Bnei Menashe Free to Make Aliyah

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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 15:48 Written by Posted by John Hellein

Arutz Sheva reports on the Israel Government's turnaround vis-a-vis the Jewish community of Bnei Menashe in India. The community, more than 7,000 still remain in India, may now make aliyah at the rate of 300 a month for the next two years:

The Bnei Menashe claim descent from the tribe of Menashe, one of the Ten Tribes exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrian empire over 2,700 years ago. They reside primarily in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, along India's border with Burma and Bangladesh. In recent years, over 800 members of the community have made Aliyah, thanks largely to the efforts of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization that assists “lost Jews” seeking to return to the Jewish people.

Most of the Bnei Menashe community that has already made aliyah live in Judea & Samaria "mainly in Kiryat Arba, Beit El and Ofrah". Let us hope that the rest of the community settles in the Biblical Heartland as well and add their faith to the faith of the people in the Jewish communities there.