The Jewish Community of Baghdad

Joseph Albaradani (10th century-11th century) , poet and cantor, born in Baghdad, Iraq. Albaradani wrote piyutim to correspond with the weekly Torah readings. Many of his poems are preserved in large Genizah collections but only a few have appeared in print.
Albaradani wrote, among other things, kerovot and masdar poems (later called reshuyot), some of which, were included in the Sicilian liturgy.

Ezra Aharon (born Ozeri Shashua) (1903-1995), composer, born in Baghdad, Iraq (then part of the Ottoman Empire). He began taking music lessons with the distinguished Turkish musician Ibrahim Tanburi at the age of fifteen. At an early age he started to compose and perform, representing the Iraqi government at the Festival of Oriental Music in Cairo in 1932. Only when he was thirty, did he learn the art of writing music. Aharon came to Israel in 1935 and from 1937 was in charge of the oriental music department at the Voice of Jerusalem (later Voice of Israel). 
Aharon composed Cantata based on the Song of Songs, David's Eulogy, and numerous songs.

Naim Zilkha (1879-1929), jurist, born in Baghdad, Iraq (then part of the Ottoman Empire). He began to practice law there in 1904. From 1908 he was a member of the Beirut Court of Appeals, becoming deputy president. Zilkha returned to Iraq in 1921and was deputy president of the Basra civil courts and in 1922 president of the Diyala province civil courts. From 1925 until his death he was a member of the Iraqi house of representatives and courageously opposed the government when he felt the need to do so. From 1925 he lectured at the Baghdad Law School. Zilkha  was active in the Jewish community and was responsible for its secular affairs, trying to introduce reforms and reduce the influence of the religious leaders and the rich.

Mordechai Bibi (1922-), lawyer, politician, and community leader, born in Baghdad, Iraq. He attended the high school in Baghdad and studied at the Law School of the University of Tel Aviv, Israel. Bibi started his political activity already in Iraq where he was among the founders and leaders of the Zionist underground movement until his immigration to the Land of Israel in 1945. He continued his efforts on behalf of the Jewish emigration from Iraq during the late 1940s. A member of the Achdut HaAvodah party since 1946, he was elected Member of the Knesset representing the Labor Movement from 1959 to 1973. A member of various parliamentary committees, he was elected Deputy Speaker of the Knesset during his cadence in the 7th Knesset (1969-1973).

Isaac Al-Avani (fl. 14th century), poet, born in Baghdad, Iraq. He was harshly criticized by Al-Harizi. Al-Avani’s only existing work, a “girdle poem” on friendship - Ahar ha-Zevi Zanu Ra’yonai - does not support Al-Harizi’s accusations whatsoever. He died in Baghdad, Iraq.

Ezra Ben Ezekiel Habavli (1660-1742), poet, born in Baghdad, Iraq. Ezra Ben Ezekiel Ha-Bavli severely criticized the Jews of his native city for their low moral standards in his book Tokhehot Musar ("Moral Reproofs", 1735). The book was written in rhymed prose in both Hebrew and Aramaic. As a result of his harsh criticism, the community persecuted him and he was either imprisoned or expelled from the Jewish community. He is also the author of Netivot Shalom (1742), a commentary on the Torah. He died in Baghdad, Iraq.

Ovadia Haim Yosef (1920-2013), rabbi, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and one of the foremost Talmudic authorities of his generation, born in Baghdad, Iraq, with the name Ovadia Yosef Ovadia, or Abdullah Youseff in Arabic. At the age of four, Yosef immigrated with his family to Palestine, then under British Mandate, where they settled in Jerusalem. At age of 20 he received rabbinical ordination from Rabbi Ben-Zion Ouziel. In 1945 he was appointed a dayan (judge) of the Sephardi Bet Din (rabbinical court) in Jerusalem.

One of the principle pathways Yosef adopted in his approach to Jewish law was leniency, which he believed was preferable to stringency. He noted in particular that in the modern generation, ruling stringently could have the effect of discouraging any compliance with Jewish law, and that lenient rulings were therefore advisable. In one of his most well-known rulings, Yosef liberated almost 1,000 women from the halachic status of an aguna, or a “chained woman,” by allowing partial testimony and evidence to determine a soldier’s death.

In1947, Yosef moved to Cairo, Egypt where he was elected head of the Bet Din and also became deputy chief rabbi of Egypt. Ovadia published his first work at the age of 18 in Cairo, and while there he refused to speak against the State of Israel and forbade Jewish contributions to the Egyptian military. He also insisted on his right to speak in Hebrew. After the State of Israel was etablished in 1948, Yosef returned to Israel and was appointed a member of the rabbinical court of Petah Tikva. From 1958 to 1965, he held the same position in Jerusalem. In 1965, he was appointed a member of the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Jerusalem and in 1968, he attained the role of Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. He was awarded the Israel Prize for Torah literature in 1970 in recognition of both the quality and quantity of his work.

In 1973, Yosef was appointed as the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel (also known as the Rishon le-Zion) by a majority of 81 to 68 votes, replacing Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim. In 1984, he became spiritual mentor of the Shass political party. He wielded enormous influence among Israeli Jews of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry, and had frequently been a kingmaker in the country's fickle coalition politics.

Yosef was a controversial figure, also known for his frequent outbursts regarding public figures, political concerns and current affairs, while Shas’s political tactics often generated animosity among the secular public and contributed towards increasing societal division on religious grounds.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef passed away in October 2013; his funeral in Jerusalem attracted approximately 800,000 people from across Israel - 10% of Israel's total population - and is considered one of the largest gatherings of Jews in recorded history.

Ezekiel Ezra Ben Joshua Halevi (1852-1942), poet, born in Baghdad, Iraq (then part of the Ottoman Empire). Halevi emigrated to Eretz Israel in 1897 and settled in Jerusalem where he worked as a preacher. Halevi served the Iraqi community as a public worker and was president of the community. He was one of the founders of the Shoshanim le-David Yeshivah.
Halevi wrote more than 10 books including Arugat ha-Bosem (1905), Tehillah ve-Tif’eret (1914) and a commentary on the Book of Psalms. He died in Jerusalem.

Aaron Hakiman (fl. 15th century), poet, born in Baghdad, Iraq. His works are included in an incomplete diwan presently preserved in the Firkovich collection, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Outstanding among his poems is a lamentation on the persecution of the Baghdad Jews in 1344, poems in honor of Sar Shalom, leader of the Diaspora (Resh Galuta) and several brief maqamas. The poems reflect their author’s familiarity with the classic Spanish style and with the Bible. He died in Baghdad, Iraq.

Eleazar Ben Jacob Ha-Bavli (1195-1250), poet, born in Baghdad, Iraq. He apparently was a sort of house poet to wealthy Jewish families in Iraq. His poems were found in various manuscript collections and in oriental prayer books (mahzorim). In 1898 his diwan, including 281 poems, most of which are religious, was discovered in Aleppo. Later investigations led to some 20 more of his secular poems. Eleazar’s diwan is an invaluable source for the study of the history of Iraqi Jews in the 13th century. He was interested in the theory of Hebrew poetry and wrote a book in which he presented his method of studying it. He died in Baghdad, Iraq.