00:00Every morning, Zawrun Haukip begins his day in prayer with his family.
00:06For him, it's more than a ritual. It's about identity and belonging.
00:11Haukip is from the Benimanashe, a community in northeastern India that identifies as Jewish.
00:17He now hopes to migrate to Israel with thousands of others in the coming years.
00:23The reason I want to migrate to Israel is because it is the promised land given to our great ancestors.
00:31The thought of thousands of us returning fills me with excitement.
00:35Ever since I was a child and began following Judaism, I've always felt that my heart belongs there.
00:43The Benimanashe claimed to be descendants of the biblical tribe of Menashe,
00:48one of the ten lost tribes of Israel, said to have been exiled nearly 2700 years ago.
00:56They live mainly in India's northeastern state of Manipur,
01:00a remote mountainous region marked by poverty and long-running ethnic conflict.
01:05Israel's plan would resettle them in Galilee in the north,
01:09an area bordering Lebanon and often a target of Hezbollah rocket attacks.
01:15But even the risk of moving to a conflict soon hasn't shaken their determination.
01:22Wars exist everywhere. Many people have died in wars.
01:26But I don't carry fear or worry in my heart. One day I too will pass away.
01:31What matters to me is to return safely to the Holy Land Israel.
01:35For many here, Israel is the promised land.
01:38But for this group of returnees, it's the reality they have lived.
01:42And they say the experience hasn't always been easy.
01:45Nathan Kipjin migrated to Israel more than two decades ago and found work as a farm laborer.
01:52He lives with his family in Nizan, a community settlement in southern Israel.
01:58This is his first visit back home since he left.
02:01When we pray in the synagogue, they look down on us.
02:05Some people wonder what kind of prayers we say.
02:08They doubt us and treat us as unimportant.
02:11Even inside the synagogue, we are looked down upon.
02:14It makes me angry.
02:18At this local synagogue, men gather each morning to read from the Torah.
02:24And in these spaces, the calls for aliyah, or migration to Israel, have grown louder.
02:30Nowadays, practicing Judaism is relatively peaceful.
02:34People are more tolerant than in the past, which was very challenging for us.
02:38Society here has gradually come to accept our religion.
02:41And practicing Judaism no longer attracts the stereotyping or discrimination it used to.
02:47But faith isn't the only reason people want to leave.
02:51Hal Kip is heading to the fields with his family.
02:54He says the land is less fertile now.
02:57And it's becoming harder to survive.
03:00There are no industries or companies in our region.
03:03Jobs are difficult to find and employers usually do not hire us.
03:07Even daily wage work is hard to obtain.
03:10In Israel, there are many industries and companies that will give you work.
03:16For him and thousands of other Bini Menashe, Israel is more than a destination.
03:23It's a homecoming and a way out.
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