Mourning the past, praying for the future
The ‘Three Weeks’ on the Jewish calendar, which begin on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz and end on the 9th of Av, is a period of mourning and introspection commemorating the destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples.
The Bnei Menashe, while suffering numerous challenges due to the actual destruction they are living through in India, are amazingly still able to focus on the communal destruction of the Jewish Temples, millennia ago, and pray
for the ultimate redemption – and, of course, the aliyah of the rest of the Bnei Menashe, to join with the rest of their Jewish brethren.
Below are some photos of Bnei Menashe morning prayer services in various communities in Mizoram, India, as the fast day of the 17th of Tammuz begins.
Tzvi Haokip, Director of Bnei Menashe Aliyah & Absorption Center, had this to say: “We are mourning the destruction of the Temple and praying for the restoration of the temple. Whoever mourns the destruction of the Temple will see the restoration of the Temple – something Bnei Menashe already relate to. How much more so to see the ingathering of the exiles.”
‘Ohel Shavei Israel’ congregation in Sialhawk, Mizoram
‘Rodef Shalom’ congregation in Sihphir, Mizoram
‘Nahar Shalom’ congregation, Bairabi, Mizoram
‘Hovevei Zion’ congregation, Aizawl, Mizoram