After World War II, the Jewish community in Mashhad faced troubling times, causing many to seek refuge in Tehran. While migration to the capital wasn’t uncommon among Jews, but this time, religious minorities were offered more freedom. Consequently, a significant portion of Mashhad’s Jewish population relocated to Tehran in a relatively short period.
Mashhadi Jews began building more and more synagogues — such as the Levians, Rafinia, and Nosrat — most of which were independently managed by their founders with support from the Synagogue Council. As a result, a growing need emerged for a unified association. This association would coordinate cultural and social activities across the Mashhadi synagogues in Tehran. Additionally, the establishment of a central fund became imperative to address community needs, plan initiatives, and cover cultural and charitable expenses.
Up to that time, Mashhadi Jews solved all their issues and conflicts by a party of eight trusted members, including Musa Levian, Haji Agha Nabavian, Abdulrahim Zar, Ibrahim Hariri Tolu, Rahmatollah Arbabzadeh, Azizollah Zar, Noorollah Zebulani, and Azizollah Kordovani. In 1963, a group of respected Mashhadi Jews convened in the Levian Synagogue to discuss the formation of a council where members would elected periodically by the Jewish community. Among those present was the late Abdulrahman Iranian, who brought along a recording device to document the meeting. What began as a hopeful discussion swiftly descended into heated debates and conflicting opinions, ultimately leading to the premature termination of the meeting.
A year later, in 1964, pieces of papers were distributed among members in the Levian Synagogue with a statement: “Our community has grown and needs a leadership board. We must form an association to take care of the community’s affairs.” The result was a positive response. Most of the community members announced their readiness to participate in an election.
Soon, an election was held in the Saba Synagogue with the presence of trusted members of the community next to the rest. Fifteen people won the votes to enter the first board of directors. They were, in order of highest votes:
- Abdulrahim Etesami
- Habibollah Nabavian
- Musa Karmeli
- Abdulrahim Zar
- Ibrahim Hakimian Haghighat
- Abdulrahim Hakimian Iranian
- Farajollah Levi
- Jamshid Ghasabian
- Aghajan Abdullahzadeh Moghadam
- Mahdi Levian
- Lotfollah Beni Levi
- Azizollah Kordavani
- Musa Rajabzadeh
- Habibollah Deylamanian
- Noorollah Zebulani
Internal voting held by the board of directors of the Mashhadiha Association led to the following appointments:
- Abdulrahim Etesami as Chairman of the board
- Abdulrahim Zar as the Deputy-Chairman
- Habibollah Nabavian as the Treasurer
- Agha Jan Abdullahzadeh Moghadam as the Secretary
Their first decision was to compose the Memorandum of Association and have it officially registered. The Chairman prepared the documents and presented it to the board members to modify it. The memorandum was finally registered at the country’s internal ministry on the 17th November 1965 under the name Khorasani Jews Charity Association.
Immediately, steps were taken to establish the association’s fund, which was welcomed by the Mashhadi community. Sums of money were donated to the fund by the benefactors of Mashhad as capital for the association. Among other things, the proceeds from the sale of equipment and the collection of the Hakimian Synagogue in Mashhad were donated to the fund.
One of the important objectives of the Khorasani Jews Charity Association was to foster and nurture relationships with all Jewish cultural and social institutions and communities, particularly with the Tehran Jewish Committee, presided over by the late Haji Habib Elghanian. This was in addition to others endeavors that stood at the forefront of the association’s concerns, some of which were:
- Supervising and administering the properties owned by association members in Mashhad, Tehran, and other cities.
- Facilitating the transfer and registration of endowment properties to the ownership of the Khorasani Jews Charity Association, encompassing synagogues and cemetery lands in Mashhad, as well as unregistered properties.
- Attending to the community’s needs, mediating family disputes, extending assistance to impoverished families, handling the affairs of bankrupt individuals, and spearheading initiatives for the establishment of new synagogues and the restoration of existing ones.
The Khorasani Jews Charity Association held board elections every two or three years. The fifth round of elections took place in 1975, following the inauguration of the new office of the association on Zartosht Street. Fifteen individuals were elected to the board of directors, ranked by popular vote:
- Abdolrahim Etesami
- Abdolrahim Zar
- Habibollah Nabavian
- Mahdi Hariri Tolu
- Amin Jan Nabi Levi
- Ibrahim Haghighat
- Eshagh Deylamani
- Yosef Abdollahizadeh
- Farajollah Levi
- Albert Karmeli
- Hooshang Namdar
- Engineer Noorollah Moheban
- Haron Cohenim
- Nasser Zar
- Jack Nasimi
Throughout all five rounds of elections, Mr. Abdolrahim Etesami consistently participated and was elected as the chairman of the association. Mr. Abdolrahim Zar retained his position as the deputy-chairman, and Mr. Habibollah Nabavian continued as the treasurer throughout these rounds.
Board elections for the Khorasani Jews Charity Association have not been held since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, following the emigration of Mashhadi Jews abroad and the resulting inability to gather a quorum of voters.
Khorasani Association