Portugalthe only country in Europe at the time willing to admit refugees without an entry visa. After arriving in Lisbon, my grandparents, who spoke neither Portuguese nor English, were taken to a motel in a bad area of the city by a taxi driver. They knew no one in Portugal, had little money left, little food and no hope. They called my mother, who was in Los Angeles, to help them. :RUG KDG OHDNHG RXW WKDW WKH UDGLFDO At the time, my parents had only been Islamic tenants were planning to arrest in the United States for three years after my grandfather in order to seize his assets. fleeing Iran. Our family had no contacts My grandparents faced the problem of in Portugal and knew no one who could fleeing Iran, which had closed its borders help my grandparents. My mother, who during the Iran-Iraq war at that time. was pregnant at the time, had no friends However, a greater challenge was how or contacts in the community and knew to bring along my grandfathers 92-yearno immigration lawyers, yet she turned ROGPRWKHU:LWKIHZRSWLRQVP\JUDQGto Rabbi Pressman at Temple Beth Am parents turned to smugglers, who agreed IRU XUJHQW KHOS :H ZHUH PHPEHUV RI to get them out of Iran and into Pakistan Temple Beth Am at the time and the very for a fee. However, they demanded extra By Karmel Melamed warm Rabbi Pressman not only commoney to also smuggle out my greatforted my worried mother, but he made :LWK WKH SDVVLQJ RI 5DEEL -DFRE grandmother, who was drugged during many important phone calls to Jewish part of the journey to avoid causing Pressman, my family and I were sadFRQWDFWV KH KDG LQ /LVERQ :LWK 5DEEL dened and surprised to hear the news of trouble. And so their dangerous journey Pressmans phone calls, his Jewish conhis death. Although we had not had con- of escape from Iran began on February tacts in Lisbon quickly picked up my tact with him in nearly 30 years, Rabbi 8, 1983, as they left behind everything grandparents from the motel and welPressman had a very special place in they owned our hearts because of his very kind help except for small to our family during our desperate time a of need. There are perhaps hundreds of h a n d b a g . stories of different individuals Rabbi Overnight, Pressman touched and aided during his my grandlifetime, but his remarkable actions in p a r e n t s March 1983 saved the lives of my grand- had lost parents and great-grandmother, who had t h e i r IOHG ,UDQ VHHNLQJ IUHHGRP LQ WKH :HVW vast forHe did not seek fame, glory or any per- tune and sonal gain for what he did for my family, could face it was an unselfish act of kindness that immediate saved lives and exemplified the true imprisonment or essence of Rabbi Pressman. The miraculous story of my grandpar- even exeents escape from Iran with the help of cution by smugglers more than three decades ago the Islamic is just one of the hundreds of thousands r e g i m e of stories of Jews, Christians, Bahais ruling Iran if they were caught trying comed them into their small community and others who fled Iran to escape per- WR IOHH ,UDQ LOOHJDOO\ :LWK WKH KHOS RI just in time for the Passover holiday. secution from the radical Islamic regime opium smugglers, my grandparents, my Just when my parents had lost all hope that had taken over the country in 1979. great-grandmother and a Bahai family of anyone helping my grandparents durMany Jews who fled Iran in the late were smuggled illegally in a dangerous ing their dire time of need, there was 1970s and 1980s left behind friends, journey out of Iran and into the Pakistani only one man, Rabbi Jacob Pressman, family, millions of dollars worth of border town of Quetta through a moun- who was like an angel and did everybusinesses, properties and other assets. tainous dirt road. thing in his power to save my grandparNot knowing anyone in Quetta, my My maternal grandparents were among ents. During subsequent meetings with the thousands of Jews living in Iran who grandparents and great-grandmother my mother, Rabbi Pressman made more somehow made their way to Karachi, feared for their lives because of their phone calls to Lisbon, and with his direct Jewish faith and were forced to escape Pakistan, where they were safeguard- help, as well as others in Lisbon, my that regime. My grandfather, who was in ed for a few days at the home of a grandparents were eventually granted his 50s at the time, and my grandmother, Pakistani Jewish family. Jews fleeing temporary entry visas to Italy as refugees who was in her early 40s, saw their seem- Iran into Pakistan were hot com- fleeing Iran. Again, Rabbi Pressman coningly peaceful and very affluent lives in modity at that time because the Iranian tinued to make phone calls to his Jewish Tehran overturned in January 1983 when regime had offered large rewards to any community contacts in Rome who aided their friends urged them to leave the Pakistanis who would turn over escap- my grandparents as they sought asycountry, because some of their tenants HHV IURP ,UDQHVSHFLDOO\ -HZV :LWK lum in the United States. Eventually, limited funds, my grandparents bribed were Iranian Revolutionary Guards. my grandparents and great-grandmother
guestcolumn
were granted religious asylum and given
visas to come to the United States where our family was reunited. Rabbi Pressman never once sought praise from us, never asked any questions, nor did he seek the public limelight for his actions to help our family. He did these actions out of his compassionate heart and a desire to help his fellow man. This was just the type of remarkable man he was and we knew this instantly because of his unconditional love for others. Every year for the last 32 years as we have gathered for the Passover meal at my grandparents home, my emotional mother has always recalled those painful weeks and months at the office of Rabbi Pressman. His warm heart and unselfish support to her has been something our entire family has always been grateful for and never forgotten. In a time when many Iranian immigrants living in Southern California were hated, disrespected or shunned by most Americans after the Iran hostage crisis, Rabbi Pressman acted in the complete opposite manner. He lifted us up in our hour of trouble and made us believe that America was truly our new home and a place for hope after fleeing the anti-Semitism and hatred of the Islamic regime in Iran. It should be noted that at the time Rabbi Pressman helped my grandparents, there were no organized American or European Jewish efforts to support Jews fleeing Iran. Subsequently the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) created a program for Iranian Jews fleeing Iran and provided temporary housing, food and support to them in Vienna, Austria as they sought immigration to the U.S. or Israel. Rabbi Jacob Pressmans passing has left a void in our hearts and in the hearts of the entire community in Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles area. His tremendous giving of time, energy and passion for the betterment of Jew and non-Jew alike in this community was something WKDW FDQ QHYHU EH UHSODFHG :KLOH ZH mourn his passing with the Pressman family, we thank god every day that our paths crossed with Rabbi Pressman because our family would not have been the same without his help. His entire life was dedicated to the betterment of society and his generosity of the heart continues to inspire us today to unselfishly help others in need and seek to heal the world.
In a time when many Iranian
immigrants living in Southern California were hated, disrespected or shunned by most Americans after the Iran hostage crisis, Rabbi [Jacob] Pressman acted in the complete opposite manner. He lifted us up in our hour of trouble and made us believe that America was truly our new home.
sports cont. from page 5
5-0 the Normans have faced this season, following South Pasadena, San Marino and Oak Park. El Segundo uses a pro-style offense. It
Page 6 Beverly Hills Weekly
Beverly Hills has lost 18 of its past 20
ZDV ILIWK LQ WKH 6RXWKHUQ 6HFWLRQ :HVWHUQ league games dating back to the start of the Division poll released Monday. Beverly Hills lost to the Eagles 50-0 last 2011 season, with both victories coming season. The Normans are 0-10 in Ocean over Hawthorne. The high school football website Calpreps League play under Stansbury.
Karmel Melamed is an attorney and
an award-winning internationally published journalist based in Southern California. projects a 42-6 El Segundo victory. It had projected South Pasadena would defeat the Normans 35-14. - Sports by Steven Herbert