ROUNDUP OF EVENTS
Yigal Loushi
The end of 1998 was marked by augmented activity in most fields. That year, the
Center was visited and its events were attended by 33,078 people (compared with
33,092 in 1997), of whom there were 11,019 school students (compared with 10,401
in 1997). The annual budget also rose in 1998.
From the opening of the Museum in 1988 until the end of December 1998, a
total of 252,647 people including 138,980 school students, visited the Center and
participated in its events.
This year too a prize was awarded to students at the Ohel Shem school for its
work on the heritage of Babylonian Jewry. The prize was a gift from the foundation of
the late Avraham Dabbi. A prize was also awarded to Devorit David, a twelfth-grader
at Farkof High School in Or Yehuda.
On 8 July 1998 there was an unveiling at the Center of a memorial plaque
donated by Mrs. Rahel Albeg in memory of her late husband, Meir Albeg.
On 17 September the Center held a study day on "The Contribution of Dr.
Avraham Ben-Yaakov to the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center" marking the
publication of his book A Treasury of Fables and Sayings of the Jews of Babylonia (in
Hebrew). A prize was awarded to Dr. Ben-Yaakov for his life's work from the Hillaly
Family Foundation. About 200 people attended. The Chairman of the Center, Mr.
Mordechai Ben-Porat, congratulated the laureate, and Dr. Zvi Yehuda gave a lecture
on his work.
On Sukkot Eve, 4 October 1998, Sion Goorji (Reuben Salman) and Moshe
Ephrayim El-Moshe were murdered while at work in the Jewish community premises
in Baghdad by two Arabs. When news of the murder emerged, journalists and
television agencies from Israel and abroad, including CNN, arrived at the Center. They
interviewed the Chairman of the Center, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, and obtained
pictures of the slain men. The pictures, which were published in the press and on
television, were taken from the picture collection of the Center. The Center's
Chairman and Managing Director visited relatives of the victims and offered their
condolences.
On the thirtieth day following the murder, a memorial service was held at the
Center for the two victims in the presence of relatives and friends. Reminiscences were
exchanged of the former lifestyle in Iraq.
On 2 December 1998 a study evening was held at the Center jointly with the
association of former members of the He-Halutz Underground Movement in Iraq. It
marked the appearance of the book by Mrs. Shoshana Arbeli-Almozlino (a former
Member of Knesset andgovernment minister), From the Underground in Iraq to the
Government of Israel (in Hebrew). About 250 people attended the evening, which was
conducted by Mr. Zvulun Hareli, Chairman of the association of former members of
the He-Halutz Underground Movement. Speeches were made by the Chairman of the
Center, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Prof. Yitzhak Avishur, Academic Director of the
Center, Mr. Shlomo Hillel, Mr. Eli Amir, Mr. Aharon Bar-Oz, and Dr. Zvi Yehuda.
On 20 December 1998 the Center held a study day entitled "The Jews of
Aleppo and the Jews of Mesopotamia" (see separate review). It was attended by
lecturers from the two communities, and to round off the evening a performance was
given by artistes from them both.
A ceremony held at Bar-Ilan University on 24 December 1998, with the
participation of lecturers and rabbis, to mark the migration to Israel of the Jews of
Yemen in the 1950s. The Managing Director of the Center, Mr. Yigal Loushi, handed
over to the ceremony's organizers a box filled with dozens of rare pictures of the
Yemeni Jews at the time of their migration. Representatives of the latter, who were
taken by surprise at this gesture, thanked the Managing Director at the Center, and
expressed the wish to cooperate with him. On 20 January 1999 the unveiling took
place of a gilt plaque in memory of Sasson Bahar through a donation from the family
of Mazal Bahar. In attendance were members of the family. The Chairman of the
Center, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, and family representatives spoke.
The annual function of the Center was held this year at Gan Oranim on 27
February 1999, attended by about 520 people. Among them were the former Minister
of Defense, MK Yitzhak Mordechai, and MK Shimon Peres. The Master of
Ceremonies was Mr. Yossi Alfi, who withconsummate charm combined storytelling
and fundraising, and managed to auction the ties of Shimon Peres and Yitzhak
Mordechai for substantial sums. He also got MK Mordechai to sing on stage the piyyut
"El Eliyahu", in return for a generous donation by Mr. Yaakov Nimrodi. MK
Mordechai's tie was acquired by the contractor Mr. Sami Muslawi and his wife, while
the tie of MK Peres went to Mr. Yehuda Asia, who gave it back to the Center,
whereupon it was auctioned once more, this time going to Mr. George Elias.
The artistic performance was given by the singer Yehudit Tamir, with Israeli
songs, and Yosef Bagdadi, with Iraqi songs. The evening was concluded by the singer
Samir Abu Faris and his ensemble.
It should be noted that the Center abstains from any political involvement, and
accordingly members of the Labor party, the Likud, and the Center party were invited
to the function. Invitations to the Likud went to the ministers Sharon, Arens, and
Shitreet, all of whom informed the Center that prior engagements prevented them from
attending. As stated, MK Peres and MK Mordechai were present.
On 4 March 1999 a study day was held jointly with the association of former
members of He-Halutz to mark the publication of the book by Mrs. Nuzhat Katzav, A
Swallow of Peace (in Hebrew), with the participation of about 250 people. Speeches
were made by the Chairman of the Center, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Adv. Mordechai
Bibi, Mr. Zvulun Hareli, Chairman of the association of former members of the
movement, Prof. Shmuel Moreh, and Prof. Yitzhak Avishur.
On Sunday 18 April 1999 a study evening took place at the Center, with the
award of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center Prize to Prof. Moshe Gil of Tel Aviv
University for his comprehensive four-volume study In the Realm of Ishmael in the
Gaonic Age (in Hebrew). The evening was opened by Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat,
Chairman of the Center, who spoke of the importance of Prof. Gil's work for the
history of Babylonian Jewry in the Abbasid period, which coincided with the age of the
Geonim. Prof. Yitzhak Avishur, the Academic Director of the Center, congratulated
Prof. Gil on his winning the prize, and dwelt on the importance of Prof. Gil's research
for the historiography of the period studied. Ms. Hanna Kazzaz, a member of the
Center's Executive Board, made the award to Prof. Gil of the prize, which is from the
Yehezkel Kazzaz Foundation.
After the congratulatory speeches, Prof. Avishur lectured on the Jews of
Babylonia in the Gaonic age as presented in Prof. Gil's book. Prof. Yossef Tobi
lectured on the Jews of the Arabian Peninsula as set out in Prof. Gil's book, and the
laureate, Prof. Gil, lectured on the centrality of Babylonia in the Gaonic age.
A course in Babylonian Jewry at Bar-Ilan University
This year a course opened at Bar-Ilan University on the history of the Jews of
Babylonia and their heritage (see separate article). The aim is to increase the number of
such courses at Bar Ilan and other universities.
The Bar-Ilan course was made possible thanks to the donation by Mr. Edeed
Ben-Josef and his wife Lydia of New York.
Teachers' refresher courses
This year, too, the Center continued to hold teachers' refresher courses. This time
teachers were trained to guide students on the subject of the heritage of Babylonian
Jewry. At the end of the course the teachers were to receive certificates, entitling them
to 56 points in refresher benefits.
The second floor
Under the slogan "A Dream Come True" this year we began construction of the
second floor of the Center. Whoever visits the Center can already see the skeleton of
the second floor. The work became possible after receipt of half the budget promised
by the Ministry of the Interior. We hope to continue the work to completion with the
monies we are to receive from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education,
and the Or Yehuda municipality. Since the election of Adv. Yitzhak Bukhovza as
mayor of Or Yehuda, the Center has won the understanding of the municipality
regarding its needs. Adv. Bukhovza recognizes the importance of completing the
building and enlarging the Museum as a Jewish legacy generally and for the heritage of
the Jews of Babylonia and the town of Or Yehuda in particular.
At present researchers of the Center are investing a major effort to conclude
the research and design of the new exhibitions to be added to he Museum. With the
completion of the building and the design, the area of the Museum will extend to 2400
square meters and will include workshops, exhibitions, and multimedia. Without doubt
the Museum will draw a large throng of visitors when it completed.