Some Details about Operation EXODUS

There are some murky details of how Jews from the Middle East - Arab lands and Iran - were took out of their countries through non-Israeli projects. From the Jews in Yemen that were brought to America by the Satmer and the Iranian Jews by the Chabad, there are some details that are not always too kind with the individuals that were the subject of attention. But more about this maybe on another occasion.

Escape from Iran is a book by Sholem Ber Hecht, emisary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, about the details of Operation EXODUS, aimed to help Jews from Iran escape the Islamic Republic. Hecht, at the time of the operation (1979-1980) rabbi of the Sephardic Congregation of Queens in Forest Hills visited Iran at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution. 

There, he got to know the situation of the Jews there, that, as any other religious communities during the Shah, were under the pressure of secularization. A network of Jewish schools were operating in Tehran and Shiraz, among others, through the ETEHAD, created by the Alliance Israelite Universelle who was active in the Middle East and Northern Africa and Turkey, as a Zionist, not religious, French-speaking educational project. Another Jewish education project was developed through the Otzar HaTorah network funded by Rabbi Isaac Meir Levi, familiar with the Jewish refugee from Poland that were hosted in Iran during WWII.

Chabad helped around 1,800 Jews from Iran, mostly young people, to escape to America - until the embassy was still open. They got the I-20 visas - student visas - and were further directed to various Chabad religious institutions and yeshivot. Those young people were becoming part of the religious sect outreach.

The author mentions briefly a short conflict between Chabad and Agudah Israel - which reunites the the orthodox denominations - on this topic, but what exactly happened is not openly disclosed. Agudah Israel had and has its own policies regarding the Iranian Jews.

Escape from Iran is an interesting account for someone looking to find out more about the story of Jews in this country, but must be considered as part of a specific context and tailored religious projects. Escaping a religious dictatorship that puts spiritual and physical lives in danger is an outstanding gift, but there nothing such a free lunch.

Rating: 3 stars