No.16, Spring 2008
|
Journal of
the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center No.16, Spring 2008 |
Yigal Loushi, General Manager:
REVIEW OF EVENTS
Dear reader,
The previous issue’s front-page featured a photograph of the “shanashil” on the Center’s façade. Since then more than a year has passed. Anyone who now goes by the Center can see the changes in the front of the building: an arch-shaped red brick frame has been added around the Museum entrance; above the arch there is now a relief decorated with typical motifs taken from Iraqi houses; palm trees planted around the building add a graceful touch. Some additional work is still needed, on the façade and the landscaping.
This past year the executive offices, the library and the Research Institute moved into the new building, contributed by the Nimrodi family.
When the exhibits on the second floor are ready, we will be able to show the Israeli public and visitors from abroad the Museum and the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, which commemorate the history of that ancient and glorious community and preserve them for future generations.
Many schools and other institutions have shown an interest in visiting the Center, thanks to our Educational Department, which has prepared new programs adapted to the needs and interests of visitors. Families, too, have found here an original way to celebrate domestic events such as a grandparent’s birthday, by combining a nostalgic experience with a program adapted to the nature of the event. One very prominent family, who has asked that its name not be mentioned, held a traditional Henna-celebration at the Center, after having consulted with the curator and the workers at the Center.
(R.to L.): Mr. E. Barak, Mr. Y. Bukhovza, Mr. Y. Loushi
April 3, 2005: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak visited the Center, accompanied by mayor Yitzhak Bukhovza.
April 9, 2005: About a million new shekels were contributed at a benefit gala evening held at the Tel-Aviv Hilton Hotel. For the gala evening a special exhibition was prepared, “Revealed Secrets: Judaica Treasures Saved from the cellars of Iraqi Intelligence”, which for the first time enabled the public to view an important collection of Torah scrolls and documents of the Jewish community which had been stored in the cellars of Iraqi intelligence. Many items in this collection had been severely damaged when the American military bombed Iraqi intelligence installations in 2003.
The exhibition showed the discovery of the treasures in the cellars, and how they were dried and packed before being shipped to the Library of Congress in Washington.
(L.to R.): Mrs. N.Ben-Porat, Mr. E. Amir, Prof.. S. Moreh
May 3, 2005: A study evening was held to mark the publication of author Eli Amir’s book Jasmine.
June 14, 2005: We held a commemoration ceremony on the sixty-fourth anniversary of the Farhud pogrom against the Jews of Iraq. The ceremony was attended by about two-hundred people, family members of the victims and others.
The Annual Function
June 18, 2005: The annual function took place at the Palm Inn Hall. The function was attended by some seven-hundred people.
Mr. A. Kumar, the Indian Ambassador, Mr. M. Ben-Porat, Dr. D. Ray
June 19, 2005: His Excellency Mr. Arun Kumar Singh, the Indian ambassador to Israel, visited the Museum, together with Mr. Alok Raj, First Secretary at the embassy. In the evening a seminar took place to mark the publication of Dr. Dalia Ray’s book The Jewish Heritage of Calcutta.
In the years 1985-1999 Dr Ray was a justice of the peace in West Bengal. Her studies in the fields of history and Indian Jewry have been published in India and abroad.
Senior members of the Knesset visiting the Center
August 29, 2005: Senior members of the Knesset visit the Center, at the invitation of Center Chairman Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat.
Mr. Zeev Beilski, visited the Center
September 21, 2005: Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Mr. Zeev Beilski, visited the Center. The importance of this visit lies in the fact that the Jewish Agency and the Center are working together to bringing the remnants of the Iraqi Jewish community to Israel.
The Late Yiftah Fathi
October 20, 2005: A golden plaque donated by the Fathi family was unveiled. The late Yiftah Fathi was a senior banker and also a painter. His works dealt with a variety of themes and were executed in a number of different techniques. Yiftah’s brother Yoram screened a presentation reflecting the lives of his generation. The family published a booklet in his memory, containing some of his paintings.
Mrs. H. Kraft and her Mother
November 30, 2005: A study evening to mark the publication of Haviva (Vivi) Kraft’s book A Childhood in Rhyme, about her own childhood. Yigal Loushi, the Center’s Director, spoke about the cultural contribution of Babylonian Jews in Israel and about the author. The writer Balfour Hakak, Chairman of the Hebrew Writers’ Association in Israel and Prof. Shmuel Moreh, Chairman of the Academic Council, spoke about the book. The poet Ilan Scheinfeld lectured on “Idealistic Elements to be found in the Work of Haviva Kraft”.
Prof. Shaul Shasha
December 28, 2005: Prof. Shaul Shasha, director of the Nahariya Medical Center, visited the Center. Prof. Shasha is currently engaged in a study on the health system of the Jews in Iraq.
Prof. Shasha was chosen as one of the twelve torch lighters on the eve of Independence Day. At the ceremony he said: “I am Shaul Shasha, born in Iraq, son of Menashe HaKohen and Victoria née Rajwan, may they rest in peace, graduate of the Hadassah and Hebrew University School of Medicine. I served in the Medical Corps at the Suez Canal, on the Golan Heights and in Lebanon. I am a physician, a professor of medicine at the Technion, and for the past twenty years Director of the hospital in Nahariya. I was among the founders of the “Galilee Movement” and the Center for the Study of Medicine in the Holocaust, one of the first promoters of quality in public service and medicine, and winner of the State Service Award”.
December 29, 2005: An evening in commemoration of actor Yitzhak Battat was held at the Center. After the Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony, we heard accounts of Yitzhak’s life as man and actor. Among the participants were Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Prof. Shmuel Moreh, actor Aryeh Elias, the singer Aman, Yehezkel Yogev family members.
January 3, 2006: A study evening was held in the Center marking the publication of the book Under-ground Wireless Connection in an Arab Country by Yosef Meir (Yehoshafat). The book tells the story of radio communication between Baghdad and the Land of Israel and relates various incidents associated with it. The study evening was organized by the “Organization of Veterans of the Pioneer Underground Movement in Iraq”. Among the participants were Mordechai Ben-Porat, Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Mr. Avraham Sha'shua and Mr. Yitzhak Sayig. The concluding speakers at the study evening were Yosef Meir himself and Hareli Zevulon, Chairman of the Organization.
Annual ceremony in memory of Iraqi executed Jews
January 22, 2006: We held the annual ceremony in memory of Iraqi Jews executed by the Iraqi authorities. The ceremony was attended by the mayor, Yitzhak Bukhovza, Chairman of the Center, Mordechai Ben-Porat, and the bereaved families. A military cantor read the traditional mourning prayer and family representatives read the “kaddish”.
(L. to R.) Prof. Moreh, Dr. L. Dabby-Joury, Dr. Z. Yehuda
January 31, 2006: A study evening in memory of author Samir Naqqash was held at the Center. The speakers were: Prof. Shmuel Moreh, Dr. Lillian Dabby-Joury, who lectured on the themes in Samir Naqqash’s writings, Shlomo Shapira who described his encounter with Samir Naqqash, and Benjamin Rish, who gave a talk about the characters in the story collection of Prophecies.
Ambassador R. Jones and Mrs. Jones visiting the Center
February 16, 2006: The American ambassador in Israel, Mr. Richard Jones, visited the Center together with his wife and a large entourage. Mr. Jones, a senior diplomat who served as advisor on Iraq to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, said as he entered the Museum: “As someone who has been in Iraq on behalf of the American government, this is a special opportunity to obtain more intimate knowledge about the roots of the Jewish community in Iraq”. The Center’s Chairman, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, greeted the ambassador and told him about the great efforts being made to save Jewish books in Iraq and to bring them to the Center’s library. He pointed out that the Center today constitutes a world-renowned focus of information about Iraqi Jewry. The Center’s General Manager, Yigal Loushi, pointed out that since the Museum opened it hosted more than 420 thousand visitors, including about 165 thousand students.
Y. and Y. Baher unveiled the golden plaques
February 21, 2006: Two golden plaques were unveiled in a ceremony held in commemoration of Menashe Bahar and Farha Hellen Hakham, the children of Tuffaha and Yahya Bahar. The plaques were donated by members of the Bahar family in Israel and London.
Aziza Bahar and her sisters Simha Asheri and Margalit Dori donated the music and multimedia room from the inheritance of the late Naim Twena.
The Center Chairman, Mordechai Ben-Porat, spoke at the ceremony and applauded the Bahar family’s important contribution to the Center.
Shlomo (Salim) Kadourie
February 23, 2006: On the anniversary of the death of painter Shlomo (Salim) Kadourie a painting exhibition was held at the Center. The exhibition was attended by about three-hundred people.
The artist’s daughter, grandchildren and son-in-law talked about him. The closing speech was given by his widow Aliza.
Shlomo painted landscapes, still-life, his city Ramat-Gan, portraits, and scenes from life in Iraq, among them a man in a round “Guffa” boat, a Jewish cloth merchant, a Jewish woman wearing an “izar”, rabbis, “chalghi” players, a woman lighting Sabbath candles, and more. Kadourie used various materials in his paintings, including oil, acrylic paint, water colors, gouache, enamel, pencil and charcoal. The paintings which were given to the Center as a contribution are now on display in the Museum lobby.
February 28, 2006: The Center held a study evening on the occasion of the publication of Yehoshua Me’iri’s book Echoes from Babylon – Idioms, Sayings and Folklore of Babylonian Jewry (in Hebrew) and Yaara Ben-David’s Caress in Full Light (also in Hebrew). Prof. Shmuel Moreh, Mr. Balfour Hakak and poetess Heli Abraham Eitan spoke about the books and the authors.
Prof. Joseph Shemesh
March 7, 2006: Prof. Joseph Shemesh, an expert on cardiac diseases, gave a comprehensive lecture on his field of specialization at the Center.
May 1, 2006: A study evening was held at the Center in memory of the late Dr. Abraham Ben-Yaakob. The speakers, Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat, Dr. Zvi Yehuda, Prof. Shmuel Moreh and former minister Attorney Moshe Nissim, praised Dr. Ben-Yaakob’s important contributions to the heritage of Babylonian Jewry. Dr. Ben-Yaakob wrote over forty books and articles on Babylonian Jewry, and also a number of books which are in the process of being prepared for posthumous publication. His son, Yair Ben-Yaakov, thanked the speakers and the Center.
Following the study evening awards by the Center were given to Dr. Rivka Kadosh for her study “Characteristics of R. Yosef Haim of Baghdad’s homiletic and poetic writings”, and to Mr. Yehoshua Me’iri for his books On the Rivers of Babylon and Echoes from Babylonia.
Mrs. Sh. Ganani unveiled the plaque
May 10, 2006: A golden plaque in memory of Shimshon Ganani was unveiled by the contributor, his wife Shoshana. The ceremony was attended by Jews from Kirkuk and Prisoners of Zion. The evening in Shimshon’s memory turned into a documentary event commemorating the history of the Zionist movement in Kirkuk and the illegal Aliyah, in which the late Shimshon played an important role.
