From our Archive:

The Jewish Chronicle – August 9 1974

Great Rabbi

Mr Yigal Allon, the Israeli Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, has written an exceptionally warm letter about “Dispersion and Liberation”, a book published by the Gedula Synagogue Committee, Ramle, Israel, and edited by Abraham Twena in memory of a famous Chief Rabbi of Iraq, Rabbi Ezra Dangoor.

This courageous Chief Rabbi, who was born in 1848, and members of the Dangoor family played an outstanding role in the life of the Iraqi Jewish community. The development of the Zionist movement within the Iraqi community, which is also described in the book, owned much to the example and teaching of the Chief Rabbi.

Mr Allon’s letter, which is addressed to Mr Naim Dangoor, in London, refers to that amazing event – the mass exodus of most of the members of the Iraqi Jewish community to Israel.

Chief Rabbi Dangoor was once asked by King Feisal if there were any Zionist Jews in Iraq. He replied that every Jew prayed three times a day for the Shchina (Divine Presence) to return to the land of Zion and that Judaism was based on worship of God as well as the return to the Promised Land.

Scribe:

The answer is brief and to the point.