A little over a year ago, I received a message that surprised me. It was from an Iranian Jew who had come across my work and decided to reach out. At first, I had to pause. An Iranian Jew? Reaching out to me? The first question I asked him: “How is it to be a Jew in Iran today?” He immediately opened up to me about his journey. Every once in a while, something happens that reminds you how small the world really is.

In today’s fractured world, where Israel and Iran are so often painted as eternal enemies, hearing directly from a Jewish person living in Iran was rare and needed. What began as a simple exchange of words quickly turned into an online friendship, and became a reminder of the power of human connection and the resilience of Jewish identity across borders.

The first thing and the thing that struck me most was their courage. Speaking to someone outside of Iran, about Jewish life, isn’t something they can take lightly. And yet, they wanted to talk. They wanted to share their perspective, to show that Jewish identity in Iran is still alive, still proud, and still deeply connected to the broader Jewish world—even when politics try to erase that connection. Being Jewish in Iran is not the same as being Jewish in the United States, Israel, or Europe. It comes with unique........

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