Mr. V. Ozair and Prof. S. Moreh at the Conference
On 14 June 1996 about 600 persons filled the main floor of the Babylonian Heritage Center in Or Yehuda. They were all happy to meet old friends and to exchange greetings; but they looked bewildered as they realized that the aging effect had taken its toll on every one of them. An odd look appeared on their faces with skin wrinkled, eyes tired and hair thin and white. Each one had a different story to tell of a struggle on a tortuous road through life, touched often by bitterness and sometimes by joy. Later, they entered the theater hall. They sat and listened attentively throughout the morning to speakers who told humorous stories from school days. Those stories were interrupted every now and then by several performers who led the audience with songs from the school flag ceremony of Thursday mornings and songs from the compulsory semi-paramilitary marches throught the streets of Baghdad (Kashafa and Fetewa).
The crowd, ranging in age from 56 to 85 years, had come from all around the world and from different parts of Israel specially for this reunion. They included many well known scientists, engineers, surgeons, doctors, professors, financiers, businessmen, lawyers, judges, etc. - individuals form the cream of every society they live in: yet they sat down with nostalgia reminiscing their childhood experiences of more than half a century, reviving long forgotten memories from that distant past. They were all engulfed in a domain of deep longing, so they were thrilled and excited to share the fun and the laughter and to sing so cheerfully those old songs.
How fortunate I was to attend that festive reunion and to share this happiness with my old friends. With all this excitement and warmth, memories from the past came to my mind. I remembered the first week of every school year, when the students formed a book bazaar in a shopping area outside Alliance School. Crowds of students with their old books jostled and bustled marketing their books. In one corner their was the shop of Mr. Fattal who sold English and French books. In one another corner there was the shop of Heskel Abu Al Amba, who sold mango pickles from a huge tank. There was also one seller who used to stand by a large trunk of a palm tree selling heart of palm or Jammar. I remembered the courtyard at the Alliance School where we used to play the Rendez-Vous game. I remembered the hard work and the additional daily early morning hours attendance to prepare for both the French Brevet as well as the government exams.
I remembered the sports yard at Shamash school, where Sami Mouallem (Presently Prof. Shmuel Moreh at Hebrew University) held his boxing matches. Yet I remembered the extra effort and perseverance exerted in the study for the Matriculation, the English Proficiency, and the Baccalaureate exams.
Those were the prime years of our youth filled - within the hatred of the Arab population and the economic hardship imposed on the Jews by the Iraqi government - with intensive scholastic responsibilities and a great struggle to push forward to excellence with infinite dreams for better future.
This reunion was an unparalleled, one-time event touched by emotion, beauty, and warmth. It will remain forever in our memory. Many thanks and appreciation are extended to the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center at Or Yehuda for this fruitful accomplishment. Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat is specially thanked for this endeavor. Also lots of appreciation are extended to the organizing committee for their good work, with our hope that they sponsor additional reunions in the near future.
I wish to stress that the support and the attachment of the Alumni and their families to the Center are sincere and strong and it is the duty of all of us to enforce and foster this institution, this masterpiece of achievement in Or Yehuda.