|
Wednesday Nov 26, 2008
Ten Lost Tribes Challenge - India: Benny the editor
Posted by Amir Mizroch
Comments: 1
    
CHURACHANDAPUR, Manipur - This dusty, smoky and dark town is much smaller and quieter than Imphal, the capital of the North Eastern Indian state of Manipur, but it has a jewel in its crown - a colorful monthly magazine called Cholla, Hindi for 'get a move on' [identical to the Arab 'yalla']. The magazine is bilingual - English and Hindi, and features stories and informative articles about life in Manipur and the region, news about the Kuki tribal people, international news, sports, entertainment and a personals section called Heart To Heart [with a logo of cupid's arrow through a heart]. It also features stories and news about the Bnei Menashe communities in Manipur, especially when someone is given permission to make aliyah. And it's all run single-handedly by a Bnei Menashe Judaism-practicing Kuki called Bennny Khongsai.
PHOTO: Israel Weiss Photography weisssi@bezeqint.net
Benny left Christianity and started practicing Judaism in 1991 when he was 30. Since the late 90s he's been waiting to make aliyah, but he's had no luck, mainly because until recently he hasn't had any family members that have already settled in Israel. Benny is the Cholla's publisher, editor-in-chief, news editor, opinions editor, its only writer, copy editor, layout editor, and photographer. He also edits the letters to the editor section, his favorite. His long-time assistant editor just made aliyah, so he's a little short-handed right now. The magazine, just smaller than A4 size, has 26 pages and no advertising, so he has to work really hard to fill the pages. Since there are no ads, the magazine makes its money through subscriptions sales [a one-year subscription costs you Rupees 180, about US $4]. The September issue had as its cover story the Indian government's ceasefire agreement with local insurgents after months of terror attacks and reprisals. The cover story for the December issue is going to be a little lighter: the launch of the first round of the Kuki Idol 2008 competition, based on the American Idol model. Out of 560 applicants, 320 members of the Kuki [read Bnei Menashe] have been selected to take part in the televised competition. Benny is getting the inside scoop for his magazine because he's also a judge in the competition. Kuki Idol 2008, to be televised around NE India, is going to feature quite prominently in the Cholla in the coming months. But Benny's talents don't stop at single-handedly putting together a magazine. He's also a videographer and films weddings, celebrations and other functions, and he edits the videos on his home system. He's also a silkworm growing consultant to the government's Sericulture Ministry, and a singer who has already cut a disk. Talk about talent. He's a husband and father of one teenage boy and two little girls. He tries to keep a Jewish lifestyle as much as possible, even turning down work on Saturdays, but keeping to Judaism's 613 mitzvot is no easy task out in a small shanty town in the remote North East Indian state of Manipur. He's accepted Judaism as his faith, and if he really devout, and lucky, he might just get picked to make aliya, convert, and become an Israeli citizen. If and when he makes aliyah he'll leave all of his possessions here, in his rented home. The Bnei Menashe, unlike other immigrants to Israel who come under the Law of Return, are not given the right to bring all of their belongings in a container, tax free. The Bnei Menashe arrive in Israel on tourist visas. They then undergo a conversion process, after which they become citizens. The conversion process can last anywhere between 6 months to over two years, depending on how well the convert has learned Jewish customs and laws. That's a long time to keep on paying rent for homes back in India, or storage rent for belongings for these people, who don't have that kind of money. So they'll leave everything they own in India and come to Israel like the very first immigrants after the Holocaust did, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a few personal possessions.
PHOTO: Israel Weiss Photography weisssi@bezeqint.net
Benny tells us about a Bnei Menashe family that got to Israel, converted, made aliyah and was then sent back to India by rabbis [he can't name them] after the family expressed interest in moving to America. Benny says the family neglected their Judaism too much and that this is why Israel "vomited them out." Besides being a fascinating personal story [if it's true], it raises an interesting question: once the Bnei Menashe have converted and turned into citizens, do rabbis [or anyone else for that matter] have the right to send them back to India, to "vomit them out." If they're citizens now, then they're no different than any other Israeli - and I don't know of any rabbi, judge, or government official who has the legal authority to deport someone back to their native country, unless there is a serious criminal side to the story. What I suspect happened here [thanks to information from Israel Weiss] is that this family underwent conversion and was sent back before they received their citizenship. It turns out that there is probationary period between the successful conversion and getting your ID and becoming a citizen. During this time the rabbis watch the Bnei Menashe to see if they are adhering to an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. If they are judged to have strayed from the path, they can be sent back to India. Exactly who makes this decision and what the criteria are remain a mystery to me at this stage. But if the Bnei Menashe fail to live up to the rabbis' expectations and are sent back, what happens to them then? Are they taken back into the Shavei Israel fold and their faith 'strengthened'? Or are they thrown out of the system completely? And how strict are these rabbis? How many 'strikes' is a Bnei Menashe allowed before he/ she is judged to be out? Do these people [these 'rejects'] integrate back into the wider Judaism-practicing Bnei Menashe system back in India, even though they have already undergone conversion? And since they are now bona fide Jews, can they be expected to try and live an Orthodox life back in India, where, even if they wanted to, they would find it much harder? And if they really are Jews now, and they find Israel not to their liking - like many Jews in the world do - what's the problem with letting them decide where they want to go and live as Jews? Benny says he's never considered living anywhere else but Israel, but I think he's telling us this because he's inside the application process and doesn't want to 'get off message'. I think he knows more about Israel than most Bnei Menashe I've met, but it still is very little. Because he has a niece in Israel now [she married an Israeli] he knows that Efrat [where Israel the photographer is from] is on the way to Kiryat Arba, where there is a Bnei Menashe community. He knows that Efrat is also a very 'long' settlement [Israel says it's shaped like a banana]. I ask Benny what Shavei Israel has promised him. "That they will get us to Israel," he answers. Benny says Shavei Israel, run by Michael Freund, has told them that the reason the government of Israel is delaying their aliyah is because of a few members of the Knesset who are opposed to their aliyah because they say the Bnei Menashe are not Jewish. Former Interior Minister Avraham Poraz was one of these members of Knesset, Benny says. Because of this opposition the Knesset cannot pass a law to speed up Bnei Menashe aliyah, he says. He's heard of the name Meir Sheetrit, the current interior minister, but is not aware of his stance on the issue. Last year, Sheetrit told Jerusalem Post reporters Ruth Eglash and Dan Izenberg that if it were up to him, he would close the door not only on the Bnei Menashe, but the entire issue of those claiming to be descendants of the ten lost tribes. They're not Jewish, Sheetrit said back then. From my conversations with Sheetrit's advisors before I came on this trip, I did not get the impression that the minister's position has changed. Still, Benny, like many of the Bnei Menashe here, are hopeful that the Israeli government will let them in soon. They have no real clue about what's going on in the corridors of the Knesset, the Interior Ministry, the Chief Rabbinate, the Absorption Ministry, and even the Jewish Agency and Shavei Israel. All these groups are pulling in one direction or another, and I'm not sure a resolution is going to be found in the very near future. Israel and I go back to visit Benny again after the Sabbath comes out so that Israel can take photographs. We speak some more and Benny shows us around his lovely home. I notice that it's dark, and that all the lights are out, even the little ones on the electrical appliances, so there must be a blackout. As we leave him, Benny, the extremely busy editor, says he has a lot of free time tonight because he has no electricity current. Walking back to the Beit Shalom a few blocks away from Benny's house, we hear a choir singing sweet hymns from a big church nearby. The choir must be quite a large one [the church building is], as the voices from inside fill the night sky above what is now a very quiet Churachandapur. As I look up at the stars, I think to myself: I haven't seen this many stars since driving through the Karoo desert in South Africa, and then I think, if Benny makes aliyah, who will take over the Cholla? Amir Mizroch is the News Editor at The Jerusalem Post, a writer and an award-winning blogger. For all of Amir's blogs and articles, visit his personal blog Forecast Highs. PREVIOUS ENTRIES:
1 |
suzanne weiss (efrat) israel,
Wednesday Nov 26, 2008
Amir , Here you are all comming to the end of your journey that i think just began for some of you . I would like to thank you for letting me be part of you journey even if it was only virtualy.I wish you and all the group a safe trip back home !!! I imagine there wil still be a lot to talk about between you all once you will get home.
Have a nice flight and my love to the photographer!!
Suzanne
|
 |
 
Combined feed for all JPost.com blogs
Top Rated Posts
Tags:Blogroll |
Post your own comment
