For nearly 20 years, Harel Kingbol has dreamt of making aliyah to Israel so that his children “never face the same trouble and suffering as I did growing up,” he says. For Kingbol, the suffering started when he was 9-years-old: that’s when he had his...
As Shavei Israel prepares for "Operation Menashe," we introduce you to Azriel Hmar and his family from Mizoram. Azriel has been helping Shavei Israel prepare other Bnei Menashe to make aliyah, but he's had to wait seven years for the day when he too could...
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.”...
He likes hamburgers and schnitzel; she prefers spicy curries. He’s a Sabra who grew up on a small moshav and she spent her first 20 years in the remote Indian state of Manipur and could only dream of what life might be like in the...
Azriel and Mayian Hmar have a comfortable life in the city of Aizawl in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, Azriel, 45, is a high-level government employee and a leader in the Bnei Menahse community there. His wife, Mayian, teaches Jewish subjects and their children...
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund was interviewed this week on Israel Radio's IBA News program. We have the audio and you can listen to it here....
Earlier this year, we shared with you the story of Yonatan Haokip, a young Bnei Menashe who has been single-handedly translating the entire book of Psalms into the Bnei Menashe language of Kuki. Now we have more news to share – and it reads well...
[caption id="attachment_10615" align="alignnone" width="413"] Nathaniel Haokip (second from left) with family[/caption] Nathaniel (Ngamkholun) Haokip, 55, recently made aliyah from Manipur with his wife and three of his five children. But a serious illness almost took him from this world before he would be able to see...
[caption id="attachment_10612" align="alignleft" width="242"] Leah Singson[/caption] 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...
[caption id="attachment_10502" align="alignleft" width="210"] Yonatan Haokip[/caption] There is a custom among Bnei Menashe women to read from the Book of Psalms every day. The women divide up into groups and split the verses among themselves, so that every psalm is recited by at least one woman...
