This Passover, Iraqi Jews in LA Remember Their Own Exodus

April 5, 2004

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-iraqijew5apr05,1,3590790.story

On April 5, 2004 the Los Angeles Times reported, "As Jews worldwide begin Passover today, Rabbi Haim Ovadia and his Los Angeles congregation will not need to reach far into the past to find parallels with the ancient Exodus story of freedom from slavery. They are Jews of Iraqi descent, many of whom experienced an exodus from an oppressive land and see the Iraq war as the miraculous liberation from a modern pharaoh — Saddam Hussein...    Ovadia and his congregants are remnants of the world's oldest surviving Jewish community outside Israel, tracing its roots to ancient Babylonia 2,500 years ago. That is when Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar is said to have destroyed the first Jerusalem Temple and brought back the cream of Jewish society to work as astronomers, scholars, artists and craftsmen in creating one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the ancient Babylonian hanging gardens. Only a handful of Jews still live in Iraq, most having migrated to Israel and elsewhere. The community in Southern California numbers in the thousands. At Kahal Joseph, the Orthodox congregation of about 350 families traces Iraqi roots through way stations in India, China, Singapore, Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Britain, Israel and Iran. "