Across the Sabbath River: In Search of a Lost Tribe of Israel

by Hillel Halkin

Traces the author's search in the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, during which he came to believe that a little-known ethinc group living along the Indian-Burmese border is descended from the lost ancient biblical tribe of Manasseh. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Judaism, Jewish, History, Religion, Travel

394 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2002

About the author

Hillel Halkin (born 1939) is an American-born Israeli translator, biographer, literary critic, and novelist, who has lived in Israel since 1970.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_...

Reviews

[Christopher Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I approached this as a skeptic but as someone well disposed toward euhemerism in general. Halkin made a believer out of me. In my opinion, the Kuki-Mizo-Chin rank almost as high as Zimbabwe's Lemba as a confirmed Lost Tribe of Israel. For a non-anthropologist, Halkin makes almost no missteps as he forays into a very complicated subfield, and one fraught with perspective-distorting ideologies. A great book.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really interesting story, told like a combination mystery novel and travel blog. Think of it as the non-fiction equivalent of a Scooby Doo episode at Loch Ness or Pompeii.

Awfully fun to watch Velma piece together exactly how, uniquely among all the mythological claims, those of the Bnei Menashe have actually been borne out to show that they are (in part, sort of) descended from lost Israelites.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject seems so interesting: a search for a Jewish (or Hebraic) tradition in places it would be least expected. But the story is told in such a pedestrian fashion, that when I got to the big reveal -- I'm not ruining anything since it's in the synopsis, but the search is a success! or so the author believes -- I wasn't even interested in reading about the details. Three stars, but mostly for the premise.

[Asaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

A non-fiction detective story that isn't based on forensic artifacts, but instead based on anthropological and historical research. In a realistic, witty, and skeptic tone, the narrator unfolds his travelogue in some of the conflict zones of northwest India (Mizoram and Manipur) of the 1990s, in search of a lost tribe of Israel.
Unfortunately, the findings weren't picked by the scientific community, but they will stun you.

[Taithul Paukhanmang]

I am yet to read