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.
That all depends......do you live in Chicago? :-)
It's fun to speculate about...at least. LOL
LOL
:-)
indeed....what about the FEC complaint?
wow...not very studly.
Where were you born? HOw many Generations can you go back to Iraq and Turkey?
HUNH?
Genesis 12:5 mentions the migration of Abraham and his wife Sarai from their native Haran, together with their household and "the souls which they made." Since Abraham and Sarai were childless, "the souls which they made" refers to the people in Haran whom Abraham and Sarai converted to the worship of One G-D rather than a multitude of idols.
The Book of Ruth is the story of a Moabite woman (Ruth) who left her native land (after her Jewish husband died) to migrate to Israel with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, and declared "your people shall be my people, and your G-D my G-D." For her unselfish dedication to the G-D of Naomi and Israel, Ruth was rewarded that her descendant was David, King of Israel.
Judah is a subset of Israel. They will ultimately reunite in G-D's time.
Are you still pinch-hitting for the banned monomaniac FReeper "LostTribe"?
not that I question your nubers, but I cannot find info on the Jewish population which does not include converts. If ou could reccomend a site.......
Can you type without looking at they keyboard? I can to a point but not when it comes to numbers or abbreviations
therefore I type words that are easiest for me to typw without having to look down like spelling your instead of your'e. Point is so what?????? we are discussing a thread not giving typing lessons, if you are offering a typing class let me know the times and dates so I can enroll.
Now in regards to Kittys and humor, I have a Kitty that is Bonnie Bitchen (Zorro) and I have a great sense of humor that is why I am able to banter with FR ding dongs. Not saying your one of them....
I like to post interesting threads mainly on religion and animals..I really kinda hate politics....I am not intimidated easily must be my strong genes of Viking Blood..
Judah is a subset of Israel. They will ultimately reunite in G-D's time.
I totally agree with you on that 100%...
I do have a question for you on race and the bible. Would you consider by biblical knowledge Adam and Eve to be Semitic?
Sorry for all the typos should of loooked! dang!
I think I know what she means...and I was an anthro major in school. But thanks.
Nice to see you again....Did you have enough rest?
Interesting topic and discussion. Thanks for the ping.
There is a military point to this that bears looking at.
Israel is surrounded by hostile neighbors who number approximately 250-275 million, IIRC. Israel numbers about 6 million.
Israel has kept a military edge for two reasons:
1) G-ds promises and protection ( big reason)
2) Israels reliance on technology and innovation to bridge the lack of strategic depth ( read-population difference).
Israel has won every war with their Arab neighbors by using technology and innovation in the inital phases of the wars to keep combat operations on enemy territory as much as they can so they could mobilize their reserves and put the rest of the military in play. Once the Israeli military is mobilized, they are fully capable of defending Israel. The problem is mobilizing them and standing them up for combat operations in a short time period.
If we examine the draft elgible pool in all combined Arab nations who hate Israel, and use the standard 10 percent ratio, we see the Arabs could field an army of 25-17 million, and the Israelis a maximum of 2 million, which could be increased a little by relaxing enlistment requirements in order to maximize troop strength.
This boils down to a basic problem the nation of Israel will have to face in order to survive another catastrophic war: Lack of strategic depth.
In order to fix that problem, there are three solutions:
1) Increase your available manpower pool
2) Develop a naval presence to allow you the ability to project power from offshore and away from fixed bases. In a word: carriers, amphibious forces, and naval airpower.
3) Strategic bombing from remote bases in forward deployed areas outside of Israel ( B-52's from offshore bases).
Whether a person is Jewish or not, that population difference and the geographical disadvantage Israel faces if they abandon the "West Bank" is a big reason in itself to support immigration to Israel of any desirable population who are committed to the survival of the nation of Israel.
"Whether a person is Jewish or not, that population difference and the geographical disadvantage Israel faces if they abandon the "West Bank" is a big reason in itself to support immigration to Israel of any desirable population who are committed to the survival of the nation of Israel."
Very true. Israel needs all the immigrants they can get, as long as they arent russian prostitutes.
:Quote:
"Israel needs all the immigrants they can get, as long as they arent russian prostitutes."
:End Quote:
Your quote cracked me up!
I would add socialists, deadbeats, and the usual suspects to that list as well, from anywhere in the world.
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