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121-512: The Shavei Israel organization was founded to help people whose ancestors had become separated from Judaism (including alleged descendants of the Lost tribes of Israel , crypto-Jews , hidden Jews, and Jewish forcibly assimilated under Communist rule,) reconnect with the Jewish people, and in the second decade of this century also became active in helping individuals and groups of converts become part of

242-461: A writ petition at the filing counter of the court or by addressing a letter to the Chief Justice of India , highlighting the question of public importance for redress. These are known as public interest litigations . India has a quasi-federal form of government, called "union" or "central" government, with elected officials at the union, state and local levels. At the national level,

363-570: A NDA -led government (a coalition of the BJP and its allies) since 2014. The prime minister and their senior ministers belong to the Union Council of Ministers —its executive decision-making committee being the cabinet . The government, seated in New Delhi , has three primary branches: the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, whose powers are vested in a bicameral Parliament ,

484-479: A Prime Minister and a Governor-General as the viceregal representative of the head of state, George VI . Its unicameral legislature, the Constituent Assembly , was tasked with drafting the country's constitution. The Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950 , making India a republic with a president as head of state, replacing the monarch and his viceregal representative,

605-519: A prime minister , and the Supreme Court respectively, with a president as head of state. The Council of Ministers are responsible to the House in which they sit, they make statements in that House and take questions from fellow members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the directly elected Lok Sabha rather than the (mostly) indirectly elected Rajya Sabha . As

726-475: A 17th-century French physician and Sir Francis Younghusband , who explored this region in the 1800s, commented on the similar physiognomy between Kashmiris and Jews, including "fair skin, prominent noses," and similar head shapes. Baikunth Nath Sharga argues that, despite the etymological similarities between Kashmiri and Jewish surnames, the Kashmiri Pandits are of Indo-Aryan descent while

847-533: A connection, but definitive scientific proof has never been found. Some leading Israeli anthropologists believe that, of all the many groups in the world which claim to have a connection to the 10 lost tribes, the Pashtuns, or Pathans, have the most compelling case." Some traditions of the Assyrian Jews claim that Israelites of the tribe of Benjamin first arrived in the area of modern Kurdistan after

968-564: A constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha . The President is responsible for appointing many high officials in India. These high officials include the governors of the 28 states ; the chief justice ; other judges of the supreme court and high courts on the advice of other judges;

1089-759: A knowledge of Jesus Christ, receiving the ordinances of salvation and keeping the associated covenants, they become 'the children of the covenant' ( 3 Nephi 20:26)." The church also teaches that "The power and authority to direct the work of gathering the house of Israel was given to Joseph Smith by the prophet Moses, who appeared in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple. ... The Israelites are to be gathered spiritually first and then physically. They are gathered spiritually as they join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and make and keep sacred covenants. ... The physical gathering of Israel means that

1210-490: A member of one of the houses of the parliament. The cabinet is headed by the prime minister , and is advised by the cabinet secretary , who also acts as the head of the Indian Administrative Service and other civil services. Other members of the council are either union cabinet ministers, who are heads of various ministries; or ministers of state, who are junior members who report directly to one of

1331-513: A more distant region, where mankind had never lived, that there at least they might keep their statutes which they had not kept in their own land. And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates river. For at that time the Most High performed signs for them, and stopped the channels of the river until they had passed over. Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of

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1452-598: A predominantly Sunni Muslim Iranic people, native to southern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan , who adhere to an indigenous and pre-Islamic religious code of honor and culture, Pashtunwali . The belief that the Pashtuns are descended from the lost tribes of Israel has never been substantiated by concrete historical evidence. Many members of the Taliban hail from the Pashtun tribes and they do not necessarily disclaim their alleged Israelite descent. In Pashto ,

1573-481: A quarter of the 543 elected members of parliament had been charged with crimes, including murder. Many of the biggest scandals since 2010 have involved high-level government officials, including cabinet ministers and chief ministers, such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam ( ₹ 700 billion (equivalent to ₹ 1.6 trillion or US$ 19 billion in 2023)), the Adarsh Housing Society scam ,

1694-412: A total of 5,000 Bnei Menashe have made aliyah to Israel thanks to Shavei Israel. The organization assists immigrants with their integration into Israeli society. As part of its educational efforts, the organization has published a series of books on Judaism in a dozen languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Mizo, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and German. In March 2005 Rabbi Shlomo Amar announced

1815-461: A vision] gather to himself another multitude that was peaceable, these are the ten tribes which were led away from their own land into captivity in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, led captive; he took them across the river, and they were taken to another land. But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations and go to

1936-513: A vote in the house where he is not a member. A secretary to the Government of India , a civil servant , generally an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is the administrative head of the ministry or department, and is the principal adviser to the minister on all matters of policy and administration within the ministry/department. Secretaries to the Government of India rank 23rd on Indian order of precedence . Secretaries at

2057-512: A wall of fire and smoke that is impossible to pass through." To varying degrees, Apocryphal accounts concerning the Lost Tribes, based on biblical accounts, have been produced by Jews and Christians since at least the 17th century. An increased currency of tales relating to lost tribes that occurred in the 17th century was due to the confluence of several factors. According to Tudor Parfitt : As Michael Pollack shows, Menasseh's argument

2178-541: A whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can be dissolved only when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and can never be dissolved. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a six-year term. The executive of government is the one that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of

2299-544: A year and a half; and that country is called Arzareth . Then they dwelt there until the last times; and now, when they are about to come again, the Most High will stop the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to pass over. In Second Baruch , also called the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch, 77:17–78:4: But, as you asked me, I will write a letter to your brothers in Babylon, and I will send it by

2420-481: Is bicameral in nature, with the Lok Sabha being the lower house , and the Rajya Sabha the upper house . The judiciary systematically contains an apex supreme court , 25 high courts , and hundreds of district courts , all subordinate to the supreme court. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the civil procedure code ,

2541-478: Is a vital feature of colonial discourse throughout the long period of European overseas empires, from the beginning of the fifteenth century, until the later half of the twentieth". Along with Prester John , they formed an imaginary guide for exploration and contact with uncontacted and indigenous peoples in the Age of Discovery and colonialism . However, during his other research projects, Parfitt discovered

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2662-530: Is assumed that the majority of people who survived the Assyrian invasions remained in the area. According to researchers, the Samaritan community of today, which claims to be descended from Ephraim, Manasseh, Levi , and, up until 1968, also Benjamin , does in fact predominantly derive from the tribes that continued to live in the region. It has been proposed that some Israelites joined the southern tribes in

2783-716: Is called Arzareth" ... The book of the "Vision of Ezra", or Esdras, was written in Hebrew or Aramaic by a Jew in Israel sometime before the end of the first century CE, shortly after the destruction of the temple by the Romans [in 70 CE]. It is one of a group of texts later designated as the so-called Apocrypha —pseudoepigraphal books – attached to but not included in the Hebrew biblical canon. In Second [also called Fourth] Esdras , 13:39–47: And as for your seeing him [a man seen in

2904-465: Is considered the lower house . The parliament does not have complete control and sovereignty , as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court . However, it does exercise some control over the executive . The members of the Council of Ministers , including the prime minister , are either chosen from parliament or elected there within six months of assuming office. The council as

3025-627: Is not clear how Simeon, whose territory was within the Judean territory, could ever have been a part of the northern kingdom. Also the territory of Asher was basically Phoenician and Reuben was mostly overlapping with Moabite territory. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Rehoboam, and formed the Kingdom of Judah. In addition, members of the Tribe of Levi were located in cities in both kingdoms. According to 2 Chronicles 15:9 , members of

3146-421: Is said: "He sent them to another land as it is this day" ( Deuteronomy 29:27 ), just as the day departs and does not return, similarly they depart and do not return – according to Rabbi Akiva . Rabbi Eliezer says: "as it is this day" – just as this day grows dark and then bright again, so too the ten tribes who have been darkened will eventually be brightened [i.e. they will return]. ... Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda of

3267-406: Is similar to that of the shift of Afghan Jews , Persian Jews , Bene Israel , and Bnei Menashe . The community has been visited over the years by rabbis from the chief rabbinate in Israel to study their Jewish tradition and practices . They have sought recognition from many rabbis around the world, and they always practiced their own oral traditions and customs ( caviloth ), such as: burying

3388-597: Is the ex-officio head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat , the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the head of all civil services under the rules of business of the government. The cabinet secretary is generally the senior-most officer of the Indian Administrative Service . The cabinet secretary ranks 11th on the Indian order of precedence . The cabinet secretary

3509-411: Is the case in most parliamentary systems, the government is dependent on Parliament to legislate, and general elections are held every five years to elect a new Lok Sabha . The most recent election was in 2024 . After an election, the president selects as prime minister the leader of the party or alliance most likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Lok Sabha . In the event that

3630-403: Is the chief executive of the government and the leader of the majority party that holds a majority in the Lok Sabha. The prime minister leads the executive of the Government of India. The prime minister is the senior member of the cabinet in the executive government in a parliamentary system. The prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet; allocates posts to members within

3751-602: Is to act following aid and advice tendered by the Prime Minister, who leads the Council of Ministers as described in Article 74 of the Constitution . The council of ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the president. However, in practice, the council of ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a president were to dismiss the council of ministers on his or her initiative, it might trigger

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3872-522: Is under the direct charge of the prime minister . Presently, the Cabinet Secretary of India is Rajiv Gauba , IAS . India's independent union judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries . The Supreme Court of India consists of the chief justice and 33 associate justices, all appointed by the president on the advice of

3993-572: The Assyrian captivity , occurred in line with long-standing Assyrian deportation policy , which was practiced in many subjugated territories. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that "there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans , while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers." In the 7th and 8th centuries CE,

4114-652: The Book of Mormon one of the main tools for the spiritual gathering of Israel. Some scholars suggest that while deportations took place both before and after the destruction of Israel (722–720 BCE), they were less significant than a cursory reading of the Bible's account of them indicates. During the earlier Assyrian invasions, the Transjordan and the Galilee did witness large-scale deportations, and entire tribes were lost;

4235-485: The Chief Justice of India and 33 sanctioned other judges, it has extensive powers in the form of original , appellate and advisory jurisdictions . As the final court of appeal of the country, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the high courts of various states of the Union and other courts and tribunals. It safeguards fundamental rights of citizens and settles disputes between various governments in

4356-504: The Chief Justice of India . The jury trials were abolished in India in the early 1960s, after the famous case KM Nanavati v. the State of Maharashtra , for reasons of being vulnerable to media and public pressure, as well as to being misled. Unlike its United States counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and union levels. The judiciary consists of

4477-646: The Council of State of 60 members (of which 34 were elected and 26 nominated). The next structural modification to the governance of British India , the Government of India Act 1935 (the longest Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom until surpassed by the Greater London Authority Act 1999 ) was aimed at devolution of powers by establishing provincial governments and the creation of civil service institutions . However, it

4598-538: The Governor-General . It was based in large part on the Government of India Act 1935 , which was itself based on the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom . It also drew notable inspirations from the constitutions of several other Commonwealth dominions and the French , Soviet , Japanese , German and American constitutions. India today prides itself in being the world's largest democracy , and

4719-487: The Indian Armed Forces . The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person once, particularly in cases involving the punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the prime minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the president exercises his or her executive powers on

4840-789: The Kingdom of Judah , however, this theory is debated. The Israelites who were deported are thought to have assimilated with the local populace. For instance, the New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia states: "In historic fact, some members of the Ten Tribes remained in the land of Israel, where apart from the Samaritans some of their descendants long preserved their identity among the Jewish population, others were assimilated, while others were presumably absorbed by

4961-562: The Neo-Assyrian Empire 's conquest of the Kingdom of Israel during the 8th century BCE; they were subsequently relocated to the Assyrian capital. During the first century BCE, the Assyrian royal house of Adiabene —which, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus , was ethnically Assyrian and whose capital was Erbil ( Aramaic : Arbala ; Kurdish : Hewlêr )—was converted to Judaism. King Monobazes, his queen Helena, and his son and successor Izates are recorded as

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5082-655: The Second Temple and they keep till this day still the Jewish Religion ;..." In 1655, he petitioned Oliver Cromwell to allow Jews to be readmitted to England following their expulsion in 1290. It can be argued that Cromwell stopped enforcing the ban on Jewish immigrants because he believed the English to be one of the ten lost tribes. According to the Book of Mormon , two families of Nephites escaped from Israel circa 600 BC shortly before

5203-484: The Supreme Court of India , high courts at the state level, and district courts and Sessions Courts at the district level. The Supreme Court of India is situated in New Delhi , the capital region of India . The Supreme Court is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of India , the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review . Consisting of

5324-668: The Union Government or Union of India and colloquially known as the Central Government ) is the government of the Republic of India , located in South Asia , consisting of 36 states and union territories . The government is led by the prime minister (currently Narendra Modi since 26 May 2014) who exercises the most executive power and selects all the other ministers . The country has been governed by

5445-571: The attorney general ; the comptroller and auditor general ; the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners ; the chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission ; the officers of the All India Services ( IAS , IFoS and IPS ) and Central Civil Services in group 'A'; officers of the Indian Armed Forces ; and the ambassadors and high commissioners to other countries on

5566-473: The constitution empowers the union government to levy income tax , tax on capital transactions ( wealth tax , inheritance tax ), sales tax , service tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, taxon entertainment and professions , excise duties on manufacture of alcohol , stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local governments are empowered by

5687-421: The executive , the legislature , and the judiciary , and powers are vested by the constitution in the prime minister , parliament , and the supreme court , respectively. The president of India is the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces , while the elected prime minister acts as the head of the executive and is responsible for running the Union government. Parliament

5808-516: The head of government , the prime minister , is appointed by the president of India from the party or coalition that has the majority of seats in the Lok Sabha . The members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected for a term of five years by universal adult suffrage through a first-past-the-post voting system. Members of the Rajya Sabha , which represents the states , are elected by the members of State legislative assemblies by proportional representation , except for 12 members who are nominated by

5929-477: The penal code , and the criminal procedure code . Similar to the Union government, individual state governments each consist of executive, legislative and judiciary branches. The legal system as applicable to the Union and individual state governments is based on the English common and Statutory Law . The full name of the country is the Republic of India . India and Bharat are equally official short names for

6050-671: The prime minister is not a member of either House upon appointment, he/she is given six months to be elected to either House of Parliament . The first seeds of responsible government during British colonial rule in India were sown by the Indian Councils Act 1909 , commonly known as the Morley - Minto reforms. The Act introduced elections to the Imperial Legislative Council (then the unicameral Legislature for British India). Before that, governance

6171-691: The sacking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar , constructed a ship, sailed across the ocean, and arrived in the Americas in the Pre-Columbian era . These Nephites are among the ancestors of Native American tribes and possibly also the Polynesians . Adherents believe the two founding tribes were called Nephites and Lamanites , that the Nephites obeyed the Law of Moses , practiced Christianity, and that

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6292-469: The 4th largest economy in the world. Even though much remains to be done, especially in regard to eradicating poverty and securing effective structures of governance, India's achievements since independence in sustaining freedom and democracy have been singular among the world's new nations. The Government of India is modelled after the Westminster system . The Union government is mainly composed of

6413-556: The 7th century to the early 20th century, but has essentially disappeared from the region due to emigration to Israel since the 1950s. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam , the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites can be traced to Makhzan-e-Afghani , a history book which was compiled for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 17th century. The Pashtuns are

6534-579: The Assyrians—in particular, members of Dan, Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, and Zebulun—and how members of the latter three returned to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem at that time. According to historian Zvi Ben-Dor Benite: Centuries after their disappearance, the ten lost tribes sent an indirect but vital sign ... In 2 Esdras , we read about the ten tribes and "their long journey through that region, which

6655-486: The Church actively preached the gathering of people from the twelve tribes. "Today Israelites are found in all countries of the world. Many of these people do not know that they are descended from the ancient house of Israel," the church teaches in its basic Gospel Principles manual. "The Lord promised that His covenant people would someday be gathered .... God gathers His children through missionary work. As people come to

6776-462: The Government; is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet and is responsible for bringing a proposal of legislation. The resignation or death of the prime minister dissolves the cabinet. The prime minister is appointed by the president to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive. The Union Council of Ministers includes the prime minister, Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State (MoS). Each minister must be

6897-453: The Jews are of Semitic descent . The Bene Ephraim, also called Telugu Jews, claim descent from the tribe of Ephraim. Since the 1980s, they have learned to practice modern Judaism. They say that they traveled from Israel through western Asia: Persia, Afghanistan, Tibet and into China for 1,600 years before arriving in southern India more than 1,000 years ago. They hold a history which they say

7018-544: The Lamanites were rebellious. The Book of Mormon claims that the Nephites and Lamanites were who Jesus Christ was referring to when he taught, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Eventually the Lamanites wiped out the Nephites around 400 CE, and they are among the ancestors of Native Americans. The Book of Mormon claims that other groups of Israelites, besides

7139-473: The Latin American converts, and the first, small group of converts moved to Israel in June 2015. Shavei has been criticised by some for its work to assist people seeking to undergo an Orthodox conversion to Judaism. The mass conversion of Mizo-Kuki peoples aroused the concern of the Indian government, as it prohibits proselytizing. In November 2005 Israel recalled the Rabbinic Court teams which had been preparing several hundred Bnei Menashe for conversion to calm

7260-446: The Lost Tribes in the New World. An English translation was published in London in 1650. In it, Menasseh argued that the native inhabitants of America which were encountered at the time of the European discovery were actually the descendants of the [lost] Ten Tribes of Israel and for the first time, he tried to gain support for the theory from European thinkers and publishers. Menasseh noted how important Montezinos' account was, for

7381-511: The Middle East. During his later genetic studies of the Bene Israel of India , the origins of whom were obscure, he also concluded that they were predominantly descended from males from the Middle East, a conclusion which was largely consistent with their oral histories of their origin. These findings subsequently led other Judaising groups, including the Gogodala tribe of Papua New Guinea , to seek help in determining their own origins. Expanded exploration and study of groups throughout

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7502-407: The Nephites, were led away by God from the time of the Exodus through the reign of King Zedekiah, and that Jesus Christ also visited them after His resurrection. Latter-Day Saints believe the ancient accounts of Quetzalcoatl and Shangdi , among others, support this doctrine. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) believes in the literal gathering of Israel , and as of 2006

7623-428: The Republic of India in the Constitution, and both names appears on legal banknotes, in treaties and in legal cases. The terms "Union government", "central government" and " bhārat sarkār " are often used officially and unofficially to refer to the government of India. The term New Delhi is commonly used as a metonym for the Union government, as the seat of the central government is in New Delhi . The powers of

7744-448: The Scriptures do not tell what people first inhabited those Countries; neither was there mention of them by any, til Christop. Columbus , Americus, Vespacius [sic], Ferdinandus, Cortez [sic], the Marquesse Del Valle [sic] , and Franciscus Pizarrus [sic] went thither ... He wrote on 23 December 1649: "I think that the Ten Tribes live not only there ... but also in other lands scattered everywhere; these never did come back to

7865-405: The Second Coming of the Savior and on into the Millennium (see Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:37)." One of their main Articles of Faith , which was written by Joseph Smith, is as follows: "We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that

7986-436: The advice of the prime minister. Presently, the President of India is Droupadi Murmu . The vice president is the second-highest constitutional position in India after the president. The vice president represents the nation in the absence of the president and takes charge as acting president in the incident of resignation impeachment or removal of the president. The vice president also has the legislative function of acting as

8107-407: The ancient civilizations which were involved in the construction of the mounds were linked to the Lost Tribes. The discoverers of the mounds tried to fit the new information which they acquired as the result of their archaeological findings into a biblical construct. However, the earthworks across North America have been conclusively linked to various Native groups, and today, archaeologists consider

8228-417: The area during the two deportation periods under Tiglath-Pileser III , Shalmaneser V , and Sargon II . Many also fled south to Jerusalem, which appears to have expanded in size fivefold during this period, requiring a new wall to be built, and a new source of water ( Siloam ) to be provided by King Hezekiah . Furthermore, 2 Chronicles 30:1–11 explicitly mentions northern Israelites who had been spared by

8349-526: The budget will be presented on the 1st day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on 1 April, the start of India's fiscal year . The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year India's non-development revenue expenditure had increased nearly five-fold in 2003–04 since 1990–91 and more than tenfold from 1985 to 1986. Interest payments are

8470-431: The cabinet ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; or ministers of state (independent charges), who do not report to a cabinet minister. As per article 88 of the constitution, every minister shall have the right to speak in, and to take part in the proceedings of, either house, any joint sitting of the houses, and any committee of parliament of which he may be named a member, but shall not be entitled to

8591-422: The chairman of the Rajya Sabha . The vice president is elected indirectly by members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both the houses of the parliament following the system of proportional representation employing the single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot conducted by the election commission . The Prime Minister of India , as addressed in the Constitution of India ,

8712-698: The chief rabbi of Israel ruled that the Bnei Menashe are descended from a lost tribe. Based on the ruling, Bnei Menashe are allowed to immigrate to Israel after they formally convert to Judaism. In 2021, 4,500 Bnei Menashe had made aliyah to Israel; 6,000 Bnei Menashe in India hope to make aliyah. According to Al-Biruni , the famous 11th-century Persian Muslim scholar: "In former times the inhabitants of Kashmir used to allow one or two foreigners to enter their country, particularly Jews, but at present they do not allow any Hindus whom they do not know personally to enter, much less other people." François Bernier ,

8833-537: The concerns of the Indian government . At the time, some Hindu organisations complained that the government had paid more attention to the complaints of Christian missionaries working in India than to their own complaints about Jewish missionaries proselytising in traditionally Hindu communities. After suspending the issuance of visas to Bnei Menashe for a few years, in January 2010 the Israeli government announced that

8954-400: The country. As an advisory court, it hears matters which may specifically be referred to it under the constitution by the president. It also may take cognisance of matters on its own (or 'suo moto'), without anyone drawing its attention to them. The law declared by the supreme court becomes binding on all courts within India and also by the union and state governments. Per Article 142 , it is

9075-536: The covenant people will be 'gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise' (2 Nephi 9:2). The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will be gathered in the Americas. The tribe of Judah will return to the city of Jerusalem and the area surrounding it. The ten lost tribes will receive from the tribe of Ephraim their promised blessings (see D&C 133:26–34). ... The physical gathering of Israel will not be complete until

9196-557: The dead; marrying under a chuppah ; observing Shabbat and other Jewish festivals, and maintaining a beit din . However, they adopted some aspects of Christianity after the arrival of British Baptist missionaries during the early 19th century although nominally practicing Judaism. Because of the long period in which the people were not practicing Judaism, they did not develop any distinctly identifiable Judæo-Telugu language as other groups did . Government of India The Government of India ( ISO : Bhārata Sarakāra, legally

9317-453: The deported tribes assimilated into their new local populations. In Samaria , on the other hand, many Israelites survived the Assyrian onslaught and remained in the land, eventually coming to be known as the Samaritan people . However, this has not stopped various religions from asserting that some survived as distinct entities. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, a professor of Middle Eastern history at New York University , states: "The fascination with

9438-471: The duty of the president to enforce the decrees of the supreme court. In addition, Article 32 of the constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the supreme court concerning enforcing fundamental rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus , mandamus , prohibition , quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The supreme court has been conferred with power to direct

9559-615: The earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory." (LDS Articles of Faith #10) Regarding the Ezekiel 37 prophecy, the church teaches that the Book of Mormon is the stick of Ephraim (or Joseph) mentioned and that the Bible is the stick of Judah, thus comprising two witnesses for Jesus Christ. The church believes the Book of Mormon to be a collection of records by prophets of the ancient Americas, written on plates of gold and translated by Joseph Smith c. 1830. The church considers

9680-634: The first proselytes . The Bene Israel are a community of Jews in the Indian state of Maharashtra, residing particularly in the Konkan region. Since the formation of the State of Israel, thousands of Bene Israelis have made aliyah , although large numbers still remain in India. Since the late 20th century, some tribes in the Indian North-Eastern states of Mizoram and Manipur have been claiming that they are Lost Israelites and they have also been studying Hebrew and Judaism. In 2005,

9801-522: The following: Reuben , Simeon , Dan , Naphtali , Gad , Asher , Issachar , Zebulun , Manasseh , and Ephraim —all but Judah and Benjamin , both of which were based in the neighbouring Kingdom of Judah and therefore survived until the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. Alongside Judah and Benjamin was part of the Tribe of Levi , which was not allowed land tenure, but received dedicated cities . The exile of Israel's population, known as

9922-411: The hands of men; and I will write also a similar letter to the nine and a half tribes, and send it by means of a bird. And on the twenty-first day of the eighth month, I, Baruch, came and sat down under the oak in the shade of its branches, and no one was with me – I was alone. And I wrote two letters: one I sent by eagle to the nine and a half tribes; and the other I sent to those that were in Babylon by

10043-406: The hands of three men. And I called the eagle and said to it, 'The Most High created you to be the king of all the birds. Go now: stop nowhere on your journey: neither look for any roosting place, not settle on any tree, till you have crossed the broad waters of the river Euphrates, ands come to the people who dwell there, and laid this letter at their feet.' [....] This is the letter that Baruch,

10164-416: The higher level are assisted by one or many additional secretaries , who are further assisted by joint secretaries . At the middle they are assisted by directors/deputy secretaries and under secretaries. At the lower level, there are section officers, assistant section officers, upper division clerks, lower division clerks and other secretarial staff. The Civil Services of India are the civil services and

10285-467: The last Judean exiles who in 597–586 BCE were deported to Assyria ... Unlike the Judeans of the southern Kingdom, who survived a similar fate 135 years later, they soon assimilated ..." The enduring mysteries which surround the disappearance of the tribes later became sources of numerous (largely mythological) narratives in recent centuries, with historian Tudor Parfitt arguing that "this myth

10406-519: The legislature in India are exercised by the Parliament , a bicameral legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha . Of the two houses of parliament, the Rajya Sabha (or the 'Council of States') is considered to be the upper house and consists of members appointed by the president and elected by the state and territorial legislatures . The Lok Sabha (or the 'House of the People')

10527-814: The mainstream Jewish and Israeli communities. Shavei Israel sponsors rabbis and teachers to work with groups of "lost Jews," provide them the Jewish education and assist them in aliyah if they choose. Its affiliated rabbis are posted in Palma de Mallorca , Barcelona , Valencia , Granada , and Seville in Spain; Belmonte in northern Portugal, San Nicandro Garganico in southern Italy, Brazil, Kraków and Wroclaw in Poland; and in Mizoram and Manipur in North-East India . In December 2010, Rabbi Shlomo Zelig Avrasin

10648-402: The people themselves. But the handful of ministers is not expected to deal personally with the various problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to enforce it. The cabinet secretary ( IAST : Maṃtrimaṇḍala Saciva ) is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India. The cabinet secretary

10769-461: The permanent bureaucracy of India. The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants. In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. These ministers are accountable to the legislatures which are also elected by the people based on universal adult suffrage . The ministers are indirectly responsible to

10890-584: The possible existence of some ethnic links between several older Jewish Diaspora communities in Asia , Africa and the Middle East, especially in those Jewish communities which were established in pre-colonial times. For example, in his Y-DNA studies of males from the Lemba people of Southern Africa , Parfitt found a high proportion of paternal Semitic ancestry, DNA that is common to both Arabs and Jews from

11011-419: The president. India is currently the largest democracy in the world, with around 900 million eligible voters, as of 2019. In India, power is divided between the governments of the union and the states of India , the latter being ruled by the chiefs ministers . The state legislature is bicameral in five states and unicameral in the rest. The lower house is elected with a five-year term, while in

11132-544: The recognition of the Bnei Menashe by Israel and their possibility of immigration under the Law of Return. Those who wanted to immigrate were required to undergo a formal, full conversion as their people had been separated from Judaism for so long. In June 2005 the Bnei Menashe completed the construction of a mikvah in Mizoram under the supervision of Israeli rabbis to start the process of conversion to Judaism . Freund supported

11253-469: The recommendations of the Council of Ministers, among others. The President, as the head of state , also receives the credentials of ambassadors from other countries, while the prime minister , as head of government , receives credentials of high commissioners from other members of the Commonwealth , in line with historical tradition. The President is the de jure commander-in-chief of

11374-553: The region surrounding the Khabur River . Tiglath-Pilesar also captured the territory of Naphtali and the city of Janoah in Ephraim , and an Assyrian governor was placed over the region of Naphtali . According to 2 Kings 16:9 and 15:29 , the population of Aram and the annexed part of Israel was deported to Assyria. Israel Finkelstein estimated that only a fifth of the population (about 40,000) were actually resettled out of

11495-542: The remaining 7,200 Bnei Menashe could make aliyah within a period of 1–2 years after completing conversion at facilities in Nepal. This allowed them to avoid problems with India. Lost tribes of Israel The Ten Lost Tribes were those from the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after it was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire around 720 BCE. They were

11616-712: The resettlement of 218 Bnei Menashe in Upper Nazareth and Karmiel in November 2005. A total of 1,700 Bnei Menashe moved to Israel, mainly settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (until the disengagement in 2005). In 2013 Freund learned of a large groups of Latin Americans from Christian families who were converting to orthodox Judaism, thousands or tens of thousands of whom wanted to immigrate to Israel. Freund began working with Israeli authorities and with

11737-587: The return of the Ten Lost Tribes was associated with the concept of the coming of the Hebrew Messiah . Claims of descent from the "lost tribes" have been proposed in relation to many groups, and some Abrahamic religions espouse a messianic view that Israel's tribes will return. According to contemporary research, Transjordan and Galilee did witness large-scale deportations, and entire tribes were lost. Historians have generally concluded that

11858-574: The river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." According to the Bible, the Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah were the successor states to the older United Monarchy of Israel . The Kingdom of Israel came into existence c. 930 BCE after the northern tribes of Israel rejected Solomon's son Rehoboam as their king. Ten tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel: the tribes of Reuben , Issachar , Zebulun , Dan , Naphtali , Gad , Asher , Ephraim , Tribe of Simeon and Manasseh . However it

11979-494: The single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non-development expenditure in the 2003–04 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing to defend from a difficult neighbourhood and external terror threats. In 2020–21, India's defence budget stood at ₹ 4.71 trillion (equivalent to ₹ 5.5 trillion or US$ 66 billion in 2023). In 2009, several ministers are accused of corruption and nearly

12100-402: The son of Neriah, sent to the nine and a half tribes, which were across the river Euphrates, in which these things were written. 'Baruch, the son of Neriah, to his brothers in captivity, Mercy and peace to you. I can never forget, my brothers, the love of him who created us, who loved us from the beginning and never hated us, but rather subjected us to discipline. Nor can I forget that all we of

12221-469: The state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers . The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India , as per Article 53(1) of the constitution. The president has all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through subordinate officers as per the aforesaid Article 53(1). The president

12342-405: The state government to levy property tax and charge users for public utilities like water supply , sewage etc. More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which 3/4 come from direct taxes . More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues are shared with the state governments. The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise

12463-456: The tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions: The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services. Inter-state share in

12584-455: The theory of non-Native origin pseudo-scientific . Among the Pashtuns , there is a tradition of being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel. This tradition was referenced in 19th century western scholarship and it was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature which was popular at that time (notably George Moore 's The Lost Tribes of 1861). Recently (2000s), interest in

12705-496: The topic has been revived by the Jerusalem-based anthropologist Shalva Weil , who was quoted in the popular press as stating that the " Taliban may be descended from Jews". The traditions surrounding the Pashtuns being the remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" are to be distinguished from the historical existence of the Jewish community in eastern Afghanistan or northwest Pakistan which flourished from about

12826-480: The transfer of any civil or criminal case from one state high court to another state high court, or from a Court subordinate to another state high court and the supreme court. Although the proceedings in the supreme court arise out of the judgment or orders made by the subordinate courts, of late the supreme court has started entertaining matters in which the interest of the public at large is involved. This may be done by any individual or group of persons either by filing

12947-440: The tribal name ' Yusef Zai ' means the "sons of Joseph". A number of genetic studies on Jews refute the possibility of a connection, whereas others maintain a link. In 2010, The Guardian reported that the Israeli government was planning to fund a genetic study to test the veracity of a genetic link between the Pashtuns and the lost tribes of Israel. The article stated that "Historical and anecdotal evidence strongly suggests

13068-601: The tribes has generated, alongside ostensibly nonfictional scholarly studies, a massive body of fictional literature and folktale." Anthropologist Shalva Weil has documented various differing tribes and peoples claiming affiliation to the Ten Lost Tribes throughout the world. The scriptural basis for the idea of lost tribes is 2 Kings 17:6 : "In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor, on

13189-502: The tribes of Reuben , Gad , Dan , and Naphtali are never mentioned again. The region of Samaria , on the other hand, was larger and more populous. Two of the region's largest cities, Samaria and Megiddo , were mostly left intact, and the rural communities were generally left alone. Additionally, according to the Book of Chronicles , King Hezekiah of Judah invited the survivors of Ephraim , Zebulun , Asher , Issachar and Manasseh to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Therefore, it

13310-484: The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon fled to Judah during the reign of Asa of Judah (c. 911–870 BCE). In c. 732 BCE, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aramea and territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh in Gilead including the desert outposts of Jetur , Naphish , and Nodab . People from these tribes were taken captive and resettled in

13431-588: The twelve tribes are united by a common bond, inasmuch as we are descended from a single father. [....]' The story of Anna on the occasion of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in the New Testament names her as being of the (lost) tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36). The Talmud debates whether or not the ten lost tribes will eventually be reunited with the Tribe of Judah ; that is, with the Jewish people: The ten tribes will not eventually return, as

13552-554: The union tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the president. Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a figure of 37–45% in the OECD. The Finance minister of India usually presents the annual union budget in the parliament on the last working day of February. However, for the F.Y. 2017–18, this tradition had been changed. Now

13673-411: The upper house one-third of the members in the house gets elected every two years with six-year terms. Local governments function at the basic level. It is the third level of government apart from union and state governments. It consists of panchayats in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas. They are elected directly or indirectly by the people. India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein

13794-401: The village of Akko says in the name of Rabbi Shimon: If their deeds remain "as this day" [i.e. they continue to sin], they will not return; otherwise they shall return. An Ashkenazi Jewish legend speaks of these tribes as Die Roite Yiddelech , "the little red Jews ", who were cut off from the rest of Jewry by the legendary river Sambation , "whose foaming waters raise high up into the sky

13915-532: The world through archaeology and the new field of anthropology in the late 19th century led to a revival or a reworking of accounts of the Lost Tribes. For instance, because the construction of the Mississippian culture 's complex earthwork mounds seemed to be beyond the skills of the Native American cultures which European Americans knew about when they discovered them, it was theorized that

14036-548: Was based on "three separate and seemingly unrelated sources: a verse from the book of Isaiah, Matteo Ricci 's discovery of an old Jewish community in the heart of China and Antonio Montezinos' reported encounter with members of the Lost Tribes in the wilds of South America". In 1649, Menasseh ben Israel published his book, The Hope of Israel , in Spanish and Latin in Amsterdam; it included Antonio de Montezinos ' account of

14157-647: Was carried by an all-European Legislative Council and Viceroy's Executive Council . As such, no Indians were represented in government before 1909. India's current bicameral Parliament has its roots in the Government of India Act 1919 , commonly known as the Montagu - Chelmsford reforms, which introduced a greatly expanded Imperial Legislative Council . It comprised a lower house, the Central Legislative Assembly of 145 members (of which 104 were elected and 41 nominated) and an upper house,

14278-589: Was founded in 1975 by Rabbi Eliyahu Avichail and follows goals similar to those of Shavei Israel. Several years after founding Amishav, Avichail stepped aside as leader of the organisation in favour of Michael Freund, who went on to found Shavei Israel in 2002. Michael Freund, founder and director of Shavei Israel, was reared in Manhattan and immigrated to Israel 1995. In 1996 he became deputy director of communications under Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu . It

14399-575: Was sent to work with the Subbotnik Jewish communities in Russia, particularly Vysoky . In Jerusalem, it operates Machon Miriam, a Spanish-language "conversion and return institute." Dozens of Spanish and Portuguese crypto-Jews graduate from Machon Miriam each year, and undergo formal conversion by Israel's Chief Rabbinate . Amishav is an organisation distinct from Shavei Israel, which it predates and to whose creation it contributed. It

14520-525: Was unpopular amongst Indians and is considered a failure as it did not give Indians self-rule and permanent dominion status (the form of government followed in Canada , Australia and New Zealand ) as was previously promised. Between midnight on 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950 , India was an independent, self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations , a constitutional monarchy with

14641-642: Was while serving in this post that he first learned of the Bnei Menashe when a letter arrived from the Bnei Menashe community in India beseeching the Prime Minister to enable them to make aliyah . Freund is the largest single funder of Shavei Israel. The organization supported the Bnei Menashe of India in being recognized as "descendants of Israel" by the Israeli Chief Rabbi in March 2005. Shavei Israel assisted with teachers in India. As of 2024,

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