Nehardea Magazine

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

JEWS OF IRAQ IN RECENT GENERATIONS

PUBLIC ACTIVITIES OF RABBI YOSEF HAYYIM
Dr. Zvi Yehuda

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Aid to the Babylonian immigrants & the
Babylonian Community in Jerusalem

A subject which constantly occupied Rabbi Yosef Hayyim and profusely discussed in his correspondence with Rabbi Eliashar, was his concern for the members of his community, who immigrated to Jerusalem. His letters reveal that the immigration of singles and whole families to Jerusalem was going on for the duration of the above-mentioned period. This immigration was, in fact, a continuation of previous immigrations of Babylonian Jewry to Eretz Yisrael.
As was customary in immigration movements worldwide, the first group of people to immigrate were the younger members of the family who came to Eretz Yisrael seeking to earn a livelihood and pave the way for the immigration of the remaining family members. Babylonian Jews immigrated to Eretz Yisrael via two routes, both were trade routes: one was the road that traversed the Western desert to Aleppo and thence to Eretz Yisrael; the other, using the sea port of Basra, sailing around the Arabian Peninsula and through the Suez Canal to Eretz Yisrael.

The extent of the immigration was insignificant in the beginning. However, at the turn of the 20th Century, a nucleus of Babylonian Jewish immigrants had already formed a fledgling community in Jerusalem. It did not have, as yet, any independent institution and was dependent on the Sephardi Community for all the required community services, especially in matters of inheritance, matrimony, arbitration in resolving disputes with their own members and with members of other Jewish Communities and financial aid.
Since Babylonian Jewry generously donated funds and dedicated property to the Sephardim Community in Jerusalem, it was only natural that their spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, would turn to the Head of the Sephardim Community in Eretz Yisrael requesting assistance in all matters involving members of his community. Rabbi Yosef Hayyim asked Rabbi Jacob Shaul Eliashar to assist Babylonian rabbis who immigrated to Jerusalem to settle there. He also asked for assistance in the matter of deserted wives who lived in Baghdad while their husbands resided in Jerusalem, and settle financial disputes between the head of a family living in Babylon and his offsprings who had settled in Jerusalem.

Care for Babylonian immigrants
in the Far East

Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's appeals to Rabbi Eliashar were usually made after he was requested to do so by the members of the Jewish Community in Babylon and other locations in the Far East. For example, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim consented to the request of Babylonian Community immigrants in Rangoon and asked Rabbi Eliashar to settle a dispute within the ranks of the Jewish Community there, involving Rabbi Ezra Dangoor who left Baghdad in 1894 to serve as Rabbi in Rangoon.

The connection between Rabbi Yosef Hayyim & Rabbi Eliashar was not established solely for the purpose of mobilizing funds for the Sephardic Community in Jerusalem or care for Babylonian Jewry in Jerusalem and the Far East. This connection gradually developed into a friendly relationship, exchange of manuscripts and gifts, and consultation in matters of Halacha, where they sought each other's opinion.
Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's letters to Rabbi Eliashar throw some light on his highly virtuous character and his readiness to serve his community at a time when there were many prominent persons and rabbis in Baghdad, who were appointed to take care of the community's concerns. Such involvement bound him to dedicate a lot of time in order to establish connections with many persons and establishments in various parts of the world. Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's ability to deal simultaneously with a long list of cultural and Halachic subjects, interpretation of Halacha, instruction and public matters, brought him his high status as the greatest spiritual leader in Babylon in subsequent generations.

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JEWS OF IRAQ IN RECENT GENERATIONS
PUBLIC ACTIVITIES OF RABBI YOSEF HAYYIM Dr. Zvi Yehuda
<<< Aid to the Babylonian immigrants & the Babylonian Community in Jerusalem A subject which constantly occupied Rabbi Yosef Hayyim and profusely discussed in his correspondence with Rabbi Eliashar, was his concern for the members of his community, who immigrated to Jerusalem. His letters reveal that the immigration of singles and whole families to Jerusalem was going on for the duration of the above-mentioned period. This immigration was, in fact, a continuation of previous immigrations of Babylonian Jewry to Eretz Yisrael. As was customary in immigration movements worldwide, the first group of people to immigrate were the younger members of the family who came to Eretz Yisrael seeking to earn a livelihood and pave the way for the immigration of the remaining family members. Babylonian Jews immigrated to Eretz Yisrael via two routes, both were trade routes: one was the road that traversed the Western desert to Aleppo and thence to Eretz Yisrael; the other, using the sea port of Basra, sailing around the Arabian Peninsula and through the Suez Canal to Eretz Yisrael. The extent of the immigration was insignificant in the beginning. However, at the turn of the 20th Century, a nucleus of Babylonian Jewish immigrants had already formed a fledgling community in Jerusalem. It did not have, as yet, any independent institution and was dependent on the Sephardi Community for all the required community services, especially in matters of inheritance, matrimony, arbitration in resolving disputes with their own members and with members of other Jewish Communities and financial aid. Since Babylonian Jewry generously donated funds and dedicated property to the Sephardim Community in Jerusalem, it was only natural that their spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, would turn to the Head of the Sephardim Community in Eretz Yisrael requesting assistance in all matters involving members of his community. Rabbi Yosef Hayyim asked Rabbi Jacob Shaul Eliashar to assist Babylonian rabbis who immigrated to Jerusalem to settle there. He also asked for assistance in the matter of deserted wives who lived in Baghdad while their husbands resided in Jerusalem, and settle financial disputes between the head of a family living in Babylon and his offsprings who had settled in Jerusalem. Care for Babylonian immigrants in the Far East Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's appeals to Rabbi Eliashar were usually made after he was requested to do so by the members of the Jewish Community in Babylon and other locations in the Far East. For example, Rabbi Yosef Hayyim consented to the request of Babylonian Community immigrants in Rangoon and asked Rabbi Eliashar to settle a dispute within the ranks of the Jewish Community there, involving Rabbi Ezra Dangoor who left Baghdad in 1894 to serve as Rabbi in Rangoon. The connection between Rabbi Yosef Hayyim & Rabbi Eliashar was not established solely for the purpose of mobilizing funds for the Sephardic Community in Jerusalem or care for Babylonian Jewry in Jerusalem and the Far East. This connection gradually developed into a friendly relationship, exchange of manuscripts and gifts, and consultation in matters of Halacha, where they sought each other's opinion. Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's letters to Rabbi Eliashar throw some light on his highly virtuous character and his readiness to serve his community at a time when there were many prominent persons and rabbis in Baghdad, who were appointed to take care of the community's concerns. Such involvement bound him to dedicate a lot of time in order to establish connections with many persons and establishments in various parts of the world. Rabbi Yosef Hayyim's ability to deal simultaneously with a long list of cultural and Halachic subjects, interpretation of Halacha, instruction and public matters, brought him his high status as the greatest spiritual leader in Babylon in subsequent generations.
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