I wanted to share with you some exciting news regarding the aliyah of the Bnei Menashe of India, who are descendants of a Lost Tribe of Israel.
 
Over the past decade, Shavei Israel has brought 1,700 members of the community to Israel, where they have been absorbed successfully into the Jewish state. Another 7,232 remain in India, awaiting their chance to return to the land of their ancestors. And now, at last, their dream seems poised to become a reality.
 
Over the past year, Shavei Israel has been intensively lobbying Israel's new government to allow the community to move to the Jewish state.
 
Two months ago I met with Israel's Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and other senior officials. At that meeting, the Chief Rabbi and the Interior Minister agreed to bring to Israel the remaining members of the Bnei Menashe community still in India.
 
And this past week, a report in Yediot Aharonot, Israel's largest newspaper, indicated that the government is now preparing a plan for the Bnei Menashe to undergo a formal return to Judaism in Nepal and then make aliyah.
 
According to the report, some 200 to 300 of the Bnei Menashe will be converted each month and then allowed to move to Israel. It is estimated that the entire community can be brought here within one to two years.

This is a momentous development both for the Bnei Menashe and for the entire Jewish people. While the plan is still being drawn up, and eventually needs to win final approval, it is clear that we are steadily moving forward to the great and historic day when the exile of the Bnei Menashe, which began more than 27 centuries ago, will at last come to an end.
 
We will of course keep you updated as this process unfolds.

Michael Freund
Chairman, Shavei Israel

For Miquel Segura of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, the journey home took more than 500 years.

Last month, at a moving ceremony in Manhattan, the 65-year-old journalist and political commentator completed his return to the Jewish people, closing a circle dating back to the 14th century.  

Segura is from the Chueta community, as descendants of Mallorcan Jews forcibly converted to Christianity more than five centuries ago are known.

Though the term is derogatory, with some historians suggesting it comes from the Catalan word for "pig," Segura has long worn it with unadorned pride.

He first learned of his identity in school at the age of 14. "The other children insulted me and called me a Chueta, saying we had killed Jesus," he says.

When Segura asked his father about their Chueta identity, "he answered me with elaborate arguments," which only served to pique the young boy's curiosity about his ancestors. This led him to uncover a fascinating story, one that serves as a compelling example of the power of Jewish memory.

This story continues on the Shavei Israel website. Click here to read more.

Here's some of what we posted on the new Shavei Facebook site this month:

• Photos from the visit of Rebbetzin Rivka Cohen of Sydney, Australia to India where she taught seminars for Bnei Menashe women in Manipur.
  
• The double wedding of Bnei Menashe Shlomo Haokip to Nuria Hangshing and Yonatan Neihsiel to Rivka Singson - pictures!
• We posted a number of new 10-minute professional documentaries on the Bnei Menashe, Bnei Anousim and Hidden Jews of Poland. Also a Bnei Anousim video in Spanish!
• Is it time for a "Birthright" style program for Diaspora decision makers? Michael Freund weighs in on the subject.
  
• Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky praises "aliyah by choice."
• Lots of pictures from last month's Shavei-sponsored Chanukah parties across Poland.
• A new Hebrew School for Subbotnik Jews opens in Vysoky, Russia - a Shavei Israel initiative
• Photos from the sixth annual "Maccabiah" for the Bnei Menashe community in India, sponsored by Shavei Israel.
  
• A fascinating article on how the Bnei Anousim have maintained a unique genetic identity for 500 years.
  

You can find us at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jerusalem-Israel/Shavei-Israel/

We also have dozens of videos of "lost" Jewish communities on our YouTube site. Visit us at http://www.youtube.com/user/ShaveiIsrael