How does the Kaifeng Jewish community celebrate Sukkot? The same way Jews do all over the world - by sleeping and eating in a sukka (the temporary structure built to commemorate the Israelites' 40 year sojourn in the desert following the Exodus from Egypt), surrounded...
The sixth annual Bnei Menashe soccer tournament took place last week in Israel. Eight teams from each of the Bnei Menashe communities in Israel competed with Afula F.C. taking home first place folllowed by Bnei Menashe teams from Migdal HaEmek and Beit El. The annual...
For the first time ever, Maimonides’ seminal text Hilchot Teshuva (the Laws of Repentance) has been translated into Mizo, one of the two main languages spoken by the Bnei Menashe. The new text is just the start of an ambitious new project to translate dozens...
It's customary during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot to buy what are known as "the four species" - lulav (a palm frond), hadass (leaves from a myrtle tree), aravah (leaves from a willow tree) and etrog (a large yellow citron). Well we have a picture...
When a recent group of Bnei Menashe immigrants visited Jerusalem for the first time, we sent our photographer to capture the excitement. Here is a selection of photos that evoke the atmosphere of that special day....
When the Bnei Menashe arrive at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport after the long flight from India, Shavei Israel’s buses transport them directly to their new life in the Kfar Hasidim absorption center in the north of the country. There, the new immigrants jump straight into a...
Shavei Israel has just released two new publications for the Subbotnik Jewish communities in Russia and Israel: a new Jewish calendar in Russian and a booklet about the High Holy Days, covering Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, also in Russian. The publications were put...
Dipping an apple in a bowl of honey and blowing the shofar are two of the most iconic images of the Jewish New Year. But those customs are nothing short of miraculous when they take place so far from Israel or other large Diaspora Jewish...
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund was a guest on the Yishai Fleisher radio show on September 22, 2014. Michael spoke about the activities of Shavei Israel. You can listen to the interview here:...
