Signs

A LOST TRIBE OF ISRAEL CELEBRATES ITS RETURN
By IsraelNN Staff

Hundreds of veteran Bnei Menashe immigrants from northeastern India
gathered in Kiryat Arba this week to celebrate their return to Israel
and the Jewish people after 27 centuries of exile.

A special day over the Sukkot festival was arranged on their behalf by
the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization. The Bnei
Menashe were treated to a series of fun and educational activities
that ranged from drum lessons to Torah lectures to face painting for
children and the construction of a traditional Indian bamboo hut. The
event was organized in cooperation with the Kiryat Arba Municipal
Council and its chairman, Tzvi Katzover.

The Bnei Menashe, who reside in the Indian states of Mizoram and
Manipur, near the border with Burma, claim descent from the tribe of
Menashe, one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel exiled by the Assyrians
over 2,700 years ago.

Nearly 1,000 members of the community have made aliyah (immigrated to
Israel) over the past decade thanks largely to the work of Rabbi
Eliyahu Avichayil and Shavei Israel, which is headed by Michael
Freund.

A central theme of this week's celebration was the excitement running
through the community over the impending arrival in Israel next month
of 218 new Bnei Menashe immigrants, the largest group ever to come
here at one time.

The group, which underwent conversion to Judaism last year in India by
a rabbinical court dispatched by Israel's Chief Rabbinate, is slated
to make aliyah in late November. It will be the first batch of Bnei
Menashe immigrants allowed into the country since 2003, when Israel's
Interior Ministry decided to halt their arrival.

The Jewish Agency, headed by Ze'ev Bielski, will oversee the group's
arrival in the Jewish state, as well as various aspects of its
absorption in the country.

Through its team of emissaries, Shavei Israel operates three Jewish
educational centers in India for the Bnei Menashe, where they study
Hebrew and Jewish tradition. All of the organization's work is in
accordance with Jewish law and is under the guidance and supervision
of Israel's Chief Rabbinate.

For more information, contact office@shavei.org

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