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.
why are you leaving FR?
Thanks for stepping up and clarifying my answer, Alouette.
Oh I'm not..Just giving one FReeper wishful thinking about me...
Hey do you know how I can post a picture?
Ancient hebrew and Samaritan Hebrew have different shapes for the letters, but the sounds are basically the same. http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/4_chart.html
LOL...You have no idea what I look like or how smart I am the only thing you know is that I am a bad typist....
Obviously you like my Threads.....
LOL!!! WOW! Emails about me too!
I could walk, talk and Sing in front of everyone on Free Republic and no-one not one would know that I was Misssyme! yet somehow you think you and your long standing freepers know all about me...
I will not waste another minute more on you, so you're (note: not "your") welcome to have the last word.
Goodbye Sweetness....You have overwhelmed me with your Charm, now it's time to say our Farewells.....
PLease let me know if I should dis-continue my membership with Free Republic as Freeper Missyme.
When I found FR while surfing the Internet I read many of the threads and replies before I decided to freep with others, I thought were nice and had some interesting opinions about current events, religion and other controversial topics. Since July of last year I have posted over 300 threads with over 4000 replies....
Since I have been on FR I have never insulted anyone nor have I tried to be a jerk, but lately I have taken some hard hits from some of these people on FR because WHY? spelling? grammar? that's BS it's attack on my character a person they know nothing about.... I let some people on this thread back me into a corner and instead of speaking about the thread I posted I let the attacks consume my energy with rage and anger...
If I am pissing people off to the point that they want to insult me at every given opportunity then maybe I should leave. I don't take this kind of crap from people I know let alone people who have never laid eyes on me or have talked to me in person.
My name is Susanne maybe some people should realize their is a real live person behind the computer screen, rather than just some silly name they think has no identity.
Thanks for listening...
thanks Lew.
go to search on this site and type in HTML sandbox...it's all there.
Your image will have to be posted to the web and you can then use that url for the posting here. You cannot post directly from "my documents" on your pc.
Thanks for your reply and assistance I won't be needing to post any pictures, I was going to post some really cute pictures with me and my Kitty Zorro, anyways I just wanted to respond to your reply, trying to say my goodbye's to Freepers this evening...I never realized how much I was despised on FR but Pharmboy revealed the truth to me tonite how people feel about me...Anyways....Thank You for your posts...Susanne
Actually there was an alphabet prior to what you call the Aramaic alphabet. It was similar to ancient Phoenician or today's Hebrew script. The "Aramaic" alphabet was brought into the Hebrew language after the Babylonian Captivity.
It is not paramount. Ruth was from Moab and married Boaz. Their grandson was King David. Prophecy states that the Messiah would come from David's line(patrilineally).
They were before the Flood. Shem was the son of Noah, and the father of the Semites. It was post diluvian, and after Adam.
There was a genetic study awhile back suggesting genetic links between Jews and Kurds.
LostTribe and #3fan have been banned -- for being racist. They kept referring to some "Church" of the Sons of YHWH which is a nutty white supremacist "church" that states all the usual idiotic rubbish like Jews being descended from Edom and Russia being descended fromEdom and Germans from Assyrians and the "pure" English race being descended from the lost tribes and the kings of England being descended from David (yeah, it does get very convoluted). Absolute balderdash.
I mean that the "tribes" no logner exist -- the people were dispersed among a myriad number of peoples -- mostly middle eaterners, secondly Mediterraneans and Iranis and Indians and lastly Northern Europeans and Orientals and native Americans.
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