Bring Bnei Menashe home

By Ted Belman

INN has a story about the first Bnei Menashe IDF officer.

the IDF, but today he has achieved that goal and we are all very proud of him.”

Shavei Israel, leading the efforts to bring about the return of the Bnei Menashe to the Land of Israel, has helped bring some 1,700 Bnei Menashe home to Zion. Another 7,232 still remain in India, and Freund called – again – on the Israeli government to allow them to make Aliyah with all due haste.

[..]The Bnei (Sons of) Menashe claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which were exiled by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago. Their long-running traditions say that throughout their exile, and even after their one copy of the written Torah was lost, they continued to observe Jewish traditions, including the Sabbath, keeping kosher, celebrating the festivals, following family purity laws, and remembering the Exodus from Egypt.

Shavei Israel works to teach Judaism to the Bnei Menashe in India, helps them make Aliyah, and even helps support them in Israel. The organization is active in other countries as well, providing assistance to the Bnei Anousim in Spain, Portugal and South America, the Subbotnik Jews of Russia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng in China, the “Hidden Jews” of Poland from the Holocaust era and others.