My life story before meeting Sasson is shorter, as I was only 14 when we met, and he was 20. He had more life experience than I, but I was better acquainted with and better adapted to our environment. In the following pages you will realize how different our backgrounds are.
Let us start by the fact that Iranian society, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, is strongly patriarchal, which makes a girl’s life experience totally different from a boy’s, for better and for worse. Men have it easier, but for the same reason women are usually more resourceful. This is not unique to us.
What is unique is that while Sasson grew up in Iran and changed environment every few years, I grew up in Tehran for the first five years and then in Hamburg till well into my 30’s. My family environment was also quite stable. For this reason I don’t share his identity conflicts: I have a very strong sense of who I am.
Writing my memories and rereading them, took me back to the little girl I was, the adolescent girl, the young wife and mother, and the woman behind the great man. Although I had my dreams when I was young — to study and go into the academic sphere — as a girl I couldn’t choose my own path. But I’m very happy with the way my life went: I’ve had a good, rich life, loving wonderful husband and beautiful family, and today I’m a very happy person. I feel fulfilled, and this is what counts in life.