I am contacting you through your web
site "the Scribe" which I have read with
great interest in past issues. We have all the hardcopy
issues since 1971 here in the national Library in
Jerusalem.
We now have an opportunity to explore Jewish artefacts
and manuscripts and Jewish Holy sites in Iraq. We
do not know when this opportunity will end, but
it is likely to cease when a stable government will
be established, which may be almost as anti-Jewish
as the past regime. I have a professional and personal
interest in this window of opportunity, particularly
in the field of Hebrew Manuscripts. Here in the
Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem, we have over 70,000
reels of microfilm of Hebrew manuscripts from hundreds
of collections across the world. If there are manuscripts
extant in Iraq, they are likely to be of great value
for Jewish research in all fields.
You can find more about us on our web site, or through
Ilana Tahan, the Hebrew
Curator at the British Library. We have even been
notified by an Australian Archaeologist, an Iraqi
expatriate, that he knows of such findings in the
ancient synagogue in Basra (now in British control).
But we have no means of verifying this, nor, needless
to say, recovering, restoring and recording the
material. I am aware of your contacts in influential
circles in the British national leadership. Please
contact me if there is anything you can do about
this.
On a personal level, I am also very
interested in the reclamation of the Synagogues,
holy sites, and Torah Scrolls of Iraqi Jewry. If
there is anything I can do to help I will do so
gladly. I can act as a liaison with a Former chief
Rabbi Mordachai Eliahu (also of Iraqi descent) who
is particularly interested in the tomb of his father's
revered master R. Yosef Haim (Ben Ish Hai). I have
also contacted some Jewish Chaplains serving with
the American forces in Baghdad, on this issue.
Again I remind you, we do not know
when this window of opportunity will
be closed again.
Thank you,
Dr. Ezra Chwat
Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts
Jewish National and Hebrew University Library
Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel
http://jnul.huji.ac.il/imhm/
ezrac@savion.huji.ac.il
Reply:
After issue 72 of The Scribe, printed copies were
stopped but the magazine was then put on our web
site, which can be downloaded.
In fact, all the issues from no. 1 to date, and
including the current uncompleted 76, can be found
on http://www.scribe1.com
As regards the window of opportunity
in Iraq, We do not share your pessimism and are
confident that the window will keep widening, and
that an increasing Jewish presence in Iraq will
become possible.
