The Charlotte Jewish News - April 2011 - Page 10
Jewish Converts from Islam Take Refuge in Charlotte
By Karen Brodsky
There are a lot of things one ean
do on the Internet. Converting to
Judaism is not one of them.
Growing up in the eity of Rasht
on the Caspian Sea in Iran,
Maryam and Reza led pleasant
upper middle elass lives. Their
Shiite Muslim families are not
religious at all. As all Iranian
women do, Maryam wore a head
searf, but not like all, she finished
high sehool. Reza studied graphie
arts in eollege but was not able to
finish his degree. He did, however.
work as a graphie designer for the
eity of Rasht.
Maryam and Reza met, fell in
love and married in 2001. Tight
with another young Iranian man,
the three began questioning the
Muslim religion and studied the
Bible and the Koran. They diseov-
ered a New Testament translated
into Farsi and were able to get a
Tanaeh in Farsi from friends in
Tehran. They often visited a web
site, “Ask Moses,” to learn more
about Judaism. Gradually, they
diseovered they believed in Jewish
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values and the Jewish way of
life.
Three Shiite Moslems in an
Islamist state were risking
their lives to study the Tanaeh.
They went on the Internet
often to learn more about
Judaism, rotating their visits
among several Internet eafes,
all of whieh had seeurity eam-
eras. Over time they stmek up
friendships on the Web with
various rabbis and some
Israelis. Reza took the name
Gabi, after the famous Israeli
general, Gabi Ashkenazy.
Gabi traveled to Istanbul,
Turkey, in 2004 to make eon-
taet with the Jewish eommuni-
ty so they eould eonvert. He visit
ed a synagogue — one that a sui-
eide bomber attempted to destroy
a few months earlier. He was met
in the eourtyard and questioned.
He was not allowed in for seeurity
reasons. During his three-month
stay he attempted to eontaet other
members of the Jewish eommuni-
ty with no luek. Faeing a lot of
fears, Jews in Turkey are suspi-
eious and eareful.
Maryam and Gabi got bad
adviee on the Internet: Go to
Azerbaijan, where they would be
able to eonvert. Part of the former
Soviet Union, Azerbaijan, they
heard, was a safe haven for people
eseaping Iran. Not so. The three
first visited the Israeli embassy in
Baku, where they did not reeeive a
warm reeeption. Days earlier, Iran
seeurity forees had been seen film
ing the embassy and the Israelis
were also suspieious of everyone.
They were unable to get a visa to
travel baek to Iran.
They returned to Turkey and
Sarah Ferrin welcomes Maryam and Gabi to Charlotte
in their new apartment
applied for refugee status from
the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). In the meantime they
had a eadre of people they met on
the Internet rooting for them to be
able to eonvert, but none eould
help. One rabbi assured them that
refugee status would allow them
to enter a eountry where there was
religious freedom so they eould
eonvert.
Having reeeived refugee status,
Maryam and Gabi waited to hear
when they eould leave Turkey.
HIAS in New York assigned the
young eouple to be resettled by
Carolina Refugee Resettlement
Ageney (CRRA) in Charlotte.
About ten months ago, they
were greeted at the Charlotte air
port by two members of the
CRRA staff, Jewish Federation
staffer Sarah (Kaplan) Ferrin,
direetor of eommunity relations
and Israel affairs and her then
fianee, Robert. CRRA took them
to their furnished rental apartment
in East Charlotte, where
they enjoyed traditional
Persian food, flowers,
plants and modem house-
wares provided by
Jewish eommunity mem
bers, Adriana Epstein and
Amy Gould to augment
what they already
reeeived by CRRA.
CRRA provided them
serviees, taking them to
Soeial Seeurity, the
Department of Soeial
Serviees for food stamps,
to the Health Department
and to shop for groeeries.
The ageney also paid
their rent and eleetrie for
the proseribed amount of time.
Maryam and Gabi met the asso-
eiate rabbi at Temple Israel, Faith
Cantor, who invited them to join
her eonversion elass. They attend
ed for a time until Gabi got a job
that requires him to work on
Tuesday evenings. Until he finds a
new job, the Tuesday evening
elass is elusive. CRRA is working
to find Maryam a job, and she is
studying English at CPCC.
Gabi and Maryam want to elose
the eirele and eonvert formally.
Maryam wears a Star of David
around her neek; they are both
Jewish in their hearts.
CRRA, an affiliate of HIAS
Ine., settles refugees from many
eountries and relies on volunteers,
in-kind donations and eash to pro
vide its serviees. In addition,
CRRA enjoys help from volun
teers. For more information, to
volunteer or donate, visit the
CRRA website at www.ear-
olinarefugee.org. ^
Butterfly Garden Dedication to Take Place at Annual
Yom HaShoah Observance
(Continued from page 1)
In San Diego, the butter
flies are displayed on an out
door wall of the Jewish
Aeademy building. Here in
Charlotte, we needed a dif
ferent mode of display, as
the outdoor walls of our
Levine JCC are briek. Enter
now loeal artist Paul Rousso.
Paul’s father’s family
from Rhodes all perished in
the Holoeaust. And he is
well known in the eommuni
ty for ereating art that daz
zles and amazes. His butter
fly seulpture that now stands
in Shalom Park just outside
the entranee to the Levine-
Sklut Judaie Library and Resouree
Center is a testament to the enor
mity of the projeet. And the seulp
ture will be surrounded by living
plants and flowers, ereating a
unique garden site for the memori
al butterflies.
It went away I’m sure
Because it wished
To kiss the world good-bye. ...”
And of the eeramie butterflies
themselves? The eommitment of
2,000 butterflies has been exeeed-
ed. There are now over 2,600 but
terflies and more eontinue to be
made. As more are ereated, they
will be added to the seulpture,
making it “a living, growing
memorial,” in the words of Judy
Artist s rendering
Sculpture.
Butterfly Garden
August, yet another volunteer who
has given so mueh time to this
projeet.
The weekend will kiek off
early, on Thursday, April 28 with a
teaeher workshop. The unveiling
of the seulpture garden with its
first applieation of eeramie butter
flies will be Sunday, May 1 at 1:30
PM. A eeremony and program
with several eomponents is
planned. The day will inelude the
eommunity’s annual Yom
HaShoah serviee with survivors’
eandle-lighting, the dedieation of
the garden, and a 60-minute pro-
duetion written by our loeal
teenagers, whieh ineludes song
and danee. There will be ehild-age
appropriate aetivities and
some of the originators of
the projeet from San
Diego will be on hand as
well.
For seven weeks I’ve
lived in here,
Penned up inside this
ghetto. But I have found
what I love here. ...”
In order to keep this
memorial “living” and
“growing,” and in order to
eontinue to bring the
workshops to the loeal
sehools, an Endowment
Fund is being set up exelu-
sively for the Butterfly
Projeet. If you would like to make
a donation, please go to
www.eharlottejee.org and eliek on
the Butterfly Projeet button on the
left. There is information about
donating there.
Please look for more informa
tion on the Yom HaShoah
Dedieation Ceremony in the May
2011 edition of The Charlotte
Jewish News.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches
in the court.
Only I never saw another
butterfly.
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live here,
in the ghetto. ”