Bnei Menashe

More than 7,000 members of the Bnei Menashe will soon arrive in Israel, CBN reported on Thursday. The Bnei Menashe claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ...

Fundamentally Freund: That dream of some 7,000 Bnei Menashe to come to Israel is now poised to become a reality. Thousands of kilometers to the east, in the furthest reaches of northeastern India, a long-lost community continues to nourish its age-old dream of returning to its ancient homeland, the land of Israel. The Bnei Menashe, or “sons of Manasseh,” are descendants of one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian empire more than 27 centuries ago. The community, which numbers 7,232 people, resides primarily in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along the border with Burma and Bangladesh.

Summer has started in Manipur, India where Bnei Menashe students attend Hebrew lessons at the Shavei Israel Center. [nggallery id=76] El verano ha comenzado en Manipur, India, y los niños de Bnei Menashé asisten a clases de hebreo en el centro de Shavei Israel. [nggallery id=76] ...

As with immigrant communities everywhere, the 1,700 Bnei Menashe who have been privileged to make aliyah to Israel are invariably in need of social services. These include help with finding a job, choosing a school for their children, learning a new language, and navigating the unfamiliar Israeli bureaucracy. While there are Israeli social workers who work with the Bnei Menashe – Jews living in northeastern India who are descended from one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel – none come from the community itself or speak its native languages of Mizo and Kuki. That’s where Itzkhak Colney comes in. Colney is currently training to become the first Bnei Menashe social worker, thanks to a scholarship from Shavei Israel. Together with his sister Esther and a third Bnei Menashe named Sonia Manlun, Colney is studying at the Safed Academic College in Israel’s northern Galilee.

The Jerusalem Post Recently, at a small synagogue in New Jersey, a Jewish tragedy more than three centuries old came to an abrupt and long-awaited end. Standing before a rabbinical court, a “hidden Jew” from Turkey closed an historical circle by emerging from the shadows of the past and formally returning to the Jewish people. The young man in question, who now goes by his Hebrew name of Ari, is a member of the Donmeh, a community numbering several thousand people who are descendants of the followers of the false messiah Shabbetai Zvi.
[caption id="attachment_5391" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="At Shavei's Bnei Menashe center in India "]Bnei Menashe Center in India[/caption] Passover with the Bnei Menashe is shaping up to be particularly memorable this year, thanks to Shavei Israel. We are sending 60 kilograms of matza to India for use in the 41 communal Passover seders that will be taking place in the northeastern part of the country. Shavei Israel emissaries Yohanan Phaltual and Lyion Fanai will be leading group seders in the capital cities of Manipur and Mizoram. In other cities, some of the 60 Shavei Israel-trained "Fellows" will be in charge. This is the second year these Shavei Fellows are able to take the lead. The Fellows will also run other activities during the week of Passover, including a Bible Quiz, debates on Jewish law, and an essay contest. Another activity being organized is a dramatic presentation about the nature of freedom - a key message of the Passover story. The irony is not lost for the Bnei Menashe in India who have been waiting patiently for permission to make aliyah to Israel. But with recent developments in the Knesset - see our story here - "next year in Jerusalem" may be that much closer.

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