On Thursday, Feb, 18th, the Jewish Iranian society missed a warmhearted
father and a personage whose intelligence and deep and learned look into social
activities will last for ever. The event made us all mourn in the sorrow of his
absence.
Gaad Naeim was born in a cleric family. The late Rab Naeim was one of the
founders of Jewish Iranians Independent Schools. He spent all his life on
teaching the sacred doctrines of the Jewish religion and was the origin of many
cultural and social services.
Gaad Naeim grew in a cultural family and since childhood, his father's behaviors
played an important role in forming his social activities.
At the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution by the Iranian people,
he played an active role in forming the Jewish Intellectuals Community and after
he joined Tehran Jewish Association, he made lots of efforts to improve the
organizational structure of Jewish Association. He then joined the board of
directors of the Charity Foundation of Dr. Sepier Hospital and served in this
charity foundation for many years. Because of his overwhelming interest in
solving the problems of old people in a modern and scientific way, he could
change the former house of old people into a foundation. The center was not
operating only as a house for old people but also as a suitable place for their
rehabilitation. He applied scientific procedures of management and in this way
he could prove that the era of traditional management and trial and error was
over many years ago.
Since most of the time I often tried to visit him for a few hours each week and
use his experiences and opinions, I respect his role as my professor and with a
deep sorrow and unbelief from his death I decided to share my sorrow on this
calamity with you.
In his statements he always used to emphasize that one must be steadfast in
social activities and has to carry out the correct and God-pleasing work for
promotion of the cultural level of the society without expecting anything in
return. There are also prominent sentences in a private interview with him that
was published in Edition No. 36 of Ofogh Bina Magazine. Among his advices he
always showed a strong confident on the beliefs of the Jewish Iranians, and
referred to the Community as having clear ideas that have developed in this land
and territory throughout the history. Gaad Naeim strongly believed that any
beginner and low-educated person is not allowed to claim the leadership of this
society or give them identity. He emphasized that we must use independent and
well-known people in carrying out social activities.
He used to emphasize the necessity for respecting the individuals' common sense,
intelligence and understanding. He believed that adhesion to human ethics is
essential for every work. He always emphasized that the social bodies shall have
no place for activity if not backed by people. He also believed that the origin
of this interaction is a transparent atmosphere, formed by frankness and truth.
Gaad Naeim always stressed, as a Jewish Iranian, I have an identity of 30
centuries. This thought was really clear examples of the Iranian-Jewish
identity. Where he mentioned: our society is a part of the world's Jews and it
is recognized as Mizrahi Jews, he believed that Mizrahi Judaism is much more
advanced than Ashkenazi Judaism in such areas as thought, idea and philosophical
tradition. This showed the high value he gave to the society in which he was
grown. Gaad Naeim was not the only advocate of intellectualism but he lived as
an intellectual. He taught such lessons as freethinking and tolerating the
dissidents to those who were around him. Alas, he was not just a simple flower
from a garden, so that after his death, the flower garden still survives. He was
a stream of affection. How simple we lost him!!
