July 24, 2007 | 9:04 pm

When they killed Cousin Ebi with a bullet to the heart

Posted by Karmel Melamed

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Abe Berookhim tells his story at Sinai Temple 

By Karmel Melamed
07/23/07

“He was shot with one bullet to his heart,” said my cousin Abe Berookhim, a Los Angeles Iranian Jewish businessman.

At a Sinai Temple Men’s Club meeting earlier this month, Berookhim publicly shared the 30-year-old heart-wrenching story of his 31-year-old uncle’s arrest and execution at the hands of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Berookhim’s story is not only remarkable in itself, but it also had special meaning to me, as it was related to my own family’s tragic exit from Iran.

With Iran’s Islamic government stirring up trouble in the Middle East, Berookhim is among the growing number of local Iranian Jews who are finally beginning to speak out about the horrors they faced in Iran, part of an effort to give Americans a better idea of the enormous threat Iran poses to world peace.

Now in his late 50’s, Berookhim nostalgically recalled the prosperity and tranquility Jews living in Iran experienced prior to the revolution. His own family was among the many Jewish families who enjoyed that prosperity.

“We owned two hotels: Hotel Sina and Hotel Royal Gardens, which was a five-star hotel, with 500 rooms, five restaurants and different foreign visitors staying there,” said Berookhim. “I remember U.S. diplomats having their July 4th parties in our hotel.”

But the good times were short-lived as anti-Shah and anti-Western protests in 1978-9 flooded the streets of Tehran. When the Shah fled, chaos erupted in the streets, and angry Revolutionary Guards did not spare the Hotel Royal Gardens. The hotel was a symbol of the West, and as a result its windows were smashed, its curtains set ablaze, and one of its co-owners, Berookhim’s uncle Ebrahim, was arrested by the regime’s armed thugs.

“They blindfolded my uncle Ebi and took him to prison,” Berookhim said. “I was told by someone working in the hotel not to come there because the men who took Ebi were also looking for me.”

Iran’s new government—headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini—froze the Berookhim family’s accounts, confiscated their assets and prevented them from doing business in the country. Like many Jews living in Iran at the time, members of Berookhim’s family fled the country, but Abe Berookhim remained behind to gather some funds, even though he was on the regime’s “most-wanted list.”

Prior to the U.S. Embassy takeover, Berookhim, who had had close ties with the embassy’s employees, helped them sell the equipment in their facility amidst the chaos in Iran to provide them with cash while they were in hiding.

“One day I received an urgent phone call from the Consul General of the U.S. in northern Tehran telling me he and his people were hiding and needed food delivered to them,” said Berookhim. “So I had one of my employees from the hotel take them food.”

The danger and threats intensified with each passing day that Berookhim remained in Iran as Revolutionary Guard members were hot on his trail.

Berookhim said that when armed thugs came to arrest him, he would bribe and then befriend them. When one notorious armed leader named Mashala Ghasab was looking to kill him, Berookhim’s payment turned the thug into his personal bodyguard for the remainder of his days in Iran. Ghasab, who was also a well-known brutal killer for the regime, later helped Berookhim locate the Islamic judge determining the fate of his uncle Ebrahim.

“With tears streaming down my face I told him [the judge] about my uncle’s innocence,” said Berookhim, “but he rejected my pleas.”

After gathering enough money and successfully evading the authorities, Berookhim—disguised with a fake beard and Islamic garb and carrying false papers—boarded a flight for Germany. The flight’s pilot, a longtime friend, helped carry Berookhim’s U.S. currency onboard the plane prior to takeoff without being detected.

While Berookhim and his family were able to escape from Iran’s Islamic regime, Berookhim’s uncle Ebrahim was not so fortunate. The Revolutionary Guard executed the young man in prison on July 30, 1980. Tragically, Ebrahim’s 82-year-old father—who had been arrested along with him—was released prior to Ebrahim’s execution.

“They did not have any answer for killing him and said it was a mistake—it was a mistake that my family and I have been haunted by ever since,” said Berookhim.

My father, along with two other members of the local Jewish community, risked their lives by going to the prison morgue to retrieve Cousin Ebrahim’s body in order to give him a kosher burial. The regime’s prison officials refused to release the body until a substantial payment was made to “cover the costs for the bullet used in the execution.”

My father paid and was given Ebrahim’s bloody body and found it had been desecrated with markers. Eventually, Ebrahim was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Tehran.

The young Jewish man had been murdered for no reason, and the ordeal of retrieving his body traumatized my parents and extended family. It was what finally prompted them to realize Iran was no longer a safe place for Jews and that we had to leave the country where our ancestors had set down their roots more than 2,500 years ago.

A few months after Ebrahim’s execution, our family left behind everything we owned in Iran to come to America. We arrived with only the shirts on our backs to start our lives again from zero in a new country where we knew no one and had difficulty speaking the language.

Today, many Iranian Jews residing in Los Angeles argue about the reason for Ebrahim’s execution. Some believe he was executed to strike fear in the hearts of Jews in Iran and to force them to leave their substantial assets behind for the government to confiscate.

Others believe the execution was an act of revenge by Iran for Israel’s declaring Jerusalem as its undivided and eternal capital during that time.

Indeed, Ebrahim Berookhim was not the last Jew to be executed by Iran’s fundamentalist regime. According to a 2004 report prepared by Frank Nikbakht, an Iranian Jewish activist in Los Angeles, at least 14 Jews were murdered or assassinated by the regime’s agents, at least two Jews died in custody and 11 Jews have been officially executed by the regime, all since 1979.

In 2000, with the assistance of various American Jewish groups, Southern California’s Iranian Jewish community successfully publicized the case of 13 Iranian Jews from the city of Shiraz who were facing execution on fabricated charges of spying for Israel. Ultimately the international exposure put pressure on the Iranian regime, prevented the execution of the “Shiraz 13” and they were eventually released.

Estimates vary, but it is believed that between 10,000 and 20,000 Jews are still residing in Iran. Nikbakht said a substantial number of Jews have remained in Iran because they feel they will face economic and cultural challenges if they leave the country.

“Some successful and capable Jews (in Iran) have either a false sense of security or are willing to take risks, hoping to outlast the regime,” said Nikbakht. “Some have converted to Islam or other ‘safer’ religions such as Christianity to help them survive.”

For his part, Abe Berookhim said he plans to continue to speak out publicly about his family’s experience in hopes that average Americans will understand the extent of the threat posed by Iran’s current fundamentalist Islamic government.

“The reality is that radical Islam—in order to rule—must destroy our culture, and we need to understand this in the West in order to avoid facing the detrimental consequences,” Berookhim said.

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17961

July 19, 2007 | 11:15 am

L.A.‘s Iranian Jews Shocked by Katsav Plea Bargain

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
07/19/07

When former Israeli President Moshe Katsav pleaded guilty to charges of sexual harassment and resigned his post late last month, no one was more surprised and saddened than his strongest supporters in Southern California, the Iranian Jewish community.

Many local Iranian Jews share a common ancestry with Katsav, and were particularly disappointed as they had backed his claims of innocence amid the frenzy of criticism of his sexual conduct from politicians and the media in Israel.

“While some diehards will continue to look for excuses, most of his supporters feel betrayed and deceived by his denials,” said H. David Nahai, an Iranian Jewish attorney in Century City. “His ignominious downfall is a matter of great sadness and deep disappointment for Persian Jews everywhere.”

The scandal began last July, when Israeli government investigations led to a total of 12 women accusing Katsav of sexual assault and harassment. Additional allegations were brought against Katsav for giving state-funded gifts to private individuals, committing fraud, harassing a witness and obstructing justice.

Finally, in late June, Israeli Attorney General Menahem Mazuz offered to drop all charges and suspend any prison time for Katsav, citing a lack of evidence in the case, on the condition that Katsav would plead guilty to sexual harassment and resign his post as president.

While many local Iranian Jewish leaders remained tight-lipped on Katsav’s resignation, his close allies in the community said they refuse to believe Katsav is guilty of any wrongdoing.

“I’ve known him for many years, and I’ve never seen any of [the] things they’ve accused him of,” said Shimon Magen, a Los Angeles resident and close friend of Katsav. “He loves his family, is a decent human being, good hearted, and a God-fearing man.”

In April, Iranian Jewish leaders in Los Angeles said that a nonprofit group was set up on behalf of Katsav’s legal defense fund. Community leaders declined to comment on how much money was raised for Katsav’s attorney fees, but Magen said that he was frustrated with the lack of financial support for Katsav during the scandal.

“I was surprised that after members of our community were once fighting to be photographed with Moshe Katsav and shake hands with him—but now that he had fallen, no one was willing to come to his aid,” Magen said. “I haven’t spoken to him since his resignation, but he told me he was very upset that no one from our community stepped up to help him.”

Katsav’s ascension to the presidency nearly seven years ago was a source of tremendous pride for many Iranian Jews worldwide, as he was the first from the community to achieve such a high political office in any government. Ironically, the Iranian Jewish Woman’s Organization (IJWO), a Los Angeles-based social group, honored Katsav’s mother, Goher, last year for her success in raising Katsav to become a source of pride for Iranian Jewry worldwide.

For the past year, both Katsav and his legal team have vehemently denied his involvement in any sexual misconduct. His attorney, Avigdor Feldman, said Katsav only agreed to plead guilty for pragmatic reasons.

“We almost had to use force to persuade the president to plead guilty to the charges, because had he not done so, the prosecution would have filed an indictment including two rape charges,” Feldman said. “He would have been acquitted in the end, but he would have gone through the hell of a prolonged trial, media attention, media hullabaloo, sitting on the defendant’s dock and facing harsh and humiliating accusations.”

On June 28, Katsav’s son, Yisrael, told Israeli Channel 2 television reporters that Katsav’s acceptance of the plea bargain was not an admission of guilt by his father, but rather a decision to end the intense media scrutiny of their family life.

“We wanted our quiet, and that was the deciding factor in accepting the deal,” Yisrael Katsav said.

Nahai and other local Jewish legal experts said they are not convinced of the excuses Katsav and his attorneys made for accepting the plea bargain.

“I think the case against him must have been overwhelming and futile to defend against,” Nahai said. “An innocent person would have wanted to clear his name. Instead he will carry the stigma of being a sexual offender for the rest of his life.”

If convicted, Katsav would have faced a maximum sentence of three years in prison for obstruction of justice and a maximum of 16 years if convicted for rape, according to Israeli laws.

In a July 3 interview on Israeli Channel 2 television, Katsav still maintained his innocence and said he was a victim of a “campaign of incitement” and “false allegations.” In a January press conference, Katsav had said the Israeli media and his opponents were motivated by racism and had been trying to discredit him ever since his 2000 victory over Shimon Peres for the presidency.

Many of Katsav’s friends and supporters in the Iranian Jewish community said despite Katsav’s embarrassing exit from politics, they believe the majority of local Iranian Jews would still welcome the ex-president within their ranks.

“President Katsav is and will be held in the highest esteem in our community,” said Ebrahim Yahid, a West Los Angeles resident and 40-year close friend of Katsav.

“He is an outstanding individual who from a young age has been in public service in Israel and rose to the ranks of president; this is a great achievement for someone from our community,” Yahid said.

Leaders from the L.A.-based Iranian American Jewish Federation declined to comment on Katsav’s resignation. Calls made to Katsav’s attorneys in Israel and the IJWO in Los Angeles for comment were not returned.

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17944

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July 17, 2007 | 4:02 pm

Southern California Iranian Jews Investing in Israel Bonds

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
07/12/07

Roughly 100 local Iranian Jews gathered at the Bel Air home of Mahnaz and Kambiz Hekmat on July 12th to promote the purchasing of Israel Bonds among Southern California’s Iranian Jewish community. Those in attendance purchased several hundred thousand dollars worth of bonds and pledged to spread the word about bonds investment which are a new phenomenon among local Iranian Jews. Leor Ziv, the Israel Bonds Executive Director for the Western Region, said that while Iranian Jews have only begun purchasing bonds in the last three year, their affluent community in Southern California is responsible for millions of dollars in investments through bonds. “It has been beyond my wildest imagination how supportive the Iranian Jewish community has become in Israel Bonds,” said Ziv.

Among those in attendance were Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad and Consul General of Israel Ehud Danoch, who both encouraged investment in Israel through bonds. “When I worked at the Ministry of Finance, we received reports from the government accountant every year and I can tell you that the $1.2 billion we received from Israel Bonds was a tremendous help to Israel’s economy” said Danoch.

For more information on purchasing Israel Bonds visit http://israelbonds.com/

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July 17, 2007 | 3:53 pm

Delshad To Introduce Iran Divestment Measure

Posted by Karmel Melamed

(left to right, Israeli Consul General Ehud Danoch and Jimmy Delshad, Mayor of Beverly Hills)

By Karmel Melamed
07/20/07

On July 13th Iranian Jewish Mayor of Beverly Hills, Jimmy Delshad announced plans to introduce a city measure later this month that will require city employee pensions to divest several million of dollars in investments with companies doing business with Iran. “I have a fiduciary duty to our city employees to protect their pensions by not having investments in countries like Iran that could be attacked,” said Delshad. “I also wanted to send a message to the people of Iran that we support Democracy for them”. On July 12th the Beverly Hills City Council voted on a resolution to support California Assembly Bill 221. The State legislation which would require state pension funds to divest an estimated $24 billion in investments from more than 280 companies doing business with Iran. The bill has received wide support from local Iranians of various faiths and was unanimously approved by the California State Assembly in early June. State officials who introduced the bill said they expect it will be signed into law by September. Beverly Hills becomes only the second city in the U.S. to propose Iran Divestment legislation after the L.A. City Council approved a similar Iran Divestment measure late last month.

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17940

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July 17, 2007 | 3:51 pm

Record Number of L.A.‘s Persian Jews Gather For Bone Marrow Drive

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
07/16/07

Nearly 1,500 local Jews and non-Jews packed the main hall at the Nessah Cultural Center in Beverly Hills on Sunday, July 8th to be tested for a potential bone marrow match urgently needed for two local Iranian Jews; Jenny Cohen, a 3-year-old and 52-year-old Benjamin Brookhim. Organizers of the drive, City of Hope personnel, and nearly 100 volunteers ranging from age 13 to 80 helped process the record number of people that had arrived to have the insides of their cheeks swabbed for potential matches. “Representatives of the City of Hope were also overwhelmed by this truly remarkable outcry of support,” said Kahen. “One staff person mentioned that this was the most successful bone marrow drive, in terms of numbers, she has ever participated in”, said Michelle Kahen, an organizer of the event. Many in attendance said they were touched by the emotional pleas made by families of Jennifer Cohen and Benjamin Brookhim. Cohen is suffering from “Aplastic Anemia” and a “Factor VII Deficiency”. Aplastic Anemia is a rare disease affecting fewer than 1,000 people each year in the United States and Factor VII Deficiency is a condition typically common among Iranian and Moroccan Jews. The conditions prevent a person from producing enough blood cells and the blood from clotting properly. For more information call call (310) 570-9500 or (310) 993-3703.

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July 13, 2007 | 11:02 am

Fakheri Steps Down as President of Eretz-SIAMAK

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
07/13/07

After nearly 28 years of volunteer work in the local Iranian Jewish community and setting up one of the first Iranian Jewish non-profit organizations in Los Angeles, Dariush Fakheri has resigned as president of the Eretz-SIAMAK Cultural Center in Tarzana.

Fakheri, 58, cited personal reasons for stepped down from his leadership post in April and only recently publicly acknowledge his new plans. “I wanted to give the new generation the opportunity to contribute and lead,” said Fakheri. “I will stay on as a consultant for the Eretz-SIAMAK Cultural Center and all the Jewish organizations in L.A.—sharing my experiences with them, if asked”. Fakheri’s exit from public service was unique in itself as many local Iranian Jewish leaders have typically remained in their positions for life or until their health failed.

Following the mass immigration of Jews from Iran to the L.A. area after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Fakheri was one of the founders of the Iranian American Jewish Association, also known as SIAMAK to local Iranian Jews. The group was formed to help new Iranian Jewish immigrants reconnect with one another through new social and religious events. Over the years, SIAMAK, under Fakheri’s leadership was heavily involved in Iranian Jewish youth activities and community outreach, helping to subsidize the food and living expenses of nearly 100-poverty stricken Iran Jewish families that were not being helped by any other local Jewish groups.

Fakheri was considered an outsider and maverick by many Iranian Jews for not conforming to the leadership structure and methods the community’s leaders had brought over from Iran. As a result, he received both praise and condemnation from Southern California Iranian Jews for his frank and often bold criticisms of other local Iranian Jewish leaders for coddling up to the elite wealthy, rather than providing real social programs for troubled young people and struggling low-income families in the local Iranian Jewish community. “We at our organization did a lot of firsts that benefited so many and changed our community’s norm,” said Fakheri. “We have benefited from the support that the American Jewish community has given us during the last quarter century and it is time to payback. I have every intention to do so now”.

In 2004, Fakheri’s SIAMAK organization made history after becoming the first Iranian Jewish organization in the city to merge with the Eretz Cultural Center and Neria Yomtoubian Organization to form the Eretz-SIAMAK Cultural Center in Tarzana. The center has since become the largest Iranian Jewish organization in the San Fernando Valley with plans to build a new community center on its near one-block property in 2008 and 2009.

Despite his move away from public service, Fakheri said he will continue to support the efforts of the Israeli Macabee Games within the Iranian Jewish community and to work as editor-in-chief of the nonprofit Iranian Jewish Chronicle magazine, which he helped establish nearly 18 years ago.

Portions of this article were originally published in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles: http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17917

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June 28, 2007 | 10:14 pm

Iranian Americans Oppose Bombing Iran

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
6/29/07

In recent weeks, calls for possible strikes against Iran by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and other government officials have caused alarm among some local Iranian Jews and Muslims familiar with the Tehran regime.

Iranian American experts on Iran’s fundamentalist Islamic government say an American strike on Iran could backfire against the United States and serve to strengthen elements within the regime. Since 2005, the Center for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights (CFPD), an L.A.-based Iranian American nonprofit, has been examining the Iranian government’s actions and educating lawmakers in Washington, D.C. on how to deal with the regime.

“Twenty-five years of research and studying this government teaches us that the Islamic Republic of Iran provokes crisis to remain in power,” said Farhad Mansourian, an Iranian Muslim research fellow at the CFPD. “They are looking forward to someone, one of these days, to do exactly what they want, which is to answer back on that provocation so they can capitalize on it.”

In an interview on the CBS “Face the Nation” on June 10, Lieberman said the United States should consider limited air attacks against camps in Iran where insurgents are being trained to fight American forces in Iraq.

Mansourian believes that rather than attack Iran, the United States needs to develop a comprehensive policy of supporting pro-American elements there to bring about the demise of the regime from within.

“We have been procrastinating on Iran for 28 years, and it’s time to talk about the only option that will deal with this cancer, and that is regime change,” Mansourian said. “The ayatollahs in Iran have a vision of destruction in the world so their ‘mahdi’ or messiah can come.”

This belief, he said, “is not a joke. That is why we must talk about the only viable option that destroys this cancer cell, since anything less than that is cosmetic.”

Members of Iran’s government have been quick to exploit Lieberman’s statements because he is Jewish, as part of their long running anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Mansourian said.

“Various news reports from the Islamic Republic’s controlled media used words to the effect that the ‘Jew Lieberman’—as opposed to Joe—‘a known Zionist U.S. Senator, after meeting in Israel calls for military strikes on Iran ... and we know who controls U.S. policy,’” Mansourian said.

Iranian Jewish leaders, including Sam Kermanian, secretary general of the L.A.-based Iranian American Jewish Federation, argue that U.S. officials should put their efforts into supporting democratic movements within Iran, since nearly 90 percent of the country’s population is believed to oppose the regime.

“The people of Iran are so fed up with their regime that they are willing to risk their freedom and even their lives for a chance at a better future,” Kermanian said. “But they need to know that their struggle indeed has a chance, and the civilized world in general and the United States in particular will support them in this struggle.”

Leaders of many local Iranian Jewish groups have mostly stayed out of political matters concerning Iran, out of fear that their statements could be used by the Iranian government as excuses to punish the nearly 20,000 Jews still living in Iran.

Frank Nikbakht, an Iranian Jewish activist and director of the L.A.-based Committee for Minority Rights in Iran, said a substantial number of Jews have stayed in Iran because they feel they will face economic and cultural challenges if they leave the country.

“Some successful and resourceful Jews [in Iran] have either a false sense of security or are willing to take risks, hoping to outlast the regime,” said Nikbakht, “while some have converted to Islam or other ‘safer’ religions such as Christianity to help them survive.”

Nikbakht also said that in recent years Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to retaliate against the United States by hitting oil fields in Persian Gulf countries, attacking oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz and striking U.S. military forces stationed in the Persian Gulf and throughout the region. Moreover, he said, Iranian officials have indicated that they will attack U.S. interests in the Gulf in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has made it clear that even an Israeli strike alone will be considered as a U.S. attack, since according to the Iranians, the Israelis would not strike without U.S. approval,” Nikbakht said.

Tensions between the United States and Iran have also intensified within the last year as Iranian officials have refused to halt enrichment of uranium, which many Western experts believe will be used for the creation of nuclear weapons.

While U.S. and Iranian officials met in Iraq in late May for direct talks for the first time in 28 years, U.S. military officials have released new evidence showing that Iran has been aiding Shiite insurgents in Iraq as well as arming members of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Assadollah Morovati, the Iranian Muslim owner of Radio Sedaye Iran (KRSI), a Persian language satellite radio station based in Beverly Hills, said radio listeners in Iran have frequently called his station expressing their desire for the United States to attack Iran.

“Unlike in Iraq, people in Iran know that America does not want to take over their country,” Morovati said. “We have people calling in from Iran everyday saying that America should launch military attacks on Iran so that they can be free from the oppression of the regime—but mind you, this isn’t my opinion.”

On June 4, the California Assembly unanimously passed legislation that would require state pension funds to divest an estimated $24 billion from more than 280 companies doing business with Iran. The bill is slated for a vote in the California State Senate later this summer and is expected to be signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Earlier this month, Florida became the nation’s first state to pass an Iran divestment bill into law. Legislatures in Texas, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey are also weighing similar divestment legislation.

According to published report in the New York Times in February by Stanford University’s director of Iranian Studies, Dr. Abbas Milani, international sanctions brought against Iran through the United Nations Security Council in December 2006 have had greater impacts on Iran’s government than threats of military action.

“The (U.N.) resolution succeeded because few things frighten the mullahs more than the prospects of confronting a united front made up of the European Union, Russia, China, and the United States,” stated Milani’s report. “Top leaders of the Islamic Republic, from Ayatollah Khamenei to Mr. Rafasanjani, have made it clear that they consider sanctions a serious threat— more serious than the possibility of an invasion”.

Many Iranian Muslim experts have compared the Iranian threat faced by the United States to that of Nazi Germany during World War II.

“Would we be able to say to the Germans during World War II, ‘OK you’ve only killed 7 million Jews, that’s enough, from now forward let’s have Eichmann run your government’? No, that entire system was based on discrimination and destroying of a race!” Mansourian said. “Now these guys in Iran want to destroy all the races that don’t subscribe to their thinking, so there is no other way to deal with this problem than regime change.”

This article was originally published by the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17850

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June 19, 2007 | 12:48 pm

Pianist, Tania Talks About Choosing A Musical Career in Persian Jewish Community

Posted by Karmel Melamed

By Karmel Melamed
June 2007

It is not often young Iran Jews who have grown up and lived in the U.S. for the majority of their lives embrace the music and culture of their parents from Iran. Yet for Iranian Jewish pianist Tania Eshgahoff, Persian music has been one of the most powerful influences in the music she composes and performs. Living in New York, Eshgahoff is one of a growing number of young Iranian Jews who have chosen non-traditional careers in the entertainment industry and achieved some success. After having studied music from a young age, Eshaghoff has since gone on to record her music, perform at many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall in New York and for distinguished audience including Empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi. Recently Esghahoff chatted with the magazine about her latest album “A Road to Tehran” and a little about her life as an Iranian Jew choosing a musical career.

Can you give us some background on yourself and how you became involved in music?

Well like many, music was in my life early on. Especially through my mother who was quite musical and free spirited. She would always introduce my sister and I to the world of music in Iran. Whether it was music from the Mediterranean, from the Middle East, or the Modern West, of British bands or great American pop music. Also my parents would always take advantage of public programs. So we would often go to concerts in the parks or concert halls.  They had a very hands-on approach in raising us within our environment culturally. But as I learned, I began to notice the rhythms of Persian Folk music and classical music.  I was deeply moved by Javvad Maroufi as I am today. For he is one of the few musicians who actually notated his music for pianist such as myself to interpret and learn from.

What exactly motivated you to choose a career in music?

Many of us have our day dreams when we are young. For me, being on stage or in a rock-band or some sort of musical surface was meaningful to me. Some how my lifelong daydreams of playing music actually materialized.  Music chose me.  I was a bit afraid and well aware that being a Persian Jewish girl, the ideas of fantasy musical careers could only be played in my head and not in public. I think as I was growing up, I thought it to only be a hobby. For I must continue with the traditions of getting married and starting a family of my own. I would often tell family members, on random occasions, but learning that I was just a bit dreamy. Imaging, how can a young girl, who has never left her parents house, who is expected to marry before the age of 25, children by 27, try to pursue her art, her music.  My twenties were eye opening, adventurous and life-changing.

Your music is obviously Persian influenced, why have you as a young Jew who has been raised in the U.S. with so exposure to Western culture still decided to embrace Persian music?

I get asked that question often and I can not really explain it. At age 7, I was attached to Persian melodies. I wanted to constantly repeat the rhythms of the Santour, but I wanted it to be symphonic. I remember when no one was around, I would get into it. I mean really lose myself in the music—I could hear violins and deep bass drum rolls. I could hear a harpist play a chord and French horns add to each measure.  But it was very frustrating because I had these sounds in my mind but did not know what it meant and why it is when I play my piano that all that comes out is piano notes.  Persian music has been my preface for everything. It sings to me and connects deep in the root of who I am. I am learning maybe it is because of all of those minor chords, how can you not get emotional from that.

Can you share with us what the average day in the life of a Persian Jewish musician? Do you just compose music, practice it and then perform?

For some, they sit down each day and write music at a given time. My husband, who is a doctor but also a published writer, sits each night for several hours and writes. I find that amazing! I have never been as disciplined as others. Even as a child I hated to practice but loved to play.  The draw back is, you will eventually learn the piece, but it just takes longer if you don’t practice regularly.  My days are broken up more openly to weeks.  I practice for about 2 weeks and write for about 2 weeks, until the music comes together.  I had just given several concerts, so I am moving toward making music again. It is sort of a natural cycle. However, if I sit at the piano long enough the music starts to come out—from where I don’t know.  I try to listen to music that I enjoy and that inspires me. That is where most inspirations come from for artists enjoying other people’s art.  There are days that I practice for about 5 to 7 hours a day, depending on the actual piece. If it is challenging, that is when I get inspired and want to figure it out and reinterpret it immediately.

Most Persian parents frown upon their children going into careers that are not the traditional professions of medicine or law. What reaction did you receive from friends and relatives when you told them about your desire to pursue a career in music?

Interesting question and it is a bitter-sweet answer. It was not encouraged as a life-long career. Even now, I do face certain criticism and judgments about playing on a big stage.  The appropriateness of pursing ones art as a Persian-Jewish woman is mixed with the idea of a Persian Jewish woman giving up and compromising marriage.  I think many who feel that way, did not have opportunities to explore what is deep with in them. They only know the obligations, joys and commitment to family, not pursuing this inner-child music obsession. I wish children would begin to have the opportunity, to feel what it is like when your music is being played by these wonderful instruments, among hundreds and hundreds of souls sitting in the audience. You learn that only you, yourself can decide how badly you want something. If you work hard at it and surround yourself by people who support that, you will make it!

How important is Judaism in your life and how are you involved in the Jewish community in New York?

I identify myself as a Sephardic Jew first before anything else.  I only realized that when I began to open my horizons to different cultures here in New York. Growing up, I wanted to be like the American girls free!  They did not have the strict upbringings that I and my sister and cousins had. After fighting with that for nearly 20 years, I began to return to the traditions and appreciate the way our parents raised us. The traditions of Judaism are what have grounded me in every decision that I make.  I was raised in a very traditional Jewish family, I have 38 first cousins from both sides. When my family gets together for a barbeque or Shabbat dinner in Great Neck, we have to get it catered at this point because mah-shah-laha we are a growing family.

Has Judaism at all influence your creation of music?

I would say again that because my mother was so musical and loved music, she tried to expose us to everything.  As a child, my father attended a traditional Persian temple. My mother loved anything American. So she would also take us to services at a conservative American Temple where they had a choir and the cantor would sing as if it was Puccinis Tosca. I know for sure, that had a huge impact on me. That is where the minor chords were permanently embedded in my mind.

Share with us a little about the motivation behind your latest album?

The last album “A Road to Tehran” was truly inspired by the earthquake in Bam, Iran.  I had attended a relief concert for Bam and was moved by the photographs that I was seeing. Realizing that 2000 children in just 21 seconds became orphans was an enormous burden to absorb.  So I wrote a piece called 21 seconds, that would reflect the movement of the earthquake and that started the album.  Finishing the album was due to the generosity of my husband, Ahron, who motivated me to continue on and dig deeper for each piece.  How fortunate I am.

You’ve performed for some prestigious audiences and at well known venues including Carnegie Hall in New York City. Have there been any highlights so far and what have you not achieved that is still a goal?

As artists, you are always reaching further because you forget the last concert or song you write. It holds it memories in the past. So I am always dreaming of playing further and reaching out to different audiences. I have been fortunate to play and be invited to play in on many prestigious stages in New York. My next vision is to have a concert in Los Angeles, as Persians in L.A. have a different sensibility.  Here in New York we tend to intellectualize our heritage. We have wonderful galas at the many cultural centers like the MET, to preserve our artifacts from the Persian Empire. In L.A. you feel that it is Iran. I find some children born in L.A. somehow have a slight Persian accent and that is amazing!  Parents really speak Farsi to their children, children speak Farsi to each other.  I find my fellow New Yorkers to be more assimilated to the American culture. Where as in L.A. Persians have a take-over approach and want to grow the culturally, with less assimilation.

Do you think mainstream America is ready to embrace Middle Eastern and Persian influenced music amidst the threat of terrorism coming from that part of the world?

Living in New York City, I find myself in a world that is very accepting of people’s heritage. New York is incredibly cosmopolitan, it is a cultural Mecca.  So I never feel a hesitation but more a celebration of this type of music. Non-Persians are so moved that they can understand this music. They feel that they have just visited Iran— they are interested, and open to learning.  It has a Middle Eastern mysticism but the orchestration is very western and classical. And young Persians are a bit enthralled that their parents’ old-folk music is in a form that is very contemporary for them to embrace and feel proud that this is their heritage.  In fact a network here in New York has been inquiring about the work I do and find it interesting that there are Jewish Iranians here in New York making beautiful music and art, so different from the headlines we are seeing today.

What advice or words of wisdom do you have for young Persian Jews who want to pursue careers in music or the entertainment industry?

My advice is simple. Continue to play and study your craft, whether it is playing music, photography, film making etc. Play even if you think that no one will ever have a chance to listen.  Do not stop!! If you stop, then when the opportunity does come and it will, you will not be ready and it will take more time.  Find one mentor to help you, my mentor has been Edward Smaldone, Director of the Copeland School of Music in New York.  He has been the conductor leading me toward my dreams.  It is hard to do it on your own, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Ask and you shall receive.

Thank you Tania for chatting with us and we wish you the best of luck for your music in the future.

For more information on Tania Eshaghoff, visit: http://www.taniaproductions.com/

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