Yom Kippur, the holiest and most somber day of the Jewish calendar, is a time for repentance, traditionally reserved for fasting and intense prayer. But scores of Iranian American Jews in Los Angeles, many of whom congregate in just a handful of synagogues across the city, aren't just looking for forgiveness on the Day of Atonement.
They're looking for love.
Facing enormous pressure from their families to marry within the community, many of these young people -- and their matchmaking relatives -- say they use the day to scope out potential romantic interests and tap into vast social networks to get the scoop on prospective candidates.
The irritability and less-than-fresh breath that can accompany the 25-hour fast don't seem to stop many of them from dressing up and synagogue-hopping from the San Fernando Valley to the Westside in search of a soul mate.
"If you go to the mall a few days before, everyone's looking for an outfit for Yom Kippur," said Dalia Azizi, 25, of Beverly Hills. "Every year the skirts are getting shorter. They're going to temple and they look like they're going to a club."
Still, Azizi, who like most in the community prefers to be called Persian instead of Iranian, said pressure from her relatives to marry had ramped up recently. The aspiring physician's assistant said that for now, she is focusing more on her studies than on romance. But, asked if she was hoping to meet someone this Yom Kippur, she quietly assented.
"God willing," Azizi said. "I hope so."
Iranian American synagogues, which are mainly Conservative or Orthodox, might not appear conducive to single-mingling. Orthodox congregations are divided along gender lines. Men sit on one side and women on the other, often with a curtain between them that stymies cross-sanctuary eye contact.
But in the synagogue lobbies, the traditional solemnity lifts, even on Yom Kippur. Young people stand in circles, chatting, while children, not yet required to fast, push through the crowds with snack bags in tow. Older women, unofficial matchmakers, approach young women -- rarely do they approach men -- and talk up their single sons, nephews or grandsons before asking for a phone number.
The community's religious leaders generally seem to approve. A skirt slightly shorter than might be deemed modest or some overt flirting, the reasoning goes, are small prices to pay to encourage marrying within the group.
