Arutz Sheva has a small article on the efforts on the part of the Cheif Rabbinate to help bring to Israel what may be a remnant of the lost tribe of Manashe; this group from India, who call themselves Bnei Menashe (they are also called the Manmassi tribe), were actually discovered several years ago and have been the subject of serious debate; Are they halachic (legal, in terms of Judaism) Jews?, as well as a the subject of a book, called Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel, by Hillel Halkin(a review of the book can be found here.) They have some unique practices which are similar to Jewish practices; bris milah at age 8 days, they have laws regarding leprosy, offer sacrifices using a name of G-d found in the Torah, kept the 7th day as Shabbat (Sabbath) didn't eat fish without fins and scleas, and have songs referring to events that took place in the Torah---going out of Egypt, and several were welcomed to Israel in 2000, brought with the help of Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, who heads the organization Amishav-- dedicated to brining back all the lost tribes of Israel.
More articles here, here (this is my Rabbi)and here, and here!
This kind of stuff fascinates me; science, history, linguistics and the possiblity that those who were lost to us are finally coming home---its got everything!
I'm not a Rabbi, and can't make that type of a Halachic decision, but I'm convinced!
What do you think? Does this sound like the real deal to you?
Fascinating. Thanks for posting this. I will return when I get some time and look at the material you linked to.
Posted by: RP at August 13, 2004 03:45 PM