Iran's chief rabbi tacitly admits official Iranian antisemitism

Rabbi Yehuda Gerami, chief rabbi of Iran, has been touring the US for the past couple of weeks, meeting with other rabbis and speaking in shuls.

The rabbi gave a speech at the Chabad of Northern Virginia last night where he essentially admitted that antisemitism in Iran is institutional and official.

Rabbi Gerami has publicly slammed Israel in Iranian media and voiced support for the worst of Iran's terror leaders, drawing condemnation from other Jews, and his speech broadly implied that he has no choice.

 Iran’s chief rabbi said on Sunday evening that the country’s Jewish community feared physical attacks from some Muslim neighbors in the wake of the January 2020 killing of Iranian al-Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani by the United States.

“The situation was very sensitive,” said Rabbi Yehuda Gerami, speaking at Chabad of Northern Virginia in Fairfax, Virginia. “We felt that sensitivity, not from the government, from the people. They talked about revenge.”

Gerami said that he decided to condemn the strike publicly on the news and to pay his condolences to Soleimani’s family in order to calm the situation, which was effective.

“We felt there could be danger,” he explained. “Then we had to go give interviews and say we were not for it, that we don’t agree with this war.”

As far as official antisemitism, he addressed it in the context of a joke:

He admitted that there are some positions in the military and senior management roles that are closed to Jews. “Maybe they can’t learn atomic energy,” he added with a smile.

But perhaps the most telling indication of Iranian antisemitism came when he defended Iran's tolerance towards Jews. “Iran is the only place where synagogues don’t need any security. But we have to use our wisdom, we are guests and we have to be diplomatic.”

Saying that Jews are guests in Iran says it all. 

Even after living there for thousands of years, Jews are not considered full citizens.They are guests - guests who are not full members of society, guests who are only there at the forbearance of the hosts, and guests who can be forced out at any time if they are impolite. 

Iranian Muslims and Iranian Jews both know that the Jews aren't really Iranians, just as Jews have not been considered full citizens by antisemites in every country they ever lived in. 

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