After millennia in India, lost tribe returns to Israel

Asia News ^ | 09-30-2006 | Asia News

[Traianus]

30 September, 2006
ISRAEL - INDIA
After millennia in India, lost tribe returns to Israel
The presumed descendents of the Bnei Menashe, one of the 10 lost biblical tribes mentioned in the Bible, are about to leave India after 2,700 years. They will reside in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Tel Aviv (AsiaNews/Agencies) – A group of 218 people from a mountainous area of north-eastern India are about to be welcomed in Israel. These are the presumed descendents of the Bnei Menashe tribe, one of the 10 lost biblical tribes lost after the exodus from the Promised Land, mentioned in the Bible. The news was confirmed yesterday by Israeli government sources. Michael Freund, founder of Shavei Israel [an association assisting "lost Jews" to return to Israel], described this as a “turning point”. He said: "This is a major historical event, because these members of a lost tribe of Israel can return home after 27 centuries.” Members of the tribe have already undergone official conversion in India despite protests – even at diplomatic level – in New Delhi. The rabbis sent to the Indian states of Mizoran and Manipur by Israel's Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, followed the conversions of the tribal people and declared them "descendants of the Jewish people". The tribe has around 7,000 members; 1000 already live in Gaza strip and in settlements in the West Bank. Lawyers who pleaded their cause with the Israeli and Indian governments said the move of the lost Jews “was not a political but a practical decision”. Settlements in those areas, in fact, were the only ones that allocated funds “to help their brothers return to their homeland”. Mizoram is a predominantly Christian state while most of the population of Manipur is Hindu. At the start of the twentieth century, tribal members converted to Christianity. “A vast majority of the people do not know Hebrew although many of them are now learning the language. The rites officiated are however like the one practiced in Israel,” said Zaitthangchungi, a local researcher and author of a book ‘Israel Mizo Identity’.

[lilylangtree]

Bnei Menashe--translation anyone?

[GBA]

Are there any prophesies regarding any of the 10 lost tribes, their return to Israel or anything like that?

[litehaus]

How bout some DNA?

[bnelson44]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnei_Menashe

[EUPHORIC]

Tick... Tick... Tick...

[Reaganesque]

It refers to the tribe of Menasseh, son of Joseph, according to them anyway.

[pipecorp]

Numbers 1:10

[Dan(9698)]

There is a reference in Isaiah (the Old Testament) to the return of tribes.

There is a reference in James 1:1 (New Testament) addressed to the scattered tribes.

I am sure there are others.

[GoforBroke]

They may be decendents but not a complete accounting of the lsot tribes.


Israel is still lost?

If you believe Leviticus 26, the promise of God linked with the curse of God,
that once his people entered the Promised Land and disobeyed Him he would
punish them seven times; seven times three hundred sixty or twenty-five
hundred and twenty years. In 721 BC history records the fall of Israel to
the Assyrian king. By my count, if we add 2520 years of hidden truth, it
brings us to 1800. You have to adjust that year as you go from 1 BC to 1
AD, which is not two years, but one. From 721 BC to 1800 is twenty-five
undred and twenty years. The seven times punishment of lost identity was
destined to end in the year. Sometime between 1774 and 1793 Sonnini,
traveling in the Middle East, discovered the manuscript in the Archives of
Constantinople. It was published and translated into English sometime late
in 1799, available at the earliest about 1800. If this manuscript had been
allowed to circulate, the certain declaration of God through the prophet
Hosea that the lost tribes would be lost, be known as not having obtained
mercy, scattered, known not as God's people, the hiding and losing of these
people until the appointed time, would have been forfeited. Their cover
would have been blown because, "he had a long time proposed to journey
thitherward, and was minded also to go from thence to Britain."

[pipecorp]

and lo, the tribe of manasseh, of the children of joseph shall walk with the indians,who being also lost, shall be aptly named wheretheheckarewe.

agarn 2:17

[verbal voter]

Great post!

[Reily]

A likelier explanation of all these 'lost tribes' Jews (And this is a stretch!) is that they are descendent's of the Turkic Khazars. Around the 7th-8th century AD the Khazar Empire occupied much of present day Russia, Caspian to the Urals at least, maybe further! They adopted Judaism as their state religion. The empire fell and the people were scattered, some ended up studying under rabbis in Toledo, others were absorbed in the Jewish population of central Europe & the Byzantine Empire. Since many ended up in the far west of the Eurasia continent, its not unbelievable that they could have ended up in the far east also.
The Assyrians were just too brutal to believe that any of the 10 tribes could have survived. Also I am not sure that anyone actually knows enough about how Judaism actually functioned on the common people level, so using cultural markers to say 'yes these are lost tribe descendants' seems inadequate. The Old Testament gives us a very limited set of snap shots. Archeology isn't much help either.
The question that needs to be answered is whether the Ashkenazi Y-Chromosome is present. The article didn't say whether that was tested for. Hey it would be great if it turns out that they are !

[D Rider]

Funny thing is, there were never any lost tribes. After the split between Israel and Judah, those from Judah that wanted to join Israelite pagan worship moved to Israel, those in Israel that wanted to worship at the temple and practice Judaism moved to Judah. All the tribes were accounted for in Judah, so none were lost when Israel went into captivity and was dispersed.

[dighton]

Found!

Never mind . . .

[GoDuke]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Sometimes if people would just read what the bible actually says, some of these myths would be cleared up.

[bpjam]

If you see video of these people in India, it would be incredibly obvious that they were Jews. Even though they look like all the other Indians, they are carrying on practices that are all traditionally from Judaism and yet they don't know how they got to where they are and nobody around them does anything remotely similar to them religiously or culturally. There are a few of these tribes found around the world and its kinda freaky looking.

[Sherri-D]

The tribes weren't Joseph's sons, but his brothers.

[shield]

bttt

[hnj_00]

correct...the 12 tribes descended from the 12 sons of Jacob!!!