The new Haggadah contains a transliteration of the traditional text recounting the Jewish people's Exodus from Egypt, along with explanatory notes in the Mizo and Thadou-Kuki languages - two of the main dialects spoken by many Bnei Menashe.
"Members of the Bnei Menashe community will now have a user-friendly guide to participating in the Passover Seder," said Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund. "Passover is ripe with meaning for the Bnei Menashe, who long to return to the land of their ancestors, the Land of Israel. So we hope this new Haggadah will enable them to better observe and understand the holidays rituals and symbolism," he said.
The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the lost tribe of Manasseh, who were exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrians over 2,700 years ago. Nearly 1,000 Bnei Menashe have made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in recent years, with another 7,000 still waiting in India to do so. In March 2005, thanks to Shavei Israel's efforts, Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar formally recognized the Bnei Menashe as descendants of the Jewish people.
Freund added that Shavei Israel had dispatched hundreds of kilograms of matzah to the Bnei Menashe living in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, and that the group's emissaries would conduct traditional Passover seders for the Bnei Menashe community at the two Shavei Israel Hebrew Centers located in India's northeast.
All of Shavei Israels work is in accordance with Jewish law and is under the guidance and supervision of Israel's Chief Rabbinate.
For more information, contact: office@shavei.org