An interview with a member of Iran's Jewish community in Iran who, understandably, requested anonymity
The surprising photographs were a stark reminder that a Jewish kehillah still exists in Iran. With a population variously pegged between 8,000 and 15,000, mainly concentrated in the cities of Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, the community supports a network of religious services, including shuls, yeshivos, kollelim, shechitah, mikvaos, and training for mohelim. Rabbi Grami, in his forties, was allowed as a bochur to leave Iran to learn in yeshivos, among them Ner Israel in Baltimore. He also has semichah from Rav Moshe Heinemann.
Rabbi Avichai Rachimi, an activist in Israel who serves as a link between Jewish communities and Iranian opposition groups and is in constant contact with Iran’s Jewish community, provided some background to the photos. “Soleimani fought for his country in the Iran-Iraq War. The Islamic Republic views him as a war hero, not as a terrorist. So the chief rabbi and other Jewish leaders were required to visit Soleimani’s family to offer their condolences.”
This week I corresponded with a member of the Jewish community in Iran who, understandably, requested anonymity.
“The Jewish community in Iran traces its roots 2,700 years back, from Galus Ashur [the exile of the Ten Shevatim by Assyria].
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