235 Indians who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel land in Tel-Aviv to start a new life
Advertisement
Bethany Dawson
Oct 16, 2021, 18:13 IST
New Jewish emigrants from the Bnei Menashe (sons of Manasseh) community in India, hold Israeli flags as they cheer upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel-Aviv.
(Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)
235 people from the Bnei Menashe community arrived in Israel, this week.
The community has lived in a remote corner of India since being exiled in 733 BC.
Advertisement
Two hundred thirty-five people from the Bnei Menashe community, based in India's remote northeastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram, have immigrated to Israel.
The Bnei Menashe, or sons of Manasseh, are supposedly descended from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Biblical Israel sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire starting in 733 BC.
After the exile, the ancestors of the Bnei Menashe community lived in Central Asia and the Far East for centuries before settling along India's border of Burma and Bangladesh.
Throughout their exile, the Bnei Menashe continued to practice Judaism, including observing the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, and following the laws of family purity.
The move is supported by the Minister of Aliyah and Integration Pnina Tamano-Shata and the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization.
"The olim [a Hebrew term for immigrants] who landed this morning join the more than 4,000 Bnei Menashe who already live in Israel and have been integrated into Israel society successfully, and I would like to congratulate each and every one of them for finally returning home," said Michael Freund, chairman of Shavei Israel, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
"We still must not forget that 6,500 members of the community are still waiting in India and longing for the moment when they, too, will be able to come to Israel and it is our duty to do everything we can to make this happen," said Freund.
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.
Jelani Day's brother says his family isn't convinced police found the body of the missing Illinois grad student, and that officials appear to be 'trying to cover up' something
Drug lord Pablo Escobar's herd of 'cocaine hippos' sterilized to stop them wreaking environmental havoc
Kellogg's is getting around organized labor efforts by 'pre-hiring for strike replacement workers' that will 'cross the picket line,' job ad says