Also known as the Shinlung, the Bnei Menashe relate their history of exile from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C. across the silk route finally ending up in India and Myanmar (Burma). The story of these people is an amazing one.

They call themselves Bnei Menashe, descendants of the Tribe of Menashe, one of the ten lost tribes. In North East India, in the land mass that lies between Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Bangladesh, there lives a small group of people who have been practicing Judaism for more than 25 …

Gante wasn't in Toronto this month to knock Israel but to raise funds for and awareness of the Bnei Menashe, who claim to be descendants of the biblical lost tribe of Manasseh. About 1,000 of them live in Israel, with many Jews (and evangelical Christians) happily viewing their arrival as fulfilling prophesies that the "in-gathering of the ...

Already at the age of 4, he relates, he became aware of the Shinlungs traditions linking them with the tribe of Menashe (Manasseh), one of the Ten Lost Tribes exiled from the Land of Israel by the Assyrians when they captured the Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century B.C.E.

In the case of large populations such as the Bnei Menashe that preserved an oral history of their ties to Judaism and the facts point to a Jewish connection, the rabbis determine the status. In most cases the members of the tribe are considered "safek" (undetermined) Jews and they are expected to convert .

One of the first lost tribes to return to the promised land is the Bnei Menashe. Coming from North East India, these new immigrants to Israel are one of many branches of Israel, reconnecting with their ancient roots.

Bnei Menashe, living in India and Burma have returned to Judaism after a long exile. AMISHAV Amishav, the Organization on behalf of the Dispersed of Israel, was founded in 1975 with the encouragement of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, head of "Yeshivat Merkaz Harav" in Jerusalem and the spiritual leader of religious zionist Judaism.

It might sound somewhat silly, or even naive, but I truly believe that the Bnei Menashe aliya is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance. Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the Exile.

The Bnei Menashe come from Aizawl, in Mizoram Province and Churachandpur and Imphal in Manipur Province.

Jewish Geography. The Bnei Menashe come from Aizawl, in Mizoram Province and Churachandpur and Imphal in Manipur Province.