More than 200 Indians have emigrated to Israel after they were officially recognised as Jews, religious leaders said on Thursday.
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Rabbinical leaders announced last March that some 6,000 members of the Bnei Menashe tribe in the northeast were descendants of ancient Israelites or one of the Biblical 10 lost tribes.
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“A total of 105 people left for Israel on Thursday, while another 103 people went on Wednesday with the Israeli Prime Minister’s office formally inviting them,” Israeli rabbi Hannock Avizedek said.
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The Jews travelled from Mizoram to Israel.���
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The recognition from Israel came after tribe members sent scores of applications seeking to migrate to Israel, or the Promised Land, saying it was their right to do so.
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According to Israeli law, every Jew enjoys the “right of return” — or the right of abode in the country.��� After the recognition, a group of rabbis visited Mizoram last September and converted the first batch of 218 Mizo tribal people to Judaism after they took a holy dip at a mikvah or a ritual bath.
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“The new converts are practising the religion perfectly. They will undergo a year-long course in Israel to learn other aspects of Judaism at government expense,” Avizedek said from Aizwal, shortly before leaving.
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The rabbi spent six months in Aizwal to teach Hebrew and impart lessons in Judaism to the tribal people.
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“I am so happy today and it is a dream come true as we leave for our Holy Land,” said 30-year-old Bana Kholring, whose businessman husband Avior and three teenaged children were also migrating with her.
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Some 800 people from Mizoram and neighbouring Manipur state have migrated to Israel since 1994 when a private body, the Amishav Association took up their case. The last batch of 71 left the northeast for Jerusalem in May 2003.
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Mizoram is a predominantly Christian state, while most Manipuris follow Hinduism. Most Jews in the two states were Christian by birth.���
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Apart from names, the converts share many practices in common with traditional Jews — such as keeping mezuzahs or parchment inscribed with verses of the Torah at the entrance to their homes. The men wear a kippah or headgear during prayers.���
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“I have no regrets at all to leave my birth place because Israel is our Promised Land,” Zimra Hnamte, a 50-year-old widow, said.���
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The 208 Mizo Jews would be settled in the cities of Nazareth Illit and Karmiel in northern Israel.

DNA