KANGPOPKI, Manipur – We visit the Beit Shalom Synagogue set up by the Shavei Israel organization at the Bnei Menashe compound in Kangpopki. As our bus pulls up to the top of the street dozens of kippa-wearing Bnei Menashe come out to greet us. Our group gets off the bus and a big celebration starts on the street, as we all greet each other. They are waving small Israeli flags, each one of them extends both hands to us and shake our hands saying Salom Salom [they can't pronounce the Sh in Shalom so well; which means they also pray to Hasem not Hashem]. Continue reading
Daily Archives: November 23, 2008
So, how is Ariel Sharon?
IMPHAL, Manipur – This city’s entrance looks like a shanty town, and the rest of the city is not much better. There are heaps of garbage on most street corners which can’t be burned fast enough before they’re refilled. We are the only tourists here, and the locals make us aware of that; I don’t think many of them have seen people like us around here before. There are toilets outside, horses and dogs eating from trash, people picking through the garbage, and a thick, stifling, smelly air in this, the state’s capital. The Bnei Menashe here tell us that they are fed up with life here and want to immigrate to Israel as soon as possible. I don’t blame them. The Indian government clearly does not view this place as a priority region for development.
Stories from the bus
From Nagaland we head south into the state of Manipur, bordered on the east by Burma. We enter Manipur at the Mao border crossing. It takes about 3 hours to drive 25km on these roads, which are incredibly bumpy and windy. We’re heading towards Imphal, the capital of Manipur state. Manipur is crossed by a large mountain range and we’re heading down it towards the lowlands.
PHOTO: Israel Weiss Photography weisssi@bezeqint.net
We drive past forests and rice terraces [our guide says that if we are not used to eating a lot of rice, we'll get some stomach problems, but that some chocolate helps]. Manipur was described by India’s first prime minister as the Jewel in India’s crown because of its beauty. It is filled with mountains, forests and rivers. Just in case I haven’t mentioned it before, there are 21 people on this expedition – eight men with their wives, three men who left their wives at home, a single woman and me. Continue reading
The plot thickens
Until 100 years ago the Bnei Menashe, like other peoples in the North East of India were animists, i.e. they believed that nature and animals had spiritual qualities. They practiced their own ancient religions and had their own time-honored customs, including ritual sacrifice. At the end of the 19th Century Christian missionaries got to them, and with these missionaries came evangelical fervor. According to the story here, in the 1950′s two men from the Kuki clan each had separate visions telling them that they were the lost Israelite tribe of Menashe and must return home to Israel. When they awoke from their sleep, they started spreading their vision amongst the Kuki, and slowly people started calling themselves Bnei Menashe and the practice of Judaism started competing with Christianity.
Photo: Israel Weiss
Speaking to the Bnei Menashe here in Kangpopki, I am told something that I didn’t fully grasp before, but which is quite startling: ALL of the Kuki in North East India, as well as elements of the tribe in neighboring Burma, totaling some 3 million people, are considered, by the two men who had the visions and the current leadership, to be Bnei Menashe. Continue reading
