Mordechai Ben-Porat
In accordance with the requests of the community leaders of Iraqi immigrants in New York and Toronto, two meetings were held, on April 23rd 1995 in New York and the second on April 30 1995 in Toronto. At both meetings the Museum's roving exhibition was displayed including tens of pictures of dazzling beauty depicting the history of the Jews of Iraq. Some of these are pictures from the past and some are photographs from the Museum. The exhibition was transported through the good offices of the Foreign Ministry.
The meeting in New York was organized by "The Congregation Bene Naharayim" whose President is our good friend Mr. Akram Chitayat and members of the directorate. Mr. David Shohet opened the event. The president of the congregation Mr. Chitayat emphasized the strong connection between the congregation and the "Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center" and the need to strengthen support for it. Following this, I was invited to speak. I spoke of the idea behind the establishment of the Center, on its activities and its development plans. Ms. Colette Avital, the general consul of Israel in New York who honored the event with her presence also emphasized the importance of the organization and noted that as well as she knows me she is sure we will achieve our aims. The evening ended with singing and dancing. The organizers noted that this was the most widely attended event ever held by the congregation. 260 people participated.
On the Sabbath preceding the event, people who were called up to the Torah in the synagogue dedicated their pledges to the heritage center. The congregation pledged all of the donations to the heritage center and in addition added a video camera.
The meeting in Toronto was organized under the initiative of Mr. Sasson Meir,with whom forty five years ago I had the "honor" of spending some three weeks in a prison in Basra. Mr. Sasson included the president of the Iraqi immigrants organization in Toronto, Ms. Renee Dallal and her husband, Dr. Naim Dallal. The two, together with many others invested a great deal of time and effort in organizing the event. In Toronto there were 200 guests who enjoyed the tradition food which was prepared by families in the community. The Israel General Consul, Mr. Zeigerman Dror participated in the festivities as did the wife of the Prime Minister of Ontario, Mrs. Erlan Rae, who was extremely impressed by the exhibition. All of the proceeds earned from the event including several donations were sent to the Heritage Center. Sasson Meir was in charge of the exhibition and together with his wife Berta entertained us in their home during the course of our visit to Toronto. May he and his wife be blessed for their hospitality.
At a meeting held between the directorate of the veteran organization of Iraqi immigrants in New York (A.A. Society) under the presidency of Dr. Hatina and with the help of Mr. Herbert Somech and the directorate of Congregation Bene Naharayim, it was agreed that the two organizations would sponsor two important projects for the Museum:
A.A. Society will sponsor the project of building a family tree of the families from Iraq by means of their contributions; and Congregation Bene Naharayim will sponsor an exhibition featuring the Babylonian leadership. Similarly, it was agreed that Messrs. Herbert Somech and Achram Chitayat will meet and plan a meeting of several tens of wealthy donors who will each make a donation to the Heritage Center.
In summary, there are a great number of Iraqi immigrants the world over who are thirsty for information regarding their heritage and for a breath of fresh air which enables them to enjoy such nostalgic experiences. We have received many additional requests to organize similar gatherings in Montreal and Los Angeles which we will probably do during November 1995.