Description
These are documents from the Baghdadi Jewish Community. They contain correspondence regarding marriages, divorces, civil disputes; the birthday celebrations of the Iraqi king, responses to inquires about the treatment of Iraqi Jews under Iraq’s citizenship laws, the history of Jews in Iraq, and the provision of Jewish artifacts to the Iraqi Museum. There are receipts for furniture stores and other vendors, invoices; budget allocations, deficits, and planning for various community organizations and institutions; ritual slaughtering administration, names of butchers with the numbers of animals slaughtered, names of community organization members, ledgers of payments for goods or fees, building plans, provisions for school children, concerns over hospital food distribution, blanket distribution to the poor, receptions, meetings, shipment orders, import and export of goods, the care of orphans, and a census on the number of synagogues in Baghdad in 1945 (40). There are copies of a printed text titled “Appeal to Save the Children.” Letters include: the President of the Jewish Community to the Controller of Foodstuffs in Baghdad thanking the Controller for the allotment of sugar and tea for the students at the Rahel Shamoon School; addressing complaints at the Meir Elias Hospital in Baghdad; purchasing blankets for the poor via the Poor Welfare Society; sending money rather than clothes from an importer in New York City to the poor in Baghdad since clothing costs have gone up.
AI en Translation, Pages 126-150
Page 126
Cairo on 1/7/1945
His Excellency the Great Professor, President of the Jewish
Community, the Respected
Greetings and respect:
Urgent
I write these words of mine to Your Excellency
⟦Perhaps I⟧ can perform some of the duty
towards you ⟦with them⟧ and I apologize for what
I fell short of in not fulfilling my obligation
by visiting you before my travel and I believe
that you will excuse me as I ⟦could not⟧
travel abroad previously
⟦if not for⟧ my many preoccupations.
My Lord
I cannot describe to you my longing
and for the brothers and friends ⟦and⟧
Page 128
Lawyer HESKEL S. MEIR
Heskel Salman Meir ADVOCATE
Baghdad - Page Three - Baghdad
1) Raising the level of teachers' salaries in the elementary grades and ridding the schools of
incompetent teachers.
2) Lectures delivered to teachers on how to teach.
|| ? 3) Bringing in specialists to manage school affairs.
| 4) Sending outstanding young people to specialize in elementary education and not in one of the subjects.
| !? 5) Introducing the Hebrew language.
Please accept my utmost respect, and may you remain so.
⟦signature⟧
A copy of the provisional committee's regulation to explain
reform methods for the benefit of schools
Marks
⟦line⟧ (Under the sentence) = incorrect
? = Is this possible
| = Reasonable and plausible statement
!? = Very reasonable but is it possible
|| = Very reasonable and required
What Heskel Salman presents of the above observations is a copy of the letter he submitted to the provisional committee to explain
The reform methods for the interests of the community to be taken into consideration
⟦signature⟧
Received
⟦11/4/44⟧
Page 129
Baghdad 16 / 1 / 945
His Excellency the General Manager of Local Products
Respectfully,
After greetings and respect,
The Tomchei Torah Society, which is a religious association, includes four
rabbis and a collector, and these are people of limited income who have been adversely affected by the rise
in prices, especially since their salaries are all very small, so they deserve
all sympathy and assistance. Therefore, we have come to request your Excellency to include them in your kindness
and instruct the distribution of cotton fabrics and blankets to them, similar to the rest of the employees of private
institutions.
For this, we offer your Excellency further thanks and respect.
⟦illegible⟧
President of the Society
Tomchei Torah Society - Baghdad
Year 5686
Tomchei Torah Society
Baghdad 1344
1925
TOMCHEI TORA SOCIETY, BAGHDAD
His Excellency the General Manager of Local Products, the Respected,
Greetings and respect. I request the contents of this petition, seeking to fulfill this request out of mercy
for those belonging to this society. May you remain in respect, 17 January 945
⟦illegible⟧
Page 130
The Lawyer
Yaqub Naeem Ibrahim
Baghdad - 1/19/45
His Eminence, the Respected President of the Jewish Community
After offering respect
Sir,
The community is in need of a monthly magazine published in Arabic to organize its affairs and include research
legal and judicial, to be published by a body under its supervision, and in which the lawyers of the
community, its professors, and its religious scholars participate in its editing, to serve as a reference in legal sciences and inquiries
jurisprudential and other research.
The sources of Jewish Sharia rulings are not unified and codified, but rather the religious courts
often interpret their rulings, drawing help from the sayings of the ancient jurists and religious men,
due to the absence of a unified written law, in addition to the multiplicity of the aforementioned sources
and their diversity.
Many members of the community, especially the educated ones, may wish to know the rulings of the Mosaic law
and the duties and teachings it imposes on them. For example, the husband may be ignorant - regarding marital matters -
of his rights and duties, and what is said about the husband is said about the wife as well.
A special section in the magazine would be dedicated to comprehensive explanations of the projects and work achieved by
the community councils and their committees, which would give the members of the community great interest and a sincere desire
to contribute materially and morally.
Jewish religious books exist in limited copies owned by their owners and endowed to them
exclusively, especially since they are written in the Hebrew language, which makes it difficult for the majority of the community members to be familiar with them.
Therefore, it is very necessary to establish a public library by the community administration in a location it designates,
containing all important religious books and Jewish legal books in various languages to be
a reference for all those working in religious and legal matters.
I have firm hope that your leadership will approve this important project, and please accept my highest respect;
The Lawyer
⟦signature⟧
Endowments
⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧
1/22
Page 131
The Lawyer
Yaqub Na'im Ibrahim
At the office of
The Lawyer Ezekiel Murad
Baghdad - 25 / 1 / 45
His Eminence, the President of the Israelite Community, the respected
After offering respect
We confirm our letter dated 19 / 1 / 45.
We request to be informed of the measures taken regarding it, with much thanks and respect.
The Lawyer
⟦signature⟧
Page 134
12 February 945
Directorate of Imported Funds
Engineering Materials Division
Baghdad
The Lawrat Shukr located on Ghazi Street numbered 37 - 143
is in need of two rolls of double lead wires and two rolls of
(flex wire) as per the request submitted in the attached form.
We kindly ask you to approve this quantity, and stay well;
Head of the Community
Expenses
Page 136
The clothing distribution committee for the poor, consisting of the gentlemen:
Israel Nassim Hai - Rabbi Dawood Shaul - Heskel Ezra Yehoshua - Salman Shina, Lawyer
Shalom Darwish. Met with all its members at the Israelite Community Administration at six-thirty
on Thursday evening, September 7, 1944. Consultations took place regarding how to distribute the fifty bales of
used clothing donated by the benefactors, Mikhael Brothers, New York, and it was decided as follows:
1) Write a letter to the Directorate of Imported Goods to inquire if they still insist
on supervising the manner of distributing these clothes to those who deserve them even after the issuance of statement number
2) An initial agreement was reached to deliver a portion of the clothes to charitable institutions and societies
to distribute them to the persons under their care according to lists to be sent to this committee after completion
of the distribution.
3) The other portion remains in the possession of the committee to be distributed directly to the poor, provided that the member Rabbi Dawood
Shaul organizes lists of eligible recipients to be presented to the committee for approval, and then distribution takes place via cards
organized for this purpose.
4) The bales allocated to charitable institutions and societies may be moved immediately.
5) The distribution shall take place according to the following table:
Central Committee and Societies | Jackets for boys and girls | Women's coats | Men's jackets | Women's clothing | Vests | Women's jackets
Central Committee and Societies | 150 | 210 | 400 | 400 | 300 | 300
Nursing Mothers Relief Society | ⟦line⟧ | 60 | <del>90</del> | 90 | ⟦line⟧ | 75
Schools - Shelters - Orphans | 600 | ⟦line⟧ | 100 | ⟦line⟧ | 300 | 150
Charitable Sewing Society for Girls | ⟦line⟧ | 60 | ⟦line⟧ | 50 | ⟦line⟧ | 75
Ezra Sasson Atelier | ⟦line⟧ | 30 | ⟦line⟧ | 20 | ⟦line⟧ | ⟦line⟧
Laura Kadoorie Atelier | ⟦line⟧ | 30 | ⟦line⟧ | 30 | ⟦line⟧ | 75
Distributed to Girls' Intermediate - Laura | ⟦line⟧ | 60 | ⟦line⟧ | 50 | ⟦line⟧ | 75
Kadoorie | | | | | |
Total | 750 | 450 | 590 | 640 | 600 | 750
Miscellaneous
Page 138
Ministry of Supply
General Directorate of Engineering Supplies
Baghdad
Number / 14716
Date 11 / 12 / 1944
⟦illegible⟧
To %
Hakham Sassoon Khedhouri
President of the Jewish Community
Baghdad
Subject % Wood
With reference to your form dated 4 / 12 / 1944
Please provide us with the building map and its permit so that we may consider your request in accordance with the regulations.
General Director of Engineering Supplies
⟦illegible⟧
Reda / 11 / 12
Drafted
Protocol
Page 139
Association for the Protection of Children in Iraq
Baghdad
528
Number ⟦...⟧
Date 2/10/944
His Eminence Rabbi Sassoon Khedhouri
Subject - Save the Children Project
I enclose with this letter the appeal addressed to the Iraqi nation regarding the
Save the Children project for your kind review.
We believe that you sympathize with this national humanitarian project and wish to work
towards its success. Therefore, we have decided to present you with a proposal for you to kindly deliver a speech from the wireless
broadcasting station in support of the project and to urge the public to subscribe to it.
We would be very grateful if you could provide us with your agreement so that we may take the necessary measures in the matter ⟦...⟧
Honorary Secretary
for the Save the Children Project
Miscellaneous
Page 140
Child Protection Society in Iraq
General Center
Appeal regarding the Save the Children project
The Child Protection Society in Iraq is undertaking a national, charitable, and humanitarian project called the Subscription Project to Save the Children, and Her Majesty the Exalted Queen has graciously extended her high patronage to the project.
The goal of this project is to invite the public to donate voluntarily to construct a Children's Home to shelter orphans who are not more than seven years old, who lack the means of subsistence or are completely deprived of them, and to establish a shelter to care for them and for the children of mothers working during the day.
This project invites us to think of the homeless children whose families have left them to suffer the hardships of life without a provider or helper, wanted by no one and pitied by none, through no fault of their own.
These children are condemned to death due to the lack of institutions that care for them. The organizers of the accredited project hope to succeed in building a home for those wretched children and others who lose their families through death and remain alone in the struggle of life.
Think! How much you owe in your lives to the kindness and care of your parents. Bestow generously upon the project out of gratitude to God, who bestowed His blessings upon you in your childhood years. What you provide to this project alleviates human suffering and serves a noble national purpose, and above all, it is a goodness that may have no equal.
The committee in charge of the project is fully confident that the generous and noble people of our nation will respond to this appeal with hearts full of compassion. Remember! Today's children are the women and men of tomorrow, and these donations will not stop at improving the condition of the nation's children, but will also turn the miserable and wretched into righteous, productive elements in Iraqi society instead of remaining depressed and suffering from poverty and disease.
The project aims to collect (50,000) Iraqi Dinars, and two committees have been formed to carry out this work:
1 - A Higher Committee: Headed by His Excellency Mr. Jamil al-Midfai, with His Excellency Mr. Muhammad Hassan Kubba as Vice President, the Director of the Agricultural and Industrial Bank as Honorary Treasurer, and Dr. Sanderson Pasha and Mr. Nur al-Din Dawud as Secretaries. Its membership includes their Excellencies and notables:
Mr. Ali Mumtaz. Mr. Yusuf Ghanima. Mr. Tahsin Ali. Mr. Ja'far al-Shabibi. Mr. Abd al-Hadi al-Chalabi. Mr. Mahmoud Ramiz. Mr. Ezra Menahem Daniel. Mr. Kamil al-Khedery. Mr. Hafiz al-Qadi. Mr. Ibrahim Mahmoud al-Shabandar. Mr. Baqir Ahmad. Mr. Suleiman Fattah. Dr. Ihsan Doğramacı. Mr. Nouri al-Orfali. Mr. Nur al-Din Dawud.
2 - An Executive Committee: Chaired by Dr. Sanderson Pasha, with membership of Messrs. Ibrahim Mahmoud al-Shabandar, Mr. Baqir Ahmad, Mr. Hafiz al-Qadi, Mr. Ahmad Mukhtar, Dr. Ihsan Doğramacı, and Mr. Nur al-Din Dawud. Other subcommittees have been formed in all provinces for the same purpose.
Letters should be addressed: To the Honorary Secretaries via the Child Protection Society in Iraq, Bab al-Mu'azzam - Baghdad.
Please send donations to the Agricultural and Industrial Bank or one of the provincial committees. Lists of donations and details of the amounts collected will be published in the newspapers from time to time.
Baghdad, August 15, 1944
Honorary Secretary Honorary Secretary
Page 141
Amanat al-Asimah
⟦line⟧ Secretariat ⟦line⟧
Number 685
Date 26 Muharram 364
11 January 945
Announcement
An election will be held for a Mukhtar for the Jewish community in the Qambar Ali neighborhood at
nine o'clock in the morning on Thursday, January 18,
945, at the Torah of the Hakham Haskil Synagogue. Whoever has the right to vote from
the residents of that neighborhood must attend there at the designated time.
⟦signature⟧
Mayor of the Capital
Copy to -
Director of Discipline
Honorable Member Mr. Yusuf Habib Levi { Please attend to supervise
" " " Ibrahim Khazzoum } the election.
Presidency of the Jewish Community in Baghdad for information.
Director of Accounts
Al-Ahali newspaper for publication once in the first issue published
of your newspaper.
Publications
12 / 1 / ⟦33⟧
⟦10 / 1⟧
Page 142
5 / 1 / 1945
His Excellency the respected Lord Mayor
After greetings and respect
At the entrance of the street numbered 118 under the structure (where the
Israeli Community Administration building is located), there is a corner from which foul smells
constantly emanate due to the accumulation of filth. Besides
being a breeding ground from which decay and germs spread to the school and residences
adjacent to it, it is an eyesore to passersby, especially mentioning
statesmen, senior officials, and dignitaries who visit the Community Administration.
Therefore, I hope your Excellency will order the taking of any measure the competent
engineer deems appropriate to rid the street of the decay of this corner.
I thank your Excellency in advance.
Sassoon
Head of the Community
For review and approval
Expenditures
Page 143
12/11/44
His Eminence, Head of the Israelite Community, Mr. Sassoon Khidhouri
May his virtue endure
Greeting and respect,
Your Eminence, we have come to your Eminence and to the Spiritual Council not in your capacity as a court according to the courts, but according to
the name and religion, linked by the spiritual religious bond to its heads and scholars, who are its guides and preserve its rights
for and against it. We are ready at any time for there to be a trial according to the principles of religion regarding the case of the ⟦two killers⟧
to be at least three times as much, and a kind of ⟦lack⟧ appeared regarding what you mentioned literally in my letter while I was waiting for the fatwa
and I received a telegram from your esteemed secretary indicating that the Spiritual Council does not have the right, but rather the court, and I was surprised by
that, God forbid that I should be among those belonging to these, as we are petitioners for your Eminence according to the religious laws
and your Eminence and the secretary carried out his wish, O Eminence, and this is for your Eminence and the Council unanimously, it is necessary to
guide them and respond to the petitioner. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may you remain in respect:
The Petitioner Abdul-Baqi
The Lawyer
⟦illegible⟧
For filing
Miscellaneous
Page 145
His Eminence, the respected President of the Israelite Community
After greetings, presented to your Eminence are the details of the incidents that occurred against the members of our community in our town
during this year, starting first on 11 Tishrei 5704, the man called Yami Azlam went missing
while wandering in the village around the town, and on 17 Tishrei 5704 he was found slaughtered, his body eaten by
wild animals. At the time, our local government was informed and arrested the persons who were suspected
of the act, but the result was that there was insufficient evidence against them, so the High Court in Baghdad released them. Upon the issuance of the
acquittal verdict on the first day corresponding to August 28, 5705, persons from our community, a father and his son named
Dibi and Yusuf his son, while they were traveling in the villages neighboring the town and near the site of the incident that
occurred on 17 Tishrei 5704, were found murdered. Upon the recurrence of these heinous incidents, which
make one's skin crawl, we informed the local government of that, and it began arresting those on whom
suspicion falls. However, we who live in our houses in the villages neighboring the town, as these
incidents recurred, no longer dare to step outside our homes even once. We have considered moving from this town to Ramadi
and elsewhere, as our livelihood depends on our strength and the weekly sustenance of our children and wives, and we have come to be in a
bad and severe state, firstly due to the lack of livelihood and the manifestation of poverty and misery, and secondly
due to the obstacles that prevent us from reaching our town to reside in it and perform work for the purpose of supporting our children, wives,
and ourselves. O Eminence the President, you are our refuge in fear; we ask of you, in your kindness and
exceedingly prompt parental care, to find for us a helping hand so that we may be able to save our children and wives, and from
whoever is able to provide assistance in a temporary manner until our interests are stabilized. We are grateful for your kindness and your rewards.
By his hand
IRAQ
POSTAGE
40 FILS
Yaqub Yusuf | Ezra Rahim Raphael | Dawud Salman | Hayyim Murad Hayya
Shalom Eliyahu Harun | Rahim Raphael | Naji Shalom | Moshe Rahim | Kahlawi Sheikh | Naftali Ibrahim
Dawud Murad | Salman Dahayim | Eliyahu Salman | Salman Yusuf | Faraj Murad
Shalom Bey | Ezra Yusuf | Eliyahu Yusuf | Ezra Saql | Ephraim ⟦...⟧
Ezra Ishaq | Salman Meir | Ezra Yusuf | Ibrahim Dawud | Nabi Hawi
Eliyahu Dawud
Naji Rami
On ⟦illegible⟧
Naim Salih
Najib Salih
Dawra Kahlawi
For the Kuf
Miscellaneous
Page 147
12/14/1944
His Excellency the General Director of Local Products
The Respected
After greetings and respect
The Poor Relief Association has been accustomed every year
to distribute blankets to the poor for free, and it used to buy these blankets
with the donations it collects from the generous. This year it was not
successful in obtaining what it needs of these blankets from
the market due to their scarcity first and their exorbitant prices second.
Therefore, I hope your Excellency, if possible, will order to supply
the aforementioned charitable association with five hundred blankets from the blankets
in the possession of your directorate at the fixed price so that it can assist the poor
with the relief project during the cold season.
Please, your Excellency, accept my respect,
Sassoon
Head of the Community
Miscellaneous
⟦illegible⟧
⟦illegible⟧
Page 148
School
Midrash Talmud Torah
Baghdad
Midrash
Talmud Torah
Baghdad
Number 706
Date 20-12-44
Honorable President of the Jewish Community
Greetings and respect
Since our school was not included in the cloth distribution law because it is not within
the staff of the Directorate of Education
We ask for mediation by one of the methods so that this distribution includes it. This,
and to you further thanks and respect
On behalf of the Director
⟦illegible signature⟧
Midrash Talmud Torah School Baghdad
Midrash Talmud Torah Baghdad
MIDRASH TALMUD TORAH, BAGHDAD
1933
Miscellaneous
The Jewish Charitable Hospitals Committee
Baghdad
Established in 1884
Telephone Number: 1480
Meir Elias Hospital
Remah Khedouri Eye Hospital
Dar al-Shifa Pharmacy
School Dispensaries
Baghdad on
To the Honorable and Virtuous Gentleman
After greetings and respect,
We present to you a brief report on the Jewish charitable hospitals in Baghdad containing
speaking statistics showing the steady progress in these hospitals during the last five years and their financial status
⟦...⟧ from the sons of generosity and zeal like yourselves. We are in firm hope that you
Page 149
8092
1/23/945
To the President of the National Sewing Association for Girls
Respectfully,
After greetings and respect,
With reference to your letter dated 1/22/945
I have delegated on my behalf Mr. Shalom Darwish, Secretary of the Administration of the Jewish
Community, to attend the meeting which will be held on Tuesday evening
1/23/945
With best wishes,
On behalf of ⟦illegible⟧
President of the Community
Miscellaneous
Page 150
ISRP—611—11-12-44—3,000. M.123-a
IRAQI STATE RAILWAYS IRAQI STATE RAILWAYS
Baghdad 24 December 1944
His Eminence Rabbi Sassoon Khedhouri, Respected
President of the Jewish Community
Baghdad
His Eminence,
With reference to your letter dated 24/12/1944.
I regret very much to inform Your Eminence that Lafta Thamer
did not demonstrate the required proficiency in the examination conducted in this department
for the purpose of appointing travel ticket inspectors, and therefore I am very sorry
for my inability to accept him for this position.
Your obedient servant
⟦illegible⟧
Daoud Shamash
Enclosures