בני המנשה מסע בעקבות הזהות

The story of the Bnei Menashe lies at the intersection of history, faith, memory, and an extraordinary human journey. The proposed visitor center sought to tell the story of a community from the northeastern Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, whose identity has long been linked to the tradition of the Tribe of Manasseh and the Ten Lost Tribes. For members of the community, this is more than a historical mystery. It is a deep part of their identity, their connection to the Jewish people, and their longing for Zion.

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The center was conceived as the first of its kind in Israel. It would present the story as a journey across time and place: from the Bible and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, through the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of the Ten Tribes, to centuries of migration and fragmented memory, life in northeastern India, and immigration to Israel. The journey would end with more than a geographical arrival. Visitors would meet members of the community living in Israel today, bringing the story to a human and emotional close.

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The proposed location in Nitzan HaHadasha, a community that has also welcomed Bnei Menashe families, was intended to make the center a living part of the community. Alongside the exhibition, the proposal included an archive, lecture hall, creative spaces, museum shop, and workshops in textiles, jewelry, music, and dance. The center would serve as a visitor attraction, a place to preserve heritage, and an active meeting point between the community and the wider public.

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Our starting point was that this story was too large and complex to be told through display cases and text alone. We therefore designed the center as a sensory journey in which visitors move from chapter to chapter and take an active part in discovering the story. The proposal combined projections, interactive screens, virtual characters, sets, sound, and effects, while seeking to preserve the character of the community and the cultural landscape from which it emerged.

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The journey opens with a multiscreen installation exploring the mystery of the Ten Lost Tribes. Images appear around the audience from several directions at once, accompanied by light, music, and effects. From the outset, visitors enter a historical mystery that has never been fully resolved. They then move into the biblical period: the division of the kingdom, the exiles of Israel and Judah, and the distinction between the Babylonian exile, from which a return took place, and the exile of the Ten Tribes, whose historical trail became fragmented.

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One of the most dramatic parts of the experience is the Sambation River. Here, we sought to turn an ancient legend into a physical setting. Visitors enter a space engulfed by a simulated, winding, turbulent river. Stones, sound, and movement surround them, evoking separation, exile, and a break in continuity. Beyond the river, a map of the tribes’ dispersal gradually appears, and the story narrows to the journey attributed to the Tribe of Manasseh eastward.

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The next space is a tall hall with a dynamic projected map tracing the proposed migration route: from Assyria through Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China, to the hills of Manipur and Mizoram in northeastern India. It gives visual form to a journey spanning centuries and millennia, much of which is not documented in written records but has been preserved through stories, legends, songs, and oral tradition.

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From there, the exhibition changes character. Distant history gives way to the community’s daily life: homes and building materials, clothing, jewelry, food, ceremonies, music, and song. Some themes would be presented inside structures recalling village houses, alongside digital art projections that evoke the landscape and life in the hills. Technology would work with authentic cultural material to bring that world closer to visitors.

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The final chapter explores the community’s return to Judaism and its life in Israel. The historical mystery becomes a contemporary human story: the renewal of Jewish communal life in India, conversion, immigration, settlement, and integration into Israeli society.

 

The exhibition would be accompanied by live workshops in which community members teach traditional crafts, textiles, jewelry making, dance, and music. In this way, the heritage would continue to be practiced and passed from one generation to the next.