The Denver Jewish news., 1924-10-30
A TALE OF BAGDAD-
ELIEZER s. kADOORIE
copyright, 1921. Jewish TclcgrnphIc
BY u AIIROY

crn Hemisphere for many, many cen
turtles. once the residence ~ the
caliph's, center Of Arabic culture nt n
time when Europe was stlll swaddlcl
In Infancy, 1t shows brilliantly over
Asm Minor and continued through
tradition to influence the cultures and
civilizations which conquered aud dis
placed 1t.
To the Jewish mind Bagdnd has al
most the same appeal as any other city
in Palestine. Perhaps Judaism, ms de
ycloped In the post. Biblical period, had
its Inception and place Of growth on
the site of this ancient city. The
academies of Sura. pumbedlta and Ne
hcrdaca, the memorable cities Of Iraq
were the smithes where the iron
strong foundation Of Jewish thought
was created and hammered into tile
Jewish Intellect to remain under the
influence of this branch Of learning to
the present day. Babylonian Jcwry,
which was transplanted by compulslon
or natural expansion from the Jordan
to the plains between the Tigres and
the Euphrates was, In the Kaleidoscope
, change of climates, scenes and tradi-
tlons under which Jewish communities
were founded, perhaps the strongest
factor to leave its impress on the de-
velopment of Jewish history.
Beginning with the time when the
leaders of the Jewish rebellion and
Jewish scholars had to flee under the
pressure of the Roman legions, 10 the
Gaonic Epoch, down to the ninth and
tenth centuries of the present era,
Mcsopotumian Jcwry held the dominant
position in Jewish life. Africa, follow
ed by Spain. France. Germany, Poland,
Russia and, the last but not least,
America, We're the successors to the
heritage of Mesopotamia. Until recent
| ly. before the conclusion of the World
War. and the renewed interest in Pal
estine and the neighboring countries,
Mesopotamlan Jewry, and its center,
Bagdad, were merely a fascinating
name without meaning in reality as
the Arabian tales of Bagdad are.
One becomes reminiscent of almost
the entire Jewish history and hopeful
for future bright developments ON the
scene of the former Jewish history
when one has the opportunity of meet
| ing In New York Eliczer Kadocrie of
Shanghai on his way through London
to Jerusalem and his place of nativity,
Bagdad You have almost encircled
the globe in reading this sentence.
The very rotation of the earth can be
scnsed in his name the Hebrew ka-
door is equal to .'glopc'-Kadoorie
means nothing less than the man Of
the globe" Eliczer Kadooric is in
deed the man of the globe. His life,
his many activities and interests ex-
tended to the farthcst corners of the
world. Born in Baglad, at the age Of
twelve he left for China with his broth
er. the well-known late Sir Ellis Ka-
doorie. The boy Of Bagdad traversed
the Kingdom of Flowers, along paths
which were not full of roses. In
born intelligence and application of
skill and foresight have built up what
is now known from the Pacific TO the
Mediterranean as the Kadoorie Inter
ests
However. the Kadooric Interests are
not limited to the individual or the
| family. 1t implies, as does the name,
interest in commercial philanthropic
and educational development in many
cities of the entire globe. Eliezer Ka-
doorie maintains schools. hospitals and
ether welfare institutions in Shanghai,
Hongkong, England, France, Constan-
tinoplc and Bagdad with bcnevolencc
not only to people of his race but to
all wlro are in need without distinction
of race and religion. In Constantinople
Mr. Kadoorie is interested in the Laura
Kadoorie hospital, an institution erect
ed in memory of his late wife; in Bag
dad Mr.. Kadoorie established n school
for girls with capacity of over 1000
students. This school is one of the
| finest educational Institutions in the
Near East. English, French, Arabic
and Hebrew are being taught. An
other of Mr.. KadoorieS Institutions in
Bagdad is the Remah Kadoorle Eye
Hospital in memory of his mother,
Remuh, an institution most benevolent
in the Near East where eye diseases
are so prevalent The French Acad-
cmy, as well as the French government
have bestowed upon Eliezer Kadoorie
several medals in recognition of his
services in the fields OF education and
philanthropy to France at home and
abroad. In Shanghai, Mr.. Kadoorle
maintains fer the Jewish community n
school with a capacity of 40 boys and