27 June 2021
In Memory of the more than 1,000 victims (including 120 poisoned patients, as revealed by ASF VP Carole Basri) and survivors of the Farhud, the two-day, Nazi-instigated attack on Babylonian Jewry that took place 80 years ago on 1-2 June 1941 at Baghdad, Iraq. Earlier this month, Joseph Samuels, a survivor, eloquently described “[w]hen the Mob Came for the Jews of Baghdad” in the Wall Street Journal.
| Sephardi Ideas Monthly is a continuing series of essays and interviews from the rich, multi-dimensional world of Sephardi thought and culture that is delivered to your inbox every month. This month’s issue of Sephardi Ideas Monthly features a searching, passionate, and piercingly sharp poem, “The Farhud,” written by Yvonne Green, a British-born poet, translator, and writer. |
 Poet Yvonne Green (Photo courtesy of Limmud Oz 2019) Farhud is a Kurdish word for “violent dispossession,” and today it is used as the name for the orgy of death and destruction initiated by the Nazi-inspired, anti-Semitic forces of the Muslim Brotherhood that targeted Baghdad’s Jewish community on 1-2 June 1941, “on the Jewish Festival of Shabu’oth (Pentecost).” Green’s poem unflinchingly traces the history, horror, heroism, and psychological scars left by the traumatic event. She originally recited the poem, “on 2nd June 2017 at a service at London’s Lauderdale Road Synagogue, and at the Knesset (Parliament) in Jerusalem on 6th June 2017 to mark the Israeli Government’s announcement that they would compensate victims on the same scale as Holocaust survivors.” The poem was commissioned by Harif for the commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Farhud. Read “The Farhud” Hear “The Farhud” Recited Yvonne Green’s honors include being named the 2007 Poetry Business’ Book & Pamphlet Prizewinner for “Boukhara,” receiving the Winter 2011 Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation Award for “After Semyon Izrailevich Lipkin,” and the 2012 Buxton prize Commendation for “Welcome to Britain.” She splits her time today between Israel and England. ~~~ Sephardi Ideas Monthly wishes to honor the memory of those who suffered 80 years ago and to remember the rich and once-thriving Jewish world of Iraqi Jewry with Yvonne Green’s poem, “The Farhud.”Special Feature: A Family’s Farhoud Remembrance by David E.R. Dangoor  The Dangoor home on the banks of the Tigris river, Baghdad, Iraq, circa 1920s (Photo courtesy of The Scribe) “This is as it was told to me by my father (Salim Eliahou Dangoor) and several members of his family. Trouble was brewing. The third week of May my father’s Auntie’s (Naima Peress’) husband was asked to help to bring back Naim, my father’s brother, from the army. His camp had been bombarded by the British. He succeeded and Naim came home safely. Then in the morning of June 2nd, at the heat of Farhoud, my father’s Auntie and family heard a strong knock on our door. My father’s Grandfather Shaoul Khazma was staying in the house with the family. They were bracing themselves for the worst. Then a familiar voice said ‘Auntie open the door’. It was my father. He had put on his brother Naim’s uniform and riding trousers, and he was armed with a gun. My father announced that he came to check on the family to make sure they were safe and alright. He then went to check on his father’s office and warehouse, which he discovered had been completely looted. He chased away intruders and later that evening returned home. My father loved his family and fear could not hold him back. He had to make sure they were alright and defend them if necessary.” ~~~  The Monthly Sage החכם החודשי Hakham Yosef Massass  An 1882 Warsaw imprint of the RaDBa”Z’s writing (Photo courtesy of the Hollander Books Blog) The sage for the month of June is Hakham David Ben Zimra (1479-1573), popularly known in traditional circles by his acronym, RaDBa”Z. Born in Spain, David Ben Zimra was only thirteen when the Spanish-Christian monarchs authorized the expulsion of the Jews. David and his family first settled in Fes, Morocco, before moving to Safed in the Land of Israel. There, young David studied under rabbinic luminaries such as Hakham Yosef Saragosi, Hakham Levi Ben Habib, and Rabbi Yosef Taitachak. Young David grew up to become a brilliant scholar, and Hakham David later moved to Egypt, where he was appointed head of the rabbinic court. Hakham David’s success as a merchant enabled him to support other Torah scholars and establish contacts with local government officials. When the Ottomans conquered Egypt in 1517, Hakham David was chosen to lead the Egyptian Jewish community, a position he held until, in 1553, he returned to the Land of Israel and settled in Safed. Hakham David Ben Zimra was an original thinker, and a number of his judgments became foundational for subsequent rabbinic thinking. For instance, concerning the verse, “Miriam and Aaron spoke out against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, he married a Cushite woman” – RaDBa”Z clarified the Cushite woman was, “of the seed of Dan, who reside in the mountains of Cush.” “Cush” in Biblical Hebrew refers to Ethiopia, and RaDBa”Z, in short, was not only indicating that Jews reside in Ethiopia, but that they descend from the Biblical tribe of Dan. Four hundred years later, 20th century rabbinic authorities such as Hakham Ovadia Yosef based their rulings that Ethiopian Jews are, in fact, Jewish upon Hakham David’s earlier declaration. Hakham David Ben Zimra passed away on 21 Heshvan, 5333 (1573), and he is buried in the ancient cemetery of Safed. Hakham David composed a number of works that include halakhic responsa, commentaries on Maimonides and the Biblical Song of Songs, and a book of Kabbala that explains the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. His book, Metzudat David, explores the reasons for the commandments, and in the following passage treating the commandment to honor one’s mother and father, RaDBa”Z explains that there is no worse character attribute than being ungrateful to one’s parents:The reason behind the commandment to honor parents is understandable at the intellectual level, since they bring us into the world and raise us, go hungry to feed us, go naked to clothe us and meet all our needs until we mature. It is therefore appropriate not to be ungrateful, there being no worse attribute. Our sages, of blessed memory, said that a person has three partners, and equated the honor and reverence due to them with those pertaining to the Holy one, blessed be He. The importance of this obligation is established in the Ten Commandments. It comes with a reward, since it says “so that you may fare well and have a long life”. Continue reading… |