Mizoram and Manipur plan to convert to Judaism and leave for Israel which they claim as their home land, BosNewsLife established Monday, April 18. Rabbinical judges are due to arrive in the remote states to formally convert the group to Orthodox Judaism and launch procedures for an ‘aliyah’ or ascent to Israel, news reports said.
The 6,000-strong ‘Bnei Menashe’ or children of Manasseh tribe spread across Mizoram and Manipur states have been officially recognized by Sephardic or oriental chief rabbi Shlomo Amar in Jerusalem after years of wrangling, reported the French News Agency (AFP).
There are about 7,000 tribal people of the Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribe, which claims to be descended from the tribe of Menashe, according to a BosNewsLife investigation. The tribe has long observed Jewish traditions, including keeping mezuzahs or parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah at the entrance to their homes and men wearing a kippa during prayers.
"AUTHENTICALLY ISRAELITE"
Researchers who visited the group over the years confirm their traditions are "authentically Israelite in origin." The decision of Israel has come after a long battle when the Menashe pushed their right to return under Jewish law.
So far an estimated 800 people have immigrated to Israel over the past twelve years. The last batch of 71 tribals left the northeast for Jerusalem in May 2003.
"We do not have words to express our joy," AFP quoted Peer Tlau, a 48-year-old engineer from Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl, as saying. "We are now looking for the day when we can migrate to our Promised Land in Israel."
PRACTICE JUDAISM
However, "the process of migration will be possible only if we are able to read and write Hebrew and practice Judaism in its truest form," Tlau added. "We sang and had good food and also offered special prayers to celebrate the occasion," stressed Elishevah Zodingliani, a journalist in Aizawl.
"Now that the Chief Rabbi has formally recognized us, there should be no problems to migrate to our native land," said Yonathan Ralte, a college student. Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar decided last week to recognize the members of India’s Bnei Menashe community as descendants of the ancient Israelites.
Mizoram is bordered on the east and south by Myanmar, on the west by Bangladesh and Tripura, on the northeast by Manipur, and on the north by Assam. In Mizoram about 87 percent of the nearly 900,000 population is Christian, according to estimates. Manipur, situated in the far northeast has a Christian population of about 34.11 percent, according to government figures.
The Indian church has maintained a neutral stand, although individual religious leaders have opposed formal conversions to Judaism as a precondition for migration to Israel, BosNewsLife learned. Evangelical scholars and Messiah believing Jews argue that the Bible’s New and Old Testament are part of the best Jewish traditions as it claims Jesus Christ was born from a Jewish mother to safe both Jews and non Jews. (Based in New Delhi, Journalist Vishal Arora, 32, has covered persecution and other hard hitting news stories for a variety of international and national publications. He has traveled around the country on invitation by NGOs for seminars and talks on human rights, communalism, and religious persecution. Vishal Arora can be contacted at e-mail address vishalarora_in@hotmail.com or visit his website http://www40.brinkster.com/vishalarora/ )
