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The New Babylonian Diaspora
The Rise and Fall of the Jewish Community in Iraq, 16th-20th Centuries C.E.
Series: - The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 57
Author:
The New Babylonian Diaspora: Rise and Fall of Jewish Community in Iraq, 16th–20th Centuries C.E. provides a historical survey of the Iraqi Jewish community's evolution from the apex of its golden age to its disappearance, emergence, rapid growth and annihilation. Making use of Judeo-Arabic newspapers and archives in London, Paris, Washington D.C. and other sources, Zvi Yehuda proves that from 1740 to 1914, Iraq became a lodestone for tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants from Kurdistan, Persia, the Mediterranean Basin, and Eastern and Central Europe. After these Jews had settled in Baghdad and Mesopotamia, they became “Babylonians” and ‘forgot’ their lands of origin, contrary to the social habit of Jews in other communities throughout history.
Zvi Yehuda, Ph.D. (Jerusalem, 1982) is the director of the Research Institute of Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center (Israel) and the editor of its publications. He has authored or edited more than twenty volumes published numerous articles and five documented films. He is also responsible for the research in the Babylonian Jewry Museum.
Preface
List of Figures and Maps
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
To be Babylonians
Modernization without Assimilation
Amiability and Animosity
Leadership under Muslim-Arab Rule
1 From Destruction to Revival
The Disappearance of Babylonian Jews
The Beginning of New Babylonian Community
The Emergence of Lay and Spiritual Leadership
2 Rise and Fall of the New Babylonian Diaspora
Authority in Change
Return to Babylonia
The Economy in Transition
En Route to Modernization
Modernity and Communal Organization
A Dream Which Was Not to Be
Return to Zion
Exodus Babylon
3 The Jewish Blood-libel Against Christians in Basra (1791)
Basra in the Eighteenth Century
Jews in Basra in the Eighteenth Century
Christians Accused of Murdering a Jew for Ritual Purposes
The Christian Response
Christian Attempts to Refute the Libel Foiled
Escalating Confrontation between Jews and Christians
Christians Turn to Europe and India for Help
The British Envoy Visits the Pasha
Conclusions
4 Struggle of Iraqi Jewry for Control of Prophet Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil (1860)
Basis for the Jewish Claim of Ownership over Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil
Muslims Take Over Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil
Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil in the 14th–18th Centuries
Jews of Iraq Regain Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Jews of Iraq Foil the Muslim Attempt to Take Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Muslims Changed the Compound of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Conclusions
5 Events Surrounding the Burial of Rabbi Abdalla Somekh (1889) and their Consequences
State of Research and the Sources
Background to the Events
The Course of Events
Appeal to the Turkish Government
Request for Assistance from the Jews of England
Request for Assistance from the Jews of France
Appeal to Jewish Public Opinion
The Muslim Takeover of the “Ha-Cohen” Courtyard
Intervention by the Turkish Government
Jews on Trial
Conclusions
6 The Pogrom (Farhud) of 1941, Reexamination
Research on the Farhud
Dr. Fritz Grobba and the Pogrom
Outbreak of the Pogrom
The Course of the Pogrom
Those Responsible for the Pogrom
Denial of the Pogrom
Conclusions
Map of the Farhud Pogrom
List of Victims of the Farhud
Bibliography
Index
List of Figures and Maps
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
To be Babylonians
Modernization without Assimilation
Amiability and Animosity
Leadership under Muslim-Arab Rule
Part 1: Five Centuries of the New Babylonian Diaspora
1 From Destruction to Revival
The Disappearance of Babylonian Jews
The Beginning of New Babylonian Community
The Emergence of Lay and Spiritual Leadership
2 Rise and Fall of the New Babylonian Diaspora
Authority in Change
Return to Babylonia
The Economy in Transition
En Route to Modernization
Modernity and Communal Organization
A Dream Which Was Not to Be
Return to Zion
Exodus Babylon
Part 2: Studies on Political Issues
3 The Jewish Blood-libel Against Christians in Basra (1791)
Basra in the Eighteenth Century
Jews in Basra in the Eighteenth Century
Christians Accused of Murdering a Jew for Ritual Purposes
The Christian Response
Christian Attempts to Refute the Libel Foiled
Escalating Confrontation between Jews and Christians
Christians Turn to Europe and India for Help
The British Envoy Visits the Pasha
Conclusions
4 Struggle of Iraqi Jewry for Control of Prophet Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil (1860)
Basis for the Jewish Claim of Ownership over Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil
Muslims Take Over Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil
Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb at Kifil in the 14th–18th Centuries
Jews of Iraq Regain Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Jews of Iraq Foil the Muslim Attempt to Take Control of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Muslims Changed the Compound of Ezekiel’s Tomb
Conclusions
5 Events Surrounding the Burial of Rabbi Abdalla Somekh (1889) and their Consequences
State of Research and the Sources
Background to the Events
The Course of Events
Appeal to the Turkish Government
Request for Assistance from the Jews of England
Request for Assistance from the Jews of France
Appeal to Jewish Public Opinion
The Muslim Takeover of the “Ha-Cohen” Courtyard
Intervention by the Turkish Government
Jews on Trial
Conclusions
6 The Pogrom (Farhud) of 1941, Reexamination
Research on the Farhud
Dr. Fritz Grobba and the Pogrom
Outbreak of the Pogrom
The Course of the Pogrom
Those Responsible for the Pogrom
Denial of the Pogrom
Conclusions
Map of the Farhud Pogrom
List of Victims of the Farhud
Bibliography
Index
All those interested in the history of Iraqi Jews and Jewish and Middle Eastern studies. Many believe that the descendants of Jews exiled to Babylonia are the Iraqi Jews of the last century. New historical evidence proves that new Babylonian Diaspora emerged in Iraq.