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Sunday Nov 23, 2008
Ten Lost Tribes Challenge - India: Internalizing the meaning of this expedition to meet a lost tribe
Posted by Amir Mizroch
    
SAJAL, MANIPUR - Another Shavei Israel Beit Shalom visit, this time in Sajal, Sadar Hills, Manipur. As usual, dozens of people wait outside to greet us, and as we disembark our group starts to sing: Hevenu Shalom Aleichem [We bring peace upon you]. My group is so cute: everything we give the Bnei Menashe "is from Israel": balloons "from Israel," chocolates "from Israel," embroidery with passages from the Tanach "from Israel." Once inside the Beit Shalom synagogue, the usual routine takes over and everyone sings and dances, men at the front and women behind the mehitza [separation]. Even though we've done this a few times now, instead of getting tired of the routine, the group seems to be absorbing more information, and the contact with the Bnei Menashe becomes more informed, more intimate. I'm seeing more and more of our group taking longer talks with the Bnei Menashe, talking to them from a base of deeper understanding. I'm not surprised at this, as you cannot help but learn on this trip. We're given very little time to kick back and relax, and again I have to remind myself that I am not on vacation, I'm on an expedition. Our reflection and discussion takes place on the bus in between stops, and during meals. We are no longer asking the same superficial questions, and the talk, especially amongst our own group, is one of a heightened awareness and more acute observation. The deeper we get into the story, the more our understanding deepens, but at the same time, the more questions arise, and the more I become aware of how big and complex this story is. I feel that if I don't take everything in, and write everything down, I'm going to miss something. Everyone takes in more information every day, and fits it into his or her conception of the story. For some on our group, this expedition is a mission - a mission to find out ways to help the Bnei Menashe make aliya and convert; others want to learn how to best absorb them [some have even offered to adopt families]. And for others, this expedition gives them the opportunity to take part in the redemption of the Jewish people, the ingathering of tribes and the coming of the Messiah, no less. The Bnei Menashe here in Saja say that they've never been visited by this many people before. One of the community's leaders says the situation in Manipur is very bad. "We cannot live here any longer, and we want to leave very soon," he says. One of the members of the Saja community has already made aliyah and now lives in Kiryat Arba. His family has been given permission to make aliya and will be joining him. As we dance and sing inside the Beit Shalom synagogue, Aaron takes out the Torah and everyone dances around him. Elihu, who is a Torah scroll scribe [it takes 10 months to write one], tells me that the Torah scroll in this Shavei Israel Beit Shalom is not a real, kosher sefer Torah. It is the kind of Torah scroll that is given to children on Simchat Torah, and is made up of photocopied text onto paper, not like the real thing which is hand-written onto parchment. Elihu says that the Torah scrolls in the Beit Shaloms we visited in Nagaland also have these 'children's Torahs'. The reason for this, according to Elihu, is that the Bnei Menashe do not need real Torah scrolls, as they have not formally undergone conversion. Another reason 'children's Torahs' or old Torah scrolls are brought here is because of the humidity in summer, which damages the parchment. You can't keep a real Torah scroll here for long before the humidity gets hold of it.
Dancing with the Torah scrolls. PHOTO: Amir Mizroch
Elihu says that many Torah scrolls are damaged over Simchat Torah because they are taken out into the streets and hoisted up and passed between sweaty, dancing men. Again I notice that, just like other Beit Shaloms, there are churches right next door. To someone looking at it for the first time, as I am, it seems as if every Beit Shalom in North East India is surrounded by churches and other Christian institutions. I'm reminded that the Bnei Menashe are mostly Christian, and that even those currently practicing Judaism are still halachically [read technically] Christian, as they have not yet undergone Orthodox conversion. What a concept to wrap my mind around. What seems to be a major theme here is that this story cuts not only through nations and tribes, but through families too. Everywhere we go we meet Bnei Menashe who are practicing Judaism and who have close relatives who are firmly Christian. A teacher at the Logos English School [a Baptist school] in Churachandapur has a brother who practiced Judaism and moved to Israel. Another woman left her family near the Burmese border because her family wouldn't accept her rejection of Christ. We don't stay long at the Beit Shalom and head off to the nearby Thaangsi Sadu waterfall. When we got there, there was nothing but a sign and a pathway up to the waterfall, which is about a 20 minute walk up from the base, and is quite steep and rocky. By the time we got back down forty minutes later, there were two [!] fully-stocked wooden stalls set up trying to sell us drinks and snacks. Amazing speed!
The fully-stocked stalls set up just for us. PHOTO: Amir Mizroch
The waterfall is beautiful and we spend all the time there taking pictures of ourselves and the Bnei Menashe who came with us. I'm grateful for the cool wet air after days of driving along dusty roads that have filled my lungs with dust and have made me and others starting to cough, and I take in deep, long breaths.
Enjoying the waterfall. PHOTO: Amir Mizroch
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:
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