by DNA Tests Optional, Cultural Knowledge of Judaism Not Required
In a move that religious scholars are calling “theologically ambitious,” Israel has announced plans to admit thousands of Indians from the Bnei Menashe community, who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel despite having approximately zero historical documentation and a religious practice that looks suspiciously like they learned Judaism from Wikipedia.
The Bnei Menashe, located in India’s northeastern states of Manipur and Mizoram, have convinced Israeli authorities that they are descendants of the Tribe of Manasseh, who somehow ended up in India after the Assyrian conquest in 722 BCE without leaving any archaeological evidence, linguistic traces, or coherent explanation for how they got there.
“Our oral traditions clearly connect us to ancient Israel,” explained community leader Yosef Hadassah, formerly known as Joseph Haokip before his conversion. “Sure, we practiced animism until the 1950s and then became Christian before discovering Judaism in the 1970s, but that’s just details. The important thing is we really feel Jewish now.”
Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Goldstein of the Institute for Creative Genealogy explained Israel’s reasoning: “When you’re a small country surrounded by hostile neighbors, you can’t afford to be too picky about who qualifies as part of the tribe. If someone in India wants to claim they’re descended from ancient Israelites and is willing to move to a conflict zone, who are we to argue with that level of commitment?”
The immigration program has raised eyebrows among geneticists, who point out that DNA tests show the Bnei Menashe have exactly the same genetic markers as their non-Jewish neighbors, which is either an amazing coincidence or suggests that ancient Israelites were surprisingly good at blending in.
Israeli immigration officials defended the program, noting that accepting the Bnei Menashe is no more absurd than half the other things happening in Middle Eastern geopolitics. “At least these immigrants come with job skills and don’t complain about the food,” one official explained off the record.
At press time, several other Indian communities were reportedly consulting historians to see if they too could claim ancient Jewish heritage and score Israeli citizenship.
SOURCE: https://www.dw.com/en/israel-to-admit-thousands-from-indias-jewish-lost-tribe/a-74855366
SOURCE: Bohiney.com (Radhika Vaz)
