Midrash Bet Zilkha

Midrash Bet Zilkha (or Midrash Abu Menashi) was an important Bet Midrash in Baghdad which was renowned among Eastern Jewry from the mid-19th to mid-20th centuries. Many of the great Babylonian rabbis of modern times arose from its halls, and rabbis from across the Arab world pursued advanced studies there.

Before the establishment of the Midrash, Hakham Abdallah Somekh would teach students free of charge. This was noted with warm approval by the Baghdadi grandee Ezekiel Reuben, who had a history of making generous contributions to charitable enterprises in Iraq and Ottoman Palestine, including the establishment of the Beis Yaa’kov Synagogue for the Perushim in the Old City of Jerusalem. In 1840, Reuben bought a suitable courtyard and built a rabbinical school devoted to Somekh’s students. It was first entitled Midrash Abu Menashi, after the Arabic nickname bestowed upon Reuben when he had his son Menashi (pronounced with an ultimate “i” according to the Iraqi dialect of Judaeo-Arabic).

Abu Menashi contributed large sums to cover monthly living stipends for the student body. In those days there was also a large Heder called Midrash Talmud Torah which catered to orphans and children of the poor, and Somekh brought the top students to his Midrash to teach them Talmud and Posekim. Abu Menashi’s support of the expanded student body remained strong, sometimes extending to matchmaking and maintenance of their families.

With time, Somekh’s efforts began to bear fruit. As the school expanded, its students earned an increasing reputation for wisdom and erudition. Graduates assumed positions as instructors within the institution, earning the title Hakham as each began to teach his own small Yeshiva of students.

The traveller Benjamin II, who visited Baghdad in 1848, described his impression of the Midrash as follows:

Ezekiel Reuben passed away on the 14th of Tamuz, 5611 (1851), leaving behind two similarly generous sons, Menashi and Sassoon. Not only did they retain their father’s stipends, but they also created new ones for students who had not been funded in his lifetime, and added to the base budget of the Midrash so that the students could learn with their full hearts.

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