Reeling from war after synagogue wrecked, Iran’s Jews staying loyal to regime
Tehran synagogue said holding event Friday in honor of slain Iranians, as homes of some in small community suffer damage during weeks of US-Israeli strikes; Torah scrolls unharmed
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The ongoing ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran has allowed the Islamic Republic’s small Jewish community a moment to breathe, and to assert its loyalty while maintaining a low profile.
Leaders of the community, including Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar, will be holding an event at a Tehran synagogue on Friday at which psalms will be read in honor of Iranians killed in the war, Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported Thursday.
The community hunkered down last month amid repeated waves of airstrikes that — while not hurting anyone in the community — did cause damage to some Jewish homes, and largely destroyed a synagogue in the capital city of Tehran.
The Rafi Niya synagogue was heavily damaged as a result of an Israeli strike on a nearby target earlier this month, according to reports, although Kan reported that the synagogue’s Torah scrolls, unlike other holy books in the building, were unharmed.
Israel has said the attack targeted a senior Iranian commander and that the military regretted the inadvertent “collateral damage” to the synagogue.
Kan reported that throughout the war, Iran’s Jewish community has sought to maintain routine as much as possible, in the absence of public events, citing sources in touch with Iran’s Jews. Weddings were postponed, and other events were postponed or canceled altogether, the sources said.
Iranian outlet Mehr News Agency says a Jewish synagogue in central Tehran was badly damaged during US-Israeli airstrikes. pic.twitter.com/giRLdw0xsr
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Iran’s Jewish community is estimated at between 8,000 and 15,000, with most located in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were some 100,000 Jews in the country. Iran still has the second-largest Jewish population of any country in the Middle East, after Israel.
About 25 synagogues are believed to remain in Iran, sources indicate, as well as several kosher restaurants, an old-age home, a cemetery and a Jewish library.
Jews are subject to several legal limitations, including being barred from holding significant government positions. There is a single seat in Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, reserved for a Jewish representative.
Iran’s Jews are frequently used as mouthpieces by the Iranian regime, making it difficult to gauge the community’s real sentiments, analysts have noted.
The Times of Israel Community.