In Iran, Iraq, Morrocco and elsewhere we were surrounded by Muslims who would not marry us even if we wanted

This admirable respect of Torah and Judaism can be seen in our parents generation as well, how they revered the sight of Torah and the beliefs in the mystical aspect of our religion. One is amazed how many times our father's kiss the Siddur, Kippa and Torah when attending synagogue. One is even more awe-inspired to see, with just the witnessing of the Torah being brought out of the Ark on Shabbat, how our mother's, no matter how observant, are brought to tears as they open the arms and offer their prayers.

With all this affinity to the Torah and other ritual objects, one would think that this community would be the same one that would actively foster and promote their children to delve deep into understanding of this supposed Holy document that they so adamantly cherish. However, I am baffled to the level of negativity and distaste, that is expressed by our community to Persian Jews that wish to spend some time learning Torah and Judaism in a formal setting. You have to ask, is the Torah a divine teaching that should be learned and understood or is it some thing just to kiss and pay thousands of dollars on Yom Kippur just to carry? It is as though they suddenly cover their eyes and forget about all of the respect they showed to the Torah the moment they hear the word 'Yeshiva'

What is even more amazing is how our families happily pay thousands of dollars for their children to go to prestigious universities where they are usually taught atheistic and anti-Jewish philosophies by ant-Israel profesors. But when it comes for amazingly cheap inspirational trips to Israel to learn about Judaism, these same parents suddenly close their minds to 'higher' education.  

It is unreasonable to think that children will pick up the same respect and admiration toward traditional Jewish values as that of their parents, without the instillation of a proper Jewish education. Just imagine a traditional family that partakes in occasional Shabbat dinners and observes certain dietary restrictions, but never gives the children the opportunity to realize the 'WHY' in all of these weird and constrictive religious practices. A possible, and not so uncommon, outcome of this upbringing is that the children will assimilate and marry out of the religion because they have no tangible connection to Judaism. The funny part of this whole scenario is the level of disbelief and total clueless shock of the parents to why there child sees nothing wrong with marrying a non-Jew. We can see now, how hypocritical some in our community can be, on one hand they want their children to keep the rich Jewish tradition that was passed on to them, and the other hand, when the children actually try to seek the answers to the reasons behind these obscure practices or even to why they should believe in it in the first place by going to learn in a Yeshiva or Seminary they are almost immediately castigated and discouraged.

It is understandable the level of discomfort that is felt by parents whose children become more religious than them, but they must set their priorities. We can no longer rely on our surroundings to insure the perpetuation of Judaism in our community. We live in a society where the traditional Jewish values that our grandparents acquired in Iran are looked down upon as old-fashioned and  backwards. We have to realize that we are declining to a generation where intermarriage and sexual immorality is slowly becoming a norm.

If Judaism is something that we value, respect and desire to be kept alive, we have to understand that the old-school system of close-your-eyes and follow-the-leader, a system that allowed Judaism to thrive in Iran, will not work in our generation. Our generation will not follow anything blindly, we have many questions and we need sensible answers and need them fast! We need to know that if the Torah is true Beyond A Reasonable Doubt. We need to know Why Marry Jewish? If we do not get these answers then inevitably we will follow the footsteps of our European brothers, where 2 out of 3 do not even identify themselves as Jews. We have to critically ask ourselves, Will Our Grandchildren Be Jewish?