Jerusalem, Mar 29: An Israeli organisation has despatched kosher wine and special food for the Jewry living in Manipur and Mizoram for the Jewish festival of 'Pesach' starting next week. The organisation, Amishav, which literally means "my people come back" and assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to Israel, arranged for the despatch of hundreds of kilograms of matzah, a special bread made without yeast for Pesach or Passover, and dozens of bottles of kosher wine to the community commonly referred to as Bnei Menashe.

"Passover is full of symbolic and religious meaning for the Bnei Menashe. They are anxious to observe its rituals to the fullest extent possible, so we have sent them the supplies they need in order to do so," Amishav's director Michael Freund said.

An emissary of the organisation will conduct a traditional Seder (festive dinner) at the group's Hebrew Center, located in Aizawl. Local government ministers, as well as some 350 members of the Bnei Menashe, are expected to attend the ceremony.

Freund said that until the arrival of British missionaries to Northeastern a century ago, the Bnei Menashe had celebrated an annual springtime festival known as "Chapchar Khut", corresponding to Passover or Pesach.
Bureau Report