Tension has reigned in recent years between Washington and Baghdad regarding the future of a rare treasure trove: the archives of Iraq’s Jewish community. The collection includes about a thousand precious artifacts, mainly books of Jewish law and commentaries that served the Babylonian rabbinical colleges and its eminent rabbis since the 16th century.

For the last decade, the artifacts have been held at the US National Archives and Records Administration in Washington. Experts there have been restoring the archive collection after it was damaged in the American bombings of Baghdad in 2003. The Iraqi government views it as a national asset and demands that it be returned to its authority. In fact, the collection’s status was fixed in a written agreement between the two countries. But now a third party, which is not a party to the agreement, categorically demands ownership of the treasure. They are "the Jews of Babylonia." Are they truly entitled to it?

No one disagrees that the collection is important, even priceless. The Americans imposed a blackout on the collection’s contents as if it were a sensitive security secret. The collection, housed in sealed boxes, fell into the hands of George W. Bush’s army after the fall of Baghdad, and was then flown to the United States. However, we know from leaked information that it includes unique manuscripts: a copy of the Bible’s third section, or Ketuvim (Writings), printed in Venice in 1568; and a book of commentary called "Birkat Avraham" by Rabbi Avraham Ben Elijah Broda from Kushta, or today’s Istanbul, which was published in the same city in 1696. The collection also contains community records such as registration of deaths, births and marriages; ancient prayer books; and Hebrew-language instruction books. For dozens of years, this collection was ignored and left high and dry by Saddam Hussein. In the wake of the attack on the capital city, the basement of the Iraqi Intelligence Agency was flooded and most of the artifacts were severely damaged.

Uncle Sam destroys, Uncle Sam comes to the rescue and restores. In an arrangement signed between representatives of the Iraqi and American governments in August 2003, it was spelled out that the collection would be returned to its homeland after two years of restoration work. But the work was extensive and the fulfillment of the American promise was delayed. The agreement was extended, and the final date for returning the artifacts was set for summer 2014.