Lost Tribe of Israel: Still Lost (at least for me)

Ok fine, I'll tell you one story. Just one.

I went to Manipur and Mizoram in search of the B'nei Menashe Jews. They belong to the Kuki, Chin, and Mizo tribes straddling the India-Burma border (but most of the Jews are on the Indian side) and they believe they are a Lost Tribe of Israel.

Well, they're still lost. At least for me. Because I couldn't find them.

In Manipur, I discovered that most of them live not in Imphal, the capital and where I was staying due to safety reasons (to travel beyond the Greater Imphal area requires armed police escorts to protect you from insurgents and dacoits) (what?! dacoit gets a red squiggly? is that not an English word?) (just checked, apparently that word is Anglo-Indian, derived from Hindi, and only used in India. I mean bandits), but in a rural area far away. So I never met them.

In Mizoram, I found one of their synagogues and the Israeli missionary center* (which also houses a synagogue), but both were closed. And it was Shavuot! The synagogues were closed on a holiday! I don't understand. Maybe they've all already migrated to Israel.

I might not have met any Jews, but I did meet Christians who believe they descend from Israelites. I walked into the headquarters of an organization called the Chhinlung Israel People Convention (CIPC) supported by something called Beth Israel International. I walked into their office because I incorrectly assumed from the org's name that they were Jewish.

The CIPC is trying to convince the UN to recognize them as a Lost Tribe of Israel, although I'm not sure what that accomplishes exactly. These Christians claim they have no interest in living anywhere but Mizoram (unlike the Jewish members of their tribe, who explicitly say they want to move to Zion). When I asked why they're lobbying the UN for this recognition, they said it was because they wanted to feel secure in their identity, to know where they're really from, and for that it was necessary for the world to recognize their identity and origins.

They showed two different sketches of their migration from Israel. The first was a map of the world, with a straight line from Israel to Northeast India that crossed the Himalayas twice (first onto the Tibetan Plateau, then back into the foothills). Um, unlikely. I don't think groups of people migrate in straight lines over millennia, and crossing the Himalayas once would be incredibly difficult, let alone twice. Isn't that why in Himachal Pradesh the Indo-Aryans are in the wetter, greener side of the peaks and the Tibeto-Burmans are in the other drier side in Spiti? Because it's rull hard to cross the mountains? Ok I have to admit I know zilch about human migration, and I'm sure humans have migrated across many mountain ranges, but it does seem unlikely to me that the Kuki-Chin-Mizo would have crossed the highest mountain range on Earth twice.

The second was a flowchart diagram that listed the locations along their route. This made more sense. From Israel they went to Assyria and northeastward into Mongolia, then southeastward through China to the coast, then southwest to Vietnam, then northwest through Burma and into Northeast India. More of a zigzag-y loop than a straight line and this makes sense with their genetic makeup (similar to Burmese).

However, to me Israel seems like an arbitrary starting point. Technically all people originated in Africa. To get from Africa to Asia on land, one would have to cross through Israel. Israel is at the Africa-Asia junction; by foot, there's just no way around it.

Speaking of genetics, the CIPC people gave me a scientific paper, apparently published in a reputable journal, about a study exploring any possible DNA connections between Kuki-Chin-Mizos and Jews. The result? There is no connection. The Kuki-Chin-Mizo have no Jewish genetic markers. Clearly CIPC never actually read the article, or else they wouldn't have given it to me as evidence that they descend from Israelites.

Other questionable evidence they gave me, entitled "Historical Evidence," was a long list of quotes by 19th and 20th century Christian missionaries. Well, for one, telling people they are a Lost Tribe of Israel is a key tactic of missionaries (though I don't really get how that works). Secondly, these quotes say that the cultures of Tibet, Burma, Siam, India, and China all resemble the ancient traditions of the Israelites, which is a bit hard to believe. These missionaries don't explain how or why the traditions are similar, they simply state "the cultures are similar" without evidence. They would have failed the persuasive writing unit of my 10th grade English class. ...although apparently quality argumentative writing is not necessary to convert millions of people. I guess telling people Jesus will save them is enough.

I no longer know where I was going with this. Just that I never met the Jews but that the Christians who share their Lost Tribe belief were interesting to meet, despite the fact that their beliefs are based on tenuous evidence (at least according to my Western way of thinking). But you know what? Maybe the evidence doesn't matter. If these people want to be Christian or Jewish and truly believe that they are, then indeed they are. If they don't care that much of their traditional culture has been lost in the process, then I shouldn't care either. It's not my culture to care about, and I always hate when Westerners lament the loss of certain elements of life in developing countries to which they don't belong. Cultures have always been and always will be dynamic, and honestly Judeo-Christianity has brought a lot of good to the region (like literacy and the end of headhunting and inter- and intratribal warfare), no matter how much missionary activities bother me.

By the way, you can expect my blog absence to continue for a while. I don't think it would be fair to Ben to make him wait long hours in an Internet cafe while I write blog posts.

*Yes, Israeli missionaries. I know, Jews aren't supposed to proselytize. But I don't know what else to call people who enter a community with the intentions of replacing the local culture with their own set of customs--and actually carry out Ashkenazi Orthodox conversions, mikvah and all. The missionary center had photos of Mizos dressed in traditional Orthodox clothing, even with tzitzit.