(RNS) — In a video widely shared on X, one of Iran’s two chief rabbis stood beside the rubble of Tehran’s Rafi-Nia Synagogue, holding a damaged sacred book in his hand.
The synagogue was leveled in a strike overnight Monday (April 6) before the ceasefire was declared, one of scores of religious and cultural heritage sites destroyed or significantly damaged by the war led by Israeli and U.S. forces.
Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar and Homayoun Sameh, the Iranian Jewish community’s dedicated representative in Parliament, harshly criticized the strike, which Israel took responsibility for.
“Unfortunately, during the Jewish holidays, the Israeli entity targeted us and did not even spare Jews in Iran, as it struck one of our old and sacred synagogues,” Sameh said in a statement Tuesday. “The synagogue building was completely destroyed and our Torah scrolls were left under the rubble.”
Iran’s state-affiliated Mehr News reported that the strike fell on a residential area, while the Israeli military said the strike targeted a leading member of the Khatam al-Anbiya, the central command of Iran’s military. The military statement said it regrets the collateral damage.
Though there is no accurate count, between 8,000 and 15,000 Jews are believed to still live in Iran, down from around 100,000 before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
“In these days of war, staying in touch with the Jewish community in Iran is not simple,” Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, told RNS. “They are proud Iranians and part of Iranian history and society. In conversations with their families in the diaspora, one feels the deep concern for their safety and well-being.”
Under the Islamic Republic’s Constitution, Jews, Zoroastrians and Christians are recognized religious minorities with freedom of worship and representation in Iran’s Parliament.
In practice, human rights groups and o …
