Iraq’s Jewish Community Working to Restore Long Forgotten Rabbi’s Shrine in Baghdad

By Staff, Agencies

Workers in Baghdad are working to restore an ancient rabbi's shrine as part of an initiative to preserve the dwindling cultural legacy of Iraq’s Jewish community.

Months ago, Rabbi Isaac Gaon’s tomb lay in ruins—cluttered with debris, its door rusted shut, windows broken, and walls darkened by years of abandonment.

Now, the once-small grave is covered with shiny marble tiles. In the middle, there’s a big tombstone with the rabbi’s name, a holy verse, and the year he died—688. Behind it, a silver menorah hangs on the wall.

"It was a garbage dump and we were not allowed to restore it," said the head of Iraq's Jewish community, Khalida Elyahu.

In an effort to reclaim their heritage, the community is independently funding a $150,000 restoration of the rabbi's shrine.

Elyahu stated the initiative would spark "a revival for our community, both within and outside Iraq." Supported by Iraqi authorities, she expressed ambitions to rehabilitate additional abandoned Jewish heritage sites.

The shrine held deep significance for locals as a sacred refuge.

A local resident said that "people came here to pray for the sick, for babies, and even for prisoners’ release. Rabbi Isaac was a revered man."

Rabbi Isaac Gaon was prominent during the Gaonic period, also known as the era of Babylonian academies for rabbis.

The term "Gaon" is likely to refer to his position as the head of one such academy.

Iraq was formerly home to one of the most significant Jewish populations in West Asia, which has now diminished to merely a few dozen individuals

In Baghdad, the last remaining synagogue stands without rabbis, and neighborhoods once bustling with Jewish life now contain only crumbling, abandoned homes.

Years of turmoil—including Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, the 2003 US invasion, and subsequent militancy —precipitated the community's near-total disappearance.