[caption id="attachment_9181" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Ruth Lhungdim and her family"]
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My name is Ruth Ngaijalhing Lhungdim. I am 55-years-old and a member of the Beit Shalom Jewish Community of Churachandpur in Manipur, India.
I am a widow earning a livelihood as an entrepreneur in my hometown with my younger children helping me. My sons, Amos, Reuben and Obed, who are in their early to mid-twenties, have high hopes to make
aliyah, serve in the Israel Defense Forces, work and get married in Israel so they can raise decent Jewish families. My youngest child and teenager Bathya has also set her goal to make
aliyah at the earliest opportunity.
I am blessed that three of my children are already in Israel. My oldest son David made
aliyah in 2007 thanks to
Shavei Israel. He has settled in Israel with his own family and is pursuing his dream of studying Torah in a yeshiva in Sderot.
My daughter Rachel, who made
aliyah in the same year as her brother, is now married to an Israeli yeshiva student and is managing her own home in Jerusalem. My second daughter, Rivka, is also in Israel and lives with her brother David while she participates in a computer-based technical training course. Before her move to Israel, Rivka taught Hebrew, Israeli songs, dance and skits to our community’s children, and she took an active part in the community overall development.
It is my fervent prayer and hope – and all of my children’s prayers and hope – to be able to make
aliyah to Israel and thus pursue our dreams in the Promised Land. With G-d’s help, it will materialize speedily.[caption id="attachment_9181" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Rith Lhungdim y familia"]
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Mi nombre es Ruth Ngaijalhing Lhungdim. Tengo 55 años y soy miembro de la Comunidad Judía Beit Shalom de Churachandpur en Manipur, India.
Soy viuda y trabajo como empresaria en mi pueblo, mis hijos me ayudan. Mis hijos Amos, Reubén y Obed, quienes se encuentran en sus tempranos veinte años, desean profundamente realizar aliá, servir en el ejército israelí, trabajar y casarse en Israel para así poder criar familias judías decentes. Mi hija más pequeña, Batia, también desea realizar aliá cuanto antes.
Fui bendecida y tres de mis hijos ya se encuentran en Israel. Mi hijo mayor, David, realizó aliá en el 2007 gracias a
Shavei Israel. Se ha asentado en Israel con su familia y está cumpliendo su sueño de estudiar Torá en la yeshivá de Sderot.
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My name is Reuven Zou, aged 26 years old. I was born in the district of Churachandpur and have completed my B.A. degree in History. In 2000, I moved with my family to the city of Bangalore – the "Silicon Valley of India" – where I work at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) as a system analyst.
My older sister Ruthi lives in Bangalore – she works as a nurse in a government hospital – and my brother David is here too. He works in business process outsourcing.
Ever since I was a kid, I've dreamed of making aliyah, but of course I haven't had the opportunity so far. So, I continue to live with that dream – praying and hoping that one day soon it will come true.
For me, the Land of Israel is more than a location. It is a place to discover where I began; where I belonged; and who I truly am today. I don't want to travel to Israel but to return to Israel.
I plan to serve the state of Israel in every possible way that I can, be that in the Israel Defense Forces or any other national service. If everything goes well, I am also planning to study in a yeshiva to learn the Torah and the Hebrew language.
I would like to thank Michael Freund and Shavei Israel for the dedication and hard work they have invested in fulfilling the dreams of Bnei Menashe to finally return home. G-d bless!
Toda raba! Am Israel chai! And see you in Israel!
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As a child growing up in the small Indian village of Churachandpur near the Burmese border, Tzvi Khaute didn't pay all that much attention to Jewish tradition.
Like most kids, Tzvi was more interested in playing soccer with his friends and doing well at school.
Nonetheless, even from a very young age, Tzvi always knew that by being Jewish he was different.
"My grandfather, who was the chief priest of the village, told us that our living in India was only a sojourn and temporary, and that we Bnei Menashe are separate from the rest of the country - politically, socially and ethnically," Tzvi recalls.
His family instilled within Tzvi a deep pride in their roots as Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for "the Children of Manasseh"), who trace their descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes which were exiled from the Land of Israel some 27 centuries ago by the Assyrian empire.
As he grew up, Tzvi began to take more interest in his heritage. He took note of the rituals of the Bnei Menashe that he would later learn were in many ways parallel to modern Jewish observance. "Shabbat was always observed as a rest day from work," he says. "We never mixed milk and meat, and chicken and cattle were slaughtered by the community priest."(Spanish test) As a child growing up in the small Indian village of Churachandpur near the Burmese border, Tzvi Khaute didn't pay all that much attention to Jewish tradition.
Like most kids, Tzvi was more interested in playing soccer with his friends and doing well at school.