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‘Yerushala34ni’ over and over.
Unlike the part of the tribe which lives in Manipur, these people have no fears about expressing their beliefs publicly. They have public singing of Jewish songs, There are Torah lectures, including a review of the portion of the week, and discussions about Israel. The people in this region lately have been sending their children tn live in the Jewish communities in western India, so that they can properly study Judaism.
The people of Menasheh have Oriental features, which must misc a caution flag concerning their heritage. We know that the people of Israel in ancient times were Caucasian.
as Jews. Interestingly, while the insistence by some rabbis for a conversion by the Ethiopian Jews was met by resistance, the Indian Jews have been very cooperative in this respect
The traditions of the Menasheh tribe ring eerily — Jewish. yet not Jewish. In their tradition, each village had a priest who was titled Aharon. The priesthood was hereditaty. The priest wore special garments when he performed the sacrificial service. In cases of illness the priest slaughtered a sheep or goat and spread its blood on the ears. hack. and legs of the sick person. To atone for sins a goat was slaughtered on an altar in the
any instance would hc punished by excommunication. The dead are buried in a grave:
they are not cremated, as is the custom among neighboring groups. Women and men move in separate circles, and sit separately in the synagogue.
The tribe of Ephraim is quite different from its Manassite counterpart. For starters. the people of Ephmim live a very rural life. Thcy are primarily farmers, and live in thatched huts made of clay
Their features are Indian/Caucasian rather than Oriental. Re2ardless of the differences. they displaed a similar warmth to the visitors. We were Qreeted as long-separated brothers. enthuses Yonah. Again the plea came to find a way to et them to IsraeL’ These men and women are dedicated to understandinu and upholding Jewish law:
t among other things they strive to keep the Sabbath and the L.aws of Family Purity.
The Ephraimite society is truly a picture of life in another ceinurv. Yonah was asked
by one young man. who was soon to be marfled. to accompan him home. The groom
showed his vishot- a ditch from where he had taken mud to build the house, in fulfillment of a tribal tradinom
Rabbi Avichail refused to discuss the Ephraim tribe at all, declining even to identi13, the precise rei ion ‘here they live. I-Ic cited concerns for their salem. In a letter ‘nitten to Ely Yonah after his visit the leader of the tribe pleaded for innciaJ assistance and for help in making alivak tnii e get opportunity by the Hashein fur r,iiinz aJMh, went his broken Enelisl-.. ‘e need ‘our kind
One cannot change races simply by living in a particular region. Therefore, even if these people do descend from Menasheh. there was intermarriage between them and the native population. This of course raises grave questions concerning their Jewishness. Coupled with the fact that they have been cut off from the main body of Jewiy for centuries, it is perfectly reasonable that rabbinic authorities have insisted they undergo a halachic conversion before we accept them
Temple which they built In cases of leprosy, a bird was slaughtered in the field.
Bnc rn//oh was not kept. but the priest blessed infant sons on the eighth day after their birth. The firstborn inherited his parents but was responsible to provide for the rest of the family The practice of yibbum was kept when a husband died. leaving his widow childless, his brother married her, and their child was named after the deceased.
There is no incest in the community, and
cooperation for our poor peov4C He also called on Jews to please as the (3-d of Abraham and G-d of Isaac and the d of Jacob” on behalf of his community.
It is words such as these that tear at Yonah’s hen drawing much o4’his attention these days. He cannot entertain the idea that these lovers of Zion should o unaided
Rabbi Avichail has personal doubts about the Jewish origins of the Indian tribes. He calculates that there is a thirty percent chance’ they truly have Jewish roots. Md yet he points out: “The missionaries found that these people had a knowledge of Biblical events despite the fact that they had not had contact with Christianity. They also had a song about the Exodus from Egypt and about drinking water from the well.’ According to Avichail. 5/MO of the one million Mizoramites consider themselves Jewish. Whatever the historical truth. Avichail is dedicated to helping those who
truly seek affiliation itr the Jewish people. — I had always dreamed about neiTij’thr
E/r Yonah v nen’fiiends in the tithe of Menus/ic/i sweep him ofhlrfeet at a me/arch ma/ku/i The joyous ce/ebrat/on ofJudaism Era siw of the com,nun/1rs ,r/iØous commitment
‘Yerushala34ni’ over and over.
Unlike the part of the tribe which lives in Manipur, these people have no fears about expressing their beliefs publicly. They have public singing of Jewish songs, There are Torah lectures, including a review of the portion of the week, and discussions about Israel. The people in this region lately have been sending their children tn live in the Jewish communities in western India, so that they can properly study Judaism.
The people of Menasheh have Oriental features, which must misc a caution flag concerning their heritage. We know that the people of Israel in ancient times were Caucasian.
as Jews. Interestingly, while the insistence by some rabbis for a conversion by the Ethiopian Jews was met by resistance, the Indian Jews have been very cooperative in this respect
The traditions of the Menasheh tribe ring eerily — Jewish. yet not Jewish. In their tradition, each village had a priest who was titled Aharon. The priesthood was hereditaty. The priest wore special garments when he performed the sacrificial service. In cases of illness the priest slaughtered a sheep or goat and spread its blood on the ears. hack. and legs of the sick person. To atone for sins a goat was slaughtered on an altar in the
any instance would hc punished by excommunication. The dead are buried in a grave:
they are not cremated, as is the custom among neighboring groups. Women and men move in separate circles, and sit separately in the synagogue.
The tribe of Ephraim is quite different from its Manassite counterpart. For starters. the people of Ephmim live a very rural life. Thcy are primarily farmers, and live in thatched huts made of clay
Their features are Indian/Caucasian rather than Oriental. Re2ardless of the differences. they displaed a similar warmth to the visitors. We were Qreeted as long-separated brothers. enthuses Yonah. Again the plea came to find a way to et them to IsraeL’ These men and women are dedicated to understandinu and upholding Jewish law:
t among other things they strive to keep the Sabbath and the L.aws of Family Purity.
The Ephraimite society is truly a picture of life in another ceinurv. Yonah was asked
by one young man. who was soon to be marfled. to accompan him home. The groom
showed his vishot- a ditch from where he had taken mud to build the house, in fulfillment of a tribal tradinom
Rabbi Avichail refused to discuss the Ephraim tribe at all, declining even to identi13, the precise rei ion ‘here they live. I-Ic cited concerns for their salem. In a letter ‘nitten to Ely Yonah after his visit the leader of the tribe pleaded for innciaJ assistance and for help in making alivak tnii e get opportunity by the Hashein fur r,iiinz aJMh, went his broken Enelisl-.. ‘e need ‘our kind
One cannot change races simply by living in a particular region. Therefore, even if these people do descend from Menasheh. there was intermarriage between them and the native population. This of course raises grave questions concerning their Jewishness. Coupled with the fact that they have been cut off from the main body of Jewiy for centuries, it is perfectly reasonable that rabbinic authorities have insisted they undergo a halachic conversion before we accept them
Temple which they built In cases of leprosy, a bird was slaughtered in the field.
Bnc rn//oh was not kept. but the priest blessed infant sons on the eighth day after their birth. The firstborn inherited his parents but was responsible to provide for the rest of the family The practice of yibbum was kept when a husband died. leaving his widow childless, his brother married her, and their child was named after the deceased.
There is no incest in the community, and
cooperation for our poor peov4C He also called on Jews to please as the (3-d of Abraham and G-d of Isaac and the d of Jacob” on behalf of his community.
It is words such as these that tear at Yonah’s hen drawing much o4’his attention these days. He cannot entertain the idea that these lovers of Zion should o unaided
Rabbi Avichail has personal doubts about the Jewish origins of the Indian tribes. He calculates that there is a thirty percent chance’ they truly have Jewish roots. Md yet he points out: “The missionaries found that these people had a knowledge of Biblical events despite the fact that they had not had contact with Christianity. They also had a song about the Exodus from Egypt and about drinking water from the well.’ According to Avichail. 5/MO of the one million Mizoramites consider themselves Jewish. Whatever the historical truth. Avichail is dedicated to helping those who
truly seek affiliation itr the Jewish people. — I had always dreamed about neiTij’thr
E/r Yonah v nen’fiiends in the tithe of Menus/ic/i sweep him ofhlrfeet at a me/arch ma/ku/i The joyous ce/ebrat/on ofJudaism Era siw of the com,nun/1rs ,r/iØous commitment
Ten Tribes.” Yonah says. 1 believed I would find them studying Torah day and night.” This did not turn out to be the case, but Yonah understands. Afler all these tribes
went through. its a wonder that anything of their heritage was preserved. ifs our task to help them return to the traditions of their forefathers”
While Yonah also entertained doubts about the origins of the tribes at first — believing that perhaps they were mistaken about their idemity — after meeting them and seeing their yearning for Israel, he is convinced we have found a lost treasure.
the political, social, and economic repercussions of the Indian claim are enormous. The State of Israel guarantees citizenship to all Jews around the world. Under the Law of Return. a Jew may enter Israel and receive citizenship on demand. I-Tow would the state cope with up to one million citizens from a region not acclimated to modernity?
This question has already arisen in government circles. Even among left-wing politicians there has been talk of amending to the Law of Return to allow only native Jews or those converted in accordance with halachah to enter Israel automatically. However, this would do no good, because the Menasheh and Ephraim tribes are willing to convert properly.
Socially. a massive influx would necessitate israelis becoming used to yet another culture. In the case of the Ethiopians, a relatively small number was involved:
here the population of the state would explode. Md the Indians would have to adjust to 20-century life in a very modern society. Economically. Israel would be pressed to find employment for people quite willing to do their
- --
share to build up the land. The influx of Russians several years ago strained the economy, unemployment continues to be a ehallenge.
Ely Yonah is outraged at the thought that these children of Menasheh and Ephraim. our brothers. might be rejected by elements of the Israeli political establishment. I-Ic notes that Yitzchak Bcn-Zvi, lsraels second president spent a great deal of time searching for the Ten Tribes. Yonah believes that the picture of an Oriental people populating Israel disturbs the left, and some others as well. The tribes do not present the post-modem Jew that secular Zionism has tried desperately to develop.
The Talmud records a debate conceming the eventual return of the Ten Tribes. Rabbi Eliezer says that the tribes will one day return, while Rabbi Aidva disagrees. Perhaps both are correct. if these Indians are indeed descendants of Ephraim and Menasheh. then they have returned. But they have also been cut ofT from normative Judaism for thousands of years. in a sense, they have been lost forever for the most part their Judaism must be learned anew.
Eli Yonah stands firm in his resolve to help his new friends. “The people of Ephraim and Menasheh can only benefit the Jewish nation,” he concludes. “There is nothing negative about them. To the contraty, they are full of love for their fellow men.”•
S/i/mon Ioa, who mid/ed in Israel and has returned to teach She ret Menashelt nan/v tO take all his people back to the JJo4 Isnd Here he is at home n/tb his ,i’ and bahj:
Eli Ifrnandet aftee-lance wntet lives /t, Aijir Th,t
/
0M
INDIA
—
The in/ic of :I-Jenasheh is found fit the states of Man/par and AI&’omttt The Ep/ira/in tribe s whereabouts cannot be discloset4 bitt ft Ic Ia ward the .coitth of/nd/a
ADARII 5755/MARCH ?995 21
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