Volume 67, Issue 7

Iranian Club
by Joe Greene

Due to an influx of Sephardim at Yeshiva over the past decade, Sephardi students slowly began feeling that one club just wasn’t enough for them.  Seizing on this sentiment, Omid Nikrauz, a Yeshiva student of Iranian decent, founded the Iranian club in 1999.

Nikrauz felt that he needed to start a club that would give Iranian students a chance to bond with one another.  But he wasn’t looking to create an exclusionary environment.  Beyond his immediate goal, Nikrauz hoped that his debuting club would allow students across the spectrum of diversity to band together, cultivating a sense of student unity – something he felt Yeshiva could always use more of. 

“One goal of our club is to promote unity and achdut among all Yeshiva students no matter what country or region they are descendents of,” said Nikrauz.

Over the course of the year, the club has already held a number of events that have peaked student interest and garnered respectable attendances. Their first event, which was held on Novermber 21, was a “black-tie” dinner at The Wolf and Lamb Steakhouse on 48th Street.  Over steaks and side dishes men from the Wilf Campus and women from the Midtown Campus discussed happenings in the Iranian community.  The evening’s guest speaker was Vivian Romani Den, who spoke about similarities between Middle Eastern cultures and western cultures.

And, pursuant to Nikrauz’s long-term goal, the events are not restricted to Iranian students.  Indeed, the crowd at Wolf and Lamb included a whopping 35 Ashkenaz students.

Unity and achdut notwithstanding, the club tends to focus on the situation of the Jews residing in Iran.  Last year, 30 club members traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with New York Senator Charles Shumer to discuss the treatment of the 15,000 Jews currently residing in Iran.  Arash Nefass, current club president, notes “we had a very productive and pleasant meeting with the senator.”

The major event planned for this year is a Shabbaton in Washington.  However, the costs of the event are extremely high, and the club does not receive any funding from the Student Council or the University.  In order to subsidize the costs of the Shabbaton, the club arranges trips to Broadway shows.  They make a small profit off each ticket sold, which goes directly towards the cost of the Shabbaton. 

Says Nikrauz, “These Broadway shows are a great idea.  It’s a night for students to go out and have a good time and, at the same time, support the costs of the club.”♦

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