Each night of Chanukah we will share a message from our clergy, candle blessings, and inspiration from our Orange County community.
Rabbi K'vod's message includes who we are honoring as tonight's Shining Light, and each night of Chanukah we will continue to honor very special people in our TBESOC community.
In the spirit of Hanukkah, an eight-day holiday that celebrates the restoration of Jewish religious freedom in ancient Israel, we are highlighting eight religious communities under threat across the globe. Join us in shining a light on the areas of the world where darkness remains and the freedoms of religious communities are suppressed. Let this year’s Hanukkah observance, remind us to promote religious liberty and end the oppression of religious minorities wherever they may be. Please share this information with your friends and family to show your support for these communities and for religious freedom around the world.
Baha’is in Iran
According to Iranian law, members of the Baha’i faith community may be killed with impunity. Discrimination against Baha’is has worsened under President Hassan Rouhani’s tenure – at least 77 members of the Baha’i faith are currently unjustly imprisoned solely for their religious beliefs. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran has confirmed that Iran continues to persecute members of Baha’i and other religious and ethnic minority groups and to commit other serious rights violations.
The Baháʼí Faith in Iran is the country's second-largest religion after Islam. It supports socio-economic development beginning by giving greater freedom to women, promulgating the promotion of female education as a priority concern, creating schools, agricultural coops, and clinics.
The origins of the persecution in Iran and other countries stem from a variety of Baháʼí teachings which are inconsistent with traditional Islamic beliefs. According to a US panel, in the ten years following the 1979 revolution, more than 200 Baha'is were killed or executed, hundreds more were tortured or imprisoned, and tens of thousands lost jobs, access to education, and other rights – all solely because of their religious belief. Since 2005, more than 710 Baha'is have been arrested, and the number of Baha'is in prison has risen from fewer than five to a current figure of 136; roughly 600 more are engaged with the penal system: awaiting trial, for example, or awaiting sentencing. The incarcerated now include young mothers of nursing children (imprisoned with their infants). Since the summer of 2013, escalation of attacks has included both murder and attempted murder. These attacks are believed to be hate crimes that are religiously motivated. In 2004, Iranian authorities demolished the shrine and grave site of Muhammad-Ali Barfurushi (Quddús), a Bábí leader. In late 2005, an anti-Baháʼí media campaign was launched in Iran, asserting that the religion was created by colonialist powers to subvert Islam and to subjugate the Muslim peoples of Iran. In 2006 Iranian officials arrested 54 Baháʼís, mostly young people, in Shiraz. In March and May 2008, the seven "senior members" who form the leadership of the Baháʼí community in Iran were arrested. A summary of 2013 incidents of prison sentences, fines and punishments showed that these were more than twice as likely to apply to Baháʼís as any other religious minority in Iran and that the total rate of such cases had gone up by 36% over 2012.
