Esfahan, Iran – At Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: “Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan.”
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The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around their arms to attach phylacteries and take their places. Soon the sinuous murmur of Hebrew prayer courses through the cluttered synagogue with its lovely rugs and unhappy plants. Soleiman Sedighpoor, an antiques dealer with a store full of treasures, leads the service from a podium under a chandelier.
I’d visited the bright-eyed Sedighpoor, 61, the previous day at his dusty little shop. He’d sold me, with some reluctance, a bracelet of mother-of-pearl adorned with Persian miniatures. “The father buys, the son sells,” he muttered, before inviting me to the service.
Accepting, I inquired how he felt about the chants of “Death to Israel” – “Marg bar Esraeel” – that punctuate life in Iran.
“Let them say ‘Death to Israel,’ ” he said. “I’ve been in this store 43 years and never had a problem. I’ve visited my relatives in Israel, but when I see something like the attack on Gaza, I demonstrate, too, as an Iranian.”
The Middle East is an uncomfortable neighborhood for minorities, people whose very existence rebukes warring labels of religious and national identity. Yet perhaps 25,000 Jews live on in Iran, the largest such community, along with Turkey’s, in the Muslim Middle East. There are more than a dozen synagogues in Tehran; here in Esfahan a handful caters to about 1,200 Jews, descendants of an almost 3,000-year-old community.
Over the decades since Israel’s creation in 1948, and the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the number of Iranian Jews has dwindled from about 100,000. But the exodus has been far less complete than from Arab countries, where some 800,000 Jews resided when modern Israel came into being.
In Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Iraq – countries where more than 485,000 Jews lived before 1948 – fewer than 2,000 remain. The Arab Jew has perished. The Persian Jew has fared better.
Of course, Israel’s unfinished cycle of wars has been with Arabs, not Persians, a fact that explains some of the discrepancy.
Still a mystery hovers over Iran’s Jews. It’s important to decide what’s more significant: the annihilationist anti-Israel ranting, the Holocaust denial and other Iranian provocations – or the fact of a Jewish community living, working and worshipping in relative tranquillity.
Perhaps I have a bias toward facts over words, but I say the reality of Iranian civility toward Jews tells us more about Iran – its sophistication and culture – than all the inflammatory rhetoric.
That may be because I’m a Jew and have seldom been treated with such consistent warmth as in Iran. Or perhaps I was impressed that the fury over Gaza, trumpeted on posters and Iranian TV, never spilled over into insults or violence toward Jews. Or perhaps it’s because I’m convinced the “Mad Mullah” caricature of Iran and likening of any compromise with it to Munich 1938 – a position popular in some American Jewish circles – is misleading and dangerous.
I know, if many Jews left Iran, it was for a reason. Hostility exists. The trumped-up charges of spying for Israel against a group of Shiraz Jews in 1999 showed the regime at its worst. Jews elect one representative to Parliament, but can vote for a Muslim if they prefer. A Muslim, however, cannot vote for a Jew.
Among minorities, the Bahai – seven of whom were arrested recently on charges of spying for Israel – have suffered brutally harsh treatment.
I asked Morris Motamed, once the Jewish member of the Majlis, if he felt he was used, an Iranian quisling. “I don’t,” he replied. “In fact I feel deep tolerance here toward Jews.” He said “Death to Israel” chants bother him, but went on to criticize the “double standards” that allow Israel, Pakistan and India to have a nuclear bomb, but not Iran.
Double standards don’t work anymore; the Middle East has become too sophisticated. One way to look at Iran’s scurrilous anti-Israel tirades is as a provocation to focus people on Israel’s bomb, its 41-year occupation of the West Bank, its Hamas denial, its repetitive use of overwhelming force. Iranian language can be vile, but any Middle East peace – and engagement with Tehran – will have to take account of these points.
Green Zoneism – the basing of Middle Eastern policy on the construction of imaginary worlds – has led nowhere.
Realism about Iran should take account of Esfehan’s ecumenical Palestine Square. At the synagogue, Benhur Shemian, 22, told me Gaza showed Israel’s government was “criminal,” but still he hoped for peace. At the Al-Aqsa mosque, Monteza Foroughi, 72, pointed to the synagogue and said: “They have their prophet; we have ours. And that’s fine.”
You see, there is always another side of the story. Thank you for sharing this!
Let him try to say differently
Here is what Roger Cohen has to say about the recent incursion into Gaza; “I have never previously felt so despondent about Israel, so shamed by its actions, so despairing of any peace that might terminate the dominion of the dead in favor of opportunity for the living.” I share a similar sentiment but for the exact opposite reason. What is the purpose of reprinting this article? It is a most shameful and deceitful piece of journalism. The quoting of the opinions of Iranian Jews who live on the edge of a razor and the journalist’s conclusions were predictable. In fact he could have saved a tree by simply stating: I visited with the Jews of Iran and they agree with me that the Zionist entity is the most despicably racist regime since Nazi Germany. Signed, Roger Cohen, International Herald Tribune – NY Times.
Frumme Zionists will say that these Jews are “forced” to put on tefillin before the camera in Isfahan. How pathetic!
Its funny to read the article. Firstly in Iran there is no jewish school its not allowed and thats what they call tolerance and acceptence!!! And thats why the community as a whole is irreligous and only a few old jews keep a few mitzvot. The only reason we still have brothers and cousins there and they don’t move to israel where they would fit in to the secular coulture is because its not easy leaving a place where your family has been living for close to two thousand years and just pickup and leave, and learn a new langauge. They would rather stay there. We Jews are used to hostility its become part of life for us and its no big deal to us, we live with it and don’t complain, But don’t for a second think that life is just great in Iran for the jews and any other minority!!! We don’t fool our selfs like the american jews that we are safe and that the non jews accept us, no way we are not that stupid.
Let’s see what they have to say once they are living outside of Iran.
He had an debate with Danis proger about religion and Dan put him in place
(he is a radio talk show host in California)
As an Iranian Jew, I can tell you that whatever is written here is done so to protect the Jews living in Iran. Obviously no Jew protests against the Gaza war with a whole heart. They do so because they live under constant threat and fear and they feel they have to do certain things to avoid problems. Please rememer: it is a muslim society, not tolerant to Jews as they should be, and they have publicly hanged Jews and taken their entire estates away for the “crime” of being Jewish….so Jews living in Iran cannot say the truth publicly, at least not while living in Iran! This article is misleading and does not present the real picture at all.
Iranian Jews are very faithful to Israel and to their religion and are unfortunately in a difficult situation living in Iran. We have to pray for them and for constant Divine protection. The author of this article should be ashamed to try to present an untruthful picture of life in Iran for the Jewish community that remains there.
The will to live and the will to exist is so powerful that a persecuted people will say anything and even believe in it to survive. There is a Hesped from the Noda Beyehudah on the wicked Maria Theresa queen of Austria how righteous she was, mamesh mechasidei umois ho’oilom! In order to survive, people will say anything and believe anything as long as it isn’t begeder yeherg ve’al yavor. Riboino shel oilom: How much longer will we believe that we are living in a Gan Eden hatachton, even in America? How much more will Klal Yisroel still suffer, and how many more korboness before we will be emancipated by Moshiach Tzidkeinu? How much longer before the Geulah Shelaime?
#10 youre a big fool america is a place were if youre not satisfied you can always move also there is no other land in the history of the jews were there was such a good place for jews to live remember there is no such thing as perfection you live in a world of illusion if you mention moshiach keep on dreaming you fool
These poor Iranian Yidden live in a country where the Ayatolah Hamani is worshiped as a man of alla. The Yidden have a proverbial AK-47 pointed at their heads. Wake up. They are under threat and cannot leave without permission. Remember the dozens who dissappeared trying to leave through Turkey and have not been heard of since? That is why they are there. Hostages !!! May HKBH rescue them soon. Interestingly, the Iranian kehilla in California is separate according to the city they came from and only marry each other. They have strong minhagim. We could learn from them.
#12people change, countries change thier attitude look at germany today dont tell me about the past talk about the present dont regress to a time when the whole world was in chaos talk to the point that is of the present youre answer is no answer my parents were in aushwitz my grandparents were killed there so i know what america is i can say this you have no idea what evil is i went though communism myself came here as an 11 year old you lived in the goldene medina all youre life most probably, we always used to say the ameicans are so spoiled that they have no idea what bad is nothing to eat no warm house in the winter its easy for you to talk bad about america but you dont know what youre saying beyond a shaddow of a doubt
i really cant believe that israel’s lies have convinced you that iranian jews do not live in peace. actually, in recent years emigration to israel from iran has dropped to a trickle. even the iranian jews living in israel today are trying to go home to iran because israel is a horrible place to live. oh yea and when the first ayatollah came back from exile in france he issued a fatwa declaring jews people of the book and a sepreate entity to zionism. israel killed the arab jew by forcing him out of the lands he lived for thousands of years. king cyrus freed the ancestors of the iranian jews from captivity in babalyon. . because of israel there are no more jews in the arab countries. israel bombed synogauges in iraq to convince jews to leave and come to israel and it worked. and now all those iraqi jews who owned businesses and lived welll in iraq now live horribly in israel. or yeminite jews who came to israel and then go back to yemen. and please folks dont forget operation susanna, where israel hired spies to atta ck sites in egypt so the jews would believe that the situation was deteriorating and they would go to israel.
FYI: a majority of jews in iran are religious. by law they are forbidden to drive on shabbos, .
#15 i think i am more realistic then you are i daven also say ani mamin but lets live in the real world there are things i cannot dare write here that i experienced already in my life and im not old of course people dont live 200 years thats why they arent alive today i can see youre a person who has the luxury in this world to talk the way you do most probably youre parents helpt you alot in life and youre life here in usa was pretty good but most of us have a very hard life making ends meet having a good job
having a traumating experience in life opens a persons eye like nothing else can
you appreciate something like health only after you loose it you can mention moshiah as much as you want but when times get difficult youre on youre own good luck to all of us things can get much toughter then they are now so dont complain too much because youll never ever find perfection in anything be realistic thats all im saying
#16 oy vey iz mir you really believe that in a country like iran which shamelesly announced it wants to destroy israel is a normal country how deluded can you get #16 if you think iran is not evil you must be a neturei karta mindless morons that they are its too much to think people are so indifferent and blind to reality its beyond insanity #16 you need lots of help if you think the iranian leaders are sane to me they are very very similar to the natzis almost identical
people or countries who cant accept israel and want it to go away or destroy are evil israel exisits over 60 years already who in their right mind thinks it will just dissapear this is unbelievable those countries like iran are focusing on israel because they know in their hearts that the mullahs are misleading them and leading them into destruction religious people should never be into politics the ayatholas are dictators vicious heartless selfish individuals they are far worse then the shah was and because of the muhlahs many iranians lost their lifes and even woman are being tortured and killed anyone who thinks that this is allright for religious leaders to ignore is tottaly insane
i lived in israel for many years before returning to america and if you think that the religious leaders in iran are nuts you should see the bozo religious leaders in israel. if it were up to them they would make israel a halacha run state no different from iran. except of course jews would rather live in iran….
iran does not want to destroy israel and Ahmannedjad is a mouth piece who has no power to suddenly launch missiles t israel. iran has to put on a radical islamic face to hide the fact that in reality iran is a free and democratic nation in which jews and minorities are protected by iran’s constitution..