Nehardea Magazine

Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.13, Summer 2001

EVENTS AT THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

DOCUMENTATION FROM THE OTTMAN PERIOD
Dr. Zvi Yehuda

One of the most important missions, which the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center took upon itself, was to establish a research infrastructure, which would serve all those who needed information and wished to research the annals and heritage of Babylonian Jewry. The efforts of the Center and the Research Institute of Babylonian Jewry were especially directed to locate documents connected with the history of Babylonian Jews during the 400 years when this community lived under Ottoman rule, a period when sources of information were rarely obtainable.

Documentation from the Ottoman archives in Turkey

During the last few years we concentrated our efforts on the Ottoman archives located in Turkey. Since all existing documents were written in Ottoman Turkish, it was difficult to find a person who was able and ready to research those archives. In the beginning we thought that our chances of finding any written matter concerning Babylonian Jews in the Ottoman archives were meager at best, due to the fact that at that period the region in which Jews lived (Mosul, Baghdad and Basra) was not politically stable and for a relatively long period until 1831, Ottoman rule was indirect and based on local rulers. Furthermore, the utter lack of order in the Ottoman archives added to the difficulties in tracing any documentary material concerning Babylon Jews. However, in spite of all this, we did not give up, and our endeavors under the direction of Chairman Mordechai Ben-Porat did succeed, and we found a young Turk who was ready to research the Ottoman archives in Istanbul on our behalf.
We estimated that the work would be concluded in a short time, as we believed that there would be very few documents to be found in the archives. Shortly after this man started his research, we felt that even if no special files were found, time and systematic searches would lead to the discovery of very important material about the Babylonian Jews.
When it became evident that the project would not only be time consuming but very costly we were forced at this stage to be content with a general examination of the existing material and photocopying whatever document the investigator stumbled upon during his research.
We hope that the proper funds will be provided to finance the whole project including the following:
1. Locating and photocopying all documents relating to Babylonian Jews during the Ottoman Rule (16th-20th Century), and bringing the copies to the Center.
2. Writing all the material in modern Turkish.
3. Translating all documents found into Hebrew or English, so that they may be at the disposal of researchers who have no knowledge of Turkish.

Documentation from the archives in Israel

Furthermore, aided by Mrs. Tamima Hillel, we made an effort to locate documents in the existing archives in Israel with the following results:
1. We found documents stored in the archives of the Sephardic Chief Rabbis in Jerusalem dating back to the second half of the 19th Century and the turn of the 20th Century. The documents were found in the archives of Rabbi Hayyim Abraham Gagin and Rabbi Yacob Shaul Alaishar, which included 24 letters written by Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, the most eminent of Babylonian Rabbis in that period. They were photocopied, and the copies are now kept at the Center. They were hand-written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic as was customary among Iraqi Jews, using their traditional script.
2. Documents were also found at the archives of the Chief Rabbinate in Istanbul which was kept at the "Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People" in Jerusalem. These documents date back to the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century. They were written by Babylonian Jews to the Rabbinate in Istanbul requesting the Rabbinate's intervention on their behalf with the Ottoman authorities. Photocopies of these, too, have been transferred to the Center.

I am grateful to the management and staff of the above mentioned institutions for their valuable help.

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EVENTS AT THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
DOCUMENTATION FROM THE OTTMAN PERIOD Dr. Zvi Yehuda
One of the most important missions, which the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center took upon itself, was to establish a research infrastructure, which would serve all those who needed information and wished to research the annals and heritage of Babylonian Jewry. The efforts of the Center and the Research Institute of Babylonian Jewry were especially directed to locate documents connected with the history of Babylonian Jews during the 400 years when this community lived under Ottoman rule, a period when sources of information were rarely obtainable. Documentation from the Ottoman archives in Turkey During the last few years we concentrated our efforts on the Ottoman archives located in Turkey. Since all existing documents were written in Ottoman Turkish, it was difficult to find a person who was able and ready to research those archives. In the beginning we thought that our chances of finding any written matter concerning Babylonian Jews in the Ottoman archives were meager at best, due to the fact that at that period the region in which Jews lived (Mosul, Baghdad and Basra) was not politically stable and for a relatively long period until 1831, Ottoman rule was indirect and based on local rulers. Furthermore, the utter lack of order in the Ottoman archives added to the difficulties in tracing any documentary material concerning Babylon Jews. However, in spite of all this, we did not give up, and our endeavors under the direction of Chairman Mordechai Ben-Porat did succeed, and we found a young Turk who was ready to research the Ottoman archives in Istanbul on our behalf. We estimated that the work would be concluded in a short time, as we believed that there would be very few documents to be found in the archives. Shortly after this man started his research, we felt that even if no special files were found, time and systematic searches would lead to the discovery of very important material about the Babylonian Jews. When it became evident that the project would not only be time consuming but very costly we were forced at this stage to be content with a general examination of the existing material and photocopying whatever document the investigator stumbled upon during his research. We hope that the proper funds will be provided to finance the whole project including the following: 1. Locating and photocopying all documents relating to Babylonian Jews during the Ottoman Rule (16th-20th Century), and bringing the copies to the Center. 2. Writing all the material in modern Turkish. 3. Translating all documents found into Hebrew or English, so that they may be at the disposal of researchers who have no knowledge of Turkish. Documentation from the archives in Israel Furthermore, aided by Mrs. Tamima Hillel, we made an effort to locate documents in the existing archives in Israel with the following results: 1. We found documents stored in the archives of the Sephardic Chief Rabbis in Jerusalem dating back to the second half of the 19th Century and the turn of the 20th Century. The documents were found in the archives of Rabbi Hayyim Abraham Gagin and Rabbi Yacob Shaul Alaishar, which included 24 letters written by Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, the most eminent of Babylonian Rabbis in that period. They were photocopied, and the copies are now kept at the Center. They were hand-written in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic as was customary among Iraqi Jews, using their traditional script. 2. Documents were also found at the archives of the Chief Rabbinate in Istanbul which was kept at the "Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People" in Jerusalem. These documents date back to the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century. They were written by Babylonian Jews to the Rabbinate in Istanbul requesting the Rabbinate's intervention on their behalf with the Ottoman authorities. Photocopies of these, too, have been transferred to the Center. I am grateful to the management and staff of the above mentioned institutions for their valuable help.
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