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

~ (Author) "HILLERH, I HAVE BAD NEWS," said Chen-Hua, waking me from my nap in our fourth-floor room in the Wenchuan County Teachers Center Guest House..." (more)
Key Phrases: oiled land, dirgelike style, white stone god, B'nei Menashe, Yosi Hualngo, Chin Hills (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Noted author and translator Halkin (Letters to an American Jewish Friend) offers a captivating tale that is part travelogue, part ethnography, part cultural treasure hunt. His trail of tantalizing clues too often leads nowhere, but readers should hang in, because the search is not in vain, and the culture Halkin describes is in itself striking. He visits the Mizo people of northeast India a people who improbably but passionately claim to be descendants of the ancient Israelite tribe of Manasseh, one of the 10 tribes of northern Israel who were exiled by the Assyrians around 720 B.C. and then lost to history. Mizo tradition says they are the "children of Manmasi" possibly a corruption of Manasseh. Their rituals include a fragment of a "red sea song" and the symbolic circumcision of a baby boy eight days after birth; their god is named Za or Ya, possibly linguistically related to the biblical Yahweh. The attempt to trace Mizo traditions is frustrated by the disintegration of what they call "the old religion" as Christianity has insinuated itself into even remote regions of Asia. The intense desire of the Mizos to be considered Jews is both comical and touching (and colored by an equally intense desire to emigrate to Israel); their internecine conflicts over theology will be sadly familiar to Jews everywhere. Halkin offers a rich portrait of an entire people suffering an identity crisis in the midst of a region filled with ethnic turmoil, and his conclusions about the origins of the Manmasi people will amaze even skeptical readers.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Like the search for Atlantis and for Noah's Ark, the search for the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel has entranced both professional scholars and amateur sleuths. Native American and Bantu tribes, North African Berbers and Tauregs of the Sahara, have all been linked to the tribes with varying degrees of credibility. Halkin is a native of New York City who has lived in Israel since 1970. His search for a lost tribe led him to scour remote regions of China and the borderlands of northeast India. He writes with a beautifully descriptive, flowing prose that enhances our appreciation of the exotic locales and peoples he encountered. He also marshals some fascinating anecdotal and semihistorical evidence to support his conclusions. Ultimately, however, his claim to have "proved" that the Kuki-Chin-Mizo people of northeast India and Burma are linked to the ancient Israelites does not ring true. Still, his efforts to prove his case have resulted in an absorbing tale of a quest that succeeds as a travel book rather than as a work of historical scholarship. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 394 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618029982
• ISBN-13: 978-0618029983
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #416,796 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intriguing adventure that mixes mystery, travel and religion, September 30, 2002

By	Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

First, before starting this book, I recommend that you take a look at the authors two page guide to pronunciation, to better understand the Hebrew, Mizo, Thado, and Burmese words in the text. Halkin, a well known translator of Hebrew books, posits that a little-known ethnic group living along the Indian-Burmese border is descended from the ancient Jewish tribe of Manasseh. The fate of the ten lost tribes of Israel has haunted Jewish and Christian imaginations throughout the ages. Hillel Halkin has long been intrigued by the subject. And why not? Many American Jews of a certain age dreamed of an aboriginal, strong, warrior Jew, the type who could win fistfights on the way to and from junior high school. And so, Halkin embarked on a journey. In 1998, he accompanied a Jerusalem rabbi and dedicated lost-tribes hunter to China, Thailand, and northeast India, where the rabbi hoped to discover traces of the lost tribes. Halkin went with a very healthy dose of skepticism. Most look at Rabbi Avichail as a well meaning crackpot. Whatever the Rabbi is, he makes for an interesting story, having traveled to Marranos in Portugal, Karens in Burma, Tatars in Dagestan, Kananites in Kerala, and Indians in Manipur and Mizoram. The book captures your interest from its first paragraph. The Sabbath is approaching as Halkin and the rabbi are searching out the non-Chinese Chiangs in Western Szechuan. Then the police arrive at their hotel. Youll have to read the book to find out what happens. After a variety of adventures and misadventures, Halkin returned several times to the Indian states of Manipur and Mizoram, where 5000 people belive they are a lost tribe of Hebrews. Are these people the victims of a mass cultural delusion, having accepted a myth to promote and reinforce their distinct cultural identity? Or are the actually descendants of some Bnai Menashe? Are these Kuki-Chin-Mizo people, living along the Indian-Burmese border, descended from the ancient biblical tribe of Manasseh. Halkin isnt a scholar, linguist, or ethnographer, but neither am I, and the story is still fascinating. Why do they have a song about crossing the Red Sea while living in Northeast India, a song they have sung prior to any missionaries showing up and one that contains ancient words? Why do they have a god named Yah(za), a history of brit milah circumcision on the eighth day after birth, a mourning period of 7 days, a Spring festival of unleavened bread (among rice eaters), and the use of the word selah. There are some who broke away and even started a competing shul (if thats not Jewish, what is?) Whatever you decide, the book is an exciting, mysterious and enlightening read. Sign me up for a Bnai Menashe kippah?

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History and Research that Reads like a Captivating Mystery, September 6, 2002

By	Richard Zimler (Portugal) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Is it possible that one of the Lost Tribes made its way to East Asia or the Indian subcontinent more than two thousand years ago and that even today vestiges can be found of its beliefs and culture?
Only someone with the heart of an explorer and background of a Jewish history scholar could have written this wonderful book, which reads like a good mystery. Halkin takes the reader with him along jungle backroads and into out-of-the-way villages on his search for the tiny clues that might just pull away the curtain on two thousand years of history. It's an exciting journey. The author's sense of humor and colorful writing keep things lively, and his scholarship adds unusual depth. I read the last two hundred pages in one sitting.
I won't give away the ending - and what Halkin finds - but I will say that the heroes of this story are those tenacious souls who memorized the traditional stories of their people and remembered them long enough for someone like Halkin to finally come along and listen.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Narrative, December 26, 2002

By	Patrick Devenny (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

Hillel Harkin's study of the fabled 10 lost tribes of Israel succeeds because he is not an anthropologist or biblical scholar. Indeed, if one is looking for an in depth study of the lost tribes and their hypothetical present locations, this probably is not the best place to go. However, if you are looking for a story rooted in history, told by a world traveler who writes sweeping narratives and locale descriptions, than this is your best bet.

The story of the lost tribes is a fascinating one. It is so interesting that thousands of anthropologists and explorers have spent their whole life looking for this group of ancient Jews. The story is as mysterious as it is educational. In the 8th century BC, the Assyrians conquered northern Israel. The ten tribes of Jews that inhabited the area were mostly uprooted and moved, east, to the vast areas of the Assyrian Empire. After that, no one is sure where they ended up. It would be a good guess that wherever they settled, they were assimilated into the native culture, but influenced the natives greatly, possibly with their monotheist religion. This may seem to many as a curious historical footnote, but to some in the Jewish religion, it is one of the most important factors in the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The location and return of the 10 northern tribes is an integral part of Jewish tradition, even if many have cast it off as a relic of the past.

Harkin story follows the travels of one Rabbi Avichail, an eccentric but dedicated Jewish scholar. Avichail firmly believes that the tribes and their culture can still be found, in former Assyrian areas such as India, Central Asia, and China. Now, just years ago, this was deemed almost absurd. However, with recent technological and genetic discoveries, the lineage of some of these groups is no longer hypothetical. Roman genes in China and Greek genes in Afghanistan have been discovered, pointing to ancient connections. Avichail believes that he can find these groups, and return them to the promise land. Harkin is skeptical at first, mainly because the often shaky evidence Avichail provides, and the fruitless tribe search in southern China. However, he, and the reader, soon become fascinated by the Mizo people of northeastern India. They passionately claim lineage to the Manasseh, one of the lost tribes. They share some intriguing similarities, such as one God known as Ya (Yahweh), an old song of the Red Sea, and ritual circumcision. The Mizo are constantly split from within, as Christianity and cultural strife strain the relationship between them and their old ways. Avichail and his party, including Harkin, are quickly wrapped up into this intriguing cultural and religious situation.

The book benefits from Harkins insightful eye, which look into almost every facet of Avichail, the Mizo, and their claims. The sweeping descriptions of the areas the party visits and the surrounding political situations are vivid and entertaining. It is a remarkable hybrid of a travel, history, and religious narrative that synthesizes very well.

A fascinating read.