Prophecy Fulfilled: Members of the Lost Tribes Return to Zion (Photos)

May 28, 2014

5 min read

Israel Returns Chairman Michael Freund with children of the Bnei Menashe. (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Israel Returns Chairman Michael Freund with children of the Bnei Menashe. (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)

A group of 80 Bnei Menashe, members of the lost tribe of Menashe, made aliyah (moving to Israel) this past week from India. They comprise the first wave out of a total of 250 immigrants that are slated to arrive over the coming month.

The immigrants, who hail from the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, were brought to Israel by the Israel Returns organization, which seeks to help members of Israel’s lost tribes and hidden Jews fulfill their dream and return to their ancestral homeland of Zion.

Israel Returns received permission from the Israeli government last October to bring 900 Bnei Menashe to the Jewish state by 2015 after a policy closing the doors of aliyah to Bnei Menashe was lifted. Earlier this year, Israel Returns facilitated the immigration of 160 Bnei Menashe who immigrated  from the Indian state of Mizoram.

Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)

The aliyah of the 80 Bnei Menashe was co- sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ). The ICEJ recently sponsored alongside Israel Returns  90 immigrants from embattled Ukraine to come to Israel and are continually working to raise funds in order to bring more.

The Bnei Menashe are descendants of the Jewish tribe of Menashe (or Manasseh), one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel which were exiled by the Assyrian empire more than 2,700 years ago. Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar recognized the Bnei Menashe as descendants of one of the lost tribes in 2005, opening the door to immigration.

Shavei-Shavuot-600WIDE

The immigrants were greeted at Ben-Gurion Airport by Israel Returns chairman Michael Freund, together with family and friends of their community who had already immigrated to Israel. Freund led them in the recitation of the traditional blessing that is recited to give thanks to God on special occasions.

“Your arrival is part of the miracle, the miracle of Israel’s return to its land,” Freund told the immigrants. He counseled them that “being an immigrant is not easy and you will face many challenges along the way. But always remember that the State of Israel is one of God’s greatest gifts to the Jewish people, and our generation is privileged to be living here.”

“It was an incredibly moving scene at Ben-Gurion Airport because many of these families had been divided for years,” he told Breaking Israel News.

Family reunited after many years apart. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Family reunited after many years apart. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)

One of the more touching stories is the arrival of Edna, a young woman who has been separated from her fiancé, Gamliel, for more than seven years since he made aliyah back in 2007. After Gamliel and 230 other Bnei Menashe moved to Israel, the government of then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert froze the community’s immigration. It was only restarted in 2012, after Israel Returns chairman Michael Freund succeeded in persuading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to resume the program.

Edna’s reunion with Gamliel was the first time they had seen each other in seven years. “They were both very emotional,” Freund said. “As he stood with her, he said to me he felt like the forefather Jacob who waited so long to marry Rachel.”

Gavriel and Leora reunited. (Photo: Israel Returns)
Gavriel and Leora reunited. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Gamliel and Edna hug after seven years. (Photo: Israel Returns)
Gamliel and Edna hug after seven years. (Photo: Israel Returns)
Gavriel and Leora reunited. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Gavriel and Leora reunited. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)

Among other happy reunions was a grandfather who had never met his four grandchildren, all born in Israel, as well as two siblings, a brother and sister, who had not seen each other for 21 years. A second couple, Gamliel and Leora, have been engaged for over a year and have not seen each other since Gamliel made aliyah almost two years ago.

More than 2,200 Bnei Menashe now live in Israel and another 7,000 remain in India, all of whom wish to move to Israel.

Reflecting on the arrival of members of the lost tribe to Israel and the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy in the modern age, Freund said, “It was just an incredibly powerful experience, and it was a tangible reminder of the miracle that is the State of Israel.”

Israel Returns Chairman Michael Freund with a child of the Bnei Menashe. (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Israel Returns Chairman Michael Freund with a child of the Bnei Menashe. (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Off to start their lives in the Land of Israel! (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Off to start their lives in the Land of Israel! (Photo: Breaking Israel News)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)
Happy to be in Israel! (Photo: Courtesy Israel Returns)

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