"We Are Two People Intertwined."
Iranian Jewish voices in this moment
Happy Friday!
I hope you had a joyous and fun Purim. To my friends in Israel, I hope you stayed safe and continue to have a safe and quiet Shabbat.
Personally, my Purim was nice, but I wanted more relevance to what’s happening today, like a simple acknowledgement of the parallels. We’re living through history right now, one that hopefully has a good ending. That’s why this Purim, a holiday about Jews overcoming a tyrant in ancient Persia, felt chillingly relevant and surreal as Israel and the U.S. killed a modern-day tyrant who wanted to wipe Jews off the map. Let’s party to that!
Instead, at the Purim celebration I attended, there was no mention of today’s Haman. We rushed through the megillah and handed out feathered masks because people couldn’t bother to dress up. The food was good though.
Meanwhile in Israel this week, people dressed up and partied despite being in bomb shelters. Some couples got married while in shelter. The ingenious people of the Start-up Nation even made a website to show the best times to shower so you don’t get caught running to safety in a towel, for crying out loud!! Or should I say for drying out loud? (lol sorry)
My thoughts are with Israelis and Iranians this week. Every week, really, until the Islamic regime is taken down. Because this isn’t just about a safer Israel or Middle East. This is about a safer world. And no, that doesn’t make me “pro-Trump” or “pro-war.”
My thoughts are especially with my Jewish Iranian friends who hold both identities and are members of both communities. This must be an incredibly difficult time for them, as both countries they feel deeply connected to are at war, and some still have family in Iran.
That’s why I’ll stop rambling, and let them speak for themselves. Thank you to those who shared their honest and personal thoughts.
“When my family left everything behind in Iran 47 years ago to escape this evil regime of terror and dictatorship, they never thought they would see a day in their lifetime when they might have an opportunity to visit the streets where they grew up and made so many memories. We pray for the freedom of all the innocent Iranians who have been pleading for almost 50 years to other nations of the world to come to their rescue. We thank the United States of America and Israel for standing up and coming to face to face with the root of all evil. While it is terrible that there will be much loss of life and destruction to achieve the goal of liberating the Iranian people, we are confident that the hour of freedom for our people is near. Perhaps someday I can walk the streets of the places where my parents and grandparents lived and I can visit the graves of my great-grandparents who have not been visited since the Revolution of 1979.” -Nabila (read her Drop here!)
“Haman being killed was a major healing for our hearts. We are so grateful to Israel and Israelis. May we continue to hear good news ‘til Iran is free.” -anonymous
“The people of Iran have waited for this moment for almost 50 years. Listen to anti-regime Iranians and uplift their voices, or don’t bother speaking at all.” -Michael Valdes (@hotjewishenergy)
“There’s a mix of immense joy and hope, and a lot of worry and sadness. The joy/hope is that intervention finally happened and an awful being is no longer here. The hope is that America and Israel will follow through and topple the regime, its leaders, and especially the IRGC, and provide the people the opportunity to takeover control of the country. A transitional government toward democracy (whatever form that may be—republic or constitutional monarchy) is the goal.
The sadness is seeing coworkers and non-Iranian friends suddenly care about the Islamic Republic and take on the anti-war mantle. It’s like watching the pro-Palestine crew reassemble, only I receive messages stating how sorry they are of this tragedy befalling Iran. They are always shocked when I tell them we feel the opposite. It’s usually a mixture of ignorance and semi-legitimate worry based on past interventionism.
Those who are ignorant (or just didn’t pay attention in history class) and have dabbled in the pro-Pali movement post Oct. 7 get a kind of look on their face, like they’ve smelled the piles of garbage Mamdani hasn’t picked up, when I tell them 2,500 years ago, King Cyrus the Great of Persia liberated the Jews from Babylon and permitted them to return to Jerusalem. My family decided it was better to stay in Persia. Today, 2,500 years later, the nation of Israel (Bani Isra’il) is returning the favor and liberating the Persian nation—we are two people intertwined and have given so much to humanity.
The other type is worried this is another Iraq. Most times they think Iran is Iraq. I literally have to tell them we gave Iraq its name, and we are not Arab. The mentality is different. The way of protesting is different—have they noticed we don’t vandalize or destroy property during our protests?
Nevertheless, I stress how thankful we are for our American service men and women, and we appreciate the sacrifice. I then find myself needing to tell them how it is that my family ended up fleeing the Islamic Republic, losing everything. My father was accused of being a spy (guess for who) and overnight they had to disappear. He went from being a person with wealth to having nothing. The regime took all his assets as punishment, and all of my grandfather’s as well, and prohibited him from leaving Iran unless he converted, which he did in 1998 just to get out and pass away a year or two later.
So, joy and hope still motivate us and we hope that liberation comes soon!” -Daniel
Thank you, friends. Let us pray for peace. If prayer isn’t your thing, here’s some music:
Shabbat Shalom! Next year in Tehran,
💧If you’re interested in Iran, check out this Drop:
The Secret History of Iran's Mashhadi Jews
Salam Aleikum (Peace be onto you)! My name is Nabila Levian and I am a first-generation Iranian Jew. Jews have been living in what is now Iran since the Babylonian Exile in the 6th Century BCE. Many are from all over Iran — Tehran, Shiraz, etc. My family comes from Mashhad, a city in northeast Iran.
Another great Shabbat Drop. While I get that Trump has a terrible aesthetic and presided over the Dobbs decision revoking nationally legal abortions, outside of that (and I get it's a deal breaker for many, even though it was the courts and not legislative) from a more objective perspective, Trump has been a net positive for the country and the world. Locally, he's cut taxes, pushed back hard on the growing culture of antisemitism at our elite universities, miraculously negotiated the peaceful return of Israeli hostages and achieved a semi-solid ceasefire in Gaza, and now is finally defanging the horrendous Iranian Islamic regime. It's inconceivable to me that a Democratic president would have done any of this. Zero. Anyway, just sharing that I think it's OK to be pro-Trump if people like Kamala Harris and now perhaps Gavin Newsom are the options. Shabbos!