New Home for the New Year: Bnei Menashe and Falash Mura

Two groups of immigrants will be ringing in the New Year in their new country (a country which does not actually celebrate New Year’s, but that’s beside the point.)

 

One group, known as the Bnei Menashe, comes from northeastern India, and they claim to be descended from the lost tribe of Menashe. In 2005, Israel’s chief rabbi ruled that though they could immigrate under the Law of Return, but still had to undergo full conversion. Approximately 1,700 members made aliyah, many living in communities in the West Bank. However, the mass immigration stopped in 2007. This was a devastating development, as many immigrants had family left behind in India. But just this month, the Israeli government decided to continue the immigration process, bringing the remaining Bnei Menashe to Israel.

 

There are some who are against the continued immigration, saying it endangers Israel’s Jewish identity, because the Bnei Menashe aren’t “real” Jews and they are simply looking to flee their impoverished homes. Others claim that this is simply a backhanded move by the government to populate the West Bank settlements with Jews, to strengthen Israel’s claim to the land. And some, like me, believe that this is a beautiful moment of a people reuniting with their family and their land.

 

It is certainly true that lost tribes, mass immigration, conversions and the West Bank are all fraught with tension, both political and social. It is also true that immigration and absorption into a new society require more than just a free plane ticket.

 

However, as I was reading the comments of these new Israelis and looking at pictures of their arrival, it was a powerful reminder of why I am here. “Israel is my heritage and my religion … We’ve been waiting for this moment for hundreds of years,” says one new immigrant, who then speaks of his desire to enlist in IDF, in order to serve his country in any way possible. Others speak emotionally about being reunited with parents and siblings.

 

Another group celebrating their recent arrival in Israel is the Falash Mura, immigrating in an operation dubbed “Dove’s Wings.” Ethiopian immigrants who were forcibly converted to Christianity, the Falash Mura is one of the last groups of Ethiopian Jews to immigrate to Israel. The Jewish Agency is working to bring the rest of this group to Israel, and the government opened an absorption center in the south specifically for accommodating these new immigrants. (Even before their aliyah, these Jews receive assistance and social services in Ethiopia, in order to prepare them for life in Israel.) The immigration of the Falash Mura is the last chapter in the story of Ethiopian immigration, which began nearly 30 years ago.

 

There are many reasons to be disillusioned with Israel, especially in this last month leading up to elections, when everything that is, has, or might go wrong in this country is dredged up, flung around and pasted on billboards.

 

So reading about the efforts the government is making to facilitate the immigration; the pure joy of the immigrants upon arrival, fulfilling what is for many a lifelong dream; their authentic, unwavering devotion to their religion and country … It was a refreshing portrait of Israel and a reminder of what the country does best: bring Jews home.