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The Jewish calendar is replete with dates, both religious and secular, attesting to momentous occasions and events in Jewish history. Although the exile in the broader Middle East outside the Land of Israel, which began in Babylon more than 2,500 years ago, was the longest, it has not been widely studied. And it is certainly the least commemorated in any field.
In 2014, the State of Israel passed a law to officially make November 30 a day to commemorate the departure and expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran, a date now marked by Jewish communities around the world. However, many problems remain related to the Jews of Arab countries that few other Jewish communities face.
In 2017, Sass Peress, a Canadian of Iraqi Jewish origin, embarked on a voyage of discovery to find his own grandfather’s grave in Sadr City, Baghdad. With the help of local Muslims, he began digging up his family’s graves, but also became aware of abject neglect in Iraq’s Jewish cemeteries, some of which had been destroyed.
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Others saw that Jewish cemeteries in the Middle East and North Africa were demolished, as in Tripoli for a hotel, or in terrible condition. Apart from Morocco, almost all of them were inaccessible to Jews.
In 2018, Sass launched a process that led to a global moment of unity and remembrance, whereby an annual Kadish (prayer of the mourners) and Azkara (a commemorative prayer) were recited together in synagogues around the world, as witness and remembrance of the Jews whose relatives are buried in cemeteries that are no longer accessible in Arab countries.
During the first year, 12 communities participated; Last year, participation spread to more than 50 communities on four continents.
This year, we call on synagogues and other Jewish institutions of all backgrounds to say these prayers on the Shabbat closest to the day of commemoration on November 28, in remembrance and solidarity with the Jews of the Middle East and Africa. North they cannot. they are told in the presence of their deceased relatives.
Organizations representing millions of Jews, in communities across the religious spectrum and around the world, have already signed up. Thousands have already downloaded the prayer, written by Rabbi Joseph Dweck, the head rabbi of the S&P Sephardic Community of the United Kingdom, to be recited in synagogues, at Zoom services or individually, due to limitations on public prayer imposed as a result. of the coronavirus pandemic.
In Judaism, we must understand and learn through ritual. While saying the prayers of Kadish and Azkara is very much a religious undertaking, it is much more than that. It is about raising awareness about the history and plight of our people who still suffer due to the ramifications resulting from the exodus of Jews from Arab countries in the 20th century.
Entire communities of nearly 1 million Jews, who lived in these areas for millennia, were emptied within a few decades, leaving very little of their presence or existence. Thanks to organizations like Diarna, the Geo-Museum of Jewish Life of North Africa and the Middle East, many of us can see our old houses and communities, albeit virtually.
The few who manage to see them in person, such as the Libyan Jewish exile David Gerbi, risk their lives and limb. Gerbi saw her family’s synagogue in Tripoli again 44 years after they fled and almost paid with her life. While he was there briefly to clean the prayer room and say a few prayers, an angry crowd formed around him.
“They told me that if I don’t go now, they will come and kill me because they don’t want Jews here,” said Gerbi, who was quickly taken away by hired security guards.
This is the sad reality for many of us, although we are hopeful that the Abrahamic Accords may usher in a new era of Jewish-Arab rapprochement in the region. However, before we can push these issues forward with our neighbors, there needs to be greater understanding, awareness, and solidarity within the Jewish world.
For many years, Jewish institutions, synagogues, schools, and organizations in Israel and around the world barely recognized or remembered the history and exodus of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. While the majority of Jews in Israel and around 1 million Jews in the Diaspora are from the Middle East and North Africa, there needs to be a greater sense of awareness of the history, culture and tradition of these communities.
Unlike the case of other Jewish tragedies, there is no communal display of religious solidarity for the exodus and expulsion of Jews from Arab countries.
It is vital, therefore, that this is a widely recognized initiative to say these prayers annually in synagogues and Jewish institutions in Israel and around the world. Even in communities where there are few Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, these prayers and a show of religious solidarity are vital in breaking down the barriers between our different communities.
To register and download the prayer, go to KaddishInitiative.com.PJC
David Dangoor, businessman and philanthropist, is a member of the board of directors of the World Organization of Jews of Iraq (WOJI) and honorary president of the Association of Jewish Scholars of Iraq.
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