India's 'lost Jews' wait in hope

BBC News ^ | August 18th, 2003 | Geeta Pandey

[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.

[Cronos]

Semites are a sub-race. But this definition does get a little blurred at the edges. You can have the general term caucasian which again gets blurred at the edges like in sahramn africa or south-east asia

[Cronos]

Modern Hebrew is written with aramiac letters right?

correct.

Does the sound reflect Aramaic or ancient Hebrew which was runes and not phonetic? Right?

Ancient Hebrew was not really runes -- it didn't really have an alphabet until it borrowed the aramaic alphabet. THe phonetics would remain the same just as Japanese in Kanji, Katakana or Romaji is the same phonetically

[Cronos]

you a nutcase? Waving a cross doesn't make you a CI nutcase.

[Cronos]

Noone has even mentioned Japhet and the phonetic similarity to Japan... Ham is Africans, Shem is Semites and Japhets is Asians.

It's pronounced JAFFet, not JAP het. No similarity. BEsides, Japan in Japanese is Nippon or Nihon.

And when you say Asian -- SEMITES ARe in Asia, as are Aryans (Iranis, Indians, Russians etc)

[Cronos]

Well, there's always hope. I've managed to get along with Cronos and nopardons on a thread for the first time in human history I think. So If we can get along, you two should be able to ;)

A trifle belligerent, aren't we all? ;-)

[Cronos]

The Bible does NOT say Noah's son Ham was "turned black",because he saw his father's uncovered genitalia,as his father snored away in a drunken stupor.

[Cronos]

The Crusades were a reaction toIslam's conquering and suppression of Eastern Christians. Do note that All of Eygpty, Syria, North Africa, Turkey, Lebanon was Christian until the 8th century.

[Cronos]

Along with many others, we, the English speaking peoples of the world are the lost tribes of Israel. The English speaking peoples of the world are what is now "Greater Israel", which is why we protect Israel, the nation.

So that will include everyone who speaks Englaish as a first language -- that includes Indians, Jamaicans, Botswanians, Zimbabweans, people of Belize etc.  And all those who speak it as a second language

The United States and Britain has been afforded so much wealth and control in the last 3 centuries because of an ancient promise God made.

errr... and what about the dirt poor nation that England was before that?  Oh and the USA has been in existence only for 228 years NOT 3 centuries

[Cronos]

Another Anglo-Israeli, CI nutter. Will be outed as a KKK Klown soon like #3fan and LostTribe were

[Cronos]

i should keep my "how to at least sound diverse" little red handbook close

We Titans speak in ways you mortals could never comprehend ;-P

[Cacique]

Races and language groups have nothing to do with each other. They are in many cases totally unrelated.

There are three main racial groups on the planet. Caucasoid, negroid and mongoloid any one of which may overlap as far as language group goes.

Some languages are predominantly identified with some racial groups or descendent from them. Turkic languages for example, originated on the steppes of Mongolia. The Original Seljuk and Ottoman tribes were Mongoloid. However, the people of Turkey may speak their language but look nothing like their cousins in Mongolia.

Many Americans speak English, yet not all Americans who speak English are necessarily Caucasoid.

At the time of the fall of the Roman Empire there were an estimated 3 million Nubians (negroid) in Rome who spoke Latin. Hungarian is a Mongol descendent language. Finnish is alto Altaic related to Eskimo languages. Races and languages do not necessarily coincide and have nothing to do with each other.

Thus Semites are classified not as a result of race, but rather because of their language group having a common origin and the similarity in their culture.

[William Terrell]

The northern kingdom seems to have lacked any form of cohesion unlike the Jews who have a strong cohesion and hence have survived as a community over the millenia. To ask about the northern kingdom is like asking what happened to the Hivites or the Moabites or the Ammonites.

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

[Cronos]

The Turks are still Mongoloids as as the Magyars in Hungary. Just because they don't look alike proves my point that race may not reflect in skin color.

There were 3 million Nubians in the Roman Empire, not in Rome. Yes, they would have spoken Latin. However, the term Indo-European has both racial AND linguistic meanings. And I would differ with you saying that Semites are classified purely on language. The Akkadians took up Sumerian cuneiforms, but they still used the script to write Akkadian, a Semitic language.

[Cronos]

Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. 11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

And I still say that both those points were achieved during Maccabbees

[William Terrell]

And I still say that both those points were achieved during Maccabbees

Up to the time the northern kingdom was captured, the estrangement between Judah and Israel was in force. Then Israel was captured and never heard of again. There hasn't been a opportunity to reconcile.

[Havoc]

lol. No tomatoes ;)

[coconutt2000]

I think that is probably based on the fact that they had a sample for a group, the Cohanim, and that is linked by tradition to Aaron.

In other words, they are working backward.

With Jesus, there is no sample of his genetic code, and no group of descendants or relatives from which to use as a base for genetic study. Plus, if Christ had living relatives today, a study of their genetics would only remain valid if they intermarried among themselves, reinforcing the genetic markers unique to them. Something you can safely say did not happen.

[Havoc]

lol

[missyme]

hmmm.Interesting...Turks? My father is serbian but we all are blond light eyed people, yet we have more of a olive skin tone and almond type shaped eyes and I was told it was because of the mongolians invading and raping the slav women.. There is one Actress on TV I cannot think of her name she is also Slav her mother was married to a Member of Slavic Royalty, anyways she has the same shape eyes as mine.... Who knows are there any Authentic Blond Asian Girls? LOL