AI en Translation, Pages 1-25
Page 5
Agenda for the Lay Council Meeting
Six o'clock on the evening of Thursday, July 21, 1949
At the headquarters of the Presidency of the Community
⟦line⟧
1 — Deliberation regarding the case of the Al-Ghabiya leaseholder⟦line⟧.
2 — Approval of the administrative expense schedules for the Community Presidency, the Spiritual Council, and the Slaughterhouse for the month of
June 1949.
3 — Ratification of the Provident Fund regulations for the employees of the Jewish Schools in Baghdad.
4 — Discussion of the Community Presidency budgets for the year 1949 / 1950.
5 — Approval of <del>⟦illegible⟧</del> the promotion of certain employees belonging to the Hospital⟦line⟧s Committee.
6 — Miscellaneo⟦line⟧us.
x x x x x x x x x x x x
P/
Page 6
Agenda for the Meeting of the Lay Council
Six o'clock on the evening of Sunday, 7/17/1949
At the headquarters of the Community Presidency
1 - Discussion regarding the delay of the Ghabila contractor in paying the last two promissory notes due from him.
2 - Miscellaneous
Note
The session will be held in the event that the Ghabila contractor does not fulfill his promise regarding the payment of the promissory note on Friday
Corresponding to 7/15/1949.
⟦line⟧
P / 14
Page 7
Total increase in slaughter from the first | Total slaughter from the first of April | Total slaughter from the first of April
of April 48 until 15 July 48 | 48 until 15 July 1948 | 47 until 15 July 1947
compared to the same period of the year 947 | |
⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧
5699 | 45552 | 39853
Total decrease
occurring in slaughter
from the first of April 949
until 15 July 49
compared to the same period
from the year 1948 | Total decrease occurring | Total slaughter | Total slaughter | Total slaughter
in slaughter from the first of April | from the first of April | from the first of April | from the first of April
49 until 15 July 49 | 49 until 15 | 48 until 15 | 47 until 15
compared to the same period from year 47 | July 1949 | July 1948 | July 1947
⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧
6380 | 731 | 39122 | 45552 | 39853
Page 8
Provident Fund Regulations for Employees of Israeli Schools
in Baghdad.
⟦line⟧
Article One
⟦line⟧
In these regulations, the following expressions shall mean:
A - Employee - Every individual receiving a monthly salary from the Lay Council fund and working ⟦...⟧ in the schools, including servants as well.
B - The Council - The Israeli Lay Council in Baghdad, formed pursuant to the Law of the Israeli Community No. 77 of 1931, or any other law replacing it, or whoever represents it in managing the schools according to the aforementioned law.
C - Subscriber - The employee belonging to the fund.
D - The Committee - The Administrative Committee formed under the provisions of Article Two of these regulations.
E - Provident Fund - The total deductions from the salaries of the fund's subscribers, the share paid by the Council, and the growth resulting from the investment of the fund's assets.
F - Actual Service - The period of service that the employee actually spends in the service of the Council, including school holidays.
G - Salary - The nominal salary of the employee, excluding any allowances.
H - Retirement - The employee leaving service upon reaching fifty-five years of age, or completing twenty years of actual service, or being dismissed for a reason other than being convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving dishonor.
Article Two
⟦line⟧
The fund shall be managed by a committee appointed by the Council, consisting of five members, two of whom shall be subscribers.
Article Three
⟦line⟧
The committee shall elect from among its members a chairman and a secretary who shall be responsible for its correspondence and maintaining the fund's accounts. Withdrawal of money shall be by the signatures of both the chairman and the secretary, or whoever the committee delegates for either of them when necessary.
Article Four
⟦line⟧
The fund's accounts shall be audited annually by auditors appointed by the Lay Council.
Article Five
⟦line⟧
The investment of the fund's assets is left to the committee as it deems appropriate, provided it does not have the right to invest these amounts in immovable property or with any of the community's bodies or institutions.
Page 9
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Article Six
⟦line⟧
Every employee belonging to the schools affiliated with the Physical Council shall be considered a member of the Fund and from
whose salaries the subscription fees provided for in this system are collected. These fees shall not be collected
from those who were under probation until after their confirmation by the Council, provided that a ⟦payment⟧ is deducted from them after confirmation
until the amount due for the previous period up to the date of confirmation is paid.
Article Seven
⟦line⟧
Foreigners bound by special contracts with the Council are not entitled to participate in this Fund unless
their service conditions grant them this right.
Article Eight
⟦line⟧
The Fund's assets consist of: -
1 - Account (A), which is a monthly subscription of 5% deducted from the member's salary and paid to the Fund.
2 - Account (B), which is an amount of 5% of the member's salary paid by the Council to the Fund.
3 - Interests that the Fund may obtain from investing the amounts deposited in it.
Article Nine
⟦line⟧
The current practice until the establishment of this Fund regarding the bonuses of employees whose services
end remains followed for the members of this Fund for the period they spent
in actual service before its formation.
Article Ten
⟦line⟧
A - The member has the right to receive what is due to him from Account (A) in full with interest upon his resignation, retirement,
or leaving for any reason whatsoever.
B - The member has the right to receive what was placed for him in Account (B) in full with interest upon retirement from service
or when afflicted with ailments or illness that disable him from work, regardless of his length of service.
C - The member is not entitled to receive any share of Account (B) before completing a period of five years of actual service
or when convicted for committing a felony or a misdemeanor involving dishonor.
D - Upon resignation, the member is entitled to receive what was placed for him in Account (B) according to the following ratio: -
1 - If the member completes actual service of five years and less than ten years, he is entitled to
25%
2 - If the member completes ten or more and less than fifteen years, he is entitled to 50%
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- 3 -
3- If the participant completes fifteen years or more and less than twenty, they are entitled to 75%
4- If the participant completes twenty years or more, they are entitled to 100%
Article Eleven
For the purpose of the aforementioned Article Ten, the period spent by the participant in the service of
the denomination's schools before the formation of this fund shall be calculated.
Article Twelve
For the purpose of paragraph (d) of the aforementioned Article Ten, the employee shall continue in the future if dismissed as a result of reasons
necessitating disciplinary action against them.
Article Thirteen
The amounts released from account (B) and resulting from ⟦the failure⟧ of the employee to complete the period of service
actual service that entitles them to receive their full share from account (B) for the benefit of the fund as determined by the committee.
Article Fourteen
In the event of the death of the participant, ⟦he⟧ is considered retired from service and his share is handed over to his heirs according to
a legal distribution of inheritance.
Article Fifteen
The employee's participation in this fund means their implicit approval of this regulation and the regulations
others issued by the Communal Council to settle school matters provided that they ⟦do not⟧ affect the rights acquired by
the participant under this regulation before the introduction of these regulations.
Article Sixteen
The participant has the right to object to the committee's decisions before the Communal Council within a period not exceeding
two months from the date of being notified of those decisions, and the council's decision in this regard shall be final.
Article Seventeen
Upon the employee's participation in the fund, a signed copy of this regulation is exchanged with the Council and is considered
this serves as a contract between the participant and the Council.
Page 11
Agenda for the Meeting of the Lay Council
At six o'clock on the evening of Wednesday, 7/13/1949
In the headquarters of the Community Leadership
⟦line⟧
1- Discussion with the Schools Committee regarding school budgets for the year 49-950
2- Discussion regarding the Teachers' Reserve Fund system and the Schools Committee's letter about it
3- Discussion regarding the budgets of the Community institutions for the year 49-950
4- Looking into the issue of the Midwife
5- Miscellaneous
⟦line⟧
Y/
Page 12
Agenda for the Secular Council Meeting
At five-thirty in the evening of Thursday, June 30, 1949
At the headquarters of the Community Presidency
⟦line⟧
1 - Discussion with the Hospitals Committee regarding hospital budgets and the situation at Mir Elias Hospital
in general.
2 - Discussion regarding the delay of the Al-Qabila contractor in paying the promissory note due from him.
3 - Approval of the disbursement of salaries and allocations for the community institutions for the month of June 1949.
4 - Approval of administrative expenses for the Community Presidency for the month of May 1949.
5 - Discussion regarding the letter from the Schools Committee concerning the teachers' reserve fund.
6 - Miscellaneous.
⟦line⟧
14
Page 13
Agenda for the Lay Council Meeting
At five o'clock on the evening of Thursday, March 3, 1949
At the headquarters of the Community Presidency
⟦line⟧
1- Approving the payment of salaries and allowances for the Lay Council, along with administrative expenses for the Community Presidency,
the Spiritual Council, and the slaughterhouse for the month of February 1949.
2- Considering the letter from the midwife contractor regarding a request for a waiver.
3- Considering the letter from the Hospitals Committee regarding the approval of the agreement intended to be made with Dr.
Shawkat Mahmoud regarding his oversight of the affairs of the X-ray department at Meir Elias Hospital, which is currently
vacant.
4- Considering the proposal of member Mr. Yaqub Balbul regarding the participation of Lay Council members in the
committees branching from the Council.
5- Considering the accountant's memorandums regarding:
A - The expiration of the lease for three shops attached to the Community Presidency building.
B - The death of Ezekiel Menachem, a needy teacher.
C - Re-evaluating the basic salaries and cost-of-living allowances for the employees of the Community Presidency.
Y / 6- Miscellaneous ⟦line⟧
Page 16
Agenda for the Secular Council Meeting
Five o'clock on the evening of Thursday, corresponding to 1/20/1949
At the headquarters of the Community Presidency
1 - Consideration of the school committee's letter regarding increasing the salaries of the two religion teachers at the Hadia Munshi Saleh School for Girls.
2 - Consideration of forming a subcommittee to study the subject of opening a vocational school.
3 - Deciding on the formation of a subcommittee to manage the affairs of the Jewish community in Hillah.
4 - Miscellaneous.
⟦line⟧
A/I
Page 18
The Twenty-Seventh Meeting 12/23/1948
Chaired by Vice President Mr. Meir Basri, and attended by members Messrs. Sasson Gehechi, Khedhouri Mathalon, Heskel
Shouhet, Anwar Zalkha, Sasson Peshi, and Yaqub Balbul, the following was decided: -
1- The Honorary Secretary and members of the Schools Committee, Messrs. Dawood Salman, Shalom Darwish,
and Abdullah Obeidiah attended the meeting. Deliberations were held with them regarding the vocational school building constructed by the heirs of the late Shaul
Hakham Heskel. After Mr. Dawood Salman briefly presented the developments of this case for more than
twelve years, ending with the building remaining unused due to the inability to agree with the aforementioned heirs
on the endowment terms for the said school, he explained that the Schools Committee had received a copy of a letter from Mr. Dawood
Shaul Heskel addressed to Monsieur Weil (of the Alliance Association) in Paris dated August 10, 1948, from which it is understood
that there is a possibility of the heirs of the late Shaul Hakham Heskel agreeing to make this building a secondary school
instead of a vocational school according to specific endowment conditions, as expressed in the aforementioned letter, provided that this secondary school
is managed by the Alliance Association or by the community in Baghdad through the Alliance. After reading the mentioned letter, Mr.
Dawood Salman explained that the Schools Committee has two trends in this regard. The first trend aims
to benefit from this building by making it a secondary school as soon as possible, given the impossibility of opening a vocational school
at present under the conditions set by the project owners and due to the insignificance of the resources allocated to it
relative to its annual expenses and the Secular Council's lack of readiness to allocate an annual subsidy to cover these
expenses. The second trend aims to make every possible attempt to realize the vocational school project, given that
the community at present is in dire need of such a school, and for fear that this project might be permanently abandoned
if the current building is made into a secondary school.
After studying the subject from all its aspects, the opinion was settled that the Secular Council should address a letter to the heirs of
the late Shaul Hakham Heskel to inform them that the community does not wish for any foreign association like the Alliance
to have a connection with this school. As for other matters, the community agrees to the endowment conditions stipulated in the mentioned
letter; however, it is preferable that these conditions leave the community freedom of action to utilize the current building
as a vocational school or as a secondary school, so that the community can benefit from the mentioned building as a secondary
school until the community is able to realize the project of opening a vocational school, knowing that the responsible authorities
in the Jewish community in Baghdad strongly desire to realize this project and appreciate the great benefits and the urgent
need for such a school.
It was also agreed that the Council would form a subcommittee tasked with studying the subject of opening a vocational school
from technical and financial aspects, provided that the Schools Committee nominates a number of persons so that the Council may appoint members
of the subcommittee from among them or others.
2- Deliberations were held with members of the Schools Committee regarding the issue of school fees in general and the recommendation of
the Council to collect reduced fees from the children of dismissed employees in particular. After the committee noted this
recommendation, its members explained in detail the policy followed in the community-affiliated schools regarding school fees,
which aims to collect high fees from students capable of paying and to assist poor
students by exempting them from fees or by collecting reduced fees from them, taking into account the financial resources available
to each school, the type of study, and the student's qualifications. The committee explained that the statistics available to it prove the success
of this policy and the committee's satisfaction in following it.
Page 19
( 2 )
3- The Council reviewed the report of Mr. Yusuf Meir, the engineer, dated 15/12/1948, submitted
to the Jewish Cemeteries Association and referred to the Council for consideration regarding the intention of the Mayoralty
to open a public street penetrating the Camp Cemetery in Al-Kulat. In view of what appeared to the Council that the community does
not possess the necessary documents to prove the community's ownership of this cemetery, it decided to assign Mr. Gurji Heskel,
the lawyer, to carry out the process of re-registering the mentioned cemetery urgently, given the community's ⟦possession⟧ of it
<del>moreover</del> for more than a hundred years based on available testimonies. It also decided to request the mentioned lawyer to provide the estimated
cost for this process.
4- The Council reviewed the correspondence exchanged between the Governorate of Baghdad and the Presidency of the Community
ending with the Governorate's letter No. 21150 dated 5/12/1948 regarding the encroachment occurring
by the community on state-owned plot sequence 187 / 326 with an area of (57 / 2300 m2) ⟦...⟧
adjacent to the old cemetery sequence 142 / 326. After studying the report of the engineer, Mr.
Yusuf Meir, dated 15/12/1948, it decided to task His Eminence the Head of the Community to mediate with His Excellency
the Governor of Baghdad and His Excellency the Acting Minister of Finance regarding the esteemed government granting ownership of the encroached
portion for free to the community, considering that the mentioned encroachment occurred in good faith and that the encroached
lands actually have about fifteen ⟦rooms⟧ built upon them.
5- After reviewing the letter of His Eminence the President of the General Council No. 785 dated ⟦line⟧
8/10/1948 regarding the selection by the aforementioned Council of Rabbi Yaqub Ezra Musaffi as a member of the
Spiritual Council, it decided the following:-
A - Allocating a nominal salary for the aforementioned in the amount of (14.750 Dinars) fourteen dinars and seven hundred
and fifty fils per month, to which cost-of-living allowances <del>⟦...⟧</del> shall be added according to the established scale.
B- Paying fee allowances to the aforementioned in the amount of (7.250 Dinars) seven and a quarter dinars per month, similar
to the rest of the members of the Spiritual Council.
C- Ceasing the salary of the aforementioned from the Yeshivoth amounting to (5.500 Dinars) per month.
D - This decision shall be implemented as of the first of October 1948.
⟦...⟧ copy in the hand of the Treasury
Page 20
Agenda for the Meeting of the Lay Council
At four-thirty in the afternoon of Thursday, 12/23/1948
At the headquarters of the Community Presidency
1 - Deliberation with the Schools Committee regarding the possibility of utilizing the Israelite Industrial School building
to serve as a headquarters for one of the community's schools.
2 - Approval of election expenses for the General Council.
3 - Determining the salary of Rabbi Yaqub Musafi, member of the Spiritual Council.
4 - Consideration of the letter from the Cemeteries Committee regarding the old cemetery.
5 - Consideration of the letter from Mr. Shlomo Somikh regarding auditing the accounts of the Hebra Qadisha Society.
6 - Miscellaneous.
⟦line⟧
A/1
Page 21
Rabbi Sasson Khidhouri
President of the Israelite Community in Baghdad
Baghdad, January 9, 1949
To the esteemed honorable member of the General Council
After greetings and respect,
I request the favor of your presence at the headquarters of the Israelite Community at
five o'clock in the afternoon on Monday, January 17, 1949, to hold an extraordinary
meeting to elect a president for the community in accordance with Article Three of Community Law No. 77 of
1931, given that the term of the current president ends on the eighteenth day of
next February.
Please accept my respects.
⟦Sasson Khidhouri⟧
President of the Community
Page 22
Number - 377
Date - 24 / 1 / 1949
To the Honorable Vice President of the Lay Council of the Jewish Community in Baghdad
Subject - Statement of the stages passed by
the project to establish the industrial school of the late
Sir Sassoon Heskel.
⟦line⟧
Greetings and respect,
In late 1933, the late Shaul Hakham Heskel approached me, asking for my assistance for his son,
Mr. Anwar, who came to Baghdad for the purpose of establishing an industrial institution to commemorate the memory of his late brother, Sir
Sassoon Heskel, who had died shortly before in Paris.
To achieve that desire, we approached the Director of Railways at that time, who was convinced of the importance of the charitable project
and assigned the Chief Engineer of the Railways, Mr. Bates, to organize a complete design for it with an inventory of all the necessary tools
and requirements. It must be said that our advisor, Mr. Bates, performed this task to the fullest extent and submitted
to us the complete design from all aspects for the establishment of a workshop in which students would train practically to graduate as skilled craftsmen.
He assured us that the workshop achieves the goal more than the school, and he himself is a graduate of a workshop, not a school.
We proceeded with the project and purchased the plot of land on which the currently existing school was later built.
After numerous meetings with the lawyers Mr. Shaul Hakham Dawood and Mr. Yusuf Al-Kabir
and deliberations with them on all points, we drafted the bylaws for the project to form an association of thirty people, all of whom we invited
to the house of the late Shaul Hakham Heskel. They accepted with great pleasure the establishment of the association and nominated seven from among them
to be a temporary committee to be re-elected after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Interior to form the association.
We submitted the bylaws to the Ministry of Interior and obtained permission from it via its letter addressed to
the committee numbered 1500 and dated 19 / 20 August 1934.
At the same time, Mr. Anwar traveled after completing his mission for the purpose of purchasing the necessary tools and equipment
for the workshop according to Mr. Bates' list. We also asked him to look for a specialist from
Europe to take charge of organizing and training the boys in this workshop. All of this was taking place with the knowledge of the project owner,
the late Shaul Moallim Heskel, and his approval, as we were in constant contact with him through correspondence.
Due to the death of the late Shaul in that year, the project was delayed for a period, during which a change occurred in the opinion
of his children as a result of their consultation with some of those they relied on for their opinions among their friends, and they preferred to establish a school
instead of the workshop.
While we appreciated the superiority of the school over the workshop, we were not inclined to establish the school because we knew what
exorbitant expenses it would cost that are not proportional to the expected revenue from the reserve amount allocated
for the project. However, yielding to the desire of the children of the late Shaul Moallim Heskel who came to Baghdad in
the spring of 1936, the ⟦official⟧ committee agreed to their opinion on the condition that real estate in Baghdad be purchased with the existing funds
--- and this was their father's wish --- to be able to benefit from its proceeds, which might be more abundant than depositing them in
foreign loan bonds, and due to the expectation of steady growth in its proceeds, just as the association relied on covering
Page 23
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The remaining part of the amounts required for school expenses comes from a grant taken from the community council and from donations, subscriptions,
concerts, and other means.
Indeed, the school has been built along with a residence for the foreign director who will be appointed to manage it, and the lawyer
Mr. Shaul Hakham Dawud organized the necessary endowment for it at the request of the founders, the children of the late Shaul F.
The first draft submitted by the aforementioned lawyer contained heavy conditions, as he placed the matter of appointing teachers
and allocating their salaries in the hands of the founders' family. At that time, the committee saw that this was within its jurisdiction since the financial responsibility
falls upon it. After reviewing with the children of the late Shaul Mu'allim Haskel and their appreciation of our point of view, they tasked the
lawyer to make the necessary amendment, and it finally came in the form of which you have a copy now.
This final form of the endowment also does not agree with the opinion of the association, which felt that its hand should be set free
and liberated from all restrictions to be able to carry out its mission as much as it can obtain funds. What made matters worse
was the occurrence of a deficit in the community's fund at that time, which made us unable to rely on its help. So it found itself unable to
carry out the task required of it and resigned, and that was in late 1938, and the situation remained as it is now.
Please accept my highest respect.
Sincerely,
Ezra Menachem
15
Page 25
The Israeli Charitable Orphanage Association
Baghdad
Established in 1948
The Honorable Sir Respectfully
Warm greetings:
After continuous efforts, the (Israeli Charitable Orphanage Association) was formed in Baghdad, and its goal is to provide possible assistance
to orphans with available food, clothing, tuition fees, and the establishment of orphanages, shelters, and industrial schools according to the capabilities
of the association's finances and in accordance with the aid and assistance received from the zealous and the benefactors like yourselves.
We do not doubt that your excellency agrees with us that the lack of a charitable institution to assist these orphans has driven most of them into
the arms of need, poverty, and destitution - and homelessness in many instances - and as a result, they become a burden on their environment and society and a tool
of evil against it, especially in these days when most people suffer an urgent need to obtain the primary means of living, so how
is it for the poor young orphans?
Our hope is firm that your excellency will be a help and support for us in carrying out this project, the success of which cannot be secured
except with sincere assistance and joint efforts. For information, we provide below the names of the members of the General Council of the association, and they are the gentlemen.
11 - Na'im Ezra Sofer | 6 - Sassoon Beshi | 1 - Ibrahim Hayyim Twena
12 - Yusuf al-Kabir | 7 - Shalom Darwish | 2 - Israel Nassim Hay
13 - Yusuf Daud Isaac | 8 - Murad Eliyahu Gori | 3 - Eliyahu Hayyim Tawfiq
14 - Yusuf Nassim Aboudi | 9 - Meir Zakaria | 4 - Eliyahu Daud Shohet
15 - Yusuf Nathan | 10 - Naji Meir Khayyat | 5 - Daud Salman
We attach to this letter a copy of the basic regulations of the association, hoping for your excellency's contribution and participation with us financially
and morally. As for financial assistance, we hope for it in the form of an annual subscription whose amount is proportional to your generosity and favor, as well as encouraging your friends
and acquaintances to join and participate in this association. As for moral assistance, we request it from your excellency in the form of advice and guidance
which you provide to the working administrative body so that we may perform this duty in the required manner. May God keep you as a victory and an asset
for the needy orphans.
And please accept our utmost respect
The Administrative Body
President - Eliyahu Hayyim Tawfiq
Vice President - Meir Zakaria
Secretary - Yusuf Daud Isaac
Treasurer - Ibrahim Twena
Member - Na'im Ezra Sofer
Note -
For information and subscription, you can contact the treasurer, Mr. Ibrahim Twena, at the Rachel Shahmoon School, phone number 5214