An Evening of Friendship, Courage, Heritage and Unity

Ambassador J.P. Singh with members of the Indian Jewish community leaders gathered for the event.

Photo credits: Gal Dor.

(September 4, 2026) The India–Israel Festival and the 7th National Convention of the Indian Jewish Community in Tel Aviv was a truly memorable evening celebrating friendship, courage, culture and the rich heritage of India’s Jewish communities.

Around 1,500 people, young and old, gathered to celebrate the enduring bond between India and Israel. The festivities began with a series of engaging workshops, including an Indian cooking demonstration led by Reena Pushkarna, Bollywood dance with the one and only Noah Nagavkar, an Indian saree-draping workshop by Merav-Yosef Levi, and a painting workshop led by Ophir and Orna.

Visitors throng the B'nei Menashe exhibit stall.

A special exhibition tent offered visitors an opportunity to discover the diverse heritage of India’s Jewish communities. The B'nei Israel, Cochin Jewish, Baghdadi Jewish and B'nei Menashe communities each presented aspects of their unique traditions, customs, culture and history. Although all four communities share roots in India, each has developed its own distinctive identity, making the exhibition a beautiful reflection of India’s remarkable cultural diversity.

The official evening ceremony began at 18:30 with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by the Guest of Honor, Mr. Eden Bar-Tal, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Mr. Reuven Ladianski, Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo; and Mr. alman Samuels, Founder of the Shalva Band. The ceremony continued with the national anthems of India and Israel.

Ambassador Singh delivers speech.

Ambassador J. P. Singh and President Isaac Herzog spoke warmly of the deep and enduring friendship between India and Israel. They also honored the remarkable courage demonstrated aboard a FlyDubai flight by Indian pilot Smit Machchhar, together with Israeli passengers and crew, who bravely intervened during a moment of crisis. 

Three distinguished members of the Indian Jewish community were also honoredfor their contributions to strengthening the ties between India and Israel in their respective fields: Sam Marshall, who led the Maccabiah team from India; Noah Massil, for his Marathi newsletter Maiboli; and Dr. Esther Sassoon, in recognition of her distinguished medical career.

For the B'nei Menashe community, the evening held a particularly special meaning. Jessica Thangjom, Programme Coordinator of Degel Menashe, curated the Bnei Menashe exhibition and led a group of singers in performing Chavang Kolni Lhum Del Del, a B'nei Menashe song specially composed by the late Daniel Lhungdim, expressing the community’s deep longing for Zion.

The B'nei Menashe troupe opened the event with a song.

Reflecting on what made the festival special, Jessica shared:

“As B'nei Menashe, we were deeply honored to open the ceremony with our beautiful traditional song and to share our heritage with the wider community.”

The celebration continued with an energetic performance by the Bollywood dance troupe Taka Dimi Ta from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), filling the evening with vibrant music, color and dance.

More than a cultural festival, the evening was a celebration of the people and stories that connect India and Israel. It brought together different communities, generations and traditions under one roof, reminding us that diversity can be a powerful expression of unity.

All in all, it was a beautiful and memorable evening of friendship, courage, heritage and shared Jewish identity.

Wohl Amphitheatre filled to capacity for the Convention.

Telling the Story of the Bnei Menashe Through Food

(This is a special report by Degel Menashe's Community Development Coordinator, Jessica Thangjom. She was invited by FOODISH, an enterprise of the Anu Diaspora Museum which seeks to explore and integrate diverse Jewish communities through it's culinary traditions. It is an exciting project which speaks about communities though a universal language understood by all, food!) Photo credits: Hagit Goren.

(July 14, 2026) Last Wednesday was more than just a day of cooking; it was an opportunity to tell the story of the B'nei Menashe through the language of food.

I was honored to be invited by Li Gill and Sivan from the ANU Museum’s Foodish Project to participate in their latest initiative, which documents the rich culinary traditions of Jewish communities from around the world. They asked me to prepare three of our traditional dishes along with one of our favorite side dishes. Without hesitation, I chose foods that have been part of our family tables for generations: Mepoh (a Bnei Menashe cholent), Gotoi (Bamboo Shoot) & Bega’a (Pea) Stew, and Mai Kikang (Stir-Fried Pumpkin).

Chef Pooja delights with her a la carte arrangements. Photo: Hagit Goren

As I began cooking, I quickly realized that this would be far more challenging than I had imagined. Traditional B'nei Menashe cuisine is rarely prepared without smoked meat or chicken. The smoky aroma is deeply woven into our recipes and evokes memories of family gatherings, celebrations, and everyday life. Yet for this project, every dish had to be prepared entirely vegetarian, as they will be served later this month at Café Bollywood in Tel Aviv.

At first, I wondered whether the dishes would still feel authentic without one of their defining ingredients. It became a delicate balance between preserving tradition and adapting it for a new audience. I wanted every bite to remain true to the flavors and memories that generations of B'nei Menashe families have cherished.

The Foodish team paid extraordinary attention to every detail. They wanted the photographs to reflect exactly what diners would receive when they ordered the dishes, nothing exaggerated, nothing artificial, only authenticity. Food photographer Hagit Goren from Florentine, Tel Aviv, patiently arranged every plate with remarkable care, highlighting the simple beauty of our traditional cuisine. Watching our humble dishes transformed into works of art through her lens was a memorable experience in itself.

This was not my first collaboration with ANU Museum. Last year, I had the privilege of speaking about B'nei Menashe gastronomy at a similar Foodish event. Returning this year reminded me once again that food carries stories that words alone often cannot tell.

https://www.degelmenashe.org/post/degel-menashe-participates-in-foodish-at-anu-diaspora-museum-tel-aviv 

Stir-fried pumpkin seasoned with basil. Photo: Hagit Goren

The Jewish people have lived across continents for thousands of years, and every community has brought home something from the lands where they settled. Our recipes reflect journeys of migration, resilience, and adaptation. The B'nei Menashe lived for centuries in Northeast India, and naturally our cuisine absorbed local ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavors while remaining rooted in our own traditions and Jewish identity. Every dish tells the story of where we have been and who we are.

That is what makes the Foodish Project so meaningful. It is not simply about preserving recipes; it is about preserving memory, identity, and heritage. Through food, people who have never heard of the B'nei Menashe can discover our history, our traditions, and our culture in a warm and welcoming way.

For me, participating in this project was both an honor and a deeply personal experience. Standing in the kitchen, preparing recipes handed down through generations, I felt that I was representing not only my own family but an entire community. It reminded me that even the simplest meal can become a bridge between cultures and generations.

Beginning 27 July, anyone wishing to experience the flavors of the B'nei Menashe will be able to order these special dishes at Café Bollywood, located at Ma'on Street 5A, Florentine, Tel Aviv.

Chef Pooja and Jessica with their presentation. Photo:Hagit Goren

The restaurant is owned by Chef Pooja Moses, a proud member of the Bene Israel Jewish community, and her husband. Together they have created a warm and welcoming restaurant that celebrates authentic Mumbai-style vegetarian cuisine in one of Tel Aviv’s most vibrant neighborhoods. It is especially meaningful that this collaboration brings together two Jewish communities with roots in India, each preserving its own unique heritage while celebrating the diversity that enriches Jewish life.

It is my sincere hope that everyone who tastes these dishes will enjoy not only their flavors but also the story they carry; a story of faith, resilience, migration, and home. Every plate is an invitation to discover the rich cultural heritage of the B'nei Menashe, one meal at a time.

An excellent article featuring the B'nei Menashe on FOODISH on its website:

The Long Way Home: The Bnei Menashe Community - Foodish

Weeklong Summer Camp 2026 for B'nei Menashe Children held at Ma'oz Tzur

Participants of the Ma'oz Tzur Summer Camp 2026.

(This is a special report from our educator, Asaf Renthlei, from Shlom Tzion synagogue, Mizoram, who was on a visit to Lamka where he was hosted by residents of Kibbutz Ma'oz Tzur's Summer Camp program. He participated in the camp teaching children and adults alike on basic Hebrew and Judaism amongst others. He extended his stay by another week, on popular demand, to teach participants. Degel Menashe conveys its sincere thanks to all teachers, volunteers and participant who made it a colossal success.)

(July 2, 2026) The second edition of the Hebrew Summer Camp under the aegis of Degel Menashe was conducted with great exhilaration in the southern district od Lamka. The camp, which was held in the lush bucolic environs of Kibbutz Maoz Tzur, the only entirely Jewish community in northeast India, extended from 21 June to 27 June 2026, and was attended by 75 campers from the Bnei Menashe community in Manipur. The campers were primarily from Kibbutz Maoz Tzur, as also from the nearby communities including Shivat Tzion in Lamka.

The thrust of this summer camp was intensive Hebrew classes that were intended to further amplify and complement the ongoing Hebrew educational program at the Rav Eliyahu Avichail Memorial School for a wider section of Bnei Menashe youth. The resource persons were Hebrew instructors from the ORT India educational program for the Bnei Menashe community: Mr. Shimon Thomsong and Mr. Asaf Renthlei, the latter of whom was delegated from the Mizoram chapter, traversing a 12 hour journey through constant monsoon rains along tortuous hill roads, interrupted by several checkpoint stops in Manipur by the local police and militia.

Teachers, guides and volunteers for the camp.

However, the campers from the other parts of Lamka did not have an easy journey despite being local to the district. First of all, they had to trek off road for over an hour, trudging through muddy paths and making their way past two villages before finally arriving at a rocky stream marking the outer bounds of the kibbutz. After carefully traversing the stream with their rucksacks on their backs, they had to proceed with a challenging uphill climb for about half an hour before they finally entered the camp site where they were assigned to their quarters and debriefed by the camp staff. Their eagerness to make friends with other campers, study together, and partake of the various events lined up for them throughout the week was palpable on their faces even after having made quite the adventurous trek on their way to the kibbutz.

The campers, evenly split between male and females, ranged in age from 4 to 23 year olds, and were classified into four sections based on their Hebrew proficiency. They learnt conversational phrases, practiced calligraphy, studied grammar, sang Hebrew songs, and conducted short dialogues in Hebrew with their fellow campers.

Activities and learning at full steam.

Apart from the language instruction, the campers were actively guided towards etiquette befitting an enlightened citizen: keeping their dormitories neat and tidy, ensuring the proper disposal of waste and food scraps, observing adequate personal hygiene, fulfilling responsibilities according to a roster, and decorum with fellow campers and camp staff. These values were reinforced at the end of the summer camp at the prize distribution ceremony that recognized outstanding conduct on these points. Similarly, apart from the acquisition of first position in the sporting events conducted throughout the summer camp, teamwork and sportsmanship were also awarded as separate achievements.

Ms. Jessica Thangjom, the Israel-based administrator of Kibbutz Maoz Tzur, enhanced the summer camp with captivating video conference sessions for the campers. These sessions encouraged the campers to give serious thought to their personal development, not just as a thing to be deferred for life after aliyah to Israel, but also as a task to be constantly worked upon even while industriously waiting for their turn on the aliyah roster. The campers, most of whom have barely any inkling of life outside their home state Manipur, were amazed to hear of the histories and trajectories of the various Jewish communities still present in India with whom Ms. Jessica is closely involved. She also discussed the origins and the history of the Bnei Menashe with the campers, urging

Meals being served and shared.

them to have a sense of pride in their uniqueness in a vibrant and colorful Jewish tapestry, and in their identity as the real and an ongoing part of Biblical prophecy of the return of the tribes of Israel to the Holyland. Despite frequent electric shortages, the campers listened mesmerized to these online sessions.

Apart from pivotal funding for the summer camp by Degel Menashe, the kibbutz residents chipped in their full efforts in making the summer camp a resounding success. The cooking responsibilities were enthusiastically shared amongst kibbutz families on a roster, and a few families even generously donated their farm produce for the campers. At the close of the summer camp, the deep appreciation the campers had for the program was reflected in their frequent remarks that the camp did not run long enough. The campers were particularly grateful that the language classes provided them with valuable skills for their aliyah preparation and hoped that many more such programs of intensive Hebrew classes would be conducted soon and more frequently.