juice and chocolate-cream biscuits, beneath a Xeroxed pin-up of the Ten Commandments rendered into the Mizo tongue.
Dozens of Majorca´s "lost Jews", or Chuetas, whose ancestors were forcibly converted during the Spanish Inquisition, will gather this Friday for a seminar in Palma de Majorca exploring their Jewish roots.
They are born Mizo and speak the language of this far north-east Indian state bordering Burma - but they dream of a new life in Israel.
There are nearly 5,000 people in Mizoram and the neighbouring state of Manipur who call themselves Jews, and 800 of them have already migrated to the Middle East.