Exhibition Opening
The Yeshiva in Babylon at the Time of the Talmud
On Wednesday, 23 December 1998 the opening took place of the exhibition, entitled
"The Yeshiva in Babylon at the Time of the Talmud" at the Babylonian Jewry
Museum.
The exhibition was mounted to commemorate Victoria (daughter of Khatoon
and David Benyamin) Ellis on the third anniversary of her death, and also Kelly Joseph,
of Singapore.
The evening began with greetings from Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Chairman of
the Center, and from Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Director of the Babylonian Jewry Research
Institute. The speakers noted the importance of the exhibition, and thanked the donors
for their assistance in the research and museum activities of the Center. In response,
Mr. Yaakov Benyamin said the following:
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Members of the Board of the
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center,
On my own behalf and on behalf of the relatives of Victoria and Kelly Ellis,
we wish to thank the Board of the Center for this evening and for the honored
memorialization site devoted to the memory of our dear ones, Victoria and Kelly.
On this occasion I shall attempt to say a few words about the personality and
activities of the Ellis couple.
Victoria was born in Iraq in 1914 to Khatoon and David Benyamin. She
completed her studies at the Alliance high school, where she acquired a thorough
knowledge of French and English, apart from Arabic. Afterwards, in the years when
she lived in Singapore, she added to this the Malaysian language.
In 1938 Victoria married Kelly Ellis, who had traveled from Singapore to Iraq
with a wish to find a spouse. As was the custom in those days, a match was made
between him and Victoria. Immediately after their wedding they went to live in
Singapore. Their marriage was successful; unfortunately, they remained childless.
With the occupation of Singapore by the Japanese in 1941, Victoria and her
husband were forced to flee Singapore penniless, and they found refuge in Bombay in
India. This was an extremely difficult time in their lives, and they were obliged to
work hard for a living. At the end of the war they returned to Singapore, where their
property was restored to them.
Kelly Ellis grew up in Singapore. For years he worked for a wealthy Jewish
man, by the name of Salih Shukur, and enjoyed the special status of a son of the
Shukur couple, who had no children of their own.
On their death, the Shukur couple left much property, some of which,
according to their will, a Shukur Family memorial fund was established, whose
benefits were to be distributed to the needy among Jews from Iraq who lived in
Baghdad.
Kelly Ellis was appointed executor of the fund, and after his death its
administration was placed in the hands of Victoria. During the 1950s Kelly and
Victoria received permission from the Singapore authorities to change the destination
of the Shukur Fund from Iraq to Israel, particularly after the mass migration there of
most of the Jews of Iraq.
In 1960 Kelly and Victoria traveled to Israel to distribute the fruits of the
Shukur Fund among public and charitable institutions in Israel, in addition to
institutions concerned with former Iraqis.
In my conversations with Kelly and Victoria, they related that at that time they
established ties with a large number of public and charitable organizations, which
thereafter received contributions regularly year after year.
To summarize the life's course of the Ellis couple, we find that their main
occupation focused on donations and fundraising for charity in Singapore and in
Israel.
I would like to note two outstanding donations in Israel. The first was the
establishment of the Heart Institute at the Maccabi health fund clinic in Ramat Gan,
in cooperation with the Baruch family from England in 1982. The second was a
donation of $150,000 to the Tel Hashomer hospital, which came from a family in
Singapore through Victoria in 1988.
I would also like to mention that in her will Victoria bequeathed a
considerable part of her estate to an impressive list of public and charitable
institutions in Israel and Singapore, as follows:
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center; Educational Advancement Fund; Jewish
Institute for the Blind; Center for Mental Health in Jerusalem; Soldiers' Welfare
Organization in Israel; Emunah – Association of National-Religious Women; Or
Hayim College for Girls; Zion Orphanage in Jerusalem; Hafetz Hayim Orphanage in
Jerusalem; Beit Zekenim Retirement Home in Jerusalem; WIZO Jerusalem.
Singapore Cancer Society; Little Sisters of the Poor, Singapore; Singapore
Association of the Visually Handicapped; National University of Singapore;
Singapore Social Aid or Welfare; Singapore Anti-tuberculosis Association; St.
Andrews Mission Hospital, Singapore; Singapore CheshireHome; National Kidney
Foundation, Singapore; Handicapped Welfare Association, Singapore.
I hope that with these few words I have managed to present a picture of the
character of the Ellis couple.
May their memory be blessed.