Sarah Baite Tells Her Story

(December 30) Since the rape of her daughter in 2016 by a Shavei Israel crony, Sarah Baite has publicly spoken of the incident only once, in a letter sent in July, 2020 to Israel’s Immigration and Absorption minister Pnina Tamano-Shata. Originally written in Kuki, it read in the English translation sent to the minister:

To, Penina Tamano Shato, Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Government of Israel. Subject: A request for Aliya Respected Madam, my name is Sarah Hatneilam Baite, I am 40 years old, member of the Bnei Menashe community in Manipur. I am a widow living with my only daughter under abject poverty. I have been with the Jewish community for the last 20 years and till now Shavei has not given me permission for Aliya. I am neglected maybe because I am unable to influence since I am only a poor widow. Shavei has misused Aliyah, I say this because on the 15th July 2016 an unworthy fellow Kailam Singson raped my 10 year old daughter. I reported the matter to Shavei and our congregation but they have ignored my plea. The reason is that this man Kailam is very close to the Shavei leadership. I used to belong to the congregation which also serves as the Shavei Centre and its leadership does not have the courage to stand up due to its fear of being left out of the Aliya list. When the matter of Kailam Singson came up for discussion to the Village Authority, District Head Quarter, Shavei used a bye-law to have me expelled from the community. But what hurts me the most is that on the 10th June 2018, my daughter’s rapist, Kailam Singson was granted Aliyah by Shavei. As long as Shavei is in charge of Aliya, my daughter and myself, we have no hope of ever coming to Israel. It pains me that I have no one to help me. Madam, I am a widow with no hope, but with you my hope has renewed. I plead with you to remember me this coming Aliyah. I pray to you that Shavei should not be given charge of Aliyah because it is used as an instrument to oppress widows and destitute like me. I thank you, may Hashem help you in all your endeavors. Sarah Hatneilam Baite, Ex-member of Beith Shalom B. Vengnom, Shavei Israel Centre, Churachandpur, Manipur-795128

After last week’s Knesset exchange between Tamano-Shata and former Likud minister Miri Regev in which the latter referred to Sarah Baite's letter, Tamano-Shata, who professed not to have seen it, reportedly expressed an interest in speaking to Baite in a Zoom meeting. Baite promptly indicated her readiness; Tamano-Shata, as far as is known, has yet to contact her. Meanwhile, however, Sarah Baite has agreed to be interviewed by our Newsletter. Here is our conversation with her:

Let’s pretend you’re talking to the minister. Can you tell us a bit about your personal history?

I was born in 1979 in a village called Zoupi, in the Chandel district of Manipur. Not long after that, my parents moved to a nearby village, Sugnu, where I grew up and was sent to school, although I never got further than first grade. In the mid-1980s, when I was still a small girl, my parents joined a Messianic church. [“Messianics” in Manipur are Christians who, while believing in Jesus’ messiahship, stress his Jewish roots and the need to observe many of the practices laid down by the Hebrew Bible.] From there, it was natural to make the move to Judaism. My family did that in 1993 or ’94.

In 1999, I married a man who was from a B’nei Menashe background, too. We weren’t together for long when he left me, saying that he was going off to earn some money. He never came back. Later, I found out that he had joined an anti-government underground movement and been killed in an armed encounter.

Were there any children from that marriage?

There was a child even before it, because when I was married, I was already caring for my older sister's son. Her first husband had died, and when she remarried, she and her second husband moved away and left me with their little boy, whom I brought up as my own.

Sarah Baite with grandson.

After my own husband’s death, I found out that I was pregnant from him and some months later I gave birth to my older daughter.

My younger daughter was born in 2006, after I was happily remarried to another man from the B’nei Menashe community. Our happiness didn’t last long, though, because he died of stomach cancer in 2007.

So you were now a widow again, now with three children to support.

Yes. I owned some family rice fields, but it was too risky to depend just on them. It was hard for me to tend to them while raising the children and if there was a year of poor rainfall, we faced starvation. And so I began to take all kinds of odd jobs, whatever I could find. That’s how I make a living to this day. I work in other people’s fields as a day laborer. I sell jewelry and clothes. I have a good voice, and sometimes, I’m invited to events at which I sing traditional songs. I don't charge a fee. I take whatever is given me. It can be one or two thousand rupees [15 to 30 dollars], or sometimes just a meal and a shawl. For important occasions, like Independence Day or Republic Day, the government might pay me up to 10,000 rupees. It’s never enough, but thanks to God, I’ve managed to get by and even to send my older daughter to an inexpensive boarding school.

Did you think in those years of making Aliyah?

I was never invited to any of Shavei Israel’s Aliyah interviews. I was a poor widow and had no influence with anyone in the Shavei leadership. The one time I inquired, I was told that my family wasn’t eligible because my daughter’s attendance at a boarding school kept her away from Jewish communal life. I was told that she would have to leave the school and that we would then have to wait three more years until we would even be considered for Aliyah.

Tell us about what happened to your younger daughter.

I had a trusted friend in the community, K [K’s full name, blackened out by us, is given by Sarah Baite in her letter]. We visited each other a lot and our two families shared many of our Shabbat meals. K often invited my daughter to go shopping with him and bought her candy and other treats. He was related to Meital Singson, who was Shavei Administrator for Manipur at the time and close to Tzvi Khaute [Shavei Israel’s second-in-command], which made her very powerful. All major decisions affecting the B’nei Menashe of Manipur were made by her..

I was out of the house most of the time, making a living. One day when I had to go somewhere, K. offered to take my daughter to a neighborhood grocery to buy some sweets. I never imagined anything bad might happen to her. But when I came home that night, I found her curled on her bed, crying. That wasn’t like her. I asked what was wrong, but she just went on crying without answering, and so I thought she must be ill and took her to the doctor, the next day. He, too, couldn't figure out what the matter was, but since she seemed weak, he put her on a glucose drip to perk her up. Having things to do, I left her in his clinic with her grandmother, my mother. While I was away, she told my mother what had happened to her and my mother told me as soon as I returned. I then told the doctor, who suggested a vaginal examination. It confirmed that she had been raped. It was hard to believe. She was barely ten. How could anyone have done such a thing to her?

Word of what happened reached relatives and one of them informed the neighborhood authorities. As soon as K. and his wife heard about this, his wife rushed to my house in tears and apologized profusely on her husband’s behalf. She even brought a shawl, wrapped it around me, and begged me to forgive her husband, and begged me not to go to the police, since that would bring shame on our community. The next day, heads of Beit Shalom [Churachandpur’s largest synagogue, controlled at the time by Shavei Israel] came and also warned me against going to the police. They assured me that the matter would be settled within the Jewish community, and that justice would be done and the perpetrator suitably punished in accordance with Jewish law. I believed them and did not file a police complaint. After all, the dignity of the community was at stake.

And did they punish K.?

No. They did just the opposite. They held a meeting, and a few days later I received a letter telling me that I had been expelled from the Jewish community for informing on one of its members to non-Jews. Nothing was done to K. at all. It was too painful for words.

The letter of expulsion from Beit Shalom.

Its English translation is:

To,

Mrs. Lamshi Baite,

District Hqrs Tuibong, Churachandpur.

ANNOUNCEMENT

We want to inform you today, 20.07.16 Wednesday at 7:30 am, in connection with the unpleasant event that took place in your household in matters of you not respecting Law and Order, after the Executive Committee had a meeting and deliberated it over with deep thoughts with consultations on the laws which cannot be by-passed, in accordance with the Bye-Law Article No.10, Clause(D) the leaders have decided to cancel your name from community census. In addition we request you not to bear bitterness and ill-feelings to the leaders of the community.

In the name of the community.

Tuvia Tungnung

Secretary,

Beith Shalom, B. Vengnom

What happened then?

My family was thrown out of Beit Shalom. We weren’t allowed to attend prayers there. Many members of the congregation were sympathetic and knew an injustice had been done, but no one had the courage to speak out. They all knew that if they did they would incur the wrath of Shavei and forfeit their chance for Aliyah.

Did that mean you were no longer able to live a Jewish life?

No, I was still able to, because there was one congregation in the area, Petach Tikvah, that welcomed us. We were able to observe Shabbat and all the holidays there. .And in 2018, I was told that if I apologized, I could rejoin Beit Shalom.

You were told to apologize to them?

Yes. I was made to stand up in front of the whole Beit Shalom congregation and say that that I was sorry for having caused it problems. I did it because I felt I had no choice. The Petach Tikva synagogue was a long walk from my home, and my entire social world had revolved around Beit Shalom.

And how is your daughter now?

Since the incident, she’s become totally withdrawn. She hardly talks. For about a year, I took her to a doctor for treatment, but I had to stop because I could no longer afford it. She was left back in fourth grade because she didn’t pass her subjects, and when the following year the school agreed to promote her to fifth grade after I begged it to, the same thing happened again. Now, she’s dropped out of school entirely. She has no friends and takes no interest in anything.

I’ve given up hope. My daughter’s life is ruined. Every time I talk about what happened, all the pain of it comes back again. It’s like reliving a nightmare. I feel helpless -- but that’s the reality I have to live with. I can tell my story to the minister, but will she listen to me, a poor widow against so many powerful people? Some who saw the video of the Knesset debate have even accused me of selling my soul by writing to her. To be honest, I have no expectations any more. I can only put my trust in God. And even if I were someday to get to Israel, the land of my dreams, I’d have to live with the fear of running into my daughter’s rapist. What a terrible thing to have to think of!

Regev, Tamano-Shata, In Knesset Showdown Over B’nei Menashe

(December 23) An empty Knesset floor did not prevent Likud MK and former cabinet minister Miri Regev, and current Minister of Immigration and Absorption Pnina Tamano-Shata, from sending sparks flying when they faced off this week over the issue of B’nei Menashe immigration to Israel. Although the confrontation was a prearranged one, set for a December 22 plenary session in which Tamano-Shata had promised to reply to a Parliamentary Question filed by Regev weeks earlier, it had all the emotion of a spontaneous clash.

The query put by Regev to Tamano-Shata concerned the Israeli government’s longstanding policy of placing the B’nei Menashe’s Aliyah in the exclusive hands of the Jerusalem-based NGO Shavei Israel. Why asked Regev, were the B’nei Menashe, alone of all immigrants to Israel, being made “the prisoners of a private organization?

Regev reads her opening question.

And why, especially, were they subjected to such an arrangement when this organization had been repeatedly accused of abusing the monopoly given it? Was she aware, Tamano-Shata was asked by Regev, of the charges of corrupt practices made against Shavei Israel? Why was The Jewish Agency not involved in the Aliyah of the B’nei Menashe, as it was with other groups of immigrants?

Tamano-Shata then took the podium to reply. After praising the B’nei Menashe for being a “wonderful community,” she stated that seeking the help of NGOs in the Aliyah process was not unusual. Although she was aware of the complaints against it, Shavei Israel, she said, was the sole organization involved with bringing B’nei Menashe to Israel because no other body had asked to participate in public tenders related to their Aliyah.

Tamano-Shata replies.

As the first minister of immigration to seek to involve the Jewish Agency in the process alongside Shavei, she was happy to report that it was now “studying the subject,” and she hoped that it would play a greater role in the future.

It was now Regev’s turn to follow up on her original question. Speaking with evident passion, she held up a batch of letters that were, she said, but a few of the complaints against Shavei Israel that had come to her attention.

Regev with letters of complaint.

Many of these, she declared, had been originally written to the minister herself. Was Tamano-Shata, she asked, aware of them? Did she know that they included dozens of accusations that Shavei had played favorites with B’nei Menashe candidates for Aliyah, accepting those that had curried favor with it and rejecting those who had refused to obey its dictates? That it had often resorted to threats and intimidation in order to keep the B’nei Menashe community under its control? That one letter even accused it of covering up the rape of a B’nei Menashe widow’s young daughter by one of its cronies? Why hadn’t the Jewish Agency intervened in such a case? Why had the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption let the B’nei Menashe community be Shavei Israel’s plaything?

As per Knesset protocol, the last word was reserved for the minister. Visibly stung and angry, she retorted that the charges against Shavei Israel were unproven. “If anyone has a complaint,” she declared, “let them go to the police!” It wasn’t her job, she said, to investigate such things. Shavei Israel had been operating on its own for long years before her term of office and had amassed “a fund of experience.” Nevertheless, she said, no one had done more than she had to bring The Jewish Agency into the picture. “There’s nothing to any of your insinuations!” she exclaimed to Regev.

A stung minister defends herself.

With this, the brief but fiery exchange ended. Contacted by our Newsletter, Degel Menashe’s chairman of the board Hillel Halkin reacted to it by saying: “The minister’s reply to Miri Regev was at its best evasive and at its worst simply untrue. Her claim that no organization other than Shavei Israel has sought to play a role in the B’nei Menashe’s Aliyah by participating in a public tender is doubly false. In the first place, there has never been any such tender. And secondly, last June the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption specifically asked the Finance Ministry to award Shavei Israel a 10 million shekel contract for B’nei Menashe Aliyah without a tender and then requested that the matter be kept a secret. We have the documentation to prove this. How the minister could have said what she did with a straight face is beyond me.”

Halkin also scoffed at the minister’s call to the B’nei Menashe to take their grievances against Shavei Israel to the Israeli police. These grievances, he said, citing the case of alleged rape, had to do with Shavei’s behavior in India, not Israel. “If the minister didn’t realize that the appeal of the raped girl’s mother was sent to her from Manipur, she must never have read it in the first place,” Halkin said. “And in that case, one can only assume that she never bothered to read any of the other letters sent to her by Shavei Israel’s B’nei Menashe victims, either.”

Meanwhile, our Newsletter has learned from Miri Regev’s office that, following the Knesset debate, Regev was approached by Tamano-Shata with the request that she help arrange a Zoom meeting between her and the heartbroken mother so that she might hear the latter’s story. No confirmation of this could be obtained from the ministry.

The Optimistic Pessimists of Phalbung

(December 16) What is optimism? It is when seven families in a small village in a remote region of the world build a handsome synagogue because they believe in their Jewish future.

What is pessimism? It is when seven families in a small village in a remote part of the world build a handsome synagogue because they do not believe that their dream of this future being in Israel is coming any closer to fulfillment.

When our Newsletter first visited Phalbung in the summer of 2020, during the first round of Degel Menashe’s Covid-19 emergency food distribution campaign to the B’nei Menashe of Mizoram and Manipur, the synagogue was already under construction. Today, a year-and-a-half later, it is nearing completion, with only the interior finishing, electrical wiring, and furnishings still to be installed.

There are about 23 families living in Phalbung, a hamlet located in a hilly countryside off the road leading from Imphal, the capital of Manipur, to Kangpokpi, the main city in the state’s north. “We’re all related and belong to the Lunkhel clan of the Haokip tribe,” we were told by Yaacov Haokip, the head of the local Jewish community, whose relative Yechiel Haokip, serves as Phalbung’s recognized chief.

Yaacov Haokip.

“Seven families practice Judaism, five are Messianics [Christians who emphasize Christianity’s Jewish roots], and the rest belong to the Kuki Baptist Church [Manipur’s main Protestant denomination]. We get along well and don’t try to proselytize or convert one another, though the Messianics have shown an interest in Judaism. They don’t have a place of their own to worship in, and now that we will, who knows? Perhaps they’ll take the next step and join us. They’re halfway there already.”

Phalbung’s B’nei Menashe community itself grew out of Messianic Christianity, which it renounced for strict Jewish observance in the 1990s under the guidance of Eliyahu Avichail, the Israeli rabbi who brought Orthodox Judaism to northeast India. Back then, Haokip says, the B’nei Menashe of Phalbung formed a single congregation with the B’nei Menashe of the nearby town of Motbung, five kilometers away, with whom they prayed and celebrated Sabbaths and Jewish festivals.

“Morale in those days was very high,” Haokip recalls. “The first groups of B”nei Menashe had already left for Israel with Rabbi Avichail’s support and we were sure we would all follow soon.” These hopes, he went on, were dashed when the Jerusalem-based organization Shavei Israel came along in 2004, pushed Avichail aside, took over administration of the Aliyah process with the consent of the Israeli government, and demanded that the B’nei Menashe switch from the Ashkenazi liturgy that Avichail had taught them to the Sephardic one.

Rabbi ELiyahu Avichail.

“It was an ultimatum,” says Haokip.” There was no discussion, no attempt to explain or reason with us, nothing.”

The Motbung community gave in to Shavei Israel’s demand and adopted the Sephardic prayer book, and when the B’nei Menashe of Phalbung refused to do the same, they were expelled from the Motbung congregation “Suddenly, we were homeless", Haokip relates. “There was a single B’nei Menashe woman in Motbung, a widow with two small children, who sided with us and offered us her home to pray in. Since it was easier for us to trek the five kilometers to Motbung on Sabbaths and holidays than for her to walk with her children to Phalbung, we accepted her offer and made her home our place of worship.”

This makeshift arrangement continued, Haokip says, until 2019. By then, told point-blank by Shavei Israel officials that that they had no chance of ever making Aliyah as long as they adhered to the Ashkenazi liturgy, the Phalbung community had decided to build its own synagogue.

Yaacov and Yechiel Haokip at synagogue’s side.

Yaacov’s fellow villager, Yechiel donated the land, timber, and bamboo for construction and most of the money needed to pay the masons and other skilled workers, and the members of the community contributed the rest of the labor in what spare time they could find.

Since there was not much of that, construction proceeded slowly. Phalbung’s B’nei Menashe are a busy group. For inhabitants of a small agricultural village in Manipur, the level of schooling among them is surprisingly high. Besides tending the rice fields, vegetable gardens, and domestic animals they all have, their seven families number several college graduates, two M.A. students, and three elementary school teachers. Yaacov Haokip himself has a degree in political science from the University of Manipur and Yechiel has one in English. And yet, says Yaacov, despite possessing the education that would enable most of them to succeed in the outside world, the children and grandchildren of the original founders of Judaism in Phalbung all still live in the village. “We’re a tight-knit community,” Haokip says. “We’ve been together for the last thirty years and no one has left us except for brief periods to pursue their studies. They’ve always come back in the end.”

A tight-knit community.

Do Phalbung’s B’nei Menashe have regrets about not having acceded to Shavei’s demands so that they might be living Israel today, as do most of the former congregants of Motbung, whose Jewish community no longer exists? After all, the differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi prayer are not that great. Shavei Israel’s insistence on the latter had nothing to do with religious belief and was solely a matter of asserting the organization’s power over Manipur and Mizoram’s B’nei Menashe. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to let Shavei have it way?

“But it was a matter of religious faith!” answers Yaacov Haokip. “Not which liturgy to pray in: I agree, that doesn’t matter. But the real choice wasn’t between Ashkenazi or Sephardi prayer, it was between worshiping the one true God or worshiping Shavei Israel. We were not going to practice Judaism by bowing down to Shavei. God sees everything, and justice and righteousness will prevail in the end. If we had to decide all over again, we would make the same choice.”

Meanwhile, though they have not relinquished their dream of living in Israel, the B’nei Menashe of Phalbung are not counting on being allowed to settle there any time soon. Their immediate future, lies in Phalbung – and with a real synagogue that they soon will be able to pray in. “At the moment, we’re short of funds to finish it,” Haokip says. “Any help would be appreciated.” Donations can be made via Degel Menashe.

Still to be finished: the synagogue’s interior, bima, and aron kodesh.