Posted on 12/22/2012 11:04:20 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Chief rabbi recognized lost tribe in 2005, but only 1,700 moved to Israel before government stopped granting visas • About 7,200 remain in India • Government recently reversed policy, reopening doors for immigration.
The members of the Bnei Menashe community prayed in their local synagogue and then hugged their crying relatives before heading off to the airport in the Manipur state capital of Imphal, 55 kilometers (34 miles) away.
The Bnei Menashe say they are descended from Jews banished from ancient Israel to India in the eighth century B.C.
An Israeli chief rabbi recognized them as a lost tribe in 2005 and about 1,700 moved to Israel before the Israeli government stopped giving them visas. The government recently reversed that policy. About 7,200 remain in India.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelhayom.com ...
Very interesting. Thanks for posting.
And here all along I thought the LDS folks laid claim to being that lost tribe.
I seem to recall a recent DNA study that had a group in India and a group in South Africa that both had Semitic DNA markers so the claims have physical evidence.
My first thought was about how brave these
people are - to move Israel.
From the frying pan, into the fire.
Then again, living in India, as a Jew,
can’t be so hot either.
Feeling lucky to be born in the USA even with
creeping Socialist crap now reaching our ankles.
“....Socialist crap now reaching our ankles.”
.
The crap level is already higher than that.
With all the talk of disarming the population in the US, Jews would be safer to stay in Israel where there are no gun restrictions.
The Book of Mormon is historically correct?
Living in a majority mooslime country would be far worse.
People repeat that. But, there are restrictions on guns in Israel. They have less guns and the restrictions are based on need, location, job, etc. Not, like overall here in the US.
LOL—would you believe...when I read the headline, I thought this exact thing. And the funny thing is—he makes a very attractive Indian!
I wonder if they have used DNA to try and figure out which Hebrew tribe they are descended from?
Some years ago now, it was determined that a tribe in South Africa that claimed Hebrew descent, did have a unique genetic pattern found only in part of the Hebrew tribe of Levites who were of the priestly class, in Yemen.
After some examination, the tribe explained that they had a legend of leaving a city (with a name very similar to a city still in Yemen), led by a great leader who took them a vast distance through Africa to end up in South Africa.
There’s a Wikipedia entry about the possibility of Pashtuns being of Jewish origin, in particular the Yousafzai (presumably Arabic for Joseph) group:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes
If their tribal name is "Bnai Manasae" (sons of Manasseh) my guess is that they are of the half-tribe Manasseh, one of the two sons of Joseph. Their ancestors would have been removed from Israel by the Assyrians circa 750-720 B.C. That they have maintained their worship tradition for these 2700+ years is remarkable.
There are no ‘ten lost tribes’. According to the scriptures:
Jesus and Mary were from the tribe of Judah.
Anna, a prophetess, was from the tribe of Asher.
Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were Levites.
Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin.
These are four of the twelve living in Christ’s day, leaving eight tribes left.
These men look faintly Mongolian, like the folks out on the Steppes.
The Jews in India may not have had the economic opportunities of the ones in Europe, however, they have lived safely and securely without discrimination or hate through all the years they have lived in that land.Even the Indian muzzies largely left them alone.
The same cannot be said about civilized eastern and western Europe, where periodically they have faced the horrors of progroms, discrimination, and even a mass extermination effort. What is the point in wealth, if one fine day they take it all away including their lives for being jewish. Even Israel, and previously Palestine, they are targeted for being jews.
So India may not have been "not so hot", but at least their lives, property and way of life were secure. I think the only other place where the jews have been at peace is in North America.
Until about 200BC, all the people on the steppes looked like Celts...in fact that was their DNA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.