I spent an incredible Shabbos in Great Neck with the Persian community
Think suburbia, and Great Neck, just a 35-minute drive from Manhattan, comes to mind. But not only did this quiet hamlet transform itself to one with a Jewish majority over the last half century, since the 1980s an influx of Iranian Jews has created a corner of ancient Persia in this once all-gentile suburb.
I spent an incredible Shabbos in Great Neck with the Persian community as part of a speaking tour for Efrat, an organization dedicated to bringing Jewish children into the world through various types of support. The Persian community is known for its steadfast adherence to its special traditions, and also for its hachnassas orchim — so I felt immediately welcome and comfortable enough to strike up meaningful conversations, some of which have left a lingering impact.
On Friday night at one of the local shuls where many of the congregants are Iranian-born, a woman sitting next to me in the ezras nashim was quite friendly, and during our conversation after davening about the various schools in the town, she revealed that her son attends public school.
I couldn’t hide my dismay — this woman is sitting next to me in shul yet doesn’t appreciate the importance of a Jewish education? What reason could she have for not sending her child to learn Torah and make Jewish friends instead of mingling among non-Jews? Given the character of the neighborhood, I was pretty sure it wasn’t for financial reasons….
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