Picture of Iraq Life

Member of the Executive of the Jewish Agency

According to the census of 1920—the first ever taken in Iraq —the number of Jews in the country was 87,488, constituting 3.1 per cent of a total population of 2,849,282. These figures are not too reliable and more exact inquiries would place the total number of Jews at close on 100,000, of whom 70,000 are in Baghdad, 15,000 in Basra and 4,000 in Mosul.

The Jews now living in Iraq are descendants of those who settled in Babylonia in ancient times. During the last thousand years Babylonian Jewry has, apart from a small accession from the neighboring countries of Palestine and Syria, received no immigration of any sort and it has in consequence preserved its antique character in a far purer form than the communities in the countries on the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, which were much more exposed to the influx of strangers and to foreign influences.

JEWS PLAY BIG ROLE IN BAGHDAD COMMERCE

In Iraq itself, however, there is a great difference, both economic and cultural, between the Jews of the capital, Baghdad, and those of the provincial towns. Until well into the nineteenth century—especially until the opening of the Suez Canal—Baghdad was a great commercial center linking India, Persia and Afghanistan with Mediterranean ports.

Although Baghdad has lost much of its former importance, it is still far superior to other Iraq towns, which today carry on only local trade. In its commercial life Jews have played a most prominent part. In the course of the nineteenth century great business firms arose among them, such as the Sassoons, whose branches extended into Eastern Asia. The Kadoories were another great business firm which gave liberally in support of Jewish charitable and educational institutions, such as hospitals, schools, etc. Most Jewish institutions in Iraq are to this day connected with the name of this family. A member of the Kadrone family about ten years ago left a legacy of about £120,000 for Palestine which is being devoted to the erection and maintenance of two agricultural schools, one for Jews and one for Arabs.

WEALTH AND CULTURE MINGLED WITH POVERTY

As a result of material well-being, of frequent travelling abroad for business purposes and of the educational work of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, which is particularly effective in Baghdad, there has grown up among the Jews there a not inconsiderable section which speaks in addition to the vernacular Arabic, a European language also. Formally this was French, but now it is frequently English. This group has attained a fairly high level of culture.

However, side by side with this cultured section a large number of Jews live both in poverty and ignorance. These inhabit narrow, filthy streets which can compete for dirt with the worst allies of other Oriental Jewish quarters. Diseases, esspecially of the eyes, are common and a large number of the children have no education at all, or at best learn in “medresse” (a school much below the level even of an East European cheder) to read Hebrew prayers. In the provincial towns, with the possible exception of Basra, the higher stratum of Jewish society is entirely lacking. In these the life of the whole community has not yet been stirred by any breath of culture from without.

RELIGION BURDENED WITH SUPERSTITIONS

It is true that Jews cling stubbornly to their religion and can assert with pride that within human memory scarcely a single Jew has abjured his faith. But religion has lost its spiritual content for them and has been degraded into a mass of ceremonies to which have been attached several superstitious customs foreign to Judaism. Thus, in Mosul, Jewish infants are hung round with a number of amulets which are supposed to {SPAN}prot##t{/SPAN} them against the evil eye or against falls, etc. Very rarely is a doctor summoned in case of illness. As a rule the mothers, who are completely ignorant and are unable to read, content themselves with incantations and with so-called domestic remedies, or accept the illness as the decree of fate. Girls marry as a rule at the age of thirteen to eighteen, men at the age of eighteen to twenty-five. An unmarried girl of twenty is already looked upon as an old maid.

The sons of a family as a rule do not marry until their sisters have found husbands. The father of the bride gives her a dowry, which in the lower classes amounts to some hundreds of rupees (thirty-five dollars) but among the wealthier classes often rises to 10,000 rupees and more. This dowry is invested in securities, mortgages, etc., and the son-in-law is only allowed the interest. The ‘Baghdad boil,’ which is very prevalent all over Iraq, often leaves disfiguring marks on the face. A girl who is disfigured in this way must make up for the defect by a higher dowry.

MEDIEVAL PRACTICES PREVAIL IN PROVINCES

In the provincial town the domestic life of the Jews is still medieval in character. Most of the utensils are made by the woman herself in the house. Householders do not buy bread or even flour, but the wheat itself, which is ground with a handmill and baked at home into thin cakes. It is already a sign of progress if the dough is not baked at home, but is handed over to other Jewish families which carry on baking as a trade. Nor are we to imagine bakeries in the European sense. The women simply stick thin flakes on the hot sides of a hole dug in the ground at the bottom of which is a fire of dried dung. Women thus engaged earn, as a rule, not more than two to three annas, about sixpence, per day. Other things done at home, besides the grinding of flour, are peeling of rice, extractions of oil and spinning of wool. The women are naturally kept busy with these operations from morning to night.

In many houses, which seemed quite poverty-stricken, I saw women wearing gold earrings and gold rings on their feet. In Mosul they wear a very ugly, high, black, woolen wig. Nose-rings, which are worn by the girls among the Mohammedans and Christians are also commonly worn by the Jewish girls in Mosul. Eldest sons also wear them as a sign of their birthright. My attempts to photograph women with their woolen perruques were not successful. The women declared that they would only be photographed in their Sabbath dress, not in their everyday clothes.

ARMENIANS OFFER KEEN COMPETITION

The great majority of the Jews in Iraq live by trade, in which of late they have found keen competitors in the Armenians. In Baghdad especially, Armenian refugees, who came there during the war, have secured a considerable part of the trade. The earnings of a Jewish trader with a stand in a bazaar amount in Mosul to about £4 a month. This sum has to keep a whole family, possible only because rent and provisions are very cheap.

Education is mostly in the hands of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. In 1930, the government had in the whole country about thirty schools with 30,000 pupils, of whom 6,000 were girls. Among these were five Jewish schools with 600 pupils. It is not known how many Jewish pupils there are in the non-Jewish government schools; certainly, in the government secondary schools the Jews are strongly represented and frequently form the majority of the pupils. In the five schools mentioned above, both teachers and pupils are exclusively Jewish. The language of instruction is Arabic, but Jewish history and literature occupy a larger place in the curriculum than in the other government elementary schools.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS INSTRUCT 8,000 JEWS

Much more important for the Jews are the private schools, which exist side by side with the others. In these there are altogether about 12,000 pupils, of whom about 8,000 are Jews. In Baghdad, of 10,000 pupils attending these schools, 7,000 are Jews. In 1930, the government gave these schools a subvention of 15,000 rupees, equal to £1,200. Incidentally it may be noted that the sum per head for Jewish pupils was considerably less than in the Christian and Mohammedan schools. Among the private schools, first place, as already mentioned, is taken by those of the Alliance Israelite Universelle. In Baghdad alone, of the 7,000 Jewish pupils, more than 3,000 are in the boys’ and girls’ schools of the Alliance.

There can be no doubt that the schools of the Alliance have done valuable work in instructing the Jewish children and in giving them a start in life after school. If Jews are to be found in large numbers in commercial offices or among government employes, this is largely thanks to the work of the Alliance. The Alliance schools in Baghdad are further distinguished for their orderliness and cleanliness. The walls of the classrooms are hung with maps and drawings done by the children, which testify to the proficiency of the pupils. One might, however, criticize the curriculum as being too purely utilitarian, and as ministering too little to the spiritual needs of the children.

Besides Baghdad, Basra and Mosul also have Alliance schools. The Mosul school was closed in the Winter of 1931-32 because parents either could not or would not pay the trifling school fees, which are fixed according to their means, and in no case exceed three shillings a month.

HEBREW LITTLE KNOWN BUT INTEREST IS THERE

For some years there have been in the Jewish schools of Baghdad teachers from Palestine who are successful in spreading a knowledge of the Hebrew language, and in acquainting the children with the national strivings of Judaism. Generally speaking, the children’s knowledge of Hebrew is poor. Most of the children, it is true, can read Hebrew prayers, but only few have a good knowledge of grammar or can use Hebrew as a spoken language. It should not be difficult to create an interest for this study among the youth.

Once as I was ferrying over the river Zab, I happened to take out of my pocket a Hebrew newspaper. Immediately a man standing by asked me whether I was from Palestine and hastened to speak a few Hebrew words to show his interest in the language. Through the Hebrew language it ought to be possible to bring Iraq Jewry once more into contact with world Jewry, and to breathe into it a new spirit.