TELL magazine: December 2020 - Emanuel Synagogue

Jews had lived in Iraq for over 2500
years and by the 1930s made up close
to half the population of Baghdad.
However, when the Nazi-inspired
Farhud (pogrom) resulted in the
murder of innumerable Baghdadi
Jews in 1941, Jews left Iraq in droves.
By the early 1950s only a handful
remained.
It has taken our Judeo-Arabic culture
both in Israel and in the Diaspora
quite a while to recover from this
tragedy and to feel empowered again.
I remember in my late teens attending
a lecture at the Sephardic Synagogue
in Fletcher Street, where my family
were and still are members. A couple
from America were visiting and gave a
talk about Sephardic culture. The lady
told us in no uncertain terms that we
were all descendants of Spanish Jews.
When a wise and dear friend of mine,
Myer Samra, correctly pointed out
to her that Iraqi Jews were mainly
Judeo-Arabic and not of Spanish
descent, she abruptly dismissed his
comment. I was mortified; it was
okay to be Sephardic, associated with
Spain, the Golden Age and Europe.
It was not okay to be associated with
the “backward” Middle Eastern
Arabic-speaking world! This stirred
something deep in me.
Thankfully so much has changed in
the past 30 years, epitomised by the
setting aside of a Shabbat devoted to
Jews from Arab lands. There is still
much work to be done—more to learn
and more to understand about the
amazing contributions to the Middle
East and to the world of Arabic and
Judeo-Arabic culture- I will continue
to write about and teach this history.
I am very proud of my Judeo-
Arabic heritage. It has given me so
much and actually led me to our
wonderful Emanuel community! In
1990 a new and dynamic Rabbi by
the name of Jeffrey Kamins called
me and asked me to give a talk and
musical presentation on the history
and music of Sephardic and Middle
Eastern Jewish communities. That
presentation was the beginning of a
heart centred relationship between
me and the Emanuel community that
continues to the present day.
1
Our cuisine for Shabbat and
Haggim is also very different from
what most Ashkenazi Jews imagine
Jewish food to look and taste like.
My grandmothers would cook
aloomaqalas, a delicious fried-potato
dish; hashwa, a spicy rice dish cooked
in chicken skin; barmya, an okra
dish; shwanda, a beetroot curry;
and samak mikli, fried fish eaten
with amba, a delicious citric spice.
A few photos from the recent concert by Israeli band
Yemen Blues presented by Emanuel Synagogue and
the Israeli Embassy. Photos by Yuval Erel.
NEED A CELEBRANT?
Jon Green
Civil Marriage Celebrant
WEDDINGS
RENEWAL OF VOWS
BABY NAMINGS
CALL JON ON:
0414 872 199
19