A Lost Tribe in India Makes Its Exodus to Israel The B’nei Menashe believe they are the children of Manasseh, a king of Judah exiled about 2,800 years ago

New York Times ^ | 23rd April 2026 | Hari Kumar and Alex Travelli Visuals by Atul Loke

[Cronos]

the B’nei Menashe can be found in a far corner of India,..

For generations, they have been teaching their children how their ancestors wandered to find refuge in the jungle.

“We have faith in the Torah,” said Mr. Ngamthenlal, his face framed by the sidelocks worn by some Orthodox Jewish men. An aliyah, or homecoming, is finally in their sights. “We have good faith in the Israeli government. They promised that all the B'nei Menashe will go to Israel by 2030,” he said. “We all have our passports ready.”

Nearly half the community has already moved to Israel, piecemeal, since the 1990s. But on Thursday, with Operation ‘Wings of Dawn,’ Israel itself will fly about 250 more of the Menashe, via Delhi, to Tel Aviv. The rest are to follow soon after.

Some of the earliest groups made their homes in places like Hebron in the West Bank and in Israeli settlements in Gaza, before 2005. In November last year, the Israeli government agreed to help the remaining 5,800 immigrate en masse, including 1,200 this year, and is covering some of the cost.

In Manipur, the Menashe are classified as a Kuki people. The languages they speak belong to the Tibetan-Burmese family and conventional anthropology traces their roots back to what is now Chinese territory. Most Kukis first converted to Christianity early in the 20th century, under the influence of American missionaries.

in the 1970s that a couple of Israeli anthropologists visited northeastern India and observed that some of their pre-Christian customs resembled Judaic practices. The Kuki chants had a familiar music, their folk tales seemed to recall the escape from Egypt and, in times of calamity like earthquakes, they called out a local phrase that sounded like “Manasseh!” That was how they came to be regarded as the Menashe.

---

TOPICS: General Discusssion; Judaism
KEYWORDS:

[Cronos]

[DIRTYSECRET]

We should do the same for South Afrikan farmers, all 143k of them. Put them in Pennsylvania and turn the state red.

[MarlonRando]

the Ethiopian Jews, who are about 2% of Israel’s population still face “integration challenges.” I suspect these guys would face the same challenges.

[struggle]

I encourage all Indians to shift immigration to their true home of Israel. You will be welcomed.

[TexasFreeper2009]

DNA could prove this easily if true.

[Vaduz]

A Lost Tribe in India

Sounds like the Fukarewe tribe found a mecca to invade.

[SunkenCiv]

Quest For The Lost Tribes [1998]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJUQOZIE_oE

[nitzy]

I have been told that suggesting someone take a DNA test to prove Jewish ancestry is very mean and anti-semitic.

[OldHarbor]

When they exiled someone back in the day they didn’t mess around .

DNA might be interesting .

[Jan_Sobieski]

the Ethiopian Jews, who are about 2% of Israel’s population still face “integration challenges.” I suspect these guys would face the same challenges.

It has a lot to do with work ethic. Typical Israelis work continuously, not sit around drinking tea most days.

[Cronos]

A 2003 study conducted by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology examined 350 genetic samples from the Bnei Menashe and found no evidence of Middle Eastern or Jewish origin in their male lineage.

The Kukis were converted from their animistic religions by mainly Baptist preachers who may have had the Anglo-israeliism ideas.

[Cronos]

jan “it has a lot to do with work ethic”

that isn’t true - what you, Jan, said is not supported by Israeli labor statistics or economic research. Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the Ministry of Labor shows that the integration challenges are tied to structural and historical factors rather than a lack of “work ethic.”

Ethiopian Israelis actually have a very high labor market participation rate, often reaching 80% or higher for men, which is comparable to the general Jewish population.

The primary issue is the “working poor” phenomenon. Most Ethiopian Israelis work in low-wage service sectors (security, cleaning, manual labor). They are working, but the jobs they hold do not provide a path out of poverty.

Younger Ethiopian Israelis, who were born or raised in Israel, are moving into high-tech, medicine, and law, though they still face “glass ceilings” and hiring bias compared to their peers.

Jan - where did you get your “it has a lot to do with work ethic”??

[Cronos]

I looked up your “Israelis work continuously,”

They do indeed work some of the longest hours in the industrialized world, but their productivity is 24% lower than the OECD average.

Israelis work approximately 1,898 hours per year. For context, the OECD average is typically around 1,716 to 1,753 hours

But their hourly labor productivity (GDP per hour worked) is about 24% lower than the OECD average.
https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/pr/snr-2025-labor/

https://boi.org.il/en/communication-and-publications/press-releases/labor-productivity-in-israel-from-an-international-perspective/

It may be a combination of high cost of living, a need to also be military reserve and also the standard Japanese “hiroshi” i.e. you can’t leave before the boss or it looks bad

I do work with some and they are good, but I haven’t noted them being noticeably on average great. No red flags but then no “I must work with them” - well quite frankly I haven’t seen any “ethnicity” that I would club into the “I must work with them” — I;ve known individuals from lots of ethnicities including those considered “lazy” who were exceptional or brilliant, but these are individuals

[Jan_Sobieski]

Go to Israel and see for yourself

[sonrise57]

I have a friend who is a member of the Kuki (AKA Chin) tribe in Manipur as well as Northern Bangladesh and Myanmar. They were Christianized as a people group in late 1800s. This conversation about whether they are the lost tribe of Israel has been going on a long time. The majority of the tribe think it is poppycock.

[Zhang Fei]

[DNA could prove this easily if true.]

---

Very likely is. The Turkic ruling families of the Ottoman and Persian empires (including the Shah) were described, a millennium ago, as having flat noses and slanty eyes. The Huns and Hungarian Magyars were described similarly. Charles Bronson’s roots were part Lipka Tatar (e.g. Mongol). Bottom line is that migrants tend to run out of in-group people they can safely have children with, so pair up with locals. Over centuries, they end up looking like the local population.

Keanu Reeves is 1/4 non-white, but most pretty much see him as 100% white. If he had kids with white women, and this went on for a few generations, no one could pick out the Oriental admixture even a couple of generations on, let alone centuries. The average Turk today is maybe 20% Turkic, majority Greek.

[No name given]

Pronto.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading in Kipling and other English authors how they believed the Afghanistan people were probably one of the ten Lost Tribes due to circumcising their male children 8 days after birth.

[neverevergiveup]

A significant number of us work over 4000 hours / year.

[thinden]

HAR!

GOOD IDEA