225 members of the Bnei Menashe community from the state of Manipur in northeast India will complete their aliyah through Shavei Israel this week.

Upon their arrival in Israel, the immigrants will move to the absorption center in Kfar Hasidim, and upon completion of the absorption process will move to the Galilee.

The first group with 17 immigrants landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday; Two other groups - 56 immigrants and 51 immigrants - landed yesterday; Another group of 49 immigrants will land today; And the last group of 52 immigrants will land tomorrow.

Among the immigrants who landed in Israel is Seingul Lotjem, the father of a child who has not seen his parents in the last eighteen years - since they immigrated to Israel in 2000. "I am very excited because I always dreamed of returning to Zion," Lotjem said just before boarding the plane in India.

"But this immigration is particularly moving because I will soon be able to meet my beloved parents and join them in the Land of Israel."

Another immigrant in the group who landed yesterday is Abel Hangshing, who met at the airport with his family after many years of being separated from them. He embraced for the first time his great-grandchildren born in Israel, whom he had never met.

The Bnei Menashe community in India sees itself as descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of the ten tribes that were expelled from the Land of Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian Empire. Members of the community speak a language which belongs to a family of Sino- Tibetan languages ​​spoken in northeastern India, where most of the Bnei Menashe live - in addition to eastern Bangladesh and western Burma.

"We are happy and excited to receive 225 members of the Bnei Menashe community who are returning home to Israel," said Michael Freund, founder and founder of Shavei Israel, "We are in the midst of a very busy year for us - and this is only the beginning. 429 members of the Bnei Menashe community have already made Aliyah since the beginning of January 2018, and we are determined to continue our historic mission until the last remaining members of the community in India can return to Zion."