Kurdish Jewish Rabbis Found Union of Kurdistan Sages

Dozens of rabbis, yeshiva heads, rabbinical judges and community rabbis from across Israel gathered in Jerusalem last week to found the Union of Kurdistan Sages, a new body dedicated to preserving and teaching the Torah heritage of Kurdish Jewry and serving as a renewed spiritual leadership for the community nationwide.

The gathering took place at the Keter Torah - Hoja synagogue in Jerusalem's Katamonim neighborhood, Kikar HaShabbat reported. Former religious services minister Michael Malchieli and senior figures from the National Organization of Kurdistan Jews attended.

Senior rabbis of the community and leaders of the new union addressed the event. They included Rabbi Binyamin Gamlieli, head of the Levav Chochma yeshiva; Rabbi Shimon Bogdari, head of the Kol Yaakov yeshiva; Rabbi Shabtai Shazo, one of the rabbis of Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood; and the union's secretary, Rabbi Ben Or Vadaoker.

The Union of Kurdistan Sages founding event (Photo: Shmulik Kurlansky)

The union was established by the National Organization of Kurdistan Jews, which has worked on the community's behalf in a range of fields for many years. It plans to revive the study of the teachings of the community's sages, publish their writings and deepen study of their approaches to halachic rulings and leadership. It also intends to document the community's prayer and liturgical poetry traditions, produce Torah scholarship on its customs and promote wide-ranging Torah activity among community members across Israel.

Malchieli, of Kurdish descent, spoke about the importance of passing on that heritage. "It is written: 'He who spares his rod hates his son,' to teach us that one who hates his son is one who does not teach his son which tribe he belongs to, which heritage and community he belongs to," he said. His remark drew on the verse from Proverbs and played on the Hebrew word shevet, which means both "rod" and "tribe."

Vadaoker added: "Our community is rooted, inclusive, national and religious. The return to our roots is a call to all members of the community and to the entire Jewish people: to learn the path our forefathers walked and to keep walking a path that combines Torah with worldly engagement."

The union's founders say they hope to make the halachic, spiritual and traditional treasures of Kurdistan's Jewish sages a living, vibrant and more accessible part of the Torah world and of the Jewish people as a whole.