I was born in Baghdad Iraq in 1947, to a middle class family of four siblings. My father Eliahu, who was an able and respected accountant, worked for a Jewish owned import company. My mother Violet, brought up the children and took care of the household.
When I was about 3 years old, the big exodus out of Iraq to Israel occurred. Out of about 140,000 strong Jewish community in Iraq, only about 4,000 remained, including my immediate family!
After I graduated from the Jewish Frank Iny-Shammash high school in Baghdad in 1964, I joined Al-Hikma University, which was run by American Jesuits. I graduated as a civil engineer in 1968, but had no prospect of finding a job.
At a certain stage, I was accused of spying for Israel and was thrown in jail without any proof of wrong doing. I was rescued later by my parents, who paid a fat bribe for my release!
Disregarding the big risks involved, I took my younger sister Nadia and ventured to the North of Iraq. We were very lucky to be able to escape to Iran, with the help of a Kurdish gang of smugglers. We eventually arrived later safely to Israel, late 1970.
I started working for the “Standards Institution of Israel” and left there after about 27 years. Gradually, I realized that teaching grown-ups, was giving me much more satisfaction than engineering.
I taught classical Arabic and spoken Palestinian Arabic. Eventually, I decided to try and teach Judeo Arabic, something that nobody ever tried before. It took me a couple of years to prepare and to polish the syllabus. I started giving courses in different cities in Israel, including some that were subsidized heavily by the municipality of the city of Ramat Gan!
Presently, I have a few courses in classical Arabic, spoken Palestinian Arabic, Judeo Arabic aimed at Hebrew speakers and a different course for English speakers.
I give lectures about the Jews of Iraq in different clubs and gatherings. I wrote several songs and sketches in Judeo Arabic and took part in several movies as an actor, including one certain unique movie (The Dove Flyer), which spoke that dialect.
Say something interesting about your business here.
What's something exciting your business offers? Say it here.
Copyright © 2022 Judeo Arabic - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.