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Menahem Salih Daniel Portfolio number: Year: Title: Committee for the Property of the Israelite Community Subject:
IJA 1288
Documents Regarding Management of Menahem Daniel's Properties
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These are documents about Menahem Daniel's trust properties managed by the Baghdadi Jewish community, the printed regulations of the Jewish Properties Committee, and a blank ledger that is supposed to be on the properties belonging to charitable trusts managed by the Jewish community followed by a report.
AI en Translation, Pages 1-25
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Presidency of the Jewish Community Baghdad Number Date May 5, 1939 Honorable Distinguished Gentlemen Daoud Salim Salman Al-Kabir Saleh Shlouh Sion Hayhay Ezra Al-Waiba Meir Dangur Yusuf Khouri The Respected After greetings and respect I request your presence at the Community Administration at 6:00 PM next Tuesday May 9, 1939, to discuss some matters. Best regards; ⟦Nawrad Khouri⟧ Head of the Community
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Saleh Shlomo Baghdad Baghdad / June 22, 1937 To the honorable Mr. Munshi Ibrahim Gurji, respected After greetings, With reference to the verbal discussion between us, I would be very grateful if you would kindly attend the office of Mr. Menahem Daniel, where the Jewish Community Property Committee will meet on Monday evening, June 28, 1937, at half past six in the evening, to enlighten us with some information regarding the status of the properties of the Laura Kadoorie School. Please accept our abundant thanks and respect, Sincerly, (Saleh Shlomo)
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Presidency of the Israelite Community In Baghdad Number 3718 Date April 30, 1936 The honorable and virtuous Saleh Effendi ⟦Shumo⟧, respected After greetings and respect, I request the favor of your attendance at the community administration at eleven o'clock in the morning on (Friday, May 1, 1936) to discuss the matter of filling the swamps belonging to the community ⟦illegible signature⟧ President of the Community
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Regulations Committee for the Properties of the Israelite Community in Baghdad Al-Ma'aref Press - Baghdad
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Regulations of the Jewish Community Property Committee Baghdad 1 - The committee shall be called (The Jewish Community Property Committee in Baghdad) 2 - The committee shall be formed in accordance with Article 25 of the Jewish Community Regulations No. 36 of 1931 and for the purpose of Article 7 of the Jewish Community Law No. 77 of 1931 and Article 21 of the aforementioned regulation. 3 - In these regulations, the word "member" includes the president, and the word "president" includes the vice president in his absence 4 - The committee consists of five persons appointed by the Lay Council in Baghdad 5 - The committee must elect, in its first meeting following its formation, a president, a vice president, and a secretary, and shall notify the Lay Council accordingly 6 - The committee is represented by the president or by a member authorized by the president for that purpose. 7 - The president or the secretary shall sign correspondence in all matters. As for the withdrawal of funds, it shall always be with the signatures of both the president and the secretary 8 - A quorum of the committee consists of three members, and decisions are made by a majority of those present, and in the event of a tie, the president's side shall prevail
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3 The Committee, and no disbursement may be made without a decision from it. 15 - The functions of the Committee are to perform the following matters on behalf of the Lay Council: - a - Supervising the management of immovable property from estates, roofed properties, and exploited properties endowed for charitable purposes in general. b - Managing endowments for which a trustee cannot be appointed according to the conditions of its endower. c - Supervising church real estate. d - Supervising real estate and immovable property belonging to, endowed to, or bequeathed to the Jewish community and its institutions. e - Supervising all necessary repairs for immovable property; no institution or person may carry out any restoration in the aforementioned property before obtaining the approval of the Committee, which must notify the Council of that. f - The Committee may request the ratification of the Lay Council or its representative (if it is dissolved) on everything it deems appropriate to improve the condition of the mentioned properties, whether by carrying out total repairs or by other means. g - Committees, trustees, or their agents may not lease the community's properties except after obtaining the approval of the Property Committee for that. 2 9 - The committee may establish the rules it deems appropriate for the purpose of organizing its meetings, its work, its records, and the method of distributing and arranging tasks among its members. 10 - If a member fails to attend three consecutive sessions without an excuse, the committee may request him in writing to attend the committee sessions consecutively. If he does not comply with the request, he may be considered as having resigned from membership. If one of the members travels on leave, the committee may keep his position vacant or request the appointment of another in his place temporarily during the period of his leave. Every member who replaces this absent member under this article shall have his membership terminated upon the end of the absent member's leave period. 11 - Every member intended to be appointed in place of an absent or resigned member from the committee shall be elected by the Physical Council from among three candidates presented to it by the committee or from others. 12 - The committee may invite to its meetings such persons as it deems necessary for consultation and to delegate to them any of its work, provided that they do not have a vote in its decisions. 13 - The committee may appoint such paid employee or employees as it deems necessary after obtaining the Council's approval for that. 14 - The committee must place all the money at its disposal in one of the banks whenever the amount exceeds fifteen dinars, provided that the account is in the name of
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4 16 - The committee must organize a register containing all the properties that are under its supervision as mentioned in the previous article and take the measures necessary to register those not registered in the Land Registry Department according to the procedures and the law, provided that all deeds, documents, and records are kept with the committee. 17 - The committee must issue an annual report on its work and submit it to the Lay Council, and it may publish the report in its entirety or what it deems necessary of it. 18 - The committee may communicate, regarding its duties, directly with the Lay Council and sectarian committees and institutions and all other administrations and persons who possess the immovable property over which the committee has the right of supervision, and these must provide the answer directly to the aforementioned committee, and it may also summon before it any person in whose possession or under whose management such properties are, to take from him the information it requires. The Lay Council approved this regulation in its session held on May 28, 1933. Heskiel Yaqub Murad Vice President of the Lay Council
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H. Sassoon Khedhouri President of the Jewish Community * Baghdad Rabbi Sassoon Khedhouri President of the Israelite Community - Baghdad Telephone Number: 531 Number: 7511 Subject: Date: December 20, 1935 To the Honorable and Distinguished Notables Salman Effendi Al-Kabir Saleh Effendi Shlomo Sion Effendi Gegee After greetings and respect I request your presence at the Community Administration at four o'clock PM next Sunday, December 22, 1935, to deliberate on certain matters. The meeting will be attended by the President and members of the Lay Council and the notables Ibrahim Hayyim Effendi Moallem Nassim, Salim Effendi Tarzi, Ezra Effendi Menahim Daniel, and Yusuf Effendi Al-Kabir. Respectfully yours! ⟦Sassoon Khedhouri⟧ President of the Community A.M
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Baghdad on June 10, 1935 To the esteemed and virtuous notable, President of the Spiritual Council, respected, After greetings and respect, with reference to your letter No. 2885 dated May 22, 1935, It appears to us that there are two ways for the community to own immovable property, namely - First - that these properties be the absolute property of the community and registered in the Land Registry Department (Tabu) in the name of its head according to the provisions of the Law of Registration of Immovable Property in the Name of Juridical Persons for the year 1929. Second - that they be endowed (waqf) for the community or for one of its institutions. Each of the two methods has benefits and risks as shown by the following observations. The community's ownership of immovable property in accordance with the provisions of the Law of 1929 mentioned above gives it the scope to dispose of them in a wide manner and without restriction or condition. It is permissible to lease them for long periods, mortgage them, sell them, and buy other properties in their stead, and to dispose of their revenues and their total values in the manner and form that it deems appropriate. In this regard, they do not differ from the rest of the community's movable property such as furniture and money. Indeed, this method is not devoid of many benefits, as the community is able to dispose of these properties according to what circumstances and conditions require, the changing of matters, and the emergence of new needs. It may often be able to obtain the greatest benefit from them in view of what the interests of the community require from time to time. The disadvantages of this method - which are obvious to the eye - are that those in charge of the community's affairs at some time may err in their estimation of what is harmful or beneficial to the real interests of the community and dispose of these properties in a way that leads to the community's loss of its revenues for a short or long period, or to the loss of these properties entirely. Furthermore, the fate of these properties may be affected by sudden or pathological fluctuations that may occur in the community's affairs, and there might not occur in its management the required stability in the community's affairs, which should usually aim for the distant future. The benefits and risks inherent in the second part - i.e., the endowment (waqf) - are almost the same as the risks and benefits present in the matter of absolute ownership, but they come in an inverse form. The basic conditions of the endowment are the withholding of ownership, i.e., the impossibility of selling the endowed property except in special and exceptional cases, and the presence of a trustee (mutawalli) who manages it and spends its revenues on specific charitable entities where it may not be permissible to make changes or amendments. The most important advantages of this method are the community's retention of the endowed properties and their revenues in a perpetual manner, but its risks are not few, first because of the impossibility of changing the condition of the endower and disposing of these properties according to what circumstances, conditions, and the needs of the community require, which may change from time to time; and second, because of the presence of a trustee who may differ with the responsible community bodies on how to manage these endowments and follow the best ways to obtain the greatest benefit from them; and third, because of the impossibility of changing the entity for which the revenues of the endowed properties should be spent. This last point is very important as it imposes heavy restrictions on ⟦line⟧ - To be continued -
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- 2 - The administration of the community often faces the inability to expand the spending of these revenues on matters that the community deems more beneficial. We suggest merging the two aforementioned methods as much as possible and adopting the advantages of each, which can be achieved by endowing the property to the community - not to a specific body or institution - and by making the communal council the trustee over it, and that its revenues be collected in the community fund and spent under the supervision of the council on the community's needs. This method ensures that the community retains ownership of the properties permanently and provides it with a wide scope to dispose of its revenues in the manner it deems most appropriate, since these revenues would enter its fund like its other ordinary incomes. We have obtained the opinions of some responsible officials regarding the possibility of implementing this latter part, and there appears to be no practical obstacle to working accordingly. Respectfully yours. Property Committee
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Baghdad on / 11 June 1935 The honorable and virtuous President of the Lay Council, respected After greetings and respect, with reference to your letter No. 2884 dated May 22, 1935. 1 - The buildings constructed by the honorable Munshi Effendi Saleh are considered movable property and they belong to their owner, who has the right to dispose of them in all manners, and has the right to remove them and sell their debris, and they follow the fate of the rest of his properties and assets in all circumstances. It is not permissible to register them in the Land Registry (Tapu) separately and independently from the lands on which they are built. If it is desired to leave them to the community in a legal and final manner, they must be endowed (waqf) if the land on which they are built is endowed, and the conditions for the endowment of the building must not be contrary to the conditions of the endowment of the land. That is, if the land is endowed to be a place of prayer for the Israelite community, there is no objection to endowing the building on the condition that it be a place of prayer for the members of the community and a school for its children. The endowment of the building cannot be practically completed before registering the land in the Land Registry Department, as the endowment transaction requires determining the location of the land on which the building is constructed in a real manner, and this requires its prior registration to know the number and date of its specific title deed and its serial number. If the land is not registered now in the Land Registry Department as it appears, the only way to obtain the desired goal is to donate this building to the community, provided it is used as a place of prayer and a school for its children permanently, and this is done according to an instrument organized by the Notary Public. The provisions of a donation made in this manner do not differ from the provisions of an endowment in terms of the result and aim for the same purpose, and it is permissible, upon registering the land as an endowment in the Land Registry, to note in its specific record that the building is donated to be a place of prayer and a school for the members of the Israelite community. 2 - Please review the committee's letter dated June 10 regarding what was stated in the second paragraph of your letter which is being answered, and with respect to you; Property Committee
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An agreement and mutual consent have been reached between Yehuda Saleh Zelouf, President of the Lay Council of the Israelite Community in Baghdad, in his official capacity, hereinafter referred to as the First Party, and the lawyer Kochi Heskel, hereinafter referred to as the Second Party, regarding the following: First - The Second Party undertakes to record complete and true information regarding every piece of property belonging to the Israelite Community in Baghdad and to each of its affiliated institutions, as well as to each of the charitable institutions of the aforementioned community, including synagogues, schools, cemeteries, and all existing immovable property of various types that belongs directly to the Israelite Community or to one of those institutions and is endowed to each of them, and which has been managed by the community or one of those institutions for a long time in a manner not previously recorded for each of the questions contained in the printed form attached to this contract and signed by the two contracting parties. Second - A single form shall be allocated for the completion of each specific piece of the immovable property mentioned in the first item above. The term "one piece" refers to what is registered in the Land Registry Department (Tabu) as one piece and has its own sequence number, and what is currently actually subdivided and possesses its own municipal door number and is being managed as an independent single piece. The term "immovable property" includes only what is located within the boundaries of the Secretariat of the Capital (Amanat al-Asima). Third - The Second Party undertakes to record the information regarding each piece on two copies of the form, as an original and a duplicate. The original copies shall be bound in the form of a book containing all the immovable property whose details are listed in Articles One and Two above, and the second copies shall be unbound, each relating to a piece of these immovable properties only. Fourth - The Second Party undertakes to audit and track the records and registers of all the aforementioned immovable property when recording the information for each of them, as well as all existing endowment deeds (waqfiyyat), legal titles, notifications, and other valid documents concerning them, and to conduct inspections of these properties when necessary in order to obtain complete and true information and clarifications regarding them. Fifth - The Second Party undertakes to prepare all required information, record it in the forms, complete the work, finish it, and deliver all these forms to the First Party within the period ending on the last day of December 1935. This period may be extended by agreement between the two contracting parties if obstacles arise that prevent the completion of the work within it. Sixth - The First Party, or whomever he delegates for this purpose, shall issue the necessary instructions to the Second Party on how to organize, coordinate, and categorize these forms, and all matters that ensure their proper arrangement, and the Second Party undertakes to follow these instructions. Seventh - The First Party undertakes to provide possible assistance to the Second Party to obtain the required information to finish organizing and completing these records, and to provide him with all information available to the Community Board or to the boards of other institutions regarding all the aforementioned properties, and to enable him to review - To be continued -
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- 2 - all the restrictions, records, and all other documents related thereto. Eighth - The First Party undertakes to pay the Second Party a flat fee of one hundred and fifty fils for each piece of property for which the Second Party records complete information in each of the two forms pertaining to it. Half of this fee shall be paid for each piece after the completion of recording the information regarding it in the two forms, and the other half of the fee shall be paid after completing the organization of all forms in their two copies for all the properties mentioned in the first and second items of this contract. Ninth - If the Second Party does not complete the work within the period stipulated in the fifth item of this contract, or organizes the forms contrary to the instructions given to him by the First Party or whoever he delegates for this purpose, or records the information therein in an incomplete or untrue manner, or completes only a part of the work and did not record and register all the required information for each piece of the properties stipulated in the first and second items of this contract, then he shall have no right to claim the other half of the fee, amounting to seventy-five fils for each piece of property, and the First Party shall retain this amount against any damage and loss incurred as a result of the Second Party's failure to fulfill what he undertook under this contract, without the need for a notice or any other legal or formal procedures. And in accordance with this arrangement, the contract has been concluded between the two contracting parties, and this contract was drawn up in two copies so that each of them shall hold one copy. Baghdad /
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- 2 - all there is of restrictions, registers, and all other related documents. Eighth - The First Party undertakes to pay the Second Party a lump sum fee of one hundred and fifty fils for each piece of property for which the Second Party records information in each of the two forms and their two specific forms. Half of this fee shall be paid for each piece after completing the recording of information regarding it in the two forms, and the other half of the fee shall be paid after completing the organization of all forms in duplicate for all the properties shown in the first and second clauses of this contract. Ninth - If the Second Party does not complete the work within the period stipulated in the fifth clause of this contract or organizes the forms contrary to the instructions given to him by the First Party or whoever he delegates for this purpose, or records the information in them in an incomplete or untrue manner, or completes only a part of the work and does not record and register all the required information for each piece of property stipulated in the first and second clauses of this contract, he shall have no right to claim the other half of the fee, amounting to seventy- five fils for each piece of property, and the First Party shall retain this amount against any damage and loss incurred as a result of the Second Party's failure to complete what he undertook under this contract, without issuing a notice or any other legal and formal procedures. And according to this arrangement, the contract was concluded between the two contracting parties, and this contract was written in two copies so that each of them may have one copy. Baghdad /
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Portfolio No. ⟦line⟧ Report on immovable property belonging to charitable institutions and churches of the Israelite community in Baghdad and its dependencies Name of the institution to which those properties belong Number | Type of property and its description | Property category | Location | District | Door numbers | Was it registered in the Land Registry Office and is there a deed? | Number and date of the Land Registry deed or sequence | Land Registry portfolio number (sequence) | Area | How it is currently used | The entity to which the revenues are spent | Amount of shares | Name of the current possessor or trustee | Is there an endowment deed or other document regarding it, its number and date? | Remarks Declaration to be signed I acknowledge that the report and statement described above are consistent with the documents in my hand and according to my investigations and personal information Date ⟦line⟧ Signature ⟦line⟧ Position ⟦line⟧