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Al Morris
My parents and family background is Middle Eastern (Sephardic) Jewish. They are from a small village in Mesopotamia, between Baghdad and Basra on the Tigress River. The village is known as Al-Azair...view moreMy parents and family background is Middle Eastern (Sephardic) Jewish. They are from a small village in Mesopotamia, between Baghdad and Basra on the Tigress River. The village is known as Al-Azair and is the Tomb of Ezra, (Judge and Scribe in the Torah and Old Testament). It is a holy site for Christian, Muslim and Jews, accommodating pilgrims of the three faiths. My family, were for generations, the caretakers and administrators of the Tomb, until 1948 when the Jews were banished from Iraq, and now dispersed in Israel, America and Australia. I am a grandson of the last Jewish caretaker of the Tomb.
Born in Shanghai, I came to Australia as a babe-in-arms in 1925. My parents were stateless, as when they left Mesopotamia, the state of Iraq did not exist. I was always fascinated by the religious knowledge of my father who could recite, in Aramaic, the five books of the Torah. He learnt them from the first to last word (year after year) until the age of thirteen. After about five years living in Australia isolated from his extended family, he became disenchanted with Judaism, and became an atheist.
My real education started when I left school and started my working life at the age of fourteen. Two years and forty jobs later, having never been sacked, always seeking improvement, I finally found my niche` in marine engineering. This involved a five year apprenticeship with three nights per week at college and working on the mechanical repair of ships in Sydney Harbor - from the Queen Mary1, to battleships, navel torpedo boats and cargo ships. In between studying for exams, and reading, I joined a surf life saving club, engaging in week-end beach patrol each summer. In winter I played Rugby League Football in district competition and between seasons, went on camping and hunting trips with mates, in the natural bushland around Sydney. In 1945 after the war, I worked my way around Australia in a variety of activities and professions. I learnt from all people from hoboes, to academics and ended up as Engineer on a Government Fisheries survey ship. I spent the next two Unforgettable years on the “MV Fairwind” working the coastline of Papua –New Guinea and adjacent Islands of the South Pacific; dealing with various local inhabitants, diving and spear fishing with them on the coral reefs.
At twenty-five, I returned home, married, built my own house, started a family and an engineering construction business in partnership with a friend. As business demand grew and equipment was scarce, I designed and built eight mobile cranes over the next fifteen years, pioneering the development of hydraulics in construction machinery. After five years, we decided to structure the business around each having three months annual vacations. With a caravan, my wife and two children, we had many adventure packed trips. Among the most notable were, buying a mine and digging for opals in Lightning Ridge, buying a fifty foot prawn boat and trawling banana prawns in the Gulf of Carpentaria and marooning ourselves for a month on an uninhabited island on the Great Barrier Reef,. In between, I enjoyed other activities such as surfing, spear-fishing, sailing, hang-gliding and in retirement lawn bowls.
After selling the engineering business thirtyfive years on, I entered into a partnership with a young man in the motorcycle spare parts business. I bought used parts and motorbikes in Japan and he sold them in Sydney. After three successful years, I received an offer from a cousin in Los Angeles to manage his Hong Kong production of fashion garments for distribution in the US. The offer was too good to refuse and I sold my share in the bike business and moved with my wife to Hong Kong. Travelling to many Cities in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines was an exiting lifestyle. However, after three years, we missed family life and returned home. I have two daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
I have emerged, blessed with good health and a well nourished intellect in the area of philosophy, theology and humanity. Having travelled extensively, read widely and searched deeply into nature and the human spirit, this book encapsulates the cause, effect and the cure for the ravages of war and economic, social, and religious conflicts. The exclusivity and extremist elements of the three main stream religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam have largely contributed to our present chaotic condition. If these problems are allowed to persist, then the life we have inherited, may be no more than a terminal disease.
On my Journey, the spiritual and secular experiences in my life have been uplifting and awe-inspiring. I invite you to enter this realm and help change the world.view less
Books by Al Morris
Civilisation Hijacked: Rescuing Jesus from Christianity and the Human Spirit from Bondage