Cantorial Comments

By

Cantor Elihu Feldman

The Music of Saddam Hussein’s Jews

The present day Iraqi Jewish community, although extremely small,

takes pride in the fact that it is the most ancient Jewish community in

Diaspora (Jewish communities outside of Israel). Iraqi Jews of today

were once a part of a large and well developed Jewish community in ancient

Babylonia and Mesopotamia and have a distinct tradition, culture and music of

their very own.

Understanding and categorizing the special sounds of Jewish music of

Iraqi origin has been a topic of research pursued by several Jewish musicologists.

As a result, several genres of Jewish Iraqi music have been identified. These

include: lullabies, wedding songs, piyyutim (liturgical poetry), mournful

lamentations, love songs, shevahot (songs of praise), Chalgi Baghdad ensembles,

and the belly dancer and daqqaqat traditions.

Since the various genres of Iraqi Jewish Music are products of the history of

the Jews of Iraq, the history of this once vibrant Jewish Community needs to be

understood. The contemporary Jewish Community of Iraq is a descendant of the

Jewish Community of Bavel, or the Jewish Community of Babylonia. It is here

where the Babylonian Talmud was compiled and where Jews and Judaism

flourished to its highest level.

After the destruction of the First Temple, in Jerusalem, in 586 B.C.E. most of the

Israelites were exiled from Israel to Babylonia (Today’s Iraq). The majority of

these remained in Babylonia for over 2000 years. In Babylonia, Jews periodically

suffered persecution and discrimination. However, surviving documentation from

that historical era shows that the Jewish community of Babylonia flourished, and

that its integration and friendly ties with Moslem neighbors did not interfere with

the degree to which its community was close-knit and vibrant.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Jews of Iraq, and especially of

Baghdad, were becoming more modernized. They enjoyed relative freedom in

religious practice, and equality of rights had also been granted to them. In

addition, they prospered economically and engaged in the trade of silk, textiles,

precious stones, and food stuffs with Syria, India, Vienna, Singapore, Persia, and

London.

After the First World War, under British rule, the political situation of

the Babylonian Iraqi Jews improved further as did their education. Some

Iraqi Jews were elected to Parliament. Many Jewish intellectuals had

graduated from the Jewish Iraqi educational system, speaking Arabic, Hebrew,

English, and French.

In the early 1900s, the Zionist movement also made its way to Iraq. This marked

the beginning of the deterioration of the Jews of Iraq. From 1929 onward, Jews

were persecuted for Zionist beliefs and activities. Many teachers of Hebrew who

had come from Palestine were forced to leave. By the Second World War, Iraq

was solely under Iraqi rule, and in 1948, martial law was imposed. At this time,

tens of thousands of Jews fled to Iran and some went to Israel. From May 1950 to

August 1951 there was a legal mass exodus to Israel, or as some would say "back

to" Israel, after about 2500 years of Diaspora. At this point, the Jews were

permitted to leave their homes (and properties and goods) in Iraq if they

relinquished their citizenship. Since 1950, Iraqi the Jews who remained in Iraq

have been victimized by the government whenever it was politically convenient.

Before the Aliyah ( return to Israel), Jews of Iraq mainly lived together in the

cities of Baghdad and Basra. They lived among Moslems, and adhered to, and

appreciated, the Moslems' strict rules of modesty and dignity. Not unlike the

Moslems, the Jews of this Arab land were highly traditional. It would be

misleading to discuss their music without considering the religious culture of

Iraqi Jewry, for this religious culture has been intricately woven into all aspects

of their lives.

The music of the Jews in Iraq could be heard and enjoyed in several venues:

sidewalk cafés, henna (wedding and engagement) parties, circumcision

ceremonies, weddings, the nursery, and the death bed. Music was truly a part of

everyday life.

One of the most prominent form of Jewish Iraqi music was called the Shevachot.

Shevachot were songs of praise that accompanied every significant event in

the life of the Jewish community of Iraq. Religious ceremonies and festivities

were filled with song, and dance and always include Shevachot (songs of

Praise).These were a part of the Sabbath observance, circumcision ceremonies

(Brit-Milah), Bar Mitzvahs, Pideon Haben (which celebrated the birth of a first

-born son), and festivities commemorating the beginning of a new month. The

shevahot praised God and specific prophets, for example, Samuel, Jeremiah

and Deborah. Iraqi Jews have taken particular pride in the fact that many of the

great Hebrew prophets lived (and died) in Babylon, for instance, Ezekiel,

Nehemiah and Zechariah.

The shevahot were passed down through generations in oral tradition. Most

are sung in Hebrew. On religious holidays and in the synagogues, these

compositions were not accompanied instrumentally, due to the prohibition

in Jewish law, since the destruction of the Temple, against playing

instruments on the Sabbath and high holidays.

Another genre of Iraqi Jewish music was called the Chalgi Baghdad.

The chalgi Baghdad (pronounced chalri Baghdad) comprises an ensemble that

was generally dominated by Jews. In fact, there were three forms of Chalgi

Baghdad: al mazika-l-ahila (music of the locals), al mazika-l-sha 'bia (popular

music, or music of the public), and mazikat-ilyahud (music of the Jews).

Unlike the liturgical music, chalgi Baghdad was heard on the airwaves.

Amnon Shiloah wrote that "the great majority of art music composers in Iraq

were Jews." Moslems disdained music and musicians, and assigned musical roles

to ethnic minorities. In this way, Iraqi Jews were absorbed into the general

musical life of Iraq. The fact that Jewish singing was usually accompanied

(except on Sabbath and High Holidays) "enabled Jewish musicians to adopt the

surrounding art music with greater facility, suiting it to the sacred texts".

The Chalgi bands were composed of the standard 'ud, (lute) kemenje (fiddle),

dumbuk (drum), qanoon, (dulcimer), and a singer. Some compositions

include, as well, the flute, santour (dulcimer), and a tambourine-bike drum,

the daff.

The songs sung in the chalgi were popular songs of Iraq that did not

necessarily have a Jewish theme. These narrative songs employed themes of

love of all kinds—tragically lost, suddenly found, regained, forbidden,

misinterpreted, romantic, and passionate—and emotions such as sadness,

longing, happiness, and admiration for nature. The chalgi Baghdad ensemble

could be heard on radio, in coffee houses, and at large parties and such

family gatherings as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.

Another genre of Jewish music in Iraq was the Daqqaqat. The daqqaqat troupe

consisted of a small group of women (from about three or four to seven or eight)

who sang and played diverse drums.

The daqqaqat troupes were brought in at weddings where they would

improvise songs complimenting the bride's beauty or praising the father's

decency and generosity. They would pick out other honorable guests and

invent songs about them too. The idea of praising and complimenting

(especially generosity) was important because the daqqaqat musicians made

their living solely from tips. Money was literally thrown to them by

guests.

Belly Dancing

Also among the women musicians of Iraq were highly famed Jewish belly

dancers. They were generally hired by the wealthy, and their function was to

enliven parties. A few of these belly dancers were lower-class Jewish women of

questionable backgrounds. Like the daqqaqat, the belly dancers relied primarily

on gratuities for their income.

The belly dancing tradition was never extremely strong among Iraqi Jewish

women. But like Arabic music, Arabic dancing continues to be

enjoyed by some Iraqis at night clubs, and is commissioned on occasion as

entertainment in people's homes for special events.

The music of the Iraqi Jew is never referred to merely as "music" by its

participants. It is always the "musical tradition" or "musical heritage."

For Iraqi Jews, the music does not exist in and of itself. It is strongly

tied to family life, and to the celebration of religion and culture. As

long as these continue, the musical culture, tradition, and heritage of

the Iraqi Jew will continue to thrive.

Sincerely,

Cantor Elihu Feldman