AI en Translation, Pages 51-75
Page 51
MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
‘IRAQ.
BAGHDAD.
Iraqi Government
Ministry of the Interior
Baghdad: 5 September 1931
Number: 12180
Personnel Affairs Department:
His Excellency the Acting Chief Rabbi
Subject: - Dr. Mirza Al-Amir.
In response to your letter No. 1529 dated 30 / 8 / 1931.
The transfer of doctors is carried out based on the proposal of the Directorate of Public Health responsible
for public health, and there is no doubt that it was motivated by the public interest when
it proposed the transfer of the aforementioned doctor to another area. Therefore, we regret
that we are unable to reconsider what has been decided.
⟦signature⟧
Minister of the Interior
Copy to: -
Directorate of Public Health for information with a copy of the letter
mentioned above and its attachment.
Kh. T.
⟦signature⟧
Office of the Hakhambashi - Baghdad
Number 880
Date 6 / 9 / 931
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF RABBI
BAGHDAD
Page 52
The Jewish Religious Court
Baghdad, May God Protect It
Jewish Spiritual Court in Baghdad
JEWISH RELIGIOUS COURT
BAGHDAD
Date: 14 Elul
Year: 5699
No.: 92
To the Honorable Lay Council of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
Pleasant and Important
When Mr. Abraham son of Ezra son of Shimon the Elder came before us today
and his physical strength failed him, we came to request mercy for him from the aforementioned Excellency
that they grant him and his wife and his old age from charity, for he is worthy of charity, and this
is sufficient, may your honor increase and peace
The humble Sassoon Kadoorie
Hugi Aboudi
⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧
Page 53
⟦illegible⟧
2822
1932/2/21
The Respected Spiritual Court
Reference to your letter dated March 14, year 5692
It is not within our power to provide the assistance requested for the infirm whom
the Secretariat of the Capital prevents from begging, especially since your council had formed a special committee for them and that ⟦the Council⟧
the Lay Council alone is to decide on any financial assistance for them. Respectfully,
⟦The Chief Rabbinate in Baghdad⟧
Acting Chief Rabbi
A copy of it to the esteemed Lay Council for information
⟦signature⟧
Page 54
2059
1933/3/16
The Honorable Rabbi Sassoon Isaac
"Ezra Sofer"
"Sassoon Aaron Moallem Eliyahu"
It has come to our attention that you intend to preach and provide guidance next Saturday morning.
Since it is the custom that the preaching on such a Saturday every year is undertaken by
His Eminence Rabbi David Rabbi Yaqub, it was therefore necessary to inform you of the impermissibility
of your preaching next Saturday morning at all.
⟦illegible⟧
Acting Chief Rabbi
⟦handwritten signature⟧
Page 55
2064
3/24/1932
His Excellency the Deputy Governor of Baghdad Province, Respected
Reference to your letter No. 4461 dated 3/23/1932
In view of the fact that the date set for the implementation of Article Fifty-Two of the
Provincial Administration Law of 1927 falls on Saturday, I hope to apologize for not attending at
the appointed time - Please accept my highest respects
⟦illegible⟧
Acting Chief Rabbi
⟦will⟧
Page 56
Mutasarrifate of Baghdad Liwa
Editing Office
Number 4491
Date 23 / 3 / 1932
To --
His Eminence the respected Judge of Baghdad
" " the respected Ja'fari in Baghdad
His Beatitude the respected Patriarchal Vicar of the Chaldean Community " "
The respected Acting Hakham Bashi of the Jewish Community
The respected Acting Spiritual Head of the Armenian Catholic Community
" " " " " " Old " "
⟦His Excellency the Head of the Community⟧ of the Syriacs " "
In implementation of the provisions of Article Fifty-Two of the Liwa Administration Law for the year / 927, we request
your presence at the office of this Mutasarrifate next Saturday, corresponding to 26 / March / 932, at
two o'clock in the afternoon for the purpose of nominating the required number for membership in the Administrative Council of this
Liwa. Please accept my highest respects.
⟦signature⟧
Acting Mutasarrif of Baghdad Liwa
A copy of it to -- Director of the Baghdad Land Registry Area?
⟦Requesting⟧ your presence at the appointed time.
" " Liwa Accountant " " " "
" " Liwa Editing Director " " " "
Dated
Page 57
⟦25 April 1932⟧
⟦Administrative Council of the Community⟧
2072
13/4/1932
His Excellency, the Consul of the Sublime State of Iran, the Respected
Greetings and respect,
Rabbi Yosef Hakham Shalom Gabbai, the bearer of this letter, is a resident of
Palestine and wishes to travel to Iran for financial matters. Please endorse -
his passport - and remain with respect.
⟦Rabbinate in Baghdad⟧
Acting Chief Rabbi
⟦Received⟧
Page 58
2082/2246
27 April 1933
Rent of the Community Administration House
To the Chairman of the Property Tax Assessment Committee
Baghdad
Reference to your letter No. 19 dated 26/4/1933
The rent for the Jewish Community Administration House No. 16 - 118 is 97.500 Dinars annually
⟦On behalf of⟧
President of the Jewish Community
⟦For review⟧
Page 59
Presidency of the Property Tax Assessment Committee
Baghdad
Number: 19
Date: ⟦22/4/46⟧
To the Director of the Jewish Community School
Please inform us of the rental value of the house numbered ⟦118/1⟧ located in the ⟦Ras al-Qarya⟧ neighborhood belonging to
the Ministry of ⟦Justice⟧ and occupied by you at the present time
Chairman of the Property Tax Assessment Committee
Baghdad
D 80 / 2223
6691 N for the year 76
Education Committee in the Jewish Community
Check No. 12 for the expenses of Rima School
Kadoorie
26 / 3 / 6691 and in Letter 91 of the Education Budget
for the academic year 75 - 76 in the amount of 310 - 811 and recorded for the expenses of Rima School in the Jewish Community
80
The Education Committee received Check No. 12
⟦illegible⟧
Page 60
14 ⟦May⟧ 935
The Honorable Chairman of the Rima Khadoori Hospital Committee, the Honorable
I hand over to you herewith the receipt for the amount I usually pay
to the hospital, which is a quarter of a gold lira
spent in exchange for the price of medicines that were dispensed to me and my family
by whoever is sent by you to my house from time to time
With highest respect
I request your presence to kindly provide me with a certificate
confirming my service at Rima Khadoori Hospital and my continuation
in service as a clerk until today, and according to the letter of
the Health and Municipality Department, it has been decided to cancel my right to treatment
free of charge by the hospital at the present time
And since I am in dire need of a surgical operation
in my right eye as soon as possible
Therefore, I request your presence to kindly assist me in this matter
as you see fit so that I can consult the Health Department
or the competent authorities for the purpose of obtaining the necessary treatment
Knowing that I am in a very difficult financial situation at the
present time and I do not have enough money to sustain my family
This, and please accept my highest respect and appreciation
Due to my difficult financial situation at the present time
I ask you to kindly accept this request of mine, and to you
many thanks and gratitude
Sincere
⟦Salman⟧
Clerk
At that time
Lebanon Hospital
Sanatorium
Hamlin
Doctor Ku⟦...⟧
Doctor ⟦...⟧
Sincere
⟦Salman⟧
Page 61
To His Eminence, the Head of the Jewish Community in Baghdad, the Respected
Greetings and respect,
We, the undersigned (the heralds) who live from the blessing of children and women and praying for them, have been informed by the municipal
official of the prohibition of practicing our work. It is not hidden from Your Eminence that our aforementioned work does not go beyond the circle of religious prayer and does not involve any medical treatment
nor any fortune-telling, and we live on the simple tips provided by this work, and we do not go out to practice it outside the synagogues. Preventing us from it
is a definite cutting off of our livelihoods and what causes the destruction of our children. We beg Your Eminence to mediate with the Mayoralty and clarify the truth
to them because we, as is not hidden from Your Eminence, are of the spiritual class and do not perform any act that does not comply with religion. To Your Eminence, respect. | May 22, year 932
Yaakov Meir ⟦stamp⟧ | Shlomo ⟦...⟧ ⟦stamp⟧ | Avraham ⟦...⟧ ⟦stamp⟧
Yaqub Meir | Salman ⟦...⟧ | Ibrahim ⟦...⟧
Archived papers
Page 62
Al-Istiqlal Newspaper
Baghdad
His Excellency the Head of the Jewish Community
The Respected
Blessed greetings .. and thereafter:
I have ⟦been informed⟧ with great sorrow and regret of the death of one of the members of your community and your subjects
⟦who⟧ passed away ⟦yesterday⟧ night in one of the hospitals in the city of Baghdad. And since
the deceased is from your community, this makes me turn to you and present the case to you. Which is that
the ⟦family⟧ of the deceased, ⟦including⟧ his father:
Have arrived, and you have learned of the death of ⟦the late⟧ ⟦Ezouri⟧ ⟦Isaac⟧, and the deceased
is a stranger, in a place far from the cemetery designated for your community, and the family of
the late man have rented in the neighborhood where the aforementioned cemetery is located. And we
hope from your Excellency and your diligence that you would be so kind as to issue your high order
to bury the body of the deceased in the cemetery grounds.
This makes me grateful for your kindness, and I also attach herewith a paper
⟦no⟧ from the doctor with an obituary report to state the death
In conclusion, please accept my highest regards
Management of Al-Istiqlal Newspaper
⟦Owner⟧ ⟦and Dean⟧ ⟦of Al-Istiqlal⟧ ⟦Newspaper⟧
⟦Qasim⟧ ⟦Al-Alawi⟧
16
Page 63
16 May 933
My dear Abdul Ghafour Effendi
Greetings and blessings. I received your letter today and I am very sorry to
inform you that the resolution of this matter is within the jurisdiction of the Jewish
Spiritual Council, to which I will present the matter and do everything in my power
in this regard.
On this occasion, I hope you will kindly consider this Presidency
as a subscriber to one copy of your esteemed newspaper, so please instruct to send it
regularly starting tomorrow. Respectfully yours;
Sincerely,
⟦Sassoon⟧
Head of the Community
Portfolio papers
Page 64
We, the undersigned, pledge that we will not place our hands on the head of anyone seeking a blessing (Ashbah) until he presents
to us a certificate from a doctor stating that he is not ill. May 14, 1943
Abdullah Shalom | Moallem Ezra Yahoo | Joseph Eliyahu | Ibrahim Abdullah | Ahmed Hakham Haroun
⟦Abdullah Shalom⟧ | ⟦Menachem Ezra Yahoo⟧ | ⟦Joseph Eliyahu⟧ | ⟦Abraham Abdullah⟧ |
⟦illegible signature⟧ | ⟦illegible signature⟧ | ⟦illegible signature⟧ | ⟦illegible signature⟧ |
⟦illegible circular red stamp⟧
Miscellaneous papers
21 April 934
The Honorable Raymond Abba and his group
Baghdad Insurance
Based on your request, I hereby confirm to you that we have made
Fire Insurance Policy No. 516215 issued by the National Insurance Company
In the name of the Jewish Community in Baghdad for the amount of 1700 Dinars, expiring on 12 April 935
In your name and our name together
We also, by this letter, waive any right we have to compensation
Which may be due under the aforementioned policy as a result of any fire accident that may occur
In favor of Raymond Abba and his group up to the amount of the loan
Please accept the highest respect
⟦illegible⟧
Head of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
Filed in ⟦illegible⟧
Page 65
2109
24 May 1933
The honorable and distinguished Hayyim Effendi Heskel Nathaniel, respected
After greetings
The bearer of this letter is Reuben Effendi Yehuda, the trustee of Al-Kifl, and he has approached us complaining of
the distress prevailing over the finances of Al-Kifl. Considering that the revenues from the visit in the coming
weeks are not expected to be good because most of the visitors are from the poor class, he requests that
your honor mediate with the Railway Directorate to deduct five or ten fils from the price of each ticket of
the visitors' travel tickets to Al-Kifl for the days of Monday and Tuesday, May 29 and 30 current, and what is collected
from that shall return to Al-Kifl as revenue.
Hoping that you will kindly assist him as much as possible, and remain with respect;
⟦flourish⟧
⟦Sassoon⟧
Head of the Community
98
Page 66
November 13, 1932
Dear Naji Chalabi
The bearer of this letter is Ms. Meyer, who holds high
degrees. She has approached this presidency regarding her employment in one of our girls' schools, but
given that she arrived late, we were unable to benefit from her services due to the lack of
a vacancy in the teaching positions at the aforementioned schools.
Therefore, I hope you will kindly assist her as much as possible to register her
among the teachers of the official girls' schools. Thank you.
Sincerely,
⟦illegible⟧
98
Page 67
2631 on 12 Thani ⟦61⟧
Honorable Chairman of the Al-Rawda Committee
Based on the information that has reached us that your hand has received an amount of ⟦...⟧
from the tenant of an apartment located on the second floor of the Al-Rawda building for the months of July, August, September, and October
according to its receipt dated November 25, ⟦61⟧, we ask you to provide us with the receipt of the aforementioned for this amount as it is
recorded in our accounts for the purpose of investing it in covering the expenses of the schools and facilities
associated with our aforementioned institution, and accordingly, it was necessary to inform you with our best regards
⟦On behalf of⟧ the Head of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
And please accept
⟦Signature⟧
82
Page 68
To His Eminence, the Head of the Jewish Community in Baghdad, the Respected
The petition - that our daughter Khatoun has been enticed by one of the Muslim youths
and fled from our home, and has expressed her desire to convert to the Islamic religion, driven by the enticement of
the young man named (Abdul Amir al-Hallaq) in Al-Abkhana Avenue. Since our girl has not reached
fifteen years of age, as is established in the records of the Civil Status Department, and since changing religion
requires that the girl be brought together with the Head of the Community and the Hakham Bashi as stipulated in Article 12
of the Civil Status Registration Law, and since the girl has not reached eighteen years of age, which is the age
of legal majority, and therefore it is not legally valid to change her religion, we ask Your Eminence to mediate
with the Iraqi government to return our daughter Khatoun to us, and the matter is yours.
Ghazala daughter of Ibrahim Shaqou'
The girl's father
Khedhouri son of Menashi
11 February 925
98
Page 69
Ruben Heskel Somekh
RUBEN H. SOMEKH
Baghdad 26 ⟦...⟧ 1922
To the honor of
Mr. ⟦...⟧
Honorable General Committee of the Jewish Community in Baghdad, may God protect and preserve them
Dear Sirs, after inquiring of your welfare as is proper, I hereby inform you that Mr. ⟦...⟧
from the aforementioned community, for he is very needy and has nothing with which ⟦...⟧
here today and has no business and is also sick ⟦...⟧
⟦...⟧
⟦faded circular stamp⟧
⟦signature⟧
⟦...⟧
⟦...⟧
⟦...⟧
98
Page 70
Receipt
Fils | Dinar
| 500
Only half a dinar and no more
I have received from the administration of the community the amount noted above, only half
a dinar as assistance for the marriage of my daughter
Rachel Shmuel
22 / 7 / 9
⟦fingerprint⟧
88
Page 71
2174
July 11, 1933
His Excellency the Vice President of the Lay Council, the respected
I wish to draw your Excellency's attention to the text of Article Sixteen of
the Community Regulation No. 36 of 1931 and remind you of the necessity to expedite the completion
of the general budget for submission to the General Assembly.
⟦Sars⟧
Head of the Community.
98
Page 72
The crown of my head and my glorious turban, the famous ⟦...⟧ Rabbi Yosef David
Sasson, may God protect and preserve him
Peace and blessing!
With God's help, even though I wrote to you regarding the letter. The letter which was sent
And now a letter arrived on the 18th, in this letter that is in it, and of course when I saw what he wrote about
what I wrote, and he should know and write in this correctly, only because he wrote to me and rejoiced in this
it shows because I have no comparison in your house to the Ezra family
Therefore, in this to inform until the end of Elul and before the High Holy Days that they should send to continue
with diligence and that he should send the handiwork to be done and soon with God's help
For a stranger will not understand what is said here about this
S.T.
98
In Sahar
6631 on 11
The Honorable Secretary of the Respected Spiritual Council
We attach herewith a list of the names mentioned therein, for whom we have previously obtained
approval for their travel according to your letter numbered 6631 and dated July 26 last.
Please be so kind as to hand over to us the amounts deposited with us as security for their travel.
Please accept our highest respect.
Travel Committee
85
85
Page 73
2178
22 Rabi' al-Awwal 1352
14 July 1933
His Excellency the Honorable Justice of the Peace of Baghdad
Reference to the lawsuit numbered 33/3581 being heard by your honorable
court
I hope to inform you that the current President of the Lay Council in Baghdad is Gurji
Effendi Abdullah Mukammal and the Vice President is Heskel Effendi Yaqub Murad. Due to the President's
sick leave, the aforementioned Vice President is currently representing the Council in all administrative
and financial matters and others as authorized for the Council under Article 7 of the Jewish Community Law No.
77 of 1931
With respect,
⟦signature⟧
Head of the Community
Adel
98
Page 74
2164
12 Rabi' al-Awwal 1352 and 4 July 1933
His Eminence, the learned scholar Sheikh Jawad al-Najafi, Sheikh al-Islam, may his virtue and status endure
Amen
Furthermore, we have received your noble letter dated 26 Safar 1352, and we have exerted the utmost
effort to fulfill your request and find a position for the bearer of your message, Abdul Amir Effendi al-Haj Saeed
However, to our great regret, we have not succeeded in that due to the lack of a vacant position; therefore, we apologize
to your Eminence and wish you abundant goodness, and may you remain [in peace],
Head of the Community
Alwan
98
Page 75
In the name of God, exalted is His status
A tablet with which we are honored by a portion of God's share, the exalted holy blessings and human leadership, and He made it such that it matches in its entirety
The Lord arranges the world and religion, our master the scholar, the teacher ⟦Sassoon Khedhouri⟧, may his prosperity endure, Amen
And peace, our son Abdul Razzaq ⟦illegible⟧, the master of hope from your kindness is that you be an intermediary for him in one of the schools
The kuttabs, as he excels in Arabic calligraphy, the Arabic language, and the ⟦illegible⟧ language, your servant Habib al-Rabb
Even ethics and manners, and the intent is to seek mediation from you in one of the existing kuttabs
Which are on your side, because I am oppressed, so it remains upon us for whoever mediates in this matter, so the hope from you is that you cast
Your sights upon him regarding this matter and make us grateful for your remembrance, and may you remain
8 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1351
The small servant to you
Hajj ⟦illegible⟧ Khudairi
⟦illegible⟧
Warrant
⟦illegible⟧
6621 in 2561
No. 12 p. 61
Durar
Payment of an amount, and its amount is 12 Dinars and six hundred ⟦fils⟧, and that is for the annual insurance premium
according to the ⟦...⟧
and according to insurance No. 2561 on 26 Rabi' al-Thani 1368 for the National Insurance Company in Baghdad
in the name and for the account of the Jewish Community in Basra, specifically for fire insurance on the building occupied by our school
in Basra named the Saleh Sassoon Daniel School, located in District 12 School in Basra
⟦...⟧ the building and its contents for an amount of ⟦...⟧
Please accept the highest respect
Head of the Community
88
⟦illegible stamps and bleed-through text⟧