The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center

By Rena Krasno

Mr. Mordechai Ben-Porat is celebrated in Israel for his heroic contribution in helping persecuted Iraqi Jews flee to Israel after the establishment of the State. Eventually, he became a Member of Knesset and played an important political role. Later, he headed the Council of Or Yehuda, a town located some ten minutes from Ben Gurion airport. In the 1970's Mordechai Ben-Porat proposed to found a Babylonian Jewish Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, an idea which was fortunately adopted. The cornerstone of the center was laid in 1973, the academic commission began its research in 1977 and the museum was open to the public in 1988.

I first met Mr. Ben-Porat and visited the museum last year. Mr. Ben-Porat has the dedicated and enthusiastic personality of a man pursuing his dream: an ever-growing center reflecting events in the history and culture of Babylonian Jews during the past 2,500 years. He personally escorted me through the alley (koocha), a reconstruction of one of the side streets in the Jewish Quarter of Baghdad at the beginning of the 20th century. Here typical houses with overhanging balconies were reproduced as well as workshops, arts and crafts, cloth and spice shops, and a Jewish coffee house. Scenes showing customs and traditions of the Jews of Baghdad could be seen through windows.

We visited the magnificent Great Synagogue (Slat - li-Kbighi) reconstructed in an area about an eighth of its original size.

A fascinating section is dedicated to the aliyah of Iraqi Jews, a tent in one of the maabarot (temporary reception centers), a sochnut bed, and primitive implements for cooking.

Mr. Ben-Porat told me that a second story was being added to the Museum to include the story of Iraqi Jews in the Diaspora. This immediately brought my thoughts to Iraqi Jews in Shanghai, many of whom had contributed so much to Jewish life and to the development of the city. In fact, it was the Sassoon family that had sowed the seeds of the first Jewish community in Shanghai in the middle of the 19th century. I discussed the possibility of devoting space in the second floor to Shanghai Iraqi Jews, and suggested constructing a model of the Ohel Rachel Synagogue based on all the information in the possession of the Tueg family.

After my return to the United States, I corresponded with Mr. Ben-Porat and we discussed the matter further. I also received several calls from him and started gathering material. I contacted my friend Tess Johnston in Shanghai for photographs of Ohel Rachel and the visit of Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright. As usual, Tess agreed at once. At the same time, Professor Pan Guang sent me a short film of the visit. Armed with all this material I returned once again this year to Or Yehuda to visit Mr. Ben-Porat. Rebecca Tueg came from Haifa to participate in our meeting. It is my sincere hope that some of our plans will materialize and the Shanghai Iraqi community will eventually be properly represented in the remarkable Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center.