http://blog.shashwati.com/2005/11/11/the-lost-tribe/ Shashwati Talukdar's Musings Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:50:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 http://blog.shashwati.com/2005/11/11/the-lost-tribe/#comment-153 Muninn » Asian History Carnival 2 Mon, 12 Dec 2005 22:21:37 +0000 http://blog.shashwati.com/?p=179#comment-153 [...] In other postings on ancient peoples, Shashwati Talukdar has some comments on the issues of religion, conversion, and the claims to being connected to an “ancient” community, the Bnei Menashe who claim to be none other than one of the Lost Tribes of Israel who were ethnically cleansed by the Assyrians. A community in Northeastern India was accepted as one of the lost tribes but had to go through a process of ritual conversion before migrating to Israel, which initiated an unfriendly response from the Indian government. [...] […] In other postings on ancient peoples, Shashwati Talukdar has some comments on the issues of religion, conversion, and the claims to being connected to an “ancient” community, the Bnei Menashe who claim to be none other than one of the Lost Tribes of Israel who were ethnically cleansed by the Assyrians. A community in Northeastern India was accepted as one of the lost tribes but had to go through a process of ritual conversion before migrating to Israel, which initiated an unfriendly response from the Indian government. […]

]]> http://blog.shashwati.com/2005/11/11/the-lost-tribe/#comment-156 andy carvin Fri, 11 Nov 2005 14:17:34 +0000 http://blog.shashwati.com/?p=179#comment-156 You can indeed convert to Judaism. It's not common, but it does happen, particularly when non-Jews marry Jews. As for your other question, I imagine they are "re-converting" is because Israel has specific laws concerning how Jewish you have to be to immigrate to Israel. Israel is generally Orthodox, but there are other branches of Judaism, like Reform here in the US. Reform accepts someone who's father is Jewish but mother isn't, while Orthodox does not. So I've known people from mixed marriages who had to convert because Orthodox synagogues didn't recognize them as Jewish, even though they were raised Jewish. So it's all part of a much larger debate within Judaism as to what makes a person Jewish. You can indeed convert to Judaism. It’s not common, but it does happen, particularly when non-Jews marry Jews. As for your other question, I imagine they are “re-converting” is because Israel has specific laws concerning how Jewish you have to be to immigrate to Israel. Israel is generally Orthodox, but there are other branches of Judaism, like Reform here in the US. Reform accepts someone who’s father is Jewish but mother isn’t, while Orthodox does not. So I’ve known people from mixed marriages who had to convert because Orthodox synagogues didn’t recognize them as Jewish, even though they were raised Jewish. So it’s all part of a much larger debate within Judaism as to what makes a person Jewish.

]]> http://blog.shashwati.com/2005/11/11/the-lost-tribe/#comment-154 Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » India: Lost tribes of Israel Fri, 11 Nov 2005 06:46:07 +0000 http://blog.shashwati.com/?p=179#comment-154 [...] Shaswati writes about the Bnei Menashe community in Mizoram and Manipur (North East India), who after much debate and analysis were accepted as one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Giving more context to the issue, the posts asks First, I thought Judaism was similar to Hinduism in the sense that you were born into the religion and couldn’t really convert. Second, if these people claim to be Jewish, then why would they need to be converted again? [...] […] Shaswati writes about the Bnei Menashe community in Mizoram and Manipur (North East India), who after much debate and analysis were accepted as one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Giving more context to the issue, the posts asks First, I thought Judaism was similar to Hinduism in the sense that you were born into the religion and couldn’t really convert. Second, if these people claim to be Jewish, then why would they need to be converted again? […]

]]> http://blog.shashwati.com/2005/11/11/the-lost-tribe/#comment-155 DesiPundit » The Lost Tribes Of Israel Fri, 11 Nov 2005 06:45:30 +0000 http://blog.shashwati.com/?p=179#comment-155 [...] Shaswati writes about the Bnei Menashe community in Mizoram and Manipur, who after much debate and analysis were accepted as one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Giving more context to the issue, the posts asks First, I thought Judaism was similar to Hinduism in the sense that you were born into the religion and couldn’t really convert. Second, if these people claim to be Jewish, then why would they need to be converted again? [...] […] Shaswati writes about the Bnei Menashe community in Mizoram and Manipur, who after much debate and analysis were accepted as one of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Giving more context to the issue, the posts asks First, I thought Judaism was similar to Hinduism in the sense that you were born into the religion and couldn’t really convert. Second, if these people claim to be Jewish, then why would they need to be converted again? […]

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