How Muslim Refugees in Berlin Helped Amir Kashfi Celebrate Yamim Noraim

The Iran Nuclear Agreement: What should Congress do?

Growing up an American Jew in Los Angeles, I was always told if you ask three Jews a question, you will get four opinions. Last Friday night, I went to shabbat services at Stephen Wise Temple. I began by reading the words below from Rabbi Joshua Knobel about Pioneers and the weekly parsha. Then, I … Continued

Iran: B.O and Bad Breath

As the fourteenth country of the forty three that we would visit on our drive from Australia to Scotland, Iran was exciting and new; experiencing so many different ways of life in such a short period of time though we were becoming very used to adapting to cultural habits that we would usually find uncomfortable … Continued

A Taste of Immortality – Part 4

Glasswork craftmanship at its best. These windows are some of the many found throughout the Nasīr al-Mulk Mosque in Tehran, Iran. A nearby mosque on the way to Abyaneh. Mountains are the typical backdrop to many small villages like Abyaneh. An Abyunaki woman wearing traditional clothes. The clothing usually consists of a white long patterned … Continued

A Taste of Immortality – Part 3

One of the tombs of an Achaemenid king at Naqsh-e Rustam. All four tombs are carved out of the rock face. A pool view of the Eram Garden. The colorful patterns of a mosaic at the Eram Garden. Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan is surrounded by small fountains. Considered once a pivotal stop in the … Continued

A Taste of Immortality- Part 2

While in Persepolis, a city located in the Fars Province of modern Iran, I was transported back to the Achaemenid era, an era more than 2,500 years old. Each pillar of this ceremonial palace resonated the labor set out by the first king of Persia-Cyrus the Great. Crowned the “King of Justice”, he was capable … Continued

A Taste of Immortality- Part 1

“Everyone walks through life but it is those who look to learn from people coming from different walks of life that travel the farthest.” True learning for me is something that happens in gradual steps not something that I acquire at a first glance. For this very reason, when traveling to Iran became a possibility, … Continued

Turkey: To the East in 1976

I drove across Turkey in 1976 in a Ford Econoline van with two friends and a few new acquaintances, on the way from Athens to Kabul.  Some of this trip’s highlights have been related elsewhere, but events in Eastern Turkey stand out, even after all these years. The western portion of the country is a … Continued

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