Waubonsee Community College

Jews of Iran, produced by Greg Wilesmith for Australian Broadcasting Corporation

eng

videorecording

For College; Adult audiences

Jews of Iran

electronic resource

747796976

produced by Greg Wilesmith for Australian Broadcasting Corporation

13

Largely forgotten by the rest of the world, Iran is home to the largest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel. After the revolution in 1979, a majority of the Jews fled, many to the United States, but 25,000 still remain. How are they faring? The film takes the viewer to a bazaar where Moses Baba runs the shop his grandfather started 95 year ago. He is the exception to the rule of keeping a low profile as he exuberantly invites visitors to have a glass of vodka (forbidden in Islamic Iran except to Jews). Behind closed doors, Jewish women discard the required head scarves and celebrate ceremonies such as circumcision. Occasionally an expatriate will return for a visit; we meet one who is seeking a Jewish bride who has not been exposed to the freedom that American girls enjoy. The Jewish community has become more devout since 1979 and there are 22 synagogues in Tehran. Despite periodic harassment the constitution protects Iran s Jews and they are even represented by one member in Parliament --a precarious position since the Parliament periodically calls for the destruction of Israel. Iran s Jews claim a lineage stretching back almost three thousand years to the Persian king Cyrus the Great who conquered Babylon and freed the Jewish slaves. The younger generation may yearn to go to America, but to the older Jews, Iran is in their blood

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