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From India to Israel

Today on Tablet, Bnei Menashe make aliyah

by
The Editors
December 27, 2012
Bnei Menashe new arrivals at the absorption center on Dec. 24, 2012. (Ricki Rosen)
Bnei Menashe new arrivals at the absorption center on Dec. 24, 2012. (Ricki Rosen)

Today on Tablet, Eetta Prince-Gibson reports on the group aliyot of India’s Bnei Menashe tribe—a complicated, drawn-out process that was only recently approved by the Israeli government. There’s also a great slideshow of the olim’s first day in Israel.

Prince-Gibson writes:

But unlike group aliyot for Jews from Canada, the United States, or Russia, which are sponsored by major organizations such as Nefesh B’Nefesh or the Jewish Agency, this particular ingathering attracted little fanfare and no politicians. That’s because the journey of the Bnei Menashe, who wholeheartedly believe they are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, has been complicated and politicized by the government of Israel.

From the editors of Tablet Magazine.