Our last day in Tehran was a rainy one, beginning with a visit to the headquarters of the Tehran Jewish Committee (roughly the equivalent of the Iranian Jewish Federation). We spoke at length with Committee President Rahmat ollah Raffi, who gave us a thorough tutorial on the Iranian Jewish community. In short: there are roughly [...]
Archive for the ‘Iran’ Category
Rainy Day in Tehran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Nonviolence, Peace, Religion, War on December 1, 2008 | No Comments »
The Ayatollah and the Archbishop
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Islam, Peace, Religion on November 30, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Our first full day in Iran was devoted largely to religious destinations – our first stop was a visit to the office of Ayatollah Bojnoordi, a prominent religious leader who teaches Islamic law at Tehran and Qom Universities.
Ayatollahs are clerics of the highest order in Shia Islamic communities and they exercise enormous authority over their [...]
Shabbat at Abad Yosef
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Greetings from Iran! We arrived on Friday with no problems and have now settled comfortably into our home at the Howeyzeh Hotel in Northern Tehran. Since we actually arrived at 2:30 am, our first day here was really a half day. When we arrived at our hotel, we went promptly to sleep and woke up [...]
Orienting for Iran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I’m writing this one from Amsterdam, where we are waiting for our connecting flight to Imam Khomeni Airport in Tehran. Our delegation has spent the last day and a half in Nyack NY at the Fellowship of Reconciliation offices, participating in sessions that reviewed Iranian history and politics, civilian diplomacy and interfaith dialogue. It’s a wonderful group and [...]
I’m Off to Iran
Posted in Interfaith, Iran, Iran Trip 2008, Peace, Religion on November 25, 2008 | 3 Comments »
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m off to Iran tomorrow on a two-week interfaith delegation sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. If you’ve been reading my blog even semi-regularly over the years (check out the “Iran” category) I’m sure you know I’ve long felt that as Americans and Jews our opinions of Iran are too often [...]
How to Talk to the Enemy
Posted in Anti-Semitism, Interfaith, Iran, Israel, Politics, Religion on October 19, 2008 | No Comments »
What would you say to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if you had the chance? My friend and colleague Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb had this extraordinary opportunity last month at an Iftaar dinner in which Ahmadinejad met with several religious peace groups during his visit to the US. Rabbi Gottlieb was among the few Jews to attend the dinner, [...]
Understanding Iran, Facing our Fears: A Sermon for Yom Kippur
Posted in Global Activism, High Holidays, Interfaith, Iran, Israel, Peace, Politics, Religion, Sermons on October 10, 2008 | 2 Comments »
At Yom Kippur services yesterday, I announced to my congregation that I will be traveling to Iran on an interfaith peace delegation next month. I devoted the majority of my remarks to our current conflict with Iran, and why I have been so deeply frustrated with our government’s and the Jewish community’s response to this [...]
The Iran Circus Comes to Town
Posted in Iran, Israel, Politics, Politics/Middle East, War on September 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Get ready for an unbelievable din when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad comes to town next week.
For its part, the Jewish community is contributing its share to the political noise making with all the brouhaha over Sarah Palin’s invitation (and subsequent disinvitation) from a Jewish community protest against Iran on Monday. Tellingly, through all of the Jewish coverage [...]
Basketball Diplomacy
Posted in Current Events, Iran, Israel, News, Politics, Politics/Middle East on August 11, 2008 | 1 Comment »
For me, the first truly inspiring news from the Beijing Summer Olympics had nothing to do with athletic achievement. It occurred when David Blatt, the Israeli coach of the Russian basketball team made a point of shaking the hands with and embracing the captain of the Iranian team after a game.
The American-born Blatt [...]
Pistachio Sedition Raging in Israel
Posted in Food, Iran, Israel, Politics on June 19, 2008 | 3 Comments »
A recent article in YNet revealed this ironic nugget: the US Ambassador to Israel has sent a letter to Israeli Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, excoriating Israel for illegally consuming Iranian pistachios nuts:
The US ambassador’s letter reveals another amazing fact: Israel is the largest per capita consumer of the pistachio. “I am writing to draw your [...]
