The recent developments in Israel concerning the Bnei Menashe community, one of the four Indian Jewish groups alongside the Cochin Jews from Kerala, the Bene Israel from Mumbai, and the Baghdadi Jews from Kolkata have been received warmly by the global Jewish diaspora as well as by many in India, especially in the northeastern states where the community resides. The Israeli government has announced its decision to bring back the remaining Bnei Menashe to Israel and reunite them with community members who migrated over the past three decades. Under the plan, the remaining 5,800 individuals are expected to make aliyah by 2030, with the first group of 1,200 slated to arrive as early as 2026. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described this move as both a Zionist mission and a religious fulfilment

As a PhD student working on this community, it fascinates me to witness the curiosity the Bnei Menashe evoke among many Indians and Israelis. But this renewed interest raises a fundamental question, who are the Bnei Menashe?

Hailing from the northeastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, the Bnei Menashe are a unique tribal community within Judaism, having undergone an extraordinary historical trajectory in their return to the Judaic fold and eventual migration to Israel. The community, as we refer to them today, is composed of three distinct tribal groups Kuki, Chin, and Mizo often collectively called as Zo. Though popularly believed to be part of the Ten “Lost Tribes” mentioned in the Old Testament, the Bnei Menashe trace their ancestry specifically to the tribe of Manasseh. This claim was long met with skepticism, until the early 2000s when Israel’s Chief Rabbinate accepted their lineage and allowed immigration contingent on formal Orthodox conversion. Migration to Israel began in 1989, initially mostly by youth on tourist visas. About 5,000 Bnei Menashe now live in Israel, with another 5,000 remaining in India.

Bnei Menashe and Judaism

Before the 1890s, these tribes practiced animistic traditions and were........

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