Khandam Nodiel Ngaihte, a member of the Beith Hallel congregation, wears a typical shawl of her home Churachandpur region. She often spends long hours at the loom knitting traditional tribal shawls and, lately, Jewish prayer shawls (tallisim) and skullcaps (kippot). Benei Menashe women began producing their distinctive tallisim and kippot because their husbands could not afford to buy them. Their natural talents soon made these handcrafted Jewish prayer articles among the world's finest. Today, the Benei Menashe hope to support themselves against the dire Manipur economy through production and sales of Jewish items to fellow Jews around the world.

back
 
All photos and text are copyright 1999-2007,
Bryan Schwartz, Jay Sand and/or Sandy Carter, all rights reserved,
and may not be used for publication or commercial purpose
without the written consent of the artist(s).
Site design by act3::designing the story.