Bnei Menashe immigrants' first visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem

I want to share with you a very moving experience that I had earlier this week (January 30, 2015), when we brought the group of 250 Bnei Menashe which had made Aliyah back in November for their first visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem (there is a great video about their arrival in Israel, see below). It was an incredibly special event.The entire group gathered in the plaza before the Wall and proceeded to sing various Hebrew songs as throngs of tourists, worshippers and other onlookers came over and joined in the festive singing.

The Bnei Menashe then proceeded to the Wall itself, where young and old alike fell upon the stones and began to weep as they thanked G-d for bringing them to Israel.

One of the Bnei Menashe then led the group in the Maariv evening prayers, which was joined by a large number of other Israelis from various backgrounds – this in and of itself was a beautiful sight. But when all the 250 Bnei Menashe began to recite the “Shema Yisrael” (“Hear O Israel”) as one in their distinct and slow tune, the usually noisy crowds of visitors all fell silent and looked on in wonder. I felt as if their recitation of faith in G-d rose to the heavens and reached the Throne of Glory itself! After the prayers had ended, they formed a large circle, singing and dancing late into the night.

We are currently gearing up to bring the next group of 250 Bnei Menashe to Israel, at a cost of approximately $4,000 per person (for a total of $1,000,000). We had originally planned to do so in March, but because of a lack of funds, we must now push off their Aliyah to May. I am appealing to you and to Christians for Israel to please consider partnering with us in a significant manner so that we can bring these precious people back to our Land. We cannot risk losing this opportunity to bring them home.

Thanks for your consideration and your support,

Michael Freund
Chairman, Shavei Israel
From: www.shavei.org

More news...