Visiting the Iraqi-Jewish archive exhibit in California brought tears to the eyes of Baghdad-born Joe Samuels. He describes the memories which came flooding back in his Times of Israel blog (with thanks: Michelle, Lisette):
The moment I stepped into the 2,000 square
foot exhibit; the history of my childhood came alive. On display there
was a high school certificate written in Arabic; it reminded me of my
graduation in June of 1948. I was so excited to travel to America for
higher studies. That dream evaporated when I was refused an exit visa.
A Haggadah (pictured), (Passover script) from 1902,
reminded me of our Seder, when my parents, six brothers and my sister
sat for the festive dinner after reading the Passover script. The aroma
of the chicken rice with slivered almond and raisins and the taste of
sweet and sour, lamb stew with apricot still linger in my mind.
The Torah scroll, unfortunately stripped from
the silver or gold that had covered the wooden casing, reminded me of my
Bar Mitzvah when I carried the Torah. It was so heavy.
Other Arabic documents included letters from
the Chief Rabbi, Sasson Kheduri, to members of the community board,
reminding me of how close I felt to others in this old, Jewish
community, how rich it was in culture, how we had so much solidarity and
helped each other.
It was a bittersweet encounter; seeing the
exhibits brought tears to my eyes. At other moments the exhibit filled
me with joy. I was grateful to the American government for making my
Iraqi Jewish heritage come alive again. The numerous petitions from many
Iraqi Jews, our children, and grandchildren, to US government
officials, pleaded with them not to return the artifacts back to Iraq.
The Congress, in Bill 113, voted to renegotiate with the Iraqi
Government to allow the artifacts to stay in the US. The visit to the
exhibit reminded me of my 19 years of life in Baghdad.
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