In the example of the Bnei Menashe, he noted that there is a wealth of ancient traditions and rituals that they possess which made a very compelling case to substantiate their claim. For example, Freund added that when the first British missionaries arrived in that part of the world over a century ago many of them kept diaries and from their entries you can see that the missionaries were stunned to find this population group which they also thought could be from a lost tribe of Israel.
Even while Shavei Israel is serious about putting all these pieces together and that most people who encounter the community armed with this knowledge have come away persuaded that there is some truth to it, not everyone is convinced they are an actual Lost Tribe. Freund commented that there are definitely those that would laugh it off or discount it. He said that today there are a growing number of communities that are asserting some sort of Israeli ancestry.
In some cases he said it is wishful thinking, it is fanciful in nature, but in other cases it is real. For those that are wishful thinking, he believes it is motivated by a desire by those individuals to improve their economic or social standing.
“To identify yourself with the chosen people of God in certain contexts could be used to elevate someone in the eyes of the community or their neighbors. That is another reason why we try to be very meticulous in assessing each claim and deciding whether to pursue it.”
Once Shavei identifies a tribe that they believe to be accurate and not mythical do they bring their findings to the Israeli government and Chief Rabbinate to determine if they will be allowed to start Aliyah for members of the communities.
To those that think the Lost Tribes are made up, Freund has some pointed comments for them,
“Have you personally examined the evidence? Second I would say is have you physically been there? Have you gone to meet the community? Have you met with the elders? Have you met with the local non-Jewish population and heard their perspective? Have you met with the local academics in the communities?”
He said that while most of criticism about the Lost Tribes has less to do with an analysis of the facts and more to do with the fact that they personally cannot accept the possibility that there might be such a thing as a Lost Tribe of Israel.
He added that many of them might have a bias against the Bible or religion in general, so anything that smacks of that off the bat they would say is absurd.
Freund said that when the Ethiopian Jews started to come to light, there were many people that said “Look, how can they be Jewish?" Some of those reactions he chalked up to shear ignorance.