Moshe (not his real name, lest the wrong people read this) looks like any other religious Jewish man in Jerusalem – dark hair, dark beard, wire-rimmed glasses, poring over a Talmudic tome in a yeshiva. No one would suspect that he is the great-great-grandson of a former Shah of Iran.
Moshe’s life has had more dramatic twists than the Disney movie. He is a scion not of the Pahlavi dynasty, which was deposed by the Islamic Revolution after two short generations, but rather of the Qajar dynasty, which proudly ruled Persia for ten generations. He remembers visiting his great-grandmother, the daughter of Mohammed Ali Shah Qajar, whom they called the “Little Princess” until her death at age 99, who used to regale him with stories of growing up in the palace, in the shadow of the Peacock Throne. He also remembers escorting his great-uncle into a room of Persian expatriates in Europe; everyone bowed to his uncle and called him, “shazdejeun, great son of the king.”
It was the first of three times in her life that Mina would lose everything in a single night.
Moshe’s grandmother was married off to an aristocrat whose fiefdom was far from Tehran. “In great aristocratic families, it’s not good to work,” explains Moshe. “All his life, my grandfather didn’t work, but he gambled and did opium.” One fateful night, when Moshe’s mother Mina was nine years old, her father gambled away everything he owned – his palace, his landholdings, his stable of Arabian stallions. The family was cast out of their home with barely food to eat.
It was the first of three times in her life that Mina would lose everything in a single night.
The family retreated to Tehran and was given an apartment in the palatial home of the Little Princess, Mina’s grandmother. The family had lost its wealth, but not its prestige. “People in Persia are very proud of their origin,” comments Moshe. “People respected my mother because she was high-born. Even if you lost all your money, you are still respected. Persians are very proud, and if you are aristocracy, it’s even more so.”
But at age 17, Mina risked losing even her status. She fell in love with Charles, a European Christian living in Tehran. When she revealed to her mother that she intended to marry this man who was neither Persian nor even Muslim, her mother threatened to disown her. Mina did not back down. At the end of a raging argument in which her mother told her she never wanted to see her again, the door was closed behind Mina, leaving her on the street with a single suitcase.
Too chaste to go to Charles’s apartment, Mina sought shelter with a friend. The friend took her to a large house filled with women and gave her a room. After some time, a French man entered the room. It turned out that the place was a brothel. She escaped and fled to Charles.
Charles, at age 22, was a budding scientist and a man of eloquence and charisma. He went to Mina’s mother and eventually convinced her to accept the marriage. Although Mina had a strong belief in God, like most of the Persian aristocracy she was a lukewarm Muslim. She converted to Christianity and the couple had three weddings: civil, Christian, and Moslem.
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Childhood and the Revolution
They lived in Tehran and Charles launched a company based on his scientific discoveries. In 1971, their second son Henry (later to become Moshe) was born. Strangely enough, his grandmother insisted on having him circumcised on the eighth day. He was also baptized as a baby. He was not given a Persian name, nor did his father permit him to learn to read and write Persian. Charles wanted his son to feel that the world was his home; his fate was to grow up with no home.
Charles’s business was successful, and Henry was raised in the lap of luxury: his own horse, skiing every weekend, vacations in European capitals, and an Occidental school attended by the upper class. He remembers the privileged precincts of North Tehran as “a paradise for children. People were extremely good and friendly, we had a huge family, and I watched English television.”
His idyllic childhood was ended by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. “People were killing each other in the streets.”
His idyllic childhood was ended by the Islamic Revolution of 1979. “People were killing each other in the streets,” Moshe recalls. “I used to go to my school in a school bus. One day one of the school buses was blown up by a rocket. All the children on the bus were killed. Two days later my brother and I were in Europe.”
They arrived in their new boarding school in the European countryside in a chauffeured Rolls Royce. None of the locals had ever seen such a sight. They thought the boys were from the family of the fleeing Shah.
During the first phase of the Revolution, Iranians across the political and religious spectrum were united in their desire for liberty and to get rid of the Shah. Had Mina been a Pahlavi, she would have been executed. Instead, she was from the revered Qajar dynasty. Like many of the aristocracy, she made an amiable alliance with the new government. A year later, she brought her sons back to Iran.
For Henry’s family, the national chaos was exacerbated by personal tragedy. Unscrupulous Western concerns had been trying to buy Charles’s innovative technology, but he had repeatedly refused. Finally, two Harvard men came to Tehran and over a period of a few months implemented a carefully plotted scheme to win Charles’s confidence. One night they plied him with liquor and got him to sign his business away. Overnight, the family lost everything. A broken Charles went to Europe, where he tried to start over again. A few months later, the family was notified that Charles was found dead, apparently of a heart attack.
Protégé of the Ayatollah
Mina was now alone, but undaunted. She approached a company that had been associated with her husband and asked to work for them. They offered her a lowly position as a salesperson. She converted a room in their small apartment into an office, and started from scratch. Her efforts, however, were undermined by rampant government corruption.
“Any time you have a problem, just call the office of Ayatollah Khomeini and he will take care of it.”
Mina went directly to Ayatollah Khomeini. Henry remembers the servants in his home during his halcyon childhood speaking of the coming of the Messiah. When Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Persia at the outset of the Revolution, virtually the entire populace regarded him as the Messiah. Mina, shrewd and secular, was an exception. But when she spoke directly with him to complain about government corruption, she became star-struck. Khomeini would not look directly at a woman’s face. Nevertheless, by the end of the interview, Mina had become his faithful protégé. Upon arriving home, she received a phone call saying, “Any time you have a problem, just call the office of Ayatollah Khomeini and he will take care of it.”
For the rest of Khomeini’s life, even during the most violent days of the regime, Mina enjoyed his personal protection. “The government feared my mother,” asserts Moshe. Several years later Mina had become a fantastically successful businesswoman.
Meanwhile the Revolution had entered a repressive phase. The religious zealots began to kill off all the other factions. Moshe remembers watching the movie Z in the home of the first Minister of Justice after the Revolution. Two years later, that Minister was murdered by Islamic radicals.
“Tehran became like the Chicago of the 20s,” remembers Moshe. “People with machine guns were gunning down other people in the streets. They closed the Occidental school my brother and I attended.”
Mina wanted her sons to become educated, cosmopolitan people. She decided that they had no future in the new Iran. A year after bringing them back, she again sent them to Europe, this time for good. Henry was nine years old when he bid his final farewell to the only home he would know until he created his own in Jerusalem.
The boys attended a Christian boarding school. They were completely alone in a foreign country. They had no contact with their father’s relatives, who had failed to attend Charles’s funeral; Mina had severed all ties with them. Mina visited two or three times a year, taking them on vacations to the United States, Vancouver, Hawaii, Spain, etc., but even on vacation her attention was on her business.
For high school, the boys attended the International School of Valbonne on the French Riviera. Known as “the school of geniuses,” it was the academy of choice for the sons of heads of state from every continent.
Throughout his teenage years, Henry engaged in a quest to find ultimate Truth. He read copiously in literature and philosophy. He dabbled in Spiritualism, Epicurean philosophy, art, and theater. He experimented with Zen meditation; after just a few months he attained “a sort of Nirvana.” With shoulder-length hair and all black clothing, he walked barefoot around Valbonne’s campus.
His quest for Truth did not take him to religion. Having been raised by monks in Christian schools, he did not take Christianity seriously. Having been exiled by Islamic zealots, he had no respect for Islam. His quest was intellectual, not religious, and God played no part in his life.
Then one day while he was in college, Henry had a mystical experience. He was suddenly, powerfully gripped by a consciousness of God as real and immanent. This state, which was not drug-induced, lasted a fortnight. After it ended, Henry wanted nothing else as much as to re-experience that God-consciousness. As an intellectual, he trusted his mind and knew that what he had experienced was an unadulterated dose of Reality. But where could he find God again?
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Discovering Judaism
One evening while in law school, some of his secular Jewish friends mentioned that they were going to a Jewish class that evening. Henry invited himself along. As Henry attests, “Everything the rabbi said, I felt, ‘This is what I have been seeking.’” His Jewish friends soon stopped attending the weekly class, but Henry continued. He resonated completely with the teachings. In a bookstore, he found some classic Jewish texts, such as the Kuzari and The Path of the Just. Reading them, he was overwhelmed by the sense, “Yes, this is what I want.”
The Path of the Just, an 18th century text describing the ascending levels of character refinement and spiritual attainment, became for Henry a map back to the God-consciousness he had known and lost.
After law school, Henry decided that it was not enough to study Judaism; he had to live it. He made up his mind to convert to Judaism, but when he tried to make an appointment to initiate the conversion process at the city’s Beit Din (Jewish court), he was ignored. Finally he phoned the Beit Din and asked to speak to the Chief Rabbi “about something very important and private.” The secretary asked what he wanted to speak about, but Henry insisted it was private. He was given an appointment, but as soon as he told the Chief Rabbi why he had come, the Rabbi told him, “I have ten minutes, not one minute more, to give you.” An hour later, he was still engaged in an intense conversation with Henry. At the end, the Rabbi told him, “Come back in one year. In one year, I will accept you.”
“For an aristocratic Persian, becoming a Jew is the most awful thing you can do.”
Henry understood that it was a test of his sincerity and persistence. The Rabbi did not know that he was dealing with the undauntable Qajar breed. A year later, Henry came back. After two years of studying how to be a Jew, Henry converted at the age of 28. Six months later, he married Noa, and they made aliyah to Israel, where he studies in yeshiva.
Converting to Judaism meant forfeiting his aristocratic prestige, his mother’s approval, and all connection to his extended family. “For an aristocratic Persian, becoming a Jew is the most awful thing you can do,” declares Moshe. “It’s simply unimaginable. It’s shameful.”
During the long conversion process, he never became discouraged by the prospect of losing all the privileges of his birth and upbringing. “I believed something,” Moshe attests. “I believed that Torah is the Truth, and I wanted to have it. I didn’t want to just learn about it. I wanted to reach the spiritual heights described in The Path of the Just.”
After his conversion, Moshe had a conversation with his brother. “Why don’t you convert?" Moshe asked him. "You know Judaism is true.”
Moshe’s brother replied, “I know it's true but I can’t convert. I love luxury and comfort too much.”
Sitting in his simple Jerusalem apartment, surrounded by his wife and children, Moshe ponders the trade-off he made in choosing truth over comfort. Did he get more than he lost? Moshe’s answer is a broad smile.
(35) joshua, May 9, 2018 5:10 PM
amazing
amazing story of perseverance. luxury and comfort aren't excluded from Orthodox observance though. moshe's brother could learn to create wealth and use it properly
(34) Miriam Dombey, August 14, 2014 9:24 PM
inspiring
Seeing how an outsider becomes inspired by traditional Jewish sources that we Orthodox Jews, alas, too often take for granted, gives pause. This story makes me want to review Path of the Just so I can understand how MOshe was affected by it, and deepen my own appreciation of our heritage.
Thank you for the well written and fascinating story.
(33) Steven (Bear), August 13, 2014 8:48 PM
Exactly
The way Moshe describes his experience is almost verbatim how I experienced G*D, as I went searching for Him by the spiritually moment I had. Everything that was saying this way would always fall short of the implanted truth that must of came with that experience. And since this is not something that is really out there in plain site but He is faithful to those who seek this out to reveal life, real life not religion amazing :)
(32) Yehudith Shraga, August 12, 2014 11:55 PM
There is no end to the G-d's Mercy and Love to His creation
A wonderful example of a person who trusted his soul, which has brought him to the highest possible Good in this Life.
(31) Anita, August 12, 2014 9:50 PM
A very well-researched and interesting article. Well written, not just to disseminate information, but also to inspire.
(30) lynnia, August 12, 2014 8:08 PM
excellente'
loved reading and learning
(29) tova saul, June 24, 2011 3:39 PM
2 points about the article
1. That rabbi should have had the insight to see that he was sincere. It's ridiculous that he sent Moshe away for a year, especially in light of the fact that there are so many Jewish women without a man to marry. 2. Since when can't you be a Jew and live in style?
Anonymous, August 12, 2014 4:58 PM
Converts have to be refused 3 times
To check integrity
Seems he got off lightly with one year
Rgds
Janice, August 12, 2014 5:25 PM
Judaism is a non-prosletyzing religion
The reason for the year long wait is Judaism has to be desired more than anything and if at the end of the year he still wanted it he has passed the test. Bear in mind Judaism neither seeks nor wants converts. That is why it's population is so small. I suggest you read about the subject.
Anonymous, August 12, 2014 7:48 PM
conversions
Tova, you are thinking as a layman in emotional terms. The Rabbi was 100% correct! He did exactly as he was supposed to do according to Halacha. In fact, a potential convert is usually sent away three times until the Rabbi sees for sure that he/she is sincere.
AlbertT, August 14, 2014 6:29 PM
Halachah
Nowhere does Halacha say the wait is one year or any amount of time. It's up to the individual rabbi to assess the sincerity of the potential convert by rejecting him at least twice and accept him if he comes back the third time with sincerity. Halacha says the convert must go in front of a Beit Din. The article did not say so.
(28) Anonymous, March 6, 2011 4:03 AM
Very Good Life Example
It was good to read this article of how the light of Torah drew "Moshe", and he knew he had chosen the right thing.
(27) Anonymous, February 8, 2011 11:49 PM
Prince of Persia
Fascinationg!
(26) Ryu, February 7, 2011 8:43 PM
As an east-asian who is confronting conversion
I would say it's very encouraging story for all who are engaging in conversion process or already converted. This story shows that the race or nationality can't be barriers, though we acknowledge there could be always problems of human's prejudice and political considerations, when one decides sincerely wants it. This is first time that I leave a comment on this site, and this is as a huge appreciation to the editor of this story, and Aish.com.
(25) Keturah, January 29, 2011 6:40 PM
Excellent article on the history and life of a very unlikely convert!
Excellent article on the history and life of a very unlikely convert! This serves to show all Jews, even those who feel that gentiles do not need to convert or that being born Jewish is better than them, that all people deserve a chance to know the truth and study it and live it! Praise HaShem! I see many true Jewish hearts in people who have converted than the many born Jewish who live secular and have no desire to learn Torah. Excellent article!
(24) Koorosh, January 29, 2011 12:27 AM
Perhaps you should become ambassador of truth and peace to Iran
As an Iranian and a Jew, congratulations to you on your choice. Probably, it's a good idea to educate some people in our own country that the Jews aren't what the givernment wants them to believe. Thank you!
(23) Alexander Huzau, January 27, 2011 6:05 PM
On the right side
Choosing truth over comfort? Yes! Did he get more than he lost? He get ALL!
(22) Clara Hanley, January 27, 2011 2:28 PM
What has made me think about after reading this, is have I been around a Persian Jew before, and thought he was an Arab and Muslim, when he really was one of us.
(21) afsoun, January 27, 2011 4:49 AM
I am a persian jew
I am a persian Jew and I am very proud as Moshe said to be persian and jew at the same time. I can understand totally what he went through with his conversion, coming from a islamic country , the people and the culture. I like to say bravo to you and I admire your courage and carisma for finding the truth. You are a true example of one proud persian jew.
(20) Rachael, January 27, 2011 1:44 AM
WOW
I was thinking the same thing Perla...
(19) shoshana, January 26, 2011 11:30 PM
so much faith and courage
I am amazed at the faith, courage and sacifice you made. I pray that Hashem protect you and your new family. Unfortunately, we take it for granted how easy it is for us to practice Judiams freely. Hopefully, you can be an inspiration for all jews.
(18) Anonymous, January 26, 2011 5:54 AM
153 recommended as of date. We like your article Sara, it leaves many speechless to comment. Moshe as he is called, has became whole for getting intouch with his roots of his own identity. Like Moses, growing up in an Egyptian household and knowing something was different about himself compared to the rest. It is so important to know our roots. Like this man, it can change your life, and for the better.
(17) Hannah, January 25, 2011 8:40 PM
This Story is for me!
I thanks G-d for this article. I can relate to the story. I am not a princess but I was race in wealth. I am in my final step for conversion (my husband already did). In February of this year it will be completed. When starting reading this article I noticed two things: the year 1971 (when I was born) and Moshe's born name "Henry" (my husband name is Henry) and I said to myself, "this story is for me". I never have or will have second though about converting to Judaism. When I was 19 years old I wanted to be a Israeli citizen, when I was 28 I learn about my Jewish roots from my Spain ancestors, then started learning and practicing Judaism. But these past months I did felt the sadness of losing the relationship with my only living parent, due to her Anti-Semitism. Also, I'm not longer will inherit the richness of my family. But Moshe's story had comfort me and reminded me that The Almighty is my Father, He has, is and will taking care of me. That B'nay Israel is my new family, I feel their love no only in my synagogue, but around the world. And that Torah Emet is my portion. Like we say at the end of the Torah Service on Shabbat: "It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and its supporters are praiseworthy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace. Lengthy days are at its right; at its left are wealth and honor. Adonay desired, for the sake of its righteousness, that the Torah be made great and glorious." V'nomar: Amen!
(16) Louise, January 25, 2011 5:55 PM
God's Beauty
God knows the beginning to the end and He knows hearts of men. His orchestration in our lives shines brightly here. Thank You
(15) Miriam, January 25, 2011 6:01 AM
What a story!
What a story! I wish I could shake hands with this Jewish prince when I visit Israel.
(14) Perla, January 25, 2011 2:27 AM
Queen Esther's descendant???
could Moshe probably be one of Queen Esther's descendants?? when someone like Moshe has this itchniness about Judaism, it means that there is jewish blood in the line.
(13) Anonymous, January 24, 2011 8:25 PM
Great Article
Thank you againn as usual for your wonderful and interesting articles.
(12) HB, January 24, 2011 6:51 PM
About the movie "Z"
From the IMDB: Costa-Gavras chronicles the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. When a liberal politician is murdered in an attack during a peace demonstration, the right wing established figures in the military and the police try and hide not only their parts in it, but try to cover up the murder as well. The magistrate must act as a detective in order to go through the cover up. While historically accurate, it is told as a combination mystery and thriller. Written by John Vogel. FYI. Lovely and inspirational story about "Moshe." Thank you for posting.
(11) Jorge, January 23, 2011 10:03 PM
Benig born a Jew is a privileged
We who were born jews should learn to value and cherished what people like Moishe have chosen to select as their Life Path This is why we pray all mornings Boruch .....Sheh-lo Ah-sah-ni Goy.
(10) Devorah, January 23, 2011 9:59 PM
Did he descend from even more prime royalty??
One more beautiful neshama that was actually there with the rest of us "B'nei Avraham Avinu" answering "YES!" at Har Sinai...but then became a spark scattered, to find its circuitous way back after millenia...and a step closer to the ingathering of the exiles and Moshiach. Many of these stories contain the factor of a past ancestor who was a Jew, who somehow passes on that germinating consciousness and quest for the Truth. Hey...with his royal lineage, I wonder about whehter he may be able to trace his way to back to Queen Esther herself!!! Between the Parsha of Matan Torah that just passed and the upcoming month of Adar/Purim, this is quite aupicious timing. I'd love to research the generations that descended from Esther Hamalka, Anyone out there with ideas or knowledge in this area?
(9) Joseph, January 23, 2011 9:46 PM
Of course this is true
Of course this is true. All of them including the Moleh are decendants of Hagar, Abraham's servent. Abraham has a child by her who was Ishmael beacause his wife could not get pregnant and wanted and a child and these are the decendants of the Jewish line. Once Abraham's wife Sarah bore a child by the name of Issac, she ask Abraham to kick both of them out their homes. Can you imagine kicking a love one out of your home and sending them out to the wilderness to die. All the killing is because of family feud. They all need to grow up, repent and forgive, kiss and make up and live peacefully.
(8) Dov, January 23, 2011 7:39 PM
Truth over comfort
Says /explains it all What a story fabulous Dov
(7) Anonymous, January 23, 2011 7:18 PM
jewish prince
Is this for real? or a joke? ED. REPLY: yes it's for real.
(6) An answer to question 2, January 23, 2011 6:47 PM
The Moleh could be Jewish
Recently read an autobigoraphy called " The stories of Agha Rasool" , the author in that book recalls a celebration for a kid's circumsion who was a muslim but circumcised by a Jewish " Moleh" who would do a better job with less injury and harm to the child. He confirms that at his time the practice was mostly administered by the Jewish experts if the child was from a prestigeous family where he lived. In the places where muslims and jews lived in adjoining communities one can come across practices and traditions taken from the other culture, that is not strange.
(5) Syd, January 23, 2011 6:00 PM
Stop the schisms of mankind......
We all bled red- no matter our color, our antecedents. Love is far more fun than hate--why do we hate so easily and regularly???
(4) Anonymous, January 23, 2011 4:33 PM
I was there
I was 15 at 1979 and remember the story from another perspective. I was born in an Armenian family in Tehran, and suffered prejudice because of racial tension. Lived through the bombings and rockets and only after the was ended, I managed to leave the century. I too had to find God for myself, since my family was not religious and became a born again Christian in my 20's, got disillusioned with Christianity and eventually in my 30's converted to Judaism with my British born husband and 3 little children. We didn't have the merit to live in Jerusalem, but still made Aliyah. Only the one who has experienced God in life, as we call it, Hashgacha Pratis, divine providence, will know what we mean.
(3) ruth housman, January 23, 2011 3:55 PM
a fascinating saga
I concur with many questions above, wanting to know more about the Little Princess and why her great grandson was circumcised. It does appear to be one of those stories that come full circle. So there is, Sagamore. I like that particular name, as it's the name of a bridge on Cape Cod, and it seems, for us all, there is more to the sagas we tell, an ongoing story, with all sorts of very interesting twists and turns, a braid, a gold braid, like our Challah!
(2) , January 23, 2011 2:27 PM
Many questions
Was the Little Princess, the daughter of Mohammed Ali Shah Qajark in fact a Jewess who converted to Islam? Why else would the great-grandson be circumcised on the eighth day, had she not passed down this Jewish Law in secret to her daughter, Moshe's grandmother, who insisted that this occur? There is much that remains to be told of this story . . .
(1) Mr. Jack Hould, January 23, 2011 11:42 AM
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