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We Pay Top Dollar
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A Bnei Menashe wedding in Israel
Reclaiming Judaism
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We buy more luxury watches,
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dollar. We pay cash on the
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American Jewelry & Loan - Detroit
20450 Greenfield Road
Detroit, MI 48235
(313) 345-4000
info@pawndetroit.com
IVisit us online at PawnDetroit.com
Looking for more savings in Metro Detroit? Visit our 2nd location in Pontiac, MI.
a firul]e]InnIn s
6a6y 6autique mare
furniture ceotAiny yifis
I accessories
At
Applegate Center:
29875
Northwestern
Highway
Southfield,
MI 48034
248-262-7311
owned by debbie & mickey stern
previously of moss & associates
-Debbie Blitz will once again be available at the store
to serve you from Sunday-Thursday
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your furniture needs
Please stop in and see us!!
14 December 17 • 2015
JN
Shavei Israel agency helps"lost"Jews
find their heritage.
Stacy Gittleman I Contributing Writer
W
hether the people it helps live
in China, India or Brazil, an
Israeli agency called Shavei
Israel (Israel Returns) is helping "hidden"
or "lost" populations of Jews reclaim their
Judaism.
Times of Israel blogger and Shavei
Israel employee Laura Ben David made
a Detroit stop Nov. 14 at Young Israel
of Southfield during a multi-city North
American tour to promote awareness and
explain the "incredible phenomenori' of
Jews previously thought to be lost to the
rest of mainstream Judaism returning to
their Jewish heritage
Shavei Israel works with pockets of
those claiming Jewish ancestry in nine
countries and counting. It is comprised
of a team of academics, educators and
rabbinical figures and has the support of
rabbinical authorities in Israel and the
United States.
"We find it humbling that, in spite of all
the problems the Jewish people face, there
are emerging hidden people who identify
themselves as Jewish and who want to
throw their fate in with the rest of us:' Ben
David said to a group of 30. She spent her
childhood summers visiting her grand-
parents and extended family in Detroit.
Her grandmother, who is 100, lives at
Fleischman Residence in West Bloomfield.
Now living in Israel, Ben David
describes her job as her "life's work of
reconnecting people to Israel and their
Jewish heritage."
"We find no matter where in the globe
we go, there are people who feel very
strongly a connection and a love for
Israel; she said. "The very least Shavei
Israel can do is help them find their way
either by strengthening their Jewish con-
nections while they live in their current
countries or helping them make aliyah."
Ben David focused her talk on the Jews
of India or the Bnei Menashe. It is the
largest group of "lost" Jews who claim to
be direct descendants of the Lost Tribe of
Menashe. In recent years, Shavei Israel has
brought 3,000 Bnei Menashe to Israel.
Another 7,000 remain in India waiting to
make aliyah.
The transition to life in Israel and
acceptance of their Judaism is a challenge.
Although the Israeli rabbinate visited
Indian Jewish population centers to verify
their authenticity, Ben David explained
the Bnei Menashe still must go through a
brief yet intensive course of study for con-
version. However, because of India's anti-
proselytization laws, they must first move
to Israel and undergo conversion there to
become full Israeli citizens.
Regardless of red tape, Ben David said
groups of students greet the arriving
Bnei Menashe with open arms. The Bnei
Menashe spend three months in a resettle-
ment community in Jerusalem where they
learn Hebrew and enroll in a rigorous
Judaic study to prepare them for the Beit
Din, or the Court of Rabbis, for conversion.
Eventually they go on to live in "care-
fully selected" towns throughout Israel
where they receive training and education
that will lead to sustainable employment.
Though they retain "the flavor and culture"
of their home country, they become full
Israeli citizens and eventually their chil-
dren will serve in the Israel Defense Forces.
"Our social workers stay in touch with
our new olim [immigrants] and we are
constantly revising our program to meet
their needs; Ben David said. "We give
them as much support as possible with a
goal to facilitate their economic indepen-
dence'
Young Israel's Rabbi Yechiel Morris
said the talk was eye-opening because it is
"fascinating for Ashkenazi Jews like us to
know there are other pocket populations
of Jews in the world we are only starting
to discover.
"We are truly a scattered people who
are only now starting to make our way
home from all the corners of the Earth:'
he said. *