Ten Lost Tribes Challenge - India: The plot thickens

Until 100 years ago the Bnei Menashe, like other peoples in the North East of India were animists, i.e. they believed that nature and animals had spiritual qualities. They practiced their own ancient religions and had their own time-honored customs, including ritual sacrifice. At the end of the 19th Century Christian missionaries got to them, and with these missionaries came evangelical fervor. According to the story here, in the 1950's two men from the Kuki clan each had separate visions telling them that they were the lost Israelite tribe of Menashe and must return home to Israel. When they awoke from their sleep, they started spreading their vision amongst the Kuki, and slowly people started calling themselves Bnei Menashe and the practice of Judaism started competing with Christianity.

Speaking to the Bnei Menashe here in Kangpopki, I am told something that I didn't fully grasp before, but which is quite startling: ALL of the Kuki in North East India, as well as elements of the tribe in neighboring Burma, totaling some 3 million people, are considered, by the two men who had the visions and the current leadership, to be Bnei Menashe.

I need that to sink in for you so I'll put it in an even clearer way: the entire Kuki tribe of millions of people see themselves as Bnei Menashe and, even though only a tiny minority of them have embraced Judaism and want to make aliya to Israel, they are ALL potential Jewish converts and Israeli citizens. That means millions of potential new Jews, millions of new olim.

The vast majority of the Kuki throughout this region were converted to Christianity beginning in the first decades of the 19th century. Depending on who you speak to, there are currently some 7,200 who practice Judaism [according to Shavei Israel] or 30,000 [according to the chairman of the Kuki Cultural Welfare Committee in Kohima]. As an example, the souvenir booklet commemorating 25 years of Judaism in North East India from 2001 gives 2,300 as the number of practicing Jews in NE India. It is now the end of 2008, and according to even the lowest estimate, that number has jumped to 7,200 [and remember 1,500 have already made aliya].

Wherever the true numbers may fall, it is peanuts compared to the potential number of converts to Judaism amongst the Kuki tribe as a whole. This is not to say that there is a secret plan to convert them all, or that Shavei Israel or Amishav, or anybody else, is actively working to make inroads into this community for potential conversion. Remember, Judaism is a religion that forbids proselytizing. 

As I said earlier, the Kuki are staunchly Christian [and they love Israel because they have been told that Israel was the birthplace of Christianity]. But, as the practice of Judaism spreads amongst the Bnei Menashe Kuki, they themselves are drawing others into the fold; they themselves say that they go from village to village spreading their message, just like the good evangelical traditions in which they were initially trained by missionaries, and from which their parents and grandparents learned. Unlike most parts of India, the north east is rife with Christian activity, especially in the villages, and there is an evangelical spirit here.

This also explains why the Bnei Menashe do the things the way they do: even if they are practicing Judaism and long for Zion, they are doing it a way that they are programmed to do it, the evangelical program. When you ask them about who they are and where they're going, they answer largely in slogans and programmed responses: Why do you want to move to Israel: It is the land of my forefathers and I want to pray three times a day; I want to be able to practice Judaism in the land of Jacob and Isaac etc. When you scratch a little beneath the surface they tell you they are fed up with India, with the poverty, with being different from the others, from feeling insecure about their identity; and because they are programmed to believe that Israel is a kind of paradise - a holy land filled with opportunities.  I'm beginning to get even more confused every day and with every new piece of information. I have no idea how wide and deep this story is, and I'm struggling to manage all the information that is streaming our way.

And here is a real kicker, are you ready for it? It's not only those Bnei Menashe who practice Judaism that want to make aliya to Israel. There are an untold number of Kuki Evangelical Christians from this area who also see themselves as descendants of the Menashe tribe and who also want to make aliya, but stay Christian. The plot thickens.

Today we received a group of Christians, led by a famous anthropologist from these parts, a Dr. Khuplam Milui Lenthang. The group came to our hotel after traveling by road from the Burmese border, a trip that took them two days. It is not an easy trip, if the roads in that area are in any way similar to the ones here, as I imagine them to be. They must have thought it really important to come and see us. At first they performed a traditional song and dance routine for us, where a man and a woman danced in a circle like two birds. They also gave us shawls, what they called their traditional shawls, which are quite similar to the ones we received from the Bnei Menashe in Kongpapki at Ben Hur's home. Except that the shawls we received today from these Christians closely resemble the Jewish talit, with its horizontal stripes towards the bottom and string edges - an uncanny resemblance and one that raised many eyebrows amongst the group.

Then the real purpose of this group's journey to meet us revealed itself. They produced a memorandum, which they gave us to take back to Israel, and which I'll quote a few passages here for you, not fully but in paraphrasing because it is very long and has many grammatical mistakes [remember that this is from a Christian group]:

From the Office of the B'nei Manmasi Messianic Council, General Head Quarters India, a Goodwill Memorandum:

We, the descendants of the lost Manasseh Tribe, would like to present our earnest message to the Govt. of Israel.

a. We fervently pray to the Govt. of Israel to duly recognize, acknowledge and full assist [sic] the person who has toiled to gather and protect the history and cultural traditions of the lost sons of Manasseh for 50 years, Pu Khuplam [the anthropologist]. He deserves meritorious awards and assistance.
b. We are the true followers of the Israeli nation having common faith, culture, tradition, astronomical expertise, holy or rest day, clean diet, act of circumcision. Hence the indelible bond between us across the seas and rivers through the ages.
c. Even if the whole of our creed here may not be followers of Judaism, we pray to the Govt. of Israel to allow us to settle down in Israel by accepting us officially as one of the 10 lost tribes

Since we believe that the words of Israel gov't. as good as that of the Gods of Israel, we pray for direct communication in due course for sake of one Israeli nation in flesh and spirit.

In conclusion, we, the Bnei Manmassi Messianic, fervently pray to the highest Israeli authority to honor our pledge so as to bring back the lost children of Zion under one official entity. The Court of Rabbinical Council are our only true hope and final destination to do the needful for the ultimate Day of Reckoning. We sincerely expect an immediate positive course of action for the prophetic salvation and geo-politico-religious building of New Israel unitedly [sic]. Please, as true brethrens, fail us not."

So, in essence, they are Christian evangelical Kukis, and they want to move to Israel, and we have no idea how many of them there are. One of them tells me, when I ask him how many people this group represents, that there about several thousand, but it could be more.

I wish the Israeli ministries of immigrant absorption and the interior good luck with this one. 

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:

• Under my purple shawl - Nov 20, 2008
• So how many Bnei Menashe are there? - Nov 19, 2008
• Ben Hur loves Zion: Inside the home of a Bnei Menashe - Nov 19,2008
• How did a small tribe from Samaria get all the way out here? - Nov 18, 2008
• Conversation with a Bnei Menashe tribesman - Nov 18, 2008
• Indian airports spell chaos - Nov 18, 2008
• News from Amman - the first stop en route to India - Nov 17, 2008
• Dreams of reunification and travel preparations - Nov 16, 2008
• Meeting the lost tribe of Menashe - Nov 16, 2008
• Government approves aliya of 150 Bnei Menashe - Nov. 12, 2008