Smash hit

In the past decade, 800 Bnei Menashe have settled in Israel following the efforts of Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail, a lost tribe hunter who took their claims seriously.

Most ended up bolstering religious communities in West Bank and Gaza settlements where they could sustain their faith after their conversion.

But in 2003 Avraham Poraz,the former Interior Minister from the secular Shinui party, stopped the issuing of visas to Bnei Menashe amid concerns that economic migrants were claiming tenuous Jewish links to come to Israel.

Yet Hillel Halkin, an author who spent five years researching his book on the tribe Across the Sabbath River: In Search of the Lost Tribe of Israel, believes there might be a “kernel of truth, but no more than a kernel” in their claims. “There’s no doubt that nearly all the 7,000 want to come to Israel,” he said. “And if the gates opened I’m sure we’d see more converting.”

Rather than dwell on the veracity of the Bnei Menashe’s historical claims, Rabbi Avichail changed tack. By enabling them to undergo recognised conversions in Mizoram, he hoped the Jewish state would be forced to accept them under the Israeli law that confers automatic right of citizenship on all Jews.

The mission to India established sufficient credible links to allow the conversions by a rabbinical court. One of the team, Rabbi Eliyahu Birnboim, said: “We know they’re descendants of the Jewish people, and we want the state of Israel to help them move here.”

Rabbi Avichail pointed out that the conversions would be necessary, not because of uncertainty over their claim to be Jewish descendants but simply because of social traditions they observed. “The conversion is necessary, not because there’s any doubt that they are descendants of Manasseh, but because of complex religious rules about the relations of men and women.”

LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL

Beta Israel (“House of Israel”): Ethiopian Jews believed to be descended from the lost tribe of Dan. Around 65,000 have emigrated to Israel since 1974

Bene Israel (“Sons of Israel”): Indian tribe claiming to be descendents of shipwrecked Jews. Rabbis have declared that they are “full Jews in every respect”

The Lemba: Bantu-speaking people in Southern Africa with genetic similarities to the Cohanim or Jewish priestly class. They practice dietary rules similar to Kosher

The Pathans: 15 million Muslims in Central Asia whose customs are similar to Jewish ones. Names of tribe members are also thought to resemble those of the lost tribes

Black Hebrews: African-American group claiming to be descended from the lost tribe of Judah. They Are not recognised as Jews by Israel

Melungeons: Mysterious racial group in Tennessee who are sometimes identified with lost tribes, though other theories trace them to Portugal

British Israelism: 18th-century theory that claimed Anglo-Saxons were descended from lost tribes

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