Israel-based nonprofit Degel Menashe (Menashe’s Flag) has established a COVID-19 crisis relief fund to support members of the B’nei Menashe Jewish community in both Israel and India.
The B’nei Menashe originally hail from northeast India and identify as descendants of the Israelite tribe of Manasseh — one of the 10 “Lost Tribes” of Israel. Five thousand B’nei Menashe have immigrated to Israel since the 1980s.
Oakland, Calif.-based civil rights attorney Bryan Schwartz is among those supporting the B’nei Menashe. Schwartz, who visited the B’nei Menashe in India in 2000, told the Journal, “It’s a people who are very inspired, very faithful.”
Degel Menashe program director Isaac Thangjom — who made aliyah in 1998 — said in a statement there currently are 4,000 B’nei Menashe still in India waiting to come to Israel. However, Degel Menashe’s website states that since arriving in Israel, the B’nei Menashe have struggled to adjust to the contemporary realities of the Jewish State.
“Our statement of purpose calls for assisting the B’nei Menashe community in Israel by encouraging its integration in Israeli society, advancing it educationally and vocationally, helping to develop its younger, Israeli-born generation, and working to preserve its cultural heritage,” Thangjom stated. Meanwhile, those in the northeast Indian communities of Manipur and Mizoram – who have been unable to make aliyah due to “financial and bureaucratic obstacles,” according to Degel Menashe’s website – “are out of work due to the national corona[virus] lockdown.”
“With $9,000, you can feed 3,000 people for a few weeks. This is not Whole Foods. It’s incredible to me you can accomplish that with such a tiny amount of money.” — Bryan Schwartz
Schwartz, who also is the chairman of Scattered Among Nations, a nonprofit focusing on Jewish diversity and isolated Jewish communities, has helped to raise funds for those in India. The breadwinners have suffered severe economic hardship, he said. Jews in the U.S. can make a big difference in their lives with small donations, he added.
“With $9,000, you can feed 3,000 people for a few weeks,” Schwartz said. “This is not Whole Foods. It’s incredible to me you can accomplish that with such a tiny amount of money.”
He added feeding the B’nei Menashe in India has focused mostly around the purchase of rice during the coronavirus crisis. More than 500 families began receiving rice on April 22.
“We know there are people in need,” he said. “If you are wondering what we can do to help, this is something. This is our fellow Jewish brethren who are not as fortunate as we are.”
The Jewish Federation of New Mexico also has helped with the fundraising effort.
As of press time, India was relaxing its coronavirus restrictions. To date, the country has more than 46,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. While it remains unclear how much longer India will remain on lockdown, Degel Menashe states on its website: “If there is a need for further relief measures among the B’nei Menashe, Degel Menashe will do its best to rise to the challenge.”
To make a contribution to the B’nei Menashe, visit the Scattered Among the Nations website.
