Hundreds of members of the Bnei Menashe community from northeastern India gathered in the town of Churachandpur in the state of Manipur to light the first candle of Hanukkah.
According to tradition passed down through the generations, the Bnei Menashe community in India are descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of the ten lost tribes expelled from the Land of Israel at the end of the First Temple period, more than 2,700 years ago, by the king of Assyria. Throughout their many years in exile, the Bnei Menashe knew nothing about the holiday of Hanukkah and of course did not celebrate it. There is a very simple historical reason for this: their ancestors were exiled from the Land of Israel about 560 years before the historical events associated with the holiday of Hanukkah.
"The story of the Maccabees' heroic determination to preserve their Jewish identity is now deeply rooted in the Bnei Menashe community, a community that, against all odds and with enormous effort, managed to adhere to the Jewish faith of its ancestors for thousands of years," said Shavei Israel Founder and Chairman Rabbi Michael Freund. "This Hanukkah, just weeks after the Israeli government's decision to bring them home to Zion, the Bnei Menashe in India lit the Hanukkah candles with great excitement, nurturing the hope that next year they will be able to do so in the Land of Israel."
After their expulsion from the Land of Israel, the ancestors of the Bnei Menashe wandered for centuries throughout Central Asia and the Far East before settling in northeastern India, along the borders of Burma and Bangladesh. Throughout this period, they continued to practice Judaism just as their ancestors had, including observing the Sabbath, observing kosher, celebrating holidays and festivals, and observing the laws of family purity, and never for a moment abandoned the dream of one day returning to the land of their ancestors, the Land of Israel.
The number of Bnei Menashe is currently estimated at approximately 11,500. So far, approximately 5,500 of the community have immigrated to Israel thanks to the Shavei Israel organization, and approximately 6,000 are still in India for the opportunity to immigrate to Israel. A recent Israeli government decision will bring the remainder on Aliya by 2030.
The Shavei Israel organization is a non-profit organization, founded in 2002 by Michael Freund, an immigrant from the United States, that works to strengthen ties between the State of Israel and Diaspora Jewry with descendants of Jews around the world. The organization is active in many countries around the world and assists various communities, including the descendants of the Anusim (in Spain, Portugal, South America and other places), the Subbotnik Jews in Russia, the Jews of Kaifeng (descendants of the assimilated community in China), the hidden Jews in Poland, the Bnei Menashe community in India, and more. Additional information about the organization can be found on the website: www.shavei.org