The history of the Jews in India reaches back to ancient times. Among those Jews there is an interesting group, the Kuki-Chin-Mizo tribe that identify themselves as Jews.
According to their tradition, they are descendants of the tribe of Manasseh that was conquered by the Assyrians, that is why they are called Bnei Menashe (Sons of Manasseh). While in China during 3rd. century, they suffered mistreatment and persecution, their “Holy Book” was stolen and since them their tradition was transmitted orally. Later, they reached a mountainous region at the Himalayas, and finally reached their present location, the state of Manipur in northeast India.
In 2005 the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel (Shlomo Amar) announced that he regarded their claim to be true, which under the Law of Return allows them to emigrate to Israel as long as they formally convert to Judaism.
There are many prophecies in the bible about the Gathering of the Exiles of Israel.
Jeremiah 29:14 - “ I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive. ”
The Lord, in fulfillment of Bible prophecy, continues today to draw his people home to the Holy Land. Every year, Jewish people around the world are returning to their biblical homeland. Back when it was recreated in 1948, there were 806,000 residents living in the Holy Land, about 82% or 661,000 were Jewish.
The State of Israel is now 72 years old and has an estimated population of nearly 8.8 million. Almost 75% or about 6,556,000 are Jews. Nearly half of the world’s estimated 15 million Jews live in Israel.
We from SHALOM ISRAEL & L.I.F.T. together with Michael Freund, chairman and founder of SHAVEI ISRAEL brought hundreds of Bnei Menashe that are already living in Israel.
We are happy to share the achievements of the young woman Yaara Namte from the Bnei Menashe community, who made aliyah to Israel in 2014 at age 14.
On February 10, the President Reuven Rivlin, in a festive ceremony at his residence in Jerusalem, presented her with a special recognition award for young people’s contribution to education and community.
The prize was exceptional not just for what she was honored, but because she had been an activist in the ‘Oz’ youth movement for only a couple of months.
Attending the event were numerous youths from various organizations and youth movements, as well as KKL-JNF representatives led by KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar.
Even as young children, the Bnei Menashe grow up with the knowledge that their parents plan to bring them to Israel one day and this is what they hope and dream for.
Yaara’s family settled in Nof Hagalil in the Galilee region. Despite the many challenges, Yaara acclimated to the new culture and different lifestyle.
She decided to give back from her own experience through the ‘Oz’ youth movement and has made a big difference in a very short time.