Dozens of Jews who claim to be the descendants of a lost biblical Jewish tribe have emigrated to Israel from their village in north-eastern India.
The Bnei Menashe say they are descended from Jews banished from ancient Israel to India in the eighth century B.C. An Israeli chief rabbi recognised them as a lost tribe in 2005 and about 1,700 moved to Israel before the government stopped giving them visas.
Israel recently reversed that policy, agreeing to let the remaining 7,200 Bnei Menashe immigrate. Fifty-three of them arrived on Monday.
More to emigrate
Michael Freund, an Israel-based activist says nearly 300 others will arrive in the coming weeks.Lhing Lenchonz, 26, arrived with her husband and her 8-month-old daughter. She said that “after waiting for thousands of years, our dream came true.”