198 Mizo Christians convert to Judaism

Next time you call AOL or some other technology company and the accented voice goes "shalowm mie naym iz Ben Tziun" here's why:

From India's New Karela newspaper;

Aizawl: As many as 198 Mizo Christians, who converted to Judaism, were blessed by the spiritual rabbi of the Shephardic Rabbinate Council here, Zion Buarbon, after completing the final stage of conversion called, 'Mikvah'.
The long wait was over for the hundreds of Mizo tribes, who claim to be the descendents of one of the 10 'lost tribes' of Israel as mentioned in the Bible.
The spiritual rabbi was accompanied by 12 rabbis, two of them women. They were assigned by Rabbi Shlomo Amar, chief of Shephardic Rabbinate Council of Israel, to perform the religious conversions in Mizoram and Manipur.
The recent development took place following Isreal's Chief Shephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar's historical decision in the beginning of April, to recognise the 'Beni Menashe' clan in the North East as the descendants of one of the original tribes of Isreal.
The conversion process, 'Giur', consisted of interviews by the rabbis and the ritual bath or 'Mikvah'.
Information Secretary of the Shavei Israel Avior Khawlhring told UNI that the final converts have undergone all necessary rituals, including, circumcision. Shavei Israel is an organisation which has been trying to locate the 10 lost tribes of Israel.
Spiritual Rabbi or Beit Rabbi seldom go out of Israel unless there is an issue of prime importance for Israel and Judaism as a whole. ''The 'Mikvah' of Aizawl and Imphal seems to be quite important to them,'' said Liyon Fanai, a Mizo convert and one of the leaders of Shavei Israel, Aizawl.