Patricia Saenger: Iran is home to Middle East’s largest Jewish population outside Israel

To The Daily Sun,

A recent letter to the editor (Sheila Kufert Feb. 11) asserted that "certainly" no Jews live in Iran. This is incorrect but the misunderstanding is understandable. Americans are fed a steady stream of disinformation meant to demonize Iran. While Jews are a small minority in Iran (12,000 to 15,000), it is home to the Middle East’s largest Jewish population outside Israel.

"We have all the facilities we need for our rituals, and we can say our prayers very freely. We never have any problems. I can even tell you that, in many cases, we are more respected than Muslims,” said Nejat Golshirazi, 60, rabbi of a synagogue in Iran visited by USA TODAY in 2018.

The Tehran Jewish Committee even rejected an offer by Israel’s government to pay each family of remaining Jews in Iran up to $60,000 to help them leave the country back in 2007.

Jewish surgeon and member of Iran's parliament, Siamak Moreh Sedgh, says simply that Iranian Jews are Iranians. They stay because it's their country. And Moreh Sedgh says he supports his country's foreign policy, even when it comes to the Jewish state. He says Judaism is not the same as Zionism, the project of building Israel. "There is a great difference between being a Jew and being Zionist," he says.

It is challenging to be well-informed during times of international tension, yet that is when it is most important.

Patricia Saenger

Temple