For the first time a Jewish educational institute has been opened in northeastern India to reach out to members of the Bnei Menashe, a group claiming descent from a lost tribe of Israel. Located in Aizawl, the capital of the Indian state of Mizoram, the new Amishav Hebrew Center “will offer a variety of classes on Hebrew language, Jewish history and tradition to the Bnei Menashe,” said Michael Freund, Director of the Jerusalem-based Amishav organization, which is behind the center’s establishment.
“Our goal is to reach out to the Bnei Menashe and to help them to deepen their Jewish knowledge and understanding,” Freund said. “They are our brothers and sisters, and we have an obligation to assist them.” Recently, Amishav dispatched teachers from Israel to man the center, including members of the Bnei Menashe who spent time studying in Israeli yeshivot. Dozens of potential students have already signed up for the center's classes.
Over the past year, Freund noted, Amishav has translated and published half a dozen titles on Jewish topics in the Mizo language used by Aizawl's Bnei Menashe community, including a weekday and Sabbath prayer book, a Hebrew-English-Mizo dictionary, and a guide to the Jewish festivals. By next summer, Amishav plans to open an additional Hebrew Center in the neighboring state of Manipur, along India’s border with Burma, where a large concentration of Bnei Menashe currently resides.
“Our goal is to reach out to the Bnei Menashe and to help them to deepen their Jewish knowledge and understanding,” Freund said. “They are our brothers and sisters, and we have an obligation to assist them.” Recently, Amishav dispatched teachers from Israel to man the center, including members of the Bnei Menashe who spent time studying in Israeli yeshivot. Dozens of potential students have already signed up for the center's classes.
Over the past year, Freund noted, Amishav has translated and published half a dozen titles on Jewish topics in the Mizo language used by Aizawl's Bnei Menashe community, including a weekday and Sabbath prayer book, a Hebrew-English-Mizo dictionary, and a guide to the Jewish festivals. By next summer, Amishav plans to open an additional Hebrew Center in the neighboring state of Manipur, along India’s border with Burma, where a large concentration of Bnei Menashe currently resides.