Dr. Naomi (Naima) Gal
The Jewish community in Babylonia is one of the most illustrious in the history of the Jewish
people, and it has contributed greatly in all areas of life to enrich the Jewish heritage of
the people of Israel.
Studies conducted regarding this community since the creation of the state of Israel are
manifold, and they furnish us with cumulative information. But until now this area has been
almost wholly the domain of scholars.
I am delighted with the welcome initiative of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage
Center,
under the leadership of Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, to open the first university course
of its kind at Bar-Ilan University to teach and enrich not only people of Iraqi extraction
but also students from all communities.
The course was divided into two parts.
In the first part, the emphasis was placed on the study of Babylonian Jewry
across all its institutions until the emigration to Israel. These elements include: the
Jewish leadership in Iraq, the religious-spiritual leadership and status of the Hakham
Bashi; the development of the lay communal leadership; the educational institution
and its importance in the eyes of the Jews of Iraq, and the contribution of the Jews to
the development of education in Iraqi society; the social involvement of the Jews in the
cultural life of Iraq in the 20th century; the social and religious ties of the Jews of Iraq
with sister communities in other countries in the east and the west; changes in family
life in Iraq before the emigration under the influence of modernization processes; and
of course the contribution of Iraqi Jewry to economic development in Iraq.
The second part was devoted to the following subjects: immigration and
absorption in Israel; "Prisoners of Zion" and the Zionist underground; Operation Ezra
and Nehemia; the successful absorption of Iraqi Jewry in Israeli society and its
contribution in fifty years of activity. We concluded the course with an analysis and
understanding of the universal and local factors that caused the mass migration of one
of the most ancient communities in Jewish history.
A few words on the participants in the course. It began with eight students,
and during the first semester another eight joined them. There was wide heterogeneity
among them. Some entered on account of their Iraqi origins or connections with
former Iraqis, so they wanted to learn more of their own and/or their family's heritage.
The other group is particularly interesting. These were students who at first had no
great interest in the subject nor any emotional link to it. They came to the course "out
of curiosity" or "it worked out with my schedule" or "I needed another elective
course". It was not long before these students began to evince greater interest. There
was active participation in the classes, and a fascinating dynamic. We even merited the
attendance of uninvited visitors who heard about the course and came to join in, and
even to contribute to the proceedings.
The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, under the direction of Mr. Yigal
Loushi, the Managing Director, and Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Director of the Babylonian Jewry
Research Institute, has contributed greatly to me as lecturer and to my students. In the
library we compiled a study kit, consisting of much historical matter, written
interestingly and succinctly, and enjoyable to read for the students. Two visits to the
Center were arranged. One took place in the first semester, with two hours of pleasant
study under the guidance of Ms. Pnina Shaham, Director of the Guidance section, on
the subject of "Exile and Redemption, Community Institutions and Social Dynamics
until the Migration to Israel". The material studied in class prior to the tour, and the
tour itself, whetted the students' appetite, and even before the first semester was over
they began to researching and preparing their final course paper. We made another
tour in the second semester on the subject of "Zionism, Immigration, and Absorption".
We watched two films of the activity of the He-Halutz Movement, the underground,
and the educational institutions. Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat participated as a guest
lecturer and told of the Zionist underground and the story of Operation Ezra and
Nehemia.
The students' visits to the Center do not end with the official tours that have
been planned. They came here to conduct research on subjects they have chosen for
the final paper of the course. Every student chooses a subject that interests him or her
in particular. As a lecturer I greatly enjoyed taking an active part in the students'
researches. Usually I send them to the Center and/or arrange to meet here, and
together we search and delve into the hidden treasures in the library. All the librarians
without exception assist and do a great deal for my students, and for others who come
to the Center in search of material on Babylonian Jewry. I support my students on this
course and in the seminar on Jewish communities in the Islamic countries to come to
the Center and make use of the excellent library services.
A few of the subjects researched by the students concern customs connected
with the life cycle of Iraqi Jewry. These are birth ceremonies, the brit milah for a
newborn boy and the shasha celebrations for a baby girl; customs and traditions
surrounding bar-mitzvah, engagement, and wedding; matchmaking; mourning and
burial; beliefs (prayers) and customs connected with the Jewish way of life. Then there
are the reciprocal relations between Muslim and Jewish society; stories of the life of
the family in Iraq and Israel, a fascinating subject in itself; the development of the
goldsmith's profession in Iraq and the functions it filled – were these purely economic,
or did they carry a special status? Other subjects are processes of change in the
institution of Chief Rabbi, with reference the role of the Hakham Sassoon Khedhourie
and the dispute that arose between him and the other rabbis at the end of the 1920s;
the woman's status in Iraq, before the emigration to Israel. Other areas are the
wide-ranging educational system in the Jewish community, and changes it experienced
through modernization and secularization processes; the combination of traditional
religious education and general education, and its contribution to the integration of
members of the community in society.
We concluded the course, at the request of the students and at the recommendation
of the Managing Director of the Center, with a repast consisting of the finest delicacies
of Iraqi cuisine; the purpose was to satisfy the sense of taste, in addition to awakening
curiosity, the desire for knowledge, and the motivation to learn.