In honor of the Hanukah holiday, we asked three members of Jewish communities with which Shavei Israel works to share with us their Jewish journeys and what Hanukah has meant to them over the years. Each comes from a very different part of the world...

Itzkhak Lhungdim is a Bnei Menashe from India

Jaume Folch i Mola is a student of our emissary to the Bnei Anousim, Rabbi Nissan Ben-Avraham, in Spain

Filtzgova Tova bat Avraham is a Russian Subbotnik Jew 

...but all are deeply grateful to be able to openly and joyously celebrate the Hanukah miracle this year.

Click here to read their personal thoughts on the Hanukah holiday.   

As he stood before the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court answering the final question before completing a crucial last step on the road towards his long awaited conversion to Judaism, Tony Liang was thrown a curveball.

"What's the blessing on an eggroll?" the rabbinic judge asked the young man from Kaifeng, China. Tony looked perplexed.

It turns out that the Chinese, at least those in remote Kaifeng, don't eat eggrolls; it's a western variation on Asian food. The judge opened his laptop, did a Google search for "eggroll," and showed Tony the picture. Tony immediately got the blessing right. The judges instructed him to cover his eyes and recite Shema Israel. As he did so, Tony came one giant leap closer to the dream he's nurtured since childhood: to live a fully Jewish life in the Land of Israel.

Tony Liang is one of seven descendants of the Kaifeng Jewish community who have been studying Judaism and Hebrew in Israel for the past two and a half years with Shavei Israel's help. Click here to read more about their long awaited experience at the Jerusalem Beit Din. 

Every year, Shavei Israel sponsors a competition with the Bnei Menashe in India to see who can build the loveliest hanukiot - or Hanukah Menorahs. This year, Shavei Israel's Director of the Bnei Menashe Aliyah and Absorption Department, Rabbi Hanoch Avitzedek, was in Manipur to prepare the Bnei Menashe for their upcoming immigration, and the community went all out. We've put together this short video showing some of their heartfelt holiday creativity.

Click here to watch the video.