Congregation Etz Chaim hosted a cultural event and panel discussion on Sunday, March 15, MENA (Middle East and North Africa) Voices: Jewish Voices from Iran. The event examined the past and the uncertain present of Iran’s Jewish community.
The panel featured Yarden Neeman, an Israeli Jew of Persian descent; Sean Nahari, whose family fled Iran in 1979; Mo Shaw, a Persian American Jew whose grandparents settled in Cincinnati; and Anna Selman, a first-generation Persian American from Orange County, California.
Organizers hope to expand the MENA Voices series and hold events focused on Jewish communities across the region to highlight the often-unknown or overlooked history of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews.
“In America, there’s such a focus on Ashkenazi history,” said Mo Shaw. “That’s a very important part of our story, but it’s a very small part. We are people of the Middle East, too, and we need to understand that history.”
The program began with a brief history lecture by the community shaliach, Tzach Shmuley, on the over 2,500-year history of the Jewish community in Iran.
Jewish life in Iran traces back to the Babylonian exile after the destruction of the First Temple. When the Persian Empire conquered Babylon, some Jews stayed behind rather than returning home, forming the roots of a community that has existed there for more than two millennia.
Shmuley noted that Jewish communities in the MENA region predate both Islam and the Arab conquests of later centuries.
In Iran, Jewish communities developed customs and practices that are not found in Ashkenazi practice.
“In our Passover seder, during ‘Dayenu,’ we like to playfully hit one another with green onions,” said Yarden Neeman. “It’s a fun tradition, especially for the kids.”
Iran has long been home to a diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups, many of whom share cultural traditions, including Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which is still celebrated by many Persian Jews in America.
“I grew up as a first‑generation American in Orange County, in a big Persian community, and it wasn’t divided by religion,” said Anna Selman. “At a house party, you’d have Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Bahá’ís. We were all just Persians hanging out together.”
Until the 20th century, Jews in Iran faced legal and social restrictions as a religious minority, limiting their access to certain jobs, property, and public life.
In the 20th century, the Shah westernized and modernized the country. Removing religious laws that made Jews second-class citizens. Expanding rights and increasing access to education, professions, and opportunities. The 1920s to the 1970s were a golden age for Jews in Iran.
Iran’s Jewish population peaked at around 150,000 in the mid-20th century. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the crackdown on religious minorities that followed, most fled the country. Today, about 8,000 Jews remain, still the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel.
“My family came over from Iran in 1979 on what was essentially the last Israeli flight from Tehran to Tel Aviv,” said Sean Nahari. “That’s how quickly everything changed for us once the revolution took hold.”
The discussion eventually turned to the current events enveloping the region, the conflict between the U.S., Israel, and Iran. that has seen weeks of bombing in Tehran around Iran, and retaliatory strikes from Iran on Israel and Gulf countries.
“Most Iranians don’t believe in this government,” said Nahari. “A lot of people outside see what’s on the news and think that’s the whole story, but it isn’t. Ordinary Iranians are tired of 40-plus years of repression and brutality.”
Little reliable information is coming out of Iran beyond state media, and panelists acknowledged the uncertainty, especially as the government continues to crack down on dissent. Still, several said the moment has only deepened their connection to their heritage and the importance of preserving it.
“My grandmother brought two things from the old country: a Persian stringed instrument and a cloth scroll,” said Mo Shaw. “She brought that scroll so I would know, and her great-grandkids would know, where we came from.”