Lecturer tells of Jews in India, Poland and Peru

By Donald H. Harrison

Donald H. Harrison
Donald H. Harrison
Laura Ben-David
Laura Ben-David

SAN DIEGO—When Laura Ben-David addresses a gathering at SCY High on Tuesday, Nov. 17, about the work of Shavei Israel in reconnecting “lost” communities to their Jewish roots, she could spin the globe and put her finger on almost any populated continent and have a story there to tell.

In a recent telephone interview with San Diego Jewish World, Ben-David, an Israeli of U.S. birth, related stories of three communities that she has come to know well in her Shavei Israel (Returnees of Israel) work as a marketing consultant, public speaker and photographer.  These communities were in Asia (India), Europe (Poland) and South America (Peru).

In northeastern India, near that country’s borders with China and Myanmar, a group of people known as the Bnei Menashe had lived in isolation from the rest of the Jewish world for centuries. In fact, said Ben-David, the word “Jews” was unknown to them. They believed that they were the descendants of Manasseh, the son of the biblical Joseph, and that they were the last of their kind.

During the time of the British colonial empire, Christian missionaries came to their villages and began teaching them from their Bible. The part that the missionaries called the Old Testament—and which Jews call the Tanach—was recognized with amazement by the Bnei Menashe:  these were the very same stories that they had faithfully passed down through oral tradition for 2700 years.  On the other hand, the part the missionaries called “The New Testament” was new to them.

Bnei Menashe girls at the Kotel (Photo: Laura Ben-David)
Bnei Menashe girls at the Kotel (Photo: Laura Ben-David)

According to Ben-David, there was a split among the Bnei Menashe. Some accepted these new stories about a man called Jesus; others did not. Even today, there are two groups of Bnei Menashe.  Those who accepted Christianity, and those who did not.  In the latter group—which came to identify itself as Jewish—were about 10,000 people, of whom 3,000 already have journeyed to Israel to make Aliyah with the help of Shavei Israel.

“Every one of them wants to make Aliyah to Israel,” Ben-David said. “They are kosher. They are Orthodox. They are wearing yarmulkes.  The women have hair coverings, long skirts, and are modestly dressed.  They keep the traditions.”

Because it has been some 2700 years that the Bnei Menashe have been separated from the main body of the Jewish people, rabbis in Israel say each individual’s genealogy is a puzzle.  How can it be determined whether in some generation or another, there was an intermarriage between a Jewish man and a non-Jewish woman?  So, the Israeli rabbinate has decreed that while the Bnei Menashe should be recognized as having Jewish heritage, to qualify for Israeli citizenship, they must undergo formal conversion. Ben-David says that the B’nai Menashe accept the ruling and are anxious to get on with it.

When the Bnei Menashe arrive in Israel, therefore, they arrive on a probationary status.  They are not eligible for the benefits new olim receive from the Israeli government. Thus the costs of their  housing, meals, language instruction, religious instruction, and other expenses are borne by Shavei Israel, until such time as their conversions are complete. As this is a long process—and because various government agencies also decide when people may come to Israel under such circumstances—it has been a long wait for the 7,000 people still in northeastern India.

One of the reasons that the rabbinate came to decide that the Bnei Menashe were in fact descended from the biblical Israelites was the way that they continued to perform ritual sacrifice of animals as described in the Torah.  Although they did not use calves (as this would offend their Hindu neighbors), the Bnei Menashe followed precise steps in the slaughter of chickens.  According to David, this included such steps as sprinkling the blood onto the ground, then covering the blood over, and then putting the knife into the ground.

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Our interview moved on to the “hidden Jews” of Poland.

A hidden Polish Jew on visit to Jerusalem (Photo: Laura Ben-David)
A hidden Polish Jew on visit to Jerusalem (Photo: Laura Ben-David)

These, explained Ben-David, are the descendant of Jewish victims of the Holocaust who returned from hiding and from the concentration camps to Poland to live, but realizing how much anti-Semitism there still was in the country, kept their Jewish identities secret, not only from the surrounding populace, but from their own children and grandchildren as well.  To all normal appearances, they lived as Catholics.

But after the communist regime fell, and Polish society became more open, people were increasingly willing to talk about their pasts, especially those original Holocaust survivors who didn’t want their secrets to die with them.

Ben-David told of one young woman, whose circumstances she described as being typical, who was called with other members of her family to her grandmother’s death bed, and there heard grandma drop the bomb that she was Jewish and that at least by halacha her daughter was Jewish and so were her grandchildren.

The young woman was so lacking in knowledge about Judaism, she never really caught on to some of her family traditions that were different from those of their neighbors.  For example, during Christmas, her grandmother used to serve potato pancakes (latkes) and donuts.  And she played a game called dreidel.  These symbols of Chanukah were not recognized by the grandmother’s family.  Prior to Easter week, which coincides with Passover, the grandmother would rigorously clean the house and buy new clothes.

While for this woman, her grandmother’s Jewishness was an interesting revelation; for others who grew up in anti-Semitic circumstances—and perhaps were anti-Semites themselves—the news of their parentage sometimes caused bitterness and bewilderment.  How could it be that they were part of the very same people whom they reviled?

Ben-David said that Shavei Israel has set up information centers in such major Polish cities as Warsaw, Krakow and Lvov where people can learn as much as they care to about Judaism, whether that be to understand traditions that their families once practiced, or how one convert to Judaism, or become a Jewish immigrant to Israel.

She emphasized that Shavei Israel neither proselytizes nor serve as Jewish missionaries. She said the organization is guided by the desires of members of the lost communities.  However much information and education each individual wants, the organization tries to provide.

She said that Shavei Israel knows of hundreds of Polish people who are descendants of Holocaust survivors and she estimates that there may be thousands all told.

“It’s not like the Bnei Menashe with thousands of people making Aliyah,” she said.  “It is much more quiet.  They are extremely protective of their stories because they have grown up with the secrecy that was built into their families. There is not a lot of fanfare.”  When a group of “Hidden Jews” from Poland was escorted on a visit to Israel, even then “they were very reluctant to speak.  They were very reluctant and protective.”

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The last community we discussed during our interview were the “Inca Jews” – a village of indigenous people in Peru, Inca in origin, who as a community had decided to convert to Judaism.

“They were very isolated, and today they don’t have the resources, nor the acceptance” of the mainstream Jewish world.  “There is a kind of an eliteness to our Jewish people,” Ben-David said. “Traditionally Jews don’t accept random converts, so it hasn’t been easy for them (in the village).  But we help them.  We know that they are sincere and dedicated. When an entire population converts, it means a massive change in their lives. So we give them resources.  And a number of them have made Aliyah, so they are now in the process of being accepted.”

Southern California Yeshiva (SCY) High, where Ben-David will deliver a speech at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17, is located at 3410 Mt. Acacia Blvd.  Reservations, which are recommended for the free event, may be made by calling (858) 560-1818.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com

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