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Welcome to All about the Bnei Menashe Immigration
- 1894: Christian missionaries commence work among the tribal populations in the territories now known as Manipur and Mizoram. By the 1980s, almost all the population of Mizoram had accepted Christianiy; In Manipur, around 30% (this being essentially the proportion of the tribal poulation of the state)
- 1975: Several hundred Bnei Menashe begin practicing Judaism rejecting the faith in Jesus.
- 1979: Jewish group “Amishav” takes up their case.
- 1980's: First contact with Israel made.
- 1994-2003: with the help of Jewish organizations, 800 Bnei Menashe make Aliyah to Israel, most settle in Jewish settlements.
- 2003: Israeli Interior Minister Avraham Poraz freezes their immigration indefinitely.
- August 2004: In response to the Israeli government decision to stop their immigration, Israeli Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar sends a rabbinical fact-finding committee to investigate the Jewish roots of the Bnei Menashe.
- March 2005: Historic decision is made by Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, announcing the state of Israel’s recognition of the Bnei Menashe as part of the lost tribe of Menashe, and therefore can now immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return, but only after a complete Jewish conversion, due to the fact that they have been separated from Judaism for millennia.
- August 2005: 146 Bnei Menashe forced to evacuate the Gaza Strip as part of Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. [22]
- September 2005: A beth din fully converts 700 Bnei Menashe to Judaism (219 from Mizoram) [23]. An estimated 9,000 people still await conversion.
- November 2005: Israel agrees to halt converting the Bnei Menashe after pressure from the Indian government. The entire rabbinical team is pulled out of the country.
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On March 31 2005, Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar, one of Israel's two chief rabbis, accepted the Bnei Menashe's claim because of their exemplary devotion to Judaism.[20] His decision was significant because it paved the way for all of the Bnei Menashe to enter Israel under Israel's Law of Return.
Although the claims of Israelite descent are rejected by most Mizo-Kuki-Chin and called into serious question by Jewish academics, the Bnei Menashe are unshakable in their belief. Indeed, Bnei Menashe who wish to affirm their connection to the Jewish people are required to undergo Orthodox conversions, and every effort is made to ensure that they are accepted according to the strictest interpretation of Jewish law.
In the past two decades, some 1,300 Bnei Menashe have moved to Israel. Learning Hebrew has been a great challenge, especially for the older generation, for whom the phonology of their native languages makes Hebrew especially challenging, both phonologically and morphologically. Younger members have more opportunities to learn Hebrew and gain employment as soldiers and nurses aides for the elderly and infirm.
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