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The Bene Ephraim, (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: "Sons of Ephraim") also called Telugu Jews because they speak Telugu
Telugu language

Telugu or Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian languages mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language....
, are a small community of Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s living primarily in Kottareddipalem, a village outside Guntur
Guntur

Guntur is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian States and territories of India of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north of Bay of Bengal....
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P.,is a state situated on eastern coast of India. It is India's List of states of India by area and List of states of India by population....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, near the delta
River delta

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....
 of the River Krishna.

The Bene Ephraim claim to trace their observance of Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 back to ancient times, and recount a history similar to that of the Bnei Menashe
Bnei Menashe

The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's Seven Sister States of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes....
 in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram
Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North-East India India. It shares land borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Bangladesh and the Chin State state of Burma....
 and Manipur
Manipur

Manipur is a States and territories of India in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east....
: adoption of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 upon the arrival of Baptist
Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
 missionaries around the beginning of the 19th century.

Since 1981, about fifty families around Kottareddipalem and Ongole
Ongole

See...
 (capital of the nearby district of Prakasham) have studied Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, learned Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
, and sought recognition from other Jewish communities around the world.






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The Bene Ephraim, (Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: "Sons of Ephraim") also called Telugu Jews because they speak Telugu
Telugu language

Telugu or Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian languages mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language....
, are a small community of Jew
Jew

A Jew is a member of the Jewish people, an ethnoreligious group that traces its ancestry to the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East....
s living primarily in Kottareddipalem, a village outside Guntur
Guntur

Guntur is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian States and territories of India of Andhra Pradesh, located to the north of Bay of Bengal....
, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P.,is a state situated on eastern coast of India. It is India's List of states of India by area and List of states of India by population....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, near the delta
River delta

A delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river....
 of the River Krishna.

The Bene Ephraim claim to trace their observance of Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
 back to ancient times, and recount a history similar to that of the Bnei Menashe
Bnei Menashe

The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's Seven Sister States of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes....
 in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram
Mizoram

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North-East India India. It shares land borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Bangladesh and the Chin State state of Burma....
 and Manipur
Manipur

Manipur is a States and territories of India in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east....
: adoption of Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 upon the arrival of Baptist
Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
 missionaries around the beginning of the 19th century.

Since 1981, about fifty families around Kottareddipalem and Ongole
Ongole

See...
 (capital of the nearby district of Prakasham) have studied Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, learned Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
, and sought recognition from other Jewish communities around the world. Because of the very recent emergence of this community, and the current overwhelming emphasis on the use of Hebrew as a living language, rather than merely a liturgical language, the impact of Hebrew on the daily speech of this community has not led to the development, as yet, of a distinctly identifiable "Judæo-Telugu" language or dialect. (See Jewish languages
Jewish languages

The Jewish languages are a set of languages and dialects that developed in various Jewish communities around the world, more notably in Europe, West Asia, and North Africa....
.)

The community has been visited over the years, by several groups of rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s, who have thus far not seen fit to extend the same recognition to this community as that recently extended to the Bnei Menashe.

See also

  • Andhra Pradesh
    Andhra Pradesh

    Andhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P.,is a state situated on eastern coast of India. It is India's List of states of India by area and List of states of India by population....
  • History of the Jews in India
  • Bnei Menashe
    Bnei Menashe

    The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 people from India's Seven Sister States of Manipur and Mizoram who claim descent from one of the Ten Lost Tribes....
  • Shavei Israel
    Shavei Israel

    Shavei Israel is an Israeli-based Jewish organization that locates "lost Jews" and assists them in returning to Judaism. It is the only group devoted to this purpose....