Glimpses lost tribe jewish india4/4/2023 ![]() Clearly, as late as the third century, Chazal were still aware of areas that had a tradition of the dispersion of these tribes. The Gemara explains that Rav Assi is referring to a locale where it was known that some of the Ten Tribes lived in their day. The Gemara knew of the existence of the dispersed Ten Tribes, as Rav Assi in third-century Bavel (about 900 years after the Northern Kingdom had been exiled) stated regarding a non-Jew who is mekadesh a Jewish woman, that we are concerned about whether it is a valid kiddushin, for perhaps he is from the Ten Tribes and is therefore really Jewish ( Yevamos 16b). The Gemara ( Sanhedrin 94a) attempts to identify these locations and suggests either someplace in Africa or the mountains of Afghanistan. We are told “And the G-d of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Harah, and to the river Gozan unto this day” (I Chronicles 5:26). What happened to them, where did they go, and are they lost forever? Have some begun to return? Our recent trip to India provided some answers and raised many questions as well. But then, together with the other tribes of the biblical Northern Kingdom who were defeated by the Assyrians 130 years before the destruction of the First Beis Hamikdash, all of Menashe was exiled as part of the dispersion of the Ten Tribes. The Bnei Menashe have no written history, but their oral tradition tells of their ancestor “Menasia,” who is understood to be Menashe, son of Yaakov Avinu and patriarch of the tribe that settled on both banks of the Jordan River. And while many people have come across Bnei Menashe halachic converts in Israel, seeing their ancient communities on the ground was a special treat for both us and our newest group of halachic adventurers. Our group got to see the backwaters of India and visit the communities of Bene Israel and the Jews of Cochin (we reported on all that over the past year). So the logistics of being responsible for such a large group and knowing we’d surely encounter unscripted adventures along the way made us a little nervous, but in the end, baruch Hashem, things worked out even better than we could have dreamed. Sometimes we have to adjust our plans at the last minute. However, taking a group of 35 people is very different from our typical “Mesorah Quest” - our usual method of travel when we’re on our own: we make critical contacts, hop on a plane with a few cans of tuna, and show up for a whirlwind visit in which we meet and really get to know the local individuals. ![]() Our goal was to give our fellow adventurers a unique, exciting, and off-the-beaten-track experience. ![]() We asked the organizers where they would like to go, and they replied, “Where would you like to lead us?” The answer for us was simple: to return to India where the richness and diversity of Jewish history is largely unknown to much of the Jewish world. It all started with a call from the OU Israel Center inviting us to lead a “Halachic Adventure” tour. ![]() Welcome to our search for part of the Ten Lost Tribes. It is a direct link with our Biblical past and raises interesting halachic and philosophic conundrums about our future. We were both excited and relieved by the warm welcome, as their story is exotic and spans thousands of years of Jewish history. We were not in Monsey, but in a far-flung corner of India on the northeastern border state of Manipur, preparing the ground in advance of our curious delegation - a party of 35 Western Jews and one of the rare groups to visit this little-known Indian community known as the Bnei Menashe. As the door opened to the little hut, a kippah-clad man smiled broadly and said, “ Baruch haba!” He led us through a courtyard to a small, well-kept synagogue. We knocked and waited nervously because we hadn’t notified them ahead - yet we weren’t disappointed. ![]()
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