A Mother’s Prayer: From Tehran to Tel Aviv, and the Hope of Return

Shirin Yadegar reflects on her family's Iranian roots and her daughters in the crossfire

This essay is part of a collection of work inspired by the anthology On Being Jewish Now: Reflections of Authors and Advocates. Want to contribute? Instructions here. Subscribe here.

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Photo by Oleg Vakhromov on Unsplash

On December 4, 1978, my mother fled Iran with my six-year-old brother and me in tow. I was just a year old. She was 28. With only a few belongings and the kind of courage that can only come from maternal instinct and deep faith, she left behind her husband, my father, who insisted that things would calm down.

But my mother knew better.

She knew the moment she saw college students creating chaos on campus for the removal of the Shah of Iran. She had watched her modern, vibrant homeland sink into the shadows of extremism as the Islamic regime took hold. She begged my father to come with us. He refused. And then the regime came for him. They killed my uncle and imprisoned my father for being a proud Zionist.

By the grace of God, my father miraculously escaped and reunited with us two years later in Los Angeles. We were free, but our hearts remained tethered to a homeland we were forced to abandon.

I grew up in exile. I built a life here. I became a mother to four daughters.

I carry the trauma of that flight from Iran like a memory passed down in my blood. But now, as I watch events unfold in Israel, I feel something unfamiliar rising: hope.

Hope that the very regime that stole our home and murdered my family may one day fall. Hope that I will walk freely through the streets of Tehran. Hope that justice, long deferred, will find its way back to the people of Iran and to those of us who had to run.

A few weeks ago, that hope became more personal. My teenage daughter was in Israel when Iran launched ballistic missiles toward the Jewish state. With three seconds’ notice, she ran into a bomb shelter. She saw the sky light up with fire. She felt what it means to be Israeli. And in that moment, she understood, perhaps more deeply than I ever could, the sacrifice, resilience, and moral clarity it takes to defend the Jewish homeland.

The irony is not lost on me: I feared more for my daughter at Columbia University in New York after October 7 than I did for the one in a warzone. At Columbia, Jews could not count on their school to keep them safe. In Israel, despite the missiles and chaos, I knew my daughter would be protected. Because Israel will always protect its own.

That’s something the diaspora must never forget.

And while I do not often wade into politics, I will say this without hesitation: I am proud to be an American today watching President Trump take bold, necessary action to help Israel stop a nuclear Iran, a regime that threatens not just the Middle East but the entire world.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about right and wrong. Good and evil. Freedom and tyranny. It’s about standing up for truth when the world punishes those who speak it. It’s about having moral clarity and instilling it in our children.

We are raising the next generation of Jews. We owe them more than comfort. We owe them courage.

So, I write this as a mother, as a daughter, and as a Jew in exile who still dreams of return:

May we all have the strength to speak the truth.

May we raise our children to stand tall and proud.

May we see a free Iran and a safe, strong Israel in our lifetime.

And may we never forget who we are and where we come from.

Am Yisrael Chai.

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Shirin Yadegar is the CEO and creator of L.A. Mom Magazine, ABC’s “The Parent Test,” and host of “Moms Matter.” She is a contributor to the bestselling anthology On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates.

Watch her interview with founder Zibby Owens here.