Posted on 08/19/2004 7:11:00 PM PDT by missyme
A team of senior Israeli rabbis is due to rule soon on whether thousands of Indians who say they are members of one of the lost tribes of Israel can settle there.
Only 5,000 of the Benei Menashes have converted to Judaism Shlomo Amar recently led a delegation of rabbis to the north-eastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram where members of the Benei Menashe tribe live and practise Judaism.
At the Beith-el Synagogue in the Manipur capital, Imphal, nine men wearing knitted skull caps read silently from the Old Testament.
Four others stand on a wooden platform in the centre of the room as a young man reads from the holy book under the supervision of an elderly priest.
These people claim to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.
Recent discovery
Tongkhohao Aviel Hangshing is the leader of the Benei Menashes in Imphal.
We found that the stories, the customs and practices of the Israeli people were very similar to ours
Tongkhohao Aviel Hangshing "We are Benei Menashe, because we belong to the Menashe tribe," he says.
"Menashe is the son of Joseph, who was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. So we are the lost tribe of Israel."
Mr Hangshing says for thousands of years they did not know they were lost.
"We found out only 27 years ago," he says.
"When the Bible was translated into our language, in 1970s, we studied it.
"And we found that the stories, the customs and practices of the Israeli people were very similar to ours. So we thought that we must be one of the lost tribes."
Saturdays are observed by Jews the world over as the Sabbath, the day of rest, and the members of the Benei Menashe community meet for morning prayers at the synagogue in Imphal.
A lamb-skin scroll of the Torah, is unrolled and then rolled up again as each reader finishes his part.
Hope
There are more than 300,000 Benei Menashes in Manipur but most of them follow Christianity.
Only about 5,000 have converted to Judaism, most of them during the 1970s.
Mr Hangshing says although India has treated them quite well, they do not consider it their home.
Lucy Vaiphei (right) is hoping to join her family in Israel The recent visit by a delegation of rabbis from Israel has given new hope to the members of this community.
Caleb, a 24-year-old college student, wants to go to Israel because he says it is the land of his forefathers.
Amram is studying to be a lawyer. He says Israel is the promised land, for him and the others too.
"In Israel it will be easier for us to practise our religion."
In a chamber partitioned from the main prayer hall, about a dozen women join in the Sabbath prayers.
Lucy Vaiphei is the caretaker of the synagogue.
Her parents and six siblings have emigrated to Israel in the last few years and she is now looking forward to making the move herself.
Michael Freund, director of Amishav - an organisation that helps Jews move to Israel - says he firmly believes that Menashe is one of the lost tribes of Israel.
"We have brought over 800 of them to Israel," he says, "and the remaining people also want to emigrate".
Mr Freund says that last year the new Israeli interior minister, Avraham Poraz, suddenly declared his opposition to bringing the Benei Menashes into Israel.
"But I'm confident that if the chief rabbi issues a ruling saying that the Benei Menashes are indeed descendents of the Jewish people and should be allowed back home, then he will have no choice but to let them in."
So while the rabbis in Israel take a decision on whether or not to grant the right to emigrate to Israel to the Benei Menashes, this community here is waiting with bated breath - and praying.
Apparent coincidence is not so coincidental. Archeologists theorized for years about how stone was quarried in Egypt to build the pyramids and other monuments with. They also theorized about how the underground tombs were cut out of bedrock and about how stone was finished. They were pretty precise in their estimations after finding copper digging instruments and orbs of granite used to pound away at the rock. And they have observed the practices in use today as well.
Was a good show and quite interesting.
that is roughly twice the rate that North American Caucazoids carry Amerindian DNA...last figure I saw was 1.7% but that was for Tennesseans who in my mind probably carry a bit more Creek and Cherokee blood than most Americans.
I think I might be from that Amazon blood line since I am half Yugoslavian and the mongolians went through that country and raped all the women guess that's why I somewhat almond shaped eyes...
Israel won't and hasn't denied this group the right to make aliyah. As long as they convert according to halacha, they are Jews, no matter what their skin color. A lot of them already live in Kiryat Moshe in Jerusalem.
LOL....Cohens?
there used to be an old Hardware store on Charlotte here in Nashville run by Cohen Bros....they looked like twins and wore overalls and spoke with a syrupy southern drawl....they were quite friendly..i fear they may be gone...the buildings are now occupied by their lawyer son.
i used to think if my Manhattan or Miami Jewish friends could see this..lol...they'd faint.
You're dead wrong on the DNA thing and dead wrong on this.
Benjamin also isn't lost. In fact, the very phrase "10 Lost Tribes" is a misnomer. Judah, Benjamin, and Shimon all lived in the southern kingdom of Judah -- and Levi was scattered throughout all the land. However, both Benjamin and Shimon were very small and eventually assimilated into Judah, losing their seperate identity. Hence, although the Tribal members actually survived, the "Tribe" was lost as an independant entity.
I believe I saw somewhere that Genghis and Kubla had the widest spread "seed" there has ever been.
..aside from the aforementioned and rightly revered Noah.
I think if were truly honest with ourselves RACE always plays a factor just like many people would not accept a Black President in the USA and I am sure Israel would not accept a Black Prime Minister even if he could claim his Jewishness and his right to live in Israel...
Tay-Sachs can be accounted for due to a "founders effect." Most people believe that the founding population of today's Ashkenazi Jews was quite small -- no more than a few thousand people. A random mutation present amongst that small group would lead to a high % of Ashkenazi Jews who carry the Tay-Sachs gene. Also, I've read -- although I'm not sure of this -- that a single copy of the Tay-Sachs gene provides immunity to the Black Plague, much like a single copy of the sickle-cell gene provides immunity to malaria. If true, then that would explain to preponderance of that mutation among Ashkenazi Jews.
Remember the ol Captain Poldark days?........I loved that little red haired hussy....I think actually my first taste may have been the Henry VIII series concentrating on poor Miss Boleyn in the early 70s
and Pride and Prejudice a few years ago was wonderful....I own that one.
And the Ainu are Caucasoids.
I was just wondering why it isn't found in the Sephardim or Oriental Jews given the fairly similar DNA ...from that study.
Is the detail in the difference rather than the similarity and why I'm curious.
Does any other ethnic group carry Tay-Sachs?
Then that is good enough for me.
The Jews of today are primarily from the Tribe of Judah (Southern Kingdom). The Northern Ten Tribes (Northern Kingdom) were prophesied to be scattered throughout the nations and to become as gentiles (“not my people”). Refer to Hosea 1-3.
The primary theme of the Hebrew prophets is the restoration of ALL Israel back to the Land. This requires the recovery of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel to both their identity and their destiny as Israelites. Refer to: Jeremiah 30-31, Ezekiel 37, Hosea 1-3, and Isaiah 11
Is this your understanding?
He was REALLY a fanatic,but interesting. :-)
Doesn't matter. Race signifies large, broad population groups. Within each population group there are sub-groups, and within each sub-groups, even more sub-groups.
For example, every Philadelphian is a Pennsylvanian. Every Pennsylvanian is an American. Every American is a human.
Similarly, every Ashkenazi or Sephardi Jew is a Jew. Jews are Semites. Semites are Caucasions. Caucasions are human.
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