JL;DR
Daily Podcasts Video Research
Communities · Leadership

Becoming Moses

Summarizing Matthew Fishbane in Tablet · Published Thursday, February 19, 2015
menu_book Read Original bookmark star

JL;DR SUMMARY Michael Freund, working for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in 1997, responded to a letter from a community in Manipur, India, claiming to be a lost tribe of Israel, ultimately leading to his involvement in helping them make aliyah. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Jewish History  Jewish Identity  Diaspora  Bnei Menashe  Aliyah  India Israel Relations  Shavei Israel  Michael Freund  Global Judaism  Lost Tribes 

Places mentioned

Hebron, Central District, Israel
"In the spring of 1997, shortly after Israel pulled out of its settlements in Hebron, Michael Freund was working at the communications bureau of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then serving his first stint in that office."
Kangpokpi, Manipur, India
"Freund and his people are in the yard of Beith Shalom synagogue, in a town called Kangpokpi, across from the bazaar, in Sadar Hills, Manipur state, 30 miles from the Myanmar border."
Churachandpur, Manipur, India
"Much of the Manipuri Jewish activity is concentrated around Churachandpur, a city of a quarter-million people."
Delhi, India
"Freund twice visited Manipur state, India, stopping off in Delhi to help with the continuing mass aliyah of the Bnei Menashe."
Imphal, Manipur, India
"They have built modest synagogues in dozens of villages and neighborhoods like Sijang, New Bazar, Matiyang, Gamgiphai, Zohar, and Old Lambulane, across the districts of Imphal, Chandel, and Tamenglong."
Portugal
"In 2014 alone, he visited northern Portugal, parts of Spain, southern Italy, and Sicily, where he is working with descendants of anusim, who were forced to abandon Judaism against their will during periods such as the Inquisition."
Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany
"He made a research trip to Frankfurt, Germany, and to nearby Mainz, Speyer, and Worms, home to many prominent rabbis in the period of the Crusades, when Ashkenazi Jews were unsettledand of course for the whole connection with the Holocaust, too, he adds."
Anambra, Nigeria
"Freund decided he should go to Abuja and the southern Anambra State, to see for himself."
Bogotá, Capital District, Colombia
"Further afield, he was in Bogotá, Colombia, helping a new Shavei emissary trace what many believe to be widespread crypto-Judaism in the Americas, a legacy of the Spanish expulsions of 1492."
Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
"He made a research trip to Frankfurt, Germany, and to nearby Mainz, Speyer, and Worms, home to many prominent rabbis in the period of the Crusades, when Ashkenazi Jews were unsettledand of course for the whole connection with the Holocaust, too, he adds."
Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
"He made a research trip to Frankfurt, Germany, and to nearby Mainz, Speyer, and Worms, home to many prominent rabbis in the period of the Crusades, when Ashkenazi Jews were unsettledand of course for the whole connection with the Holocaust, too, he adds."
Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
"He made a research trip to Frankfurt, Germany, and to nearby Mainz, Speyer, and Worms, home to many prominent rabbis in the period of the Crusades, when Ashkenazi Jews were unsettledand of course for the whole connection with the Holocaust, too, he adds."
Amritsar, Punjab, India
"The next day, the Menashe olim fly out of Delhi's smog to Amritsar, the Sikh holy city of Punjab, built around the Golden Temple and its shimmering reflecting pool, which is visible from the sky."
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
"On the airport tarmac, 50 kilometers from Lahore, and even closer to Pakistan's border, five armed Indian fighter jets sit with raised canopies, ready for pilots."
Tel Aviv, Northern District, Israel
"Israel Hangsi is 45 years old, born in Kangpokpi on land his family has owned since 1924, around the time British missionaries built the still-functioning hospital in the teak forest above town."
Carmiel, Northern District, Israel
"The first batch of 160 came in January of 2014. In May, Freund was awarded the $50,000 Lion of Zion Moskowitz Prize, alongside the founder of a jobs program for displaced Jewish West Bank settlers, and a Temple Mount archaeologist."
Maalot-Tarshiha, Northern District, Israel
"In the Galilee town of Maalot-Tarshiha, Russian workers are repairing the bandstand on the town square, which is bordered by a couple of shwarma joints and a few cafs."
Mizoram, India
"In 2005, a rabbinical delegation flew to Mizoram with the plan to start conducting conversions on site."

Support this source

attach_money Donate to Tablet
This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 84950
Cairo Source ID 10
Retrieved 2026-06-16 05:31:48 UTC
Curated 2026-06-16 08:32:04 UTC