Before the majority of Kurdish Jews moved to Israel in 1951, many Jews used to make a pilgrimage to it each year on Shavuot. Since they left, a Chaldean family has been caring for it.
Sherzan Omer, Kurdish Jewry’s representative in the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs at the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), sent a team of consulting experts, engineers and architects to investigate the structure of the building. They reported that the building is in dire condition and might completely fall apart within a couple of months.
In a call to the United Nations and UNESCO for aid to preserve the site, Sherzad said, “This site does not only belong to Jews. It's part of human history, therefore saving the site is everyone's responsibility.”
With Iraq now a war zone filled with terrorists and rebels, it seems unlikely that anyone will respond to his call.
