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Persian Jews

January 28, 2024

"Jews of Iran" redirects here. For the 2005 Dutch documentary, see Jews of Iran (film).

Persian Jews or Iranian Jews[4] (Persian: یهودیان ایرانی Yahudiyān-e Irāni; Hebrew: יהודים פרסים Yəhūdīm Parsīm) constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran during the time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Books of the Hebrew Bible (i.e., Esther, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah) bring together an extensive narrative shedding light on contemporary Jewish life experiences in ancient Persia; there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Iran since at least the time of Cyrus the Great, who led the Persian army's conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and subsequently freed the Judahites from the Babylonian captivity.

Iranian Jews
یهودیان ایرانی
יְהוּדִים פְּרָסִים‎
Gathering of the Zionist Federation in Iran, 1920
Total population
300,000–350,000 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
 Israel200,000[1]–250,000[2]
 United States60,000–80,000[1]
 Iran9,826[3]
 Canada1,000
 Australia~740[note 1]
Languages
Persian (incl. Judeo-Persian), Judeo-Aramaic, Hebrew
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Mizrahi Jews (e.g., Mountain Jews and Bukharan Jews)

After 1979, Jewish emigration from Iran increased dramatically in light of the country's Islamic Revolution. Today, the vast majority of Persian Jews reside in Israel and the United States. The Israeli community of Persian Jews is mostly concentrated in the cities of Kfar Saba, Netanya, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. In the United States, there are sizable Persian Jewish communities in Los Angeles (Tehrangeles), Beverly Hills, and on the North Shore of Long Island. Smaller Persian Jewish communities also exist in Baltimore and in Minneapolis–Saint Paul. According to the 2016 Iranian census, the remaining Jewish population of Iran stood at 9,826 people,[5] though independent third-party estimates have placed the figure at around 8,500.[3]

Terminology edit

Today, the term Iranian Jews is mostly used in reference to Jews who are from the country of Iran. In various scholarly and historical texts, the term is used in reference to Jews who speak various Iranian languages. Iranian immigrants in Israel (nearly all of whom are Jewish) are referred to as Parsim. In Iran, Persian Jews and Jewish people in general are both described with four common terms: Kalīmī (Persian: کلیمی), which is considered the most proper term; Yahūdī (یهودی), which is less formal but correct; Yīsrael (ישראל‎) the term by which Jewish people refer to themselves; and Johūd (جهود), a term having negative connotations and considered by many Jews as offensive.[6]

History edit

Main article: History of Jews in Iran

Jews had been residing in Persia since around 727 BCE, having arrived in the region as slaves after being captured by the Assyrian and Babylonian kings. According to one Jewish legend, the first Jew to enter Persia was Sarah bat Asher, grand daughter of the Patriarch Jacob.[7] The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Esther contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia and accounts of their relations with the Persian kings. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was effected "according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia" (Ezra 6:14). This great event in Jewish history took place in the late sixth-century BCE, by which time there was a well-established and influential Jewish community in Persia.

Jews in ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities. Persian Jews lived in the ancient (and until the mid-20th century still extant) communities not only of Iran, but also the Armenian, Georgian, Iraqi, Bukharan, and Mountain Jewish communities.[8][9][10][11]

Some of the communities have been isolated from other Jewish communities to the extent that their classification as "Persian Jews" is a matter of linguistic or geographical convenience rather than actual historical relationship with one another. Scholars believe that during the peak of the Persian Empire, Jews may have comprised as much as 20% of the population.[12]

According to Encyclopædia Britannica: "The Jews trace their heritage in Iran to the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC[E] and, like the Armenians, have retained their ethnic, linguistic, and religious identity."[13] But the Library of Congress's country study on Iran states that "Over the centuries the Jews of Iran became physically, culturally, and linguistically indistinguishable from the non-Jewish population. The overwhelming majority of Jews speak Persian as their mother language, and a tiny minority, Kurdish."[14]

Achaemenid period (550–330 BCE) edit

Under Cyrus the Great edit

 
Cyrus the Great allowing Hebrew pilgrims to return to the Land of Israel and rebuild Jerusalem, painting by Jean Fouquet circa 1470

According to the biblical account Cyrus the Great was "God's anointed", having freed the Jews from Babylonian rule. After the conquest of Babylonia by the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship. Though he allowed the Jews to return to Israel (around 537 BCE), many chose to remain in Persia. Thus, the events of the Book of Esther are set entirely in Iran. Various biblical accounts say that over forty thousand Jews did return (See Jehoiakim, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Jews).[15]

The historical nature of the "Cyrus decree" has been challenged. Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree, but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples. He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a "trickle", taking place over perhaps decades, resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30,000.[16] Philip R. Davies called the authenticity of the decree "dubious", citing Grabbe. Arguing against the authenticity of Ezra 1.1–4 is J. Briend, in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993, who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather the biblical prophetic idiom."[17]

Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and, along with the Cyrus Cylinder, that Cyrus, like earlier rulers, was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important, particularly those close to Egypt which Cyrus wished to conquer. She also wrote that "appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co-opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control."[18]

By some accounts, the tomb of the prophet Daniel is located in Susa. The Second Temple was eventually (re)built in Jerusalem, with assistance from the Persians, and the Israelites assumed an important position in the Silk Road trade with China.[15]

Under Darius the Great edit

Main article: Second Temple

Cyrus ordered rebuilding the Second Temple in the same place as the first; however, he died before it was completed. Darius the Great came to power in the Persian empire and ordered the completion of the temple. According to the Bible, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah urged this work. The temple was ready for consecration in the spring of 515 BCE, more than twenty years after the Jews' return to Jerusalem.

Under Ahasuerus (Bible) edit

According to the Book of Esther, in the Tanakh, Haman was an Agagite noble and vizier of the empire under Persian King Ahasuerus, generally identified as Xerxes the Great (son of Darius the Great) in the 6th century BCE.[19] According to the story, Haman and his wife Zeresh instigated a plot to kill all the Jews of ancient Persia. The plot was foiled by Queen Esther, the Jewish Queen of Persia. As a result, Ahasuerus ordered the hanging of Haman and his ten sons. The events of the Book of Esther are celebrated as the holiday of Purim.

Parthian period (247 BCE – 224 CE) edit

Jewish sources contain no mention of the Parthian influence; "Parthia" does not appear in the texts.[citation needed] The Armenian prince Sanatroces, of the royal house of the Arsacides, is mentioned in the "Small Chronicle" as one of the successors (diadochoi) of Alexander. Among other Asiatic princes, the Roman rescript in favor of the Jews reached Arsaces as well (I Macc. xv. 22); it is not, however, specified which Arsaces. Not long after this, the Partho-Babylonian country was trodden by the army of a Jewish prince; the Syrian king, Antiochus Sidetes, marched, in company with Hyrcanus I, against the Parthians; and when the allied armies defeated the Parthians (129 BCE) at the Great Zab (Lycus), the king ordered a halt of two days on account of the Jewish Sabbath and Feast of Weeks. In 40 BCE the Jewish puppet-king, Hyrcanus II, fell into the hands of the Parthians, who, according to their custom, cut off his ears in order to render him unfit for rulership. The Jews of Babylonia, it seems, had the intention of founding a high-priesthood for the exiled Hyrcanus, which they would have made quite independent of the Land of Israel. But the reverse was to come about: the Judeans received a Babylonian, Ananel by name, as their high priest, which indicates the importance enjoyed by the Jews of Babylonia.

The Parthian Empire was based on a loosely configured system of vassal kings. The lack of rigidly centralized rule over the empire had drawbacks, for instance, allowing the rise of a Jewish robber-state in Nehardea (see Anilai and Asinai). Yet, the tolerance of the Arsacid dynasty was as legendary as that of the first Persian dynasty, the Achaemenids. One account suggests the conversion of a small number of Parthian vassal kings of Adiabene to Judaism. These instances and others show not only the tolerance of Parthian kings, but are also a testament to the extent at which the Parthians saw themselves as the heir to the preceding empire of Cyrus the Great. So protective were the Parthians of the minority over whom they ruled, that an old Jewish saying tells, "When you see a Parthian charger tied up to a tomb-stone in the Land of Israel, the hour of the Messiah will be near".

The Babylonian Jews wanted to fight in common cause with their Judean brethren against Vespasian; but it was not until the Romans waged war under Trajan against Parthia that they made their hatred felt; so, the revolt of the Babylonian Jews helped prevent Rome from becoming master there. Philo speaks of the numerous Jews resident in that country, a population that was likely increased by immigrants after the destruction of Jerusalem. In Jerusalem from early times, Jews had looked to the east for help. With the fall of Jerusalem, Babylonia became a kind of bulwark of Judaism. The collapse of the Bar Kochba revolt likely also added to Jewish refugees in Babylon.

In the struggles between the Parthians and the Romans, the Jews had reason to side with the Parthians, their protectors. Parthian kings elevated the princes of the Exile to a kind of nobility, called Resh Galuta. Until then they had used the Jews as collectors of revenue. The Parthians may have given them recognition for services, especially by the Davidic house. Establishment of the Resh Galuta provided a central authority over the numerous Jewish subjects, who proceeded to develop their own internal affairs.

Sasanian period (226–634 CE) edit

Main article: Exilarch
 
Hebrew version of Nizami's "Khosrow va Shirin"

By the early third century, Persian Empire influences were on the rise again. In the winter of 226 CE, Ardashir I overthrew the last Parthian king (Artabanus IV), destroyed the rule of the Arsacids, and founded the dynasty of the Sassanids. While Hellenistic influence had been felt amongst the religiously tolerant Parthians,[20][21][22] the Sassanids intensified the Persian side of life, favored the Pahlavi language, and restored the old dualistic religion of Zoroastrianism which became the official state religion.[23] This resulted in the suppression of other religions.[24] A priestly Zoroastrian inscription from the time of King Bahram II (276–293 CE) contains a list of religions (including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism etc.) that Sassanid rule claimed to have "smashed". "The false doctrines of Ahriman and of the idols suffered great blows and lost credibility. The Jews (Yahud), Buddhists (Shaman), Hindus (Brahman), Nazarenes (Nasara), Christians (Kristiyan), Baptists (Makdag) and Manichaeans (Zandik) were smashed in the empire, their idols destroyed, and the habitations of the idols annihilated and turned into abodes and seats of the gods"."[25]

Shapur I (or Shvor Malka, which is the Aramaic form of the name) was friendly to the Jews. His friendship with Shmuel gained many advantages for the Jewish community. Shapur II's mother Ifra Hormizd was half-Jewish, and this gave the Jewish community relative freedom of religion and many advantages. He was also friend of a Babylonian rabbi in the Talmud named Raba, Raba's friendship with Shapur II enabled him to secure a relaxation of the oppressive laws enacted against the Jews in the Persian Empire. In addition, Raba sometimes referred to his top student Abaye with the term Shvur Malka meaning "Shapur [the] King" because of his bright and quick intellect.

Arab conquest and early Islamic period (634–1255) edit

With the Islamic conquest of Persia, the government assigned Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians, to the status of dhimmis, non-Muslim subjects of the Islamic empire. Dhimmis were allowed to practice their religion, but were required to pay jizya to cover the cost of financial welfare, security and other benefits that Muslims were entitled to (jizya, a poll tax, and initially also kharaj, a land tax) in place of the zakat, which the Muslim population was required to pay. Like other Dhimmis, Jews were exempt from military draft. Viewed as "People of the Book", they had some status as fellow monotheists, though they were treated differently depending on the ruler at the time. On the one hand, Jews were granted significant economic and religious freedom when compared to their co-religionists in European nations during these centuries. Many served as doctors, scholars, and craftsman, and gained positions of influence in society. On the other hand, like other non-Muslims, they were treated as somewhat inferior.

Mongol rule (1256–1318) edit

In 1255, Mongols led by Hulagu Khan invaded parts of Persia, and in 1258 they captured Baghdad putting an end to the Abbasid caliphate.[26] In Persia and surrounding areas, the Mongols established a division of the Mongol Empire known as the Ilkhanate, building a capital city in Tabriz. The Ilkhanate Mongol rulers abolished the inequality of dhimmis, and all religions were deemed equal. It was shortly after this time when one of the Ilkhanate rulers, Arghun Khan, preferred Jews for the administrative positions and appointed Sa'd al-Daula, a Jew, as his vizier. The appointment, however, provoked resentment from the Muslim clergy, and after Arghun's death in 1291, al-Daula was murdered and Persian Jews in Tabriz suffered a period of violent persecutions from the Muslim populace instigated by the clergy. The Syriac Orthodox historian Bar Hebraeus wrote that the violence committed against the Jews during that period "neither tongue can utter, nor the pen write down".[27]

Ghazan Khan's conversion to Islam in 1295 heralded for Persian Jews in Tabriz a pronounced turn for the worse, as they were once again relegated to the status of dhimmis (Covenant of Omar). Öljeitü, Ghazan Khan's successor, destroyed many synagogues and decreed that Jews had to wear a distinctive mark on their heads; Christians endured similar persecutions. Under pressure, many Jews converted to Islam. The most famous such convert was Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, a physician of Hamadani origin who was also a historian and statesman; and who adopted Islam in order to advance his career in Öljeitü's court in Tabriz. However, in 1318 he was executed on charges of poisoning Öljeitü and his severed head was carried around the streets of Tabriz, chanting, "This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God; may God's curse be upon him!" About 100 years later, Miranshah destroyed Rashid al-Din's tomb, and his remains were reburied at the Jewish cemetery.

In 1383, Timur Lenk started the military conquest of Persia. He captured Herat, Khorasan and all eastern Persia to 1385 and massacred almost all inhabitants of Neishapur and other Iranian cities. When revolts broke out in Persia, he ruthlessly suppressed them, massacring the populations of whole cities. When Timur plundered Persia its artists and artisans were deported to embellish Timur's capital Samarkand. Skilled Persian Jews were imported to develop the empire's textile industry.[28][better source needed]

Safavid dynasty (1501–1736) edit

Conversion of Iran from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam edit

Main article: Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam
 
Synagogue in Tehran. A postcard from the Qajar (1794–1925) period.
 
Hamedan Jews in 1918

During the reign of the Safavids (1502–1794), they proclaimed Shi'a Islam the state religion. This led to a deterioration in their treatment of Persian Jews. Safavids Shi'ism assigns importance to the issues of ritual purity – tahara. Non-Muslims, including Jews, are deemed to be ritually unclean – najis. Any physical contact would require Shi'as to undertake ritual purification before doing regular prayers. Thus, Persian rulers, and the general populace, sought to limit physical contact between Muslims and Jews. Jews were excluded from public baths used by Muslims. They were forbidden to go outside during rain or snow, as an "impurity" could be washed from them upon a Muslim.[29]

The reign of Shah Abbas I (1588–1629) was initially benign; Jews prospered throughout Persia and were encouraged to settle in Isfahan, which was made a new capital. Toward the end of his rule, treatment of Jews became more harsh. Shi'a clergy (including a Jewish convert) persuaded the shah to require Jews to wear a distinctive badge on clothing and headgear. In 1656, Shah Abbas II ordered the expulsion from Isfahan of all Jews because of the common belief of their "impurity". They were forced to convert to Islam. The treasury suffered from the loss of jizya collected from the Jews. There were rumors that the converts continued to practice Judaism in secret. For whatever reason, the government in 1661 allowed Jews to take up their old religion, but still required them to wear a distinctive patch upon their clothing.[27]

Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796) edit

Nadir Shah (1736–1747) allowed Jews to settle in the Shi'ite holy city of Mashhad. As many Jews were traders, they were able to prosper due to the connection of Mashhad to other cities along the Silk Road, most notably in Central Asia. In 1839, in an event known as Allahdad incident, many members of the Jewish community were forced to convert to Islam or left Mashhad, to Herat in Afghanistan or cities such as Bukhara in today's Uzbekistan. They became known as "Jadid al-Islams" (new Muslims) and appeared to superficially accept the new religion, but continued to practice many Jewish traditions, i.e. as Crypto-Jews. Except a few individuals, the community permanently left Mashhad in 1946, either to Tehran, but also to Bombay and Palestine. Most of them still live as a tightly knit community in Israel today.[30]

Bābāʾī ben Nūrīʾel, a ḥāḵām (rabbi) from Isfahan translated the Pentateuch and the Psalms of David from Hebrew into Persian at the behest of Nāder Shah. Three other rabbis helped him in the translation, which was begun in Rabīʿ II 1153/May 1740, and completed in Jomādā I 1154/June 1741. At the same time, eight Muslim mullahs and three European and five Armenian priests translated the Koran and the Gospels. The commission was supervised by Mīrzā Moḥammad Mahdī Khan Monšī, the court historiographer and author of the Tārīḵ-ejahāngošā-ye nāderī. Finished translations were presented to Nāder Shah in Qazvīn in June, 1741, who, however, was not impressed. There had been previous translations of the Jewish holy books into Persian, but Bābāʾī's translation is notable for the accuracy of the Persian equivalents of Hebrew words, which has made it the subject of study by linguists. Bābāʾī's introduction to the translation of the Psalms of David is unique, and sheds a certain amount of light on the teaching methods of Iranian Jewish schools in eighteenth-century Iran. He is not known to have written anything else.[31]

Qajar dynasty (1789–1925) edit

The advent of the Qajar dynasty in 1794 brought back the earlier persecutions.

 
A Jewish gathering celebrates the second anniversary of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in Tehran.

Lord Curzon described 19th-century regional differences in the situation of the Persian Jews: "In Isfahan, where they are said to be 3,700 and where they occupy a relatively better status than elsewhere in Persia, they are not permitted to wear kolah or Persian headdress, to have shops in the bazaar, to build the walls of their houses as high as a Moslem neighbour's, or to ride in the street. In Teheran and Kashan they are also to be found in large numbers and enjoying a fair position. In Shiraz they are very badly off. In Bushire they are prosperous and free from persecution."[32]

In the 19th century, the colonial powers from Europe began noting numerous forced conversions and massacres, usually generated by Shi'a clergy. Two major blood-libel conspiracies had taken place during this period, one in Shiraz and the other in Tabriz. A document recorded after the incident states that the Jews faced two options, conversion to Islam or death. Amidst the chaos, Jews had converted, but most refused to convert to Islam – described within the document was a boy of age 16 named Yahyia who refused to convert to Islam and was subsequently killed. The same year saw a forcible conversion of the Jews of Shiraz over a similar incident. The Allahdad incident of 1839 was mentioned above. European travellers reported that the Jews of Tabriz and Shiraz continued to practice Judaism in secret despite a fear of further persecutions. Famous Iranian-Jewish teachers such as Mullah Daoud Chadi continued to teach and preach Judaism, inspiring Jews throughout the nation. Jews of Barforush, Mazandaran were forcibly converted in 1866. When the French and British ambassadors intervened to allow them to practice their traditional religion, a mob killed 18 Jews.[33][34]

In the middle of the 19th century, J. J. Benjamin wrote about the life of Persian Jews, describing conditions and beliefs that went back to the 16th century:

They are obliged to live in a separate part of town…; for they are considered as unclean creatures… Under the pretext of their being unclean, they are treated with the greatest severity and should they enter a street, inhabited by Mussulmans, they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt… For the same reason, they are prohibited to go out when it rains; for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them, which would sully the feet of the Mussulmans… If a Jew is recognized as such in the streets, he is subjected to the greatest insults. The passers-by spit in his face, and sometimes beat him… unmercifully… If a Jew enters a shop for anything, he is forbidden to inspect the goods… Should his hand incautiously touch the goods, he must take them at any price the seller chooses to ask for them... Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jews and take possession of whatever please them. Should the owner make the least opposition in defense of his property, he incurs the danger of atoning for it with his life... If... a Jew shows himself in the street during the three days of the Katel (Muharram)…, he is sure to be murdered.[35]

A group of Persian Jewish refugees escaping persecution back home in Mashhad, Qajar Persia, were granted rights to settle in the Sikh Empire around the year 1839. Most of the Jewish families settled in Rawalpindi (specifically in the Babu Mohallah neighbourhood) and Peshawar.[36][37][38][39]

In 1868, Jews were the most significant minority in Tehran, numbering 1,578 people.[40] By 1884 this figure had risen to 5,571.[40]

In 1894, a representative of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Jewish humanitarian and educational organization, wrote from Tehran: "…every time that a priest wishes to emerge from obscurity and win a reputation for piety, he preaches war against the Jews".[41]

In 1901, the riot of Shaykh Ibrahim was sparked against the Jews of Tehran. An imam began preaching on the importance of eliminating alcohol for the sake of Islamic purity, leading to an assault against Jews for refusing to give up the wine they drank for Sabbath.[42]

In 1910, there were rumors that the Jews of Shiraz had ritually murdered a Muslim girl. Muslims plundered the whole Jewish quarter. The first to start looting were soldiers sent by the local governor to defend the Jews against the enraged mob. Twelve Jews who tried to defend their property were killed, and many others were injured.[43] Representatives of the Alliance Israélite Universelle recorded numerous instances of persecution and debasement of Persian Jews.[44] In the late 19th to early 20th century, thousands of Persian Jews immigrated to the territory of present-day Israel within the Ottoman Empire to escape such persecution.[45]

Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979) edit

The Pahlavi dynasty implemented modernizing reforms, which greatly improved the life of Jews. The influence of the Shi'a clergy was weakened, and the restrictions on Jews and other religious minorities were abolished.[46] According to Charles Recknagel and Azam Gorgin of Radio Free Europe, during the reign of Reza Shah "the political and social conditions of the Jews changed fundamentally." Reza Shah prohibited mass conversion of Jews and eliminated the concept of uncleanness of non-Muslims. He allowed incorporation of modern Hebrew into the curriculum of Jewish schools and publication of Jewish newspapers. Jews were also allowed to hold government jobs.[47] Reza Shah's ascent brought temporary relief to Jews. In the 1920s, Jewish schools were closed again. In the 1930s, shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Reza Shah's pro-Nazi sympathies seriously threatened Iranian Jewry. There were no persecutions of the Jews, but, as with other minorities, anti-Jewish articles were published in the media. Unlike religiously motivated prejudice, anti-Jewish sentiments acquired an ethnonational character, a direct import from Germany.[46]

By 1932, Tehran's Jewish population had risen to 6,568.[40] During World War II, Iran declared itself neutral, but was invaded by Anglo-Soviet forces in 1941. During the Allied occupation, many Polish and Jewish refugees that escaped Nazi-occupied Poland settled within Iran (see Iran–Poland relations).[48][49][50]

At the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, there were approximately 140,000–150,000 Jews living in Iran, the historical center of Persian Jewry. Over 95% have since migrated abroad.[51]

The violence and disruption in Arab life associated with the founding of Israel and its victory in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War drove increased anti-Jewish sentiment in Iran. This continued until 1953, in part because of the weakening of the central government and strengthening of clergy in the political struggles between the shah and prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh. From 1948 to 1953, about one-third of Iranian Jews, most of them poor, immigrated to Israel.[52] David Littman puts the total figure of Iranian Jews who immigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1978 at 70,000.[45]

After the deposition of Mossadegh in 1953, the reign of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the most prosperous era for the Jews of Iran. By the 1970s, only 1% of Iranian Jews were classified as lower class; 80% were middle class and 10% wealthy. Although Jews accounted for only a fraction of a percent of Iran's population, in 1979 two of the 18 members of the Iranian Academy of Sciences, 80 of the 4,000 university lecturers, and 600 of the 10,000 physicians in Iran were Jews.[52]

Prior to the Iranian Revolution or Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were 100,000 Jews in Iran, mostly concentrated in Tehran (60,000), Shiraz (18,000), Kermanshah (4,000), and Isfahan (3,000). Jews were also located in other various cities throughout Iran, including Urmia (800), Salmas (400), Miandoab (60), Baneh, Mashhad, Kashan, Sanandaj, Saqqez, Tazeh Qaleh, Chichakluy-e Bash Qaleh, Garrus, Qaslan, Hamadan, Tuyserkan, Nahavand, Kermanshah, Hashtrud, Zehab, Babol, Siahkal, Damavand, Bushehr, Kazerun, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Sarakhs, Yazd, Arak, and Khorramabad.[53]

The Iranian Jewish emigration to Israel is not a recent phenomenon. Of the Iranian Jews living in Israel in the early 1900s[when?], 41% immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine before the establishment of Israel there in 1948; only 15% were admitted between 1975 and 1991. They immigrated chiefly because of religious persecution.[54]

Islamic Republic (1979–present) edit

At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 80,000–100,000 Jews were living in Iran. From then on, Jewish emigration from Iran dramatically increased, as about 20,000 Jews left within several months of the revolution alone.[45] The majority of Iran's Jewish population, some 60,000 Jews, emigrated in the aftermath of the revolution, of whom 35,000 went to the United States, 20,000 to Israel, and 5,000 to Europe (mainly to the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland).[55][better source needed]

Some sources put the Iranian Jewish population in the mid and late 1980s as between 50,000 and 60,000.[56] An estimate based on the 1986 census put the figure considerably higher for the same time, around 55,000.[57] From the mid-1990s to the present there has been more uniformity in the figures, with most government sources since then estimating roughly 25,000 Jews remaining in Iran.[58][59][60][61] These less recent official figures are considered bloated, and the Jewish community may not amount to more than 10,000.[62] A 2012 census put the figure at about 8,756.[63]

Ayatollah Khomeini met with the Jewish community upon his return from exile in Paris, when heads of the community, disturbed by the execution of one of their most distinguished representatives, the industrialist Habib Elghanian, arranged to meet him in Qom. At one point he said:

In the holy Quran, Moses, salutations upon him and all his kin, has been mentioned more than any other prophet. Prophet Moses was a mere shepherd when he stood up to the might of pharaoh and destroyed him. Moses, the Speaker-to-Allah, represented pharaoh's slaves, the downtrodden, the mostazafeen of his time.

At the end of the discussion Khomeini declared, "We recognize our Jews as separate from those godless, bloodsucking Zionists"[62] and issued a fatwa decreeing that the Jews were to be protected.[64]

Habib Elghanian was arrested and sentenced to death by an Islamic revolutionary tribunal shortly after the Islamic revolution for charges including corruption, contacts with Israel and Zionism, and "friendship with the enemies of God", and was executed by a firing squad. He was the first Jew and businessman to be executed by the Islamic government. His execution caused fear among the Jewish community and caused many to flee Iran.[65]

Soli Shahvar, professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Haifa describes the process of dispossession : "There were two waves of confiscation of homes, farmlands and factories of Jews in Iran. In the first wave, the authorities seized the properties of a small group of Jews who were accused of helping Zionism financially. In the second wave, authorities confiscated the properties of Jews who had to leave the country after the Revolution. They left everything in fear for their lives and the Islamic Republic confiscated their properties using their absence as an excuse".[66]

During the Iran–Iraq War, which lasted from 1980 to 1988, Iranian Jews were conscripted into the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, and 13 were killed in the war.[67]

In the Islamic republic, Jews have become more religious. Families who had been secular in the 1970s started adhering to kosher dietary laws and more strictly observed rules against driving on the Shabbat. They stopped going to restaurants, cafes and cinemas and the synagogue became the focal point of their social lives.[68]

Haroun Yashyaei, a film producer and former chairman of the Central Jewish Community in Iran said, "Khomeini didn't mix up our community with Israel and Zionism – he saw us as Iranians."[69]

In June 2007, though there were reports that wealthy expatriate Jews established a fund to offer incentives to Iranian Jews to immigrate to Israel, few took them up on the offer. The Society of Iranian Jews dismissed this act as "immature political enticements" and said that their national identity was not for sale.[70]

Jews in the Islamic Republic of Iran are formally to be treated equally and free to practice their religion. There is even a seat in the Iranian parliament reserved for the representative of the Iranian Jews. However, de facto discrimination is common.[71]

Current status edit

 
Yusef Abad synagogue in Tehran

Iran's Jewish community is officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government, and, like the Zoroastrians and Christians, they are allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament. Siamak Moreh Sedgh is the current Jewish member of the parliament, replacing Maurice Motamed in the 2008 election. In 2000, former Jewish MP Manuchehr Eliasi estimated that at that time there were still 60,000–85,000 Jews in Iran; most other sources put the figure at 25,000.[72] In 2011 the Jewish population numbered 8,756.[73] In 2016 Jewish population numbered 9,826.[5] In 2019 the Jewish Population numbered 8,300[3] and they constitute 0.01% of Iranian population, a number confirmed by Sergio DellaPergola, a leading Jewish demographer.[74]

Iranian Jews have their own newspaper (called "Ofogh-e-Bina") with Jewish scholars performing Judaic research at Tehran's "Central Library of Jewish Association".[75] The Dr. Sapir Jewish Hospital is Iran's largest charity hospital of any religious minority community in the country;[75] however, most of its patients and staff are Muslim.[76]

Chief Rabbi Yousef Hamadani Cohen was the spiritual leader for the Jewish community of Iran from 1994 to 2007, when he was succeeded by Mashallah Golestani-Nejad.[77] In August 2000, Cohen met with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami for the first time.[78] In 2003, Cohen and Motamed met with Khatami at Yusef Abad Synagogue, which was the first time a President of Iran had visited a synagogue since the Islamic Revolution.[79] Haroun Yashayaei is the chairman of the Jewish Committee of Tehran and leader of Iran's Jewish community.[79][80] On January 26, 2007, Yashayaei's letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad concerning his Holocaust denial comments brought about worldwide media attention.[81][82][83][84]

The Jews of Iran have been best known for certain occupations like making gold jewelry and dealing in antiques, textiles and carpets.[citation needed]

Societal environment edit

Iranian Jewish men are conscripted into the Iranian Armed Forces like all Iranian men. Many Iranian Jews fought during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) as drafted soldiers, and about 15 were killed.[85]

An Israeli news outlet, Israel Hayom, reported that Iranian Jews in Israel say that they viewed Iran as their home and were allowed to practice Judaism freely, but that there was suspicion and fear too.[86]

Following the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the head rabbi of Iran, Yehuda Gerami, visited the family of Soleimani and issued anti-Israel statements. He later discussed the matter with an American audience, saying that Israel’s attacks on Soleimani had stoked tensions in the Jewish community in Iran, and he felt the need to take public action to de-escalate the situation. He is reported to have said that the Iranian Jewish community prefers to avoid such political entanglements.[87]

Contact with non-Persian Jews edit

 
A Persian Jew prays in a synagogue in Shiraz, Iran, 1999.

Rabbis from the Haredi sect Neturei Karta, which has historically been opposed to the existence of Israel have visited Iran on several occasions.[88][89][90][91] The Jewish Defense Organization, protested against one such visit by members of a Neturei Karta faction after they attended International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.

Maurice Motamed, a former Jewish Iranian parliamentarian states that in recent years, the Iranian government has allowed Jewish Iranians to visit their family members in Israel and it has also allowed those Iranians who are living in Israel to return to Iran for a visit.[92]

Limited cultural contacts are also allowed, such as the March 2006 Jewish folk dance festival in Russia, in which a female team from Iran participated.[93][94]

Thirteen Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution, most of them, at least in part for their alleged connections to Israel. Among them, one of the most prominent Jews of Iran in the 1970s, Habib Elghanian who was the head of the Iranian Jewish community was executed by a firing squad by the Islamic government shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 on the charge of having been in contact with Israel, among others. In May 1998, Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kadkhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate.[95]

Iranian Jews are generally allowed to travel to Israel and emigrate abroad, though they must submit passport and visa requests to a special section of the passport office, face restrictions on families leaving en masse, and travels to Israel must be done via a third country. However, the rate of emigration has been low. Between October 2005 and September 2006, 152 Jews left Iran, down from 297 during the same period the previous year, and 183 the year before that. Most of those who left allegedly cited economic and family reasons as their main incentives for leaving. In July 2007, Iran's Jewish community rejected financial emigration incentives to leave Iran. Offers ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 British pounds, financed by a wealthy expatriate Jew with the support of the Israeli government, were turned down by Iran's Jewish leaders.[96][97][98] To place the incentives in perspective, the sums offered were up to 3 times or more than the average annual income for an Iranian.[99] However, in late 2007 at least forty Iranian Jews accepted financial incentives offered by Jewish charities for immigrating to Israel.[100]

It has been asserted that the majority of Iranian Jews prefer to stay in Iran because they are allowed to live a comfortable Jewish life there, but Sam Kermanian, who served as Secretary-General of the Iranian American Jewish Federation for fifteen years, disputed this claim, stating that the majority of Iranian Jews are elderly and only speak Persian, and as a result they are less naturally inclined to emigrate.[96] According to Ran Amrani, an Iranian-born Israeli director of a Persian language radio station with close ties inside Iran, wealthy Iranian Jews won't leave because the international sanctions on Iran have so downgraded Iran's currency in value that they would see a massive drop in their standard of living in Israel, with those who own multiple homes in Iran unable to afford a single apartment in Israel, while poor Iranian Jews would find it difficult to restart their lives in Israel in middle age. Amrani claimed that while Jews are allowed to practice their religion, they live in fear of being accused of spying for Israel and that they publicly distance themselves from Israel and Zionism to ensure their own security.[101]

Opinion over the condition of Jews in Iran is divided. One Jewish voice presenting a benevolent view of the Iranian Islamic government and society toward Jews is film producer Haroun Yashayaei, who says "[Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini didn't mix up our community with Israel and Zionism—he saw us as Iranians."[102] Privately, many Jews complain of "discrimination, much of it of a social or bureaucratic nature." The Islamic government appoints the officials who run Jewish schools, most of these being Muslims, and until 2015, required that those schools must open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.[103] Criticism of this policy was the downfall of the last remaining newspaper of the Iranian Jewish community which was closed in 1991 after it criticized government control of Jewish schools. Instead of expelling Jews en masse like in Libya, Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen, the Iranians have adopted a policy of keeping Jews in Iran.[104]

The desire for survival may prompt Iranian Jews to overstate their anti-Israel positions. Their response to the questions regarding Israel have been outright denial of Israel or staying quiet. An example of the dilemma of Iranian Jews can be observed in this example :"We hear the ayatollah say that Israel was cooperating with the Shah and SAVAK, and we would be fools to say we support Israel. So we just keep quiet about it... Maybe it will work out. Anyway, what can we do? This is our home."[105]

Synagogues and Hebrew schools edit

See also: List of synagogues in Iran

Most Jews live in Tehran, the capital.[106] Today[when?] Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. It has two kosher restaurants, an old-age home and a cemetery. There is a Jewish library with 20,000 titles.[68] Traditionally however, Shiraz, Hamedan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Nahawand, Babol and some other cities of Iran were home to large populations of Jews. At present[when?] there are 25 synagogues in Iran.[106] Isfahan has a Jewish population of about 1,500, consisting mostly of businesspeople. As of 2015 there were 13 synagogues, including the primary synagogue on Palestine Square. In Esfahan, many Jewish businesses are concentrated in an area called "Jewish Passage".[107]

Legal discrimination edit

Iranian Jews remain under various discriminatory legal restrictions regarding their position in society. Jews are prohibited from holding significant governmental and decision-making positions. A Jew may not serve on the Guardian Council, as President, or as a military commander. Jews may not serve as judges, and aside from the seat reserved for a Jew in the Majlis, Jews may not become a member of the Majlis through general elections. A Jew may not inherit property from a Muslim. By law, if one member of a Jewish family converts to Islam, that person inherits all family property. Jews also do not have equal rights to Qisas, or retribution, in the Iranian judicial system. For example, if a Jew were to kill a Muslim, the family of the victim would have the right to ask that the death penalty be imposed, but if a Muslim kills a Jew, the penalty would be left to the discretion of the judges with the wishes of the victim's family carrying no legal weight.[108]

Islamic curriculum edit

In 1996, there were still three schools in Tehran in which Jews were in a majority, but Jewish principals had been replaced. The school curriculum is Islamic and the Tanakh is taught in Persian, rather than Hebrew. The Ozar Hatorah organization conducts Hebrew lessons on Fridays. The government monitors activities in Jewish schools to ensure that the main language of education is Persian and not Hebrew.[108]

In principle, but with some exceptions, there is little restriction of or interference with the Jewish religious practice; however, education of Jewish children has become more difficult in recent years. The government reportedly allows Hebrew instruction, recognizing that it is necessary for Jewish religious practice. However, it strongly discourages the distribution of Hebrew texts, in practice making it difficult to teach the language. Moreover, the government has required that several Jewish schools remain open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, in conformity with the schedule of other schools in the school system. Since certain kinds of work (such as writing or using electrical appliances) on the Sabbath violates Jewish law, this requirement to operate the schools has made it difficult for observant Jews both to attend school and adhere to a fundamental tenet of their religion.[109]

Ancient Jewish sites edit

Many cities in Iran have Jewish sites or sites related to Judaism in some way. Prominent among these are Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Tomb of Daniel in Susa, Tomb of Habakkuk in Tuyserkan and the Peyghambarieh mausoleum in Qazvin.

There is a pilgrimage site near Isfahan (Pir Bakran) dedicated to Serah.

There are also tombs of several outstanding Jewish scholars in Iran such as Harav Ohr Shraga in Yazd and Hakham Mullah Moshe Halevi (Moshe-Ha-Lavi), a 16th century Spanish scholar, in Kashan, which are also visited by Muslim pilgrims.[110]


On December 16, 2014, authorities in Tehran unveiled a monument to slain Iranian Jewish soldiers who died during the country's long and bitter war with Iraq between 1980 and 1988. Banners showed the images of fallen soldiers, hailed as "martyrs" in Farsi and Hebrew inscriptions. "We are not tenants in this country. We are Iranians, and we have been for 30 centuries," said Ciamak Moresadegh, the Iranian Jewish parliamentarian. "There is a distinction between us as Jews and Israel," added a shopkeeper in the historic city of Isfahan. "We consider ourselves Iranian Jews, and it has nothing to do with Israel whatsoever. This is the country we love."[111] The tombs of Mordechai and Esther were desecrated during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[112]

Demographics edit

The Jewish Encyclopedia estimated that in 1900 there were 35,000 Persian Jews in Iran (almost all of whom lived in present-day Iran),[113] although other sources estimate somewhat higher numbers for the same time. On the eve of Israel's independence in 1948, there were, by varying estimates, 100,000–150,000 Jews in Iran with relatively few Persian Jews residing outside the country. Today, there are an estimated 300,000–350,000 Jews of full or partial Persian ancestry living predominantly in Israel, with significant communities in the United States and Iran.

Iranian Jews also emigrated to form smaller communities in Western Europe (in particular Paris and London), and in Australia, Canada, and South America. A number of groups of Jews of Persia have split off since ancient times. They have been identified as separate communities, such as the Mountain Jews. In addition, there are a large number of people in Iran who are, or who are the direct descendants of, Jews who converted to Islam or the Baháʼí faith.[114]

Iran edit

Iran's Jewish population was reduced from 150,000 to 100,000 in 1948 to about 80,000 immediately before the Iranian Revolution, due mostly to immigration to Israel. While immigration to Israel had slowed in the 1970s and the Jewish population of Iran had stabilized, the majority of Iran's remaining Jews left the country in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Shah. In the 2000s, the Jewish population of Iran was estimated by most sources to be 25,000,[58][59][60] (sources date from 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively) though estimates varied, with some as high as 40,000 in 1998.[115] and some as low as 17,000 by 2010[116] However, the official census in August 2012 indicated that there were only 8,756 Jews still living in Iran.[63] In the 2016 Iranian census, the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 9,826[5] As of 2021, only 8,500 Jews still live in Iran.[3] After Israel, it is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East.[58] Notable population centers include Tehran, Isfahan (1,200),[117] and Shiraz. Historically, Jews maintained a presence in many more Iranian cities. Jews are protected in the Iranian constitution and allowed one seat in the Majlis.[59]

Israel edit

Main article: Iranian Jews in Israel

The largest group of Persian Jews is found in Israel. As of 2007, Israel is home to just over 47,000 Iranian-born Jews and roughly 87,000 Israeli-born Jews with fathers born in Iran.[118] While these numbers add up to about 135,000, when Israelis with more distant or solely maternal Iranian roots are included the total number of Persian Jews in Israel is estimated to be between 200,000[1]–250,000.[2]

A June 2009 Los Angeles Times blog article about Iranian-Israeli Jews showing solidarity with the Iranian protestors said, "The Israeli community of Iranian Jews numbers about 170,000 – including the first generation of Israeli-born – and is deeply proud of its roots."[119] The largest concentration of Persian Jews in Israel is found in the city Holon.[119] In Israel, Persian Jews are classified as Mizrahim. Both former President Moshe Katsav and former Minister of Defense and former head of the opposition in the Knesset Shaul Mofaz are of Persian Jewish origin. Katsav was born in Yazd and Mofaz was born in Tehran.

Since at least the 1980s, Persian Jews in Israel have traditionally tended to vote Likud.[120]

United States edit

The United States is home to 60,000–80,000 Iranian Jews, most of whom have settled in the Greater Los Angeles area, in Great Neck, New York and Baltimore, Maryland. Those in metropolitan Los Angeles have settled mostly in the affluent Westside cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Westside neighborhoods of Brentwood, Westwood, and West Los Angeles, as well as the San Fernando Valley communities of Tarzana and Encino.

Beverly Hills edit

See also: History of the Iranians in Los Angeles and History of the Jews in Los Angeles

In particular, Persian Jews make up a sizeable proportion of the population of Beverly Hills, California.[121][122][123][124] Persian Jews constitute a great percentage of the 26% of the total population of Beverly Hills that identifies as Iranian-American.[125] Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, tens of thousands of Persian Jews migrated from Iran, forming one of the wealthiest waves of immigrants to ever come to the United States.[121] The community is credited with revitalizing Beverly Hills and re-developing its architecture, and for the development of ornate mansions across the city.[126]

According to the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey, 26% of Beverly Hills' 34,000 residents are of Iranian origin.[125] On March 21, 2007, Jimmy Delshad, a Persian Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1958, became the Mayor of Beverly Hills. This election made Delshad one of the highest ranking elected Iranian-American officials in the United States. He once again took the post of mayor of Beverly Hills on March 16, 2010.

Prominent Persian Jewish congregations in the Los Angeles area include Nessah Synagogue and the Eretz-Siamak Cultural Center. Persian Jews also constitute a large part of the membership at Sinai Temple in Westwood, one of the largest Conservative congregations in the United States.

The Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) of Los Angeles is a prominent non-profit organization that has been serving the Iranian Jewish community of Greater Los Angeles for the last forty-one years. IAJF is a leading organization in their efforts to fight local and global Antisemitism, protect Iranian Jews domestically and abroad, promote a unified community, participating in social and public affairs, provide financial and psychosocial assistance to those in need through philanthropic activities, and more.[127]

New York edit

Kings Point, a village constituting part of Great Neck, has the greatest percentage of Iranians in the United States (approximately 40%).[125] Unlike the Iranian community in Los Angeles, which contains a large number of non-Jewish Iranians, the Iranian population in and around Great Neck is almost entirely Jewish.

Several thousand of the Great Neck area's 10,000 Persian Jews trace their origins to the Iranian city of Mashad, constituting the largest Mashadi community in the United States.[128] Many Mashadi crypto-Jews made their Jewish observances more public again following the rise of the secular Pahlavi dynasty upon performing them privately for almost a century.[129] The Mashadi community in Great Neck operates its own synagogues and community centers, and members typically marry within the community.[130]

The Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) of New York has been serving the Iranian Jewish community for the last sixteen years. The organisation's goal is to be a unifier amongst Iranian Jews in the Greater New York metropolitan area and engagement in philanthropic activities.[131]

Related Jewish communities edit

Mountain Jews edit

The Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus (primarily Dagestan) are direct descendants of Persian Jews.[132] They took shape as a community after Qajar Iran ceded the areas in which they lived to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813.[133] However, they maintained a Judeo-Persian language that shares a great deal of vocabulary and structure with modern Persian. Most Azerbaijani Jews have immigrated to Israel since Azerbaijan gained independence.[134]

Bukharan Jews edit

Bukharan Jews traditionally speak a dialect of Judeo-Persian and lived mainly in the former emirate of Bukhara (present day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan). Most Bukharan Jews have immigrated to Israel or the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union.[135][better source needed]

Lakhloukh Jews edit

There are estimated to be approximately four dozen Persian Jewish families living in Kazakhstan, which call themselves Lakhloukh and speak Aramaic. They still hold identity papers from Iran, the country their ancestors left almost 80 years ago. These Persian Jews lived near the border of Iran and commonly practiced trade to sustain their communities. The most popular Lakhloukh Jewish family being the Malihi family, whom are all descendants of Jaha Malihi (A noble in the Persian Empire)[136]

Languages edit

Most Persian Jews speak standard Persian as their primary tongue, but various Jewish languages have been associated with the community over time.[137][138] They include:

In addition, Persian Jews in Israel generally speak Hebrew, and Persian Jews elsewhere will tend to speak the local language (e.g. English in the United States) with sprinkles of Persian and Hebrew.

Many Jews from the Northwest area of Iran speak Lishán Didán or other various dialects of Jewish Neo-Aramaic.[139] Jews from Urmia, Tabriz, Sanandaj, Saqqez, and some other cities all speak various dialects that may or may not be intelligible to each other.[citation needed] There are less than 5,000 known speakers today and the language faces extinction in the next few decades.[140][141]

Genetics edit

Further information: Genetic studies on Jews

Genetic studies show that Persian and Iraqi Jews form a distinct cluster amongst the Jewish People and that the MtDNA of Persian Jews and Bukharan Jews descend from a small number of female ancestors.[142]

Another study of L. Hao et al.[143] studied seven groups of Jewish populations with different geographic origin (Ashkenazi, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian) and showed that the individuals all shared a common Middle Eastern background, although they were also genetically distinguishable from each other. In public comments, Harry Ostrer, the director of the Human Genetics Program at New York University Langone Medical Center, and one of the authors of this study, concluded, "We have shown that Jewishness can be identified through genetic analysis, so the notion of a Jewish people is plausible."[143]

An autosomal DNA study carried out in 2010 by Atzmon et al. examined the origin of Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Turkish, Greek, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi Jewish communities. The study compared these Jewish groups with 1043 unrelated individuals from 52 worldwide populations. To further examine the relationship between Jewish communities and European populations, 2407 European subjects were assigned and divided into 10 groups based on geographic region of their origin. This study confirmed previous findings of shared Middle Eastern origin of the above Jewish groups and found that "the genetic connections between the Jewish populations became evident from the frequent identity by descent (IBD) across these Jewish groups (63% of all shared segments). Jewish populations shared more and longer segments with one another than with non-Jewish populations, highlighting the commonality of Jewish origin. Among pairs of populations ordered by total sharing, 12 out of the top 20 were pairs of Jewish populations, and "none of the top 30 paired a Jewish population with a non-Jewish one". Atzmon concludes that "Each Jewish group demonstrated Middle Eastern ancestry and variable admixture from host population, while the split between Middle Eastern and European/Syrian Jews, calculated by simulation and comparison of length distributions of IBD segments, occurred 100–150 generations ago, which was described as "compatible with a historical divide that is reported to have occurred more than 2500 years ago" as the Jewish community in Iraq and Iran were formed by Jews in the Babylonian and Persian empires during and after Babylonian exile. The main difference between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi/Sephardic Jews was the absence of Southern European components in the former. According to these results, European/Syrian Jewish populations, including the Ashkenazi Jewish community, were formed latter, as a result of the expulsion and migration of Jews from the Land of Israel, during Roman rule. Concerning Ashkenazi Jews, this study found that genetic dates "are incompatible with theories that Ashkenazi Jews are for the most part the direct lineal descendants of converted Khazars or Slavs". Citing Behar, Atzmon states that "Evidence for founder females of Middle Eastern origin has been observed in all Jewish populations based on non overlapping mitochondrial haplotypes with coalescence times >2000 years". The closest people related to Jewish groups were the Palestinians, Bedouins, Druze, Greeks, and Italians. Regarding this relationship, the authors conclude that "These observations are supported by the significant overlap of Y chromosomal haplogroups between Israeli and Palestinian Arabs with Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jewish populations".[144][143][145][146]

In 2011, Moorjani et al.[147] detected 3%–5% sub-Saharan African ancestry in all eight of the diverse Jewish populations (Ashkenazi Jews, Syrian Jews, Iranian Jews, Iraqi Jews, Greek Jews, Turkish Jews, Italian Jews) that they analyzed. The timing of this African admixture among all Jewish populations was identical The exact date was not determined, but it was estimated to have taken place between 1,600 (4th Century CE) and 3,400 (14th Century BCE) years ago. Although African admixture was determined among some South European and Near Eastern populations too, this admixture was found to be younger compared to the Jewish populations. This findings the authors explained as evidence regarding common origin of these 8 main Jewish groups. "It is intriguing that the Mizrahi Iranian and Iraqi Jews—who are thought to descend at least in part from Jews who were exiled to Babylon about 2,600 years ago share the signal of African admixture. A parsimonious explanation for these observations is that they reflect a history in which many of the Jewish groups descend from a common ancestral population which was itself admixed with Africans (most likely Ancient Egyptians), prior to the beginning of the Jewish diaspora that occurred in 8th to 6th century BC[E]" the authors concludes.[145][148]

Medical conditions edit

Patients with prolonged paralysis following administration of the anaesthetic succinylcholine are often diagnosed with Pseudocholinesterase deficiency which is a clinically silent condition in individuals who are not exposed to exogenous sources of choline esters. One possible outcome beyond prolonged general paralysis is paralysis of the muscles control respiratory function. This condition is found in the general population at a rate of 1 in 3000, while the condition is found in Persian Jews at a rate of 1 in 10.[149]

Prominent Persian Jews edit

 
Rita Jahanforuz, an Israeli pop star of Persian descent
 
Sean Rad, founder of Tinder
 
Mandana Dayani, activist and entrepreneur

Biblical era edit

Pre-modern era edit

Politics and military edit

Science and academia edit

Business and economics edit

Art and entertainment edit

Religious figures edit

Miscellaneous edit

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Iranian Australian shows that 3% of them are Jewish.

Citations edit

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  3. ^ a b c d "Jewish Population by Country 2023". worldpopulationreview.com.
  4. ^ Nahai, Gina (15 October 2013). "On Being Persian". HuffPost. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Iranian Census Report 2016" (PDF). Iranian Statistics Agency.
  6. ^ "Persian Gates". Forward.com. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  7. ^ Gorder, Christian (2010). Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran. Lexington Books. p. 8.
  8. ^ Kevin Alan Brook. The Jews of Khazaria Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006 ISBN 1442203021 p. 233
  9. ^ Friends-of-armenia.org. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  10. ^ James Stuart Olson, Lee Brigance Pappas, Nicholas Charles Pappas. An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994 ISBN 0313274975 p. 305
  11. ^ Begley, Sharon. (7 August 2012) Genetic study offers clues to history of North Africa's Jews | Reuters. In.reuters.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  12. ^ The Jews of Iraq. Dangoor.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  13. ^ Iran on the Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  14. ^ Iran – Jews. Country-data.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  15. ^ a b Gorder, Christian (2010). Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran. Lexington Books. p. 17.
  16. ^ Grabbe, Lester L. (2004). A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah. T & T Clark. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-567-08998-4.
  17. ^ Davies, Philip R. (1995). John D Davies (ed.). Words Remembered, Texts Renewed: Essays in Honour of John F.A. Sawyer. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-85075-542-5.
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  19. ^ Johnson, Sara Raup (2005). Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context. University of California Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-0-520-23307-2.
  20. ^ http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/exhibit/parthians/essay.html (see esp para's 3 and 5) February 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ http://www.loyno.edu/~seduffy/parthians.html (see esp para. 2) May 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ A brief history of Iranian Jews 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine (see esp para. 20)
  23. ^ Art & Culture, Parthia.com
  24. ^ https://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/eieol/armol-4.html (see esp para. 5) November 22, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Translation of the inscription of Bahram II, cited after A brief history of Iranian Jews 2011-07-09 at the Wayback Machine. The interpretation of the listed terms is based on J. Wiesehöfer, Das antike Persien (1993), p. 266. The translation of mandak (mktky) "baptists" is tentative, and has also been suggested to refer to the Mandaeans, see Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis und Spätantike Religionsgeschichte: Gesammelte Aufsätze (2020), p. 616 fn 22.
  26. ^ Battuta's Travels December 31, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ a b Littman (1979), p. 3
  28. ^ Joanna Sloame Bukharan Jews. Jewish Virtual Library
  29. ^ Lewis (1984), pp. 33–34
  30. ^ Pirnazar, Jaleh. . Foundation for Iranian Studies. Bethesda, MD. Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
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  32. ^ Lewis (1984), p. 167
  33. ^ Littman (1979), p. 4.
  34. ^ Lewis (1984), p. 168.
  35. ^ Lewis (1984), pp. 181–83
  36. ^ Tahir, Saif (3 March 2016). "The lost Jewish history of Rawalpindi, Pakistan". blogs.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 27 February 2023. The history of Jews in Rawalpindi dates back to 1839 when many Jewish families from Mashhad fled to save themselves from the persecutions and settled in various parts of subcontinent including Peshawar and Rawalpindi.
  37. ^ Considine, Craig (2017). Islam, race, and pluralism in the Pakistani diaspora. Milton: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-46276-9. OCLC 993691884.
  38. ^ Khan, Naveed Aman (12 May 2018). "Pakistani Jews and PTI". Daily Times. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  39. ^ "Rawalpindi – Rawalpindi Development Authority". Rawalpindi Development Authority (rda.gop.pk). Retrieved 27 February 2023. Jews first arrived in Rawalpindi's Babu Mohallah neighbourhood from Mashhad, Persia in 1839, in order to flee from anti-Jewish laws instituted by the Qajar dynasty.
  40. ^ a b c Sohrabi, Narciss M. (2023). "The politics of in/visibility: The Jews of urban Tehran". Studies in Religion: 4. doi:10.1177/00084298231152642. S2CID 257370493.
  41. ^ Littman (1979), p. 10
  42. ^ Levy, Habib. "Part 1/ Part 11." Comprehensive History of The Jews of Iran The Outset of the Diaspora, edited by Hooshang Ebrami, translated by George W. Maschke, Mazda Publishers, 1999.
  43. ^ Littman (1979), pp. 12–14
  44. ^ Lewis (1984), p. 183.
  45. ^ a b c Littman (1979), p. 5.
  46. ^ a b Sanasarian (2000), p. 46
  47. ^ The History Of Jews In Persia/Iran, ParsTimes. July 3, 2000
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  52. ^ a b Sanasarian (2000), p. 47
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Sources edit

  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Persia". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  • Levy, Habib (1999). Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
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  • Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-00807-3.
  • Littman, David (1979). "Jews Under Muslim Rule: The Case Of Persia". The Wiener Library Bulletin. XXXII (New series 49/50).
  • Foltz, Richard (2013). Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present. London: Oneworld publications. ISBN 978-1-78074-308-0.
  • Sanasarian, Eliz (2000). Religious Minorities in Iran. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-77073-6.
  • Shalom, Sabar. "Esther's Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews (review)". The Jewish Quarterly Review. 95 (2, Spring 2005).
  • Wasserstein, Bernard (2003). "Evolving Jewish Ethnicities or Jewish Ethnicity: End of the Road?". Conference on Contextualizing Ethnicity: Discussions across Disciplines, Center for the International Study of Ethnicity. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Willis, Charles James (2002). Persia as It Is: Being Sketches of Modern Persian Life and Character. Cambridge: Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 978-1-4021-9297-5.
  • Karmel Melamed, JTA International Wire News Service, February 20, 2007.
  • Houman M. Sarshar: The Jews of Iran. The History, Religion, and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World. I.B. Tauris, London/New York 2014, ISBN 978-1-78076-888-5

External links edit

  • Sephardic Studies, Iran
  • History of the Iranian Jews
  • Sharon, Moshe (2010). "Bahaism, Conversion to". In Stillman, Norman A. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill Online.
  • Rahimiyan, Orly R. (2015). "Aliya to Mandatory Palestine and Israel from Iran". In Norman A. Stillman (ed.). Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Brill Online.
  • Former Jewish Ghetto in Tehran
Media
  • Documentary about Iranians in Israel on YouTube
  • Pictures of Persian Jews
  • Iran Chamber Society The Cyrus Prism: The Decree of return for the Jews, 539 BCE, edited by Charles F. Horne,
  • In Search of Cyrus the Great, directed by Cyrus Kar, in production. (preview only) 4 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  • Cenrer for Iranian Jewish Oral History Archive on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library, University of Haifa
Miscellaneous
  • Tehran Jewish Committee
  • persian Jewish TV Committee

January 28, 2024
persian, jews, jews, iran, redirects, here, 2005, dutch, documentary, jews, iran, film, iranian, jews, persian, یهودیان, ایرانی, yahudiyān, irāni, hebrew, יהודים, פרסים, yəhūdīm, parsīm, constitute, oldest, communities, jewish, diaspora, dating, back, biblical. Jews of Iran redirects here For the 2005 Dutch documentary see Jews of Iran film Persian Jews or Iranian Jews 4 Persian یهودیان ایرانی Yahudiyan e Irani Hebrew יהודים פרסים Yehudim Parsim constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora Dating back to the biblical era they originate from the Jews who relocated to Iran during the time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire Books of the Hebrew Bible i e Esther Isaiah Daniel Ezra and Nehemiah bring together an extensive narrative shedding light on contemporary Jewish life experiences in ancient Persia there has been a continuous Jewish presence in Iran since at least the time of Cyrus the Great who led the Persian army s conquest of the Neo Babylonian Empire and subsequently freed the Judahites from the Babylonian captivity Iranian Jewsیهودیان ایرانی י הו ד ים פ ר ס ים Gathering of the Zionist Federation in Iran 1920Total population300 000 350 000 est Regions with significant populations Israel200 000 1 250 000 2 United States60 000 80 000 1 Iran9 826 3 Canada1 000 Australia 740 note 1 LanguagesPersian incl Judeo Persian Judeo Aramaic HebrewReligionJudaismRelated ethnic groupsOther Mizrahi Jews e g Mountain Jews and Bukharan Jews After 1979 Jewish emigration from Iran increased dramatically in light of the country s Islamic Revolution Today the vast majority of Persian Jews reside in Israel and the United States The Israeli community of Persian Jews is mostly concentrated in the cities of Kfar Saba Netanya Jerusalem and Tel Aviv In the United States there are sizable Persian Jewish communities in Los Angeles Tehrangeles Beverly Hills and on the North Shore of Long Island Smaller Persian Jewish communities also exist in Baltimore and in Minneapolis Saint Paul According to the 2016 Iranian census the remaining Jewish population of Iran stood at 9 826 people 5 though independent third party estimates have placed the figure at around 8 500 3 Contents 1 Terminology 2 History 2 1 Achaemenid period 550 330 BCE 2 1 1 Under Cyrus the Great 2 1 2 Under Darius the Great 2 1 3 Under Ahasuerus Bible 2 2 Parthian period 247 BCE 224 CE 2 3 Sasanian period 226 634 CE 2 4 Arab conquest and early Islamic period 634 1255 2 5 Mongol rule 1256 1318 2 6 Safavid dynasty 1501 1736 2 6 1 Conversion of Iran from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam 2 7 Afsharid dynasty 1736 1796 2 8 Qajar dynasty 1789 1925 2 9 Pahlavi dynasty 1925 1979 2 10 Islamic Republic 1979 present 3 Current status 3 1 Societal environment 3 2 Contact with non Persian Jews 3 3 Synagogues and Hebrew schools 3 4 Legal discrimination 3 5 Islamic curriculum 3 6 Ancient Jewish sites 4 Demographics 4 1 Iran 4 2 Israel 4 3 United States 4 3 1 Beverly Hills 4 3 2 New York 5 Related Jewish communities 5 1 Mountain Jews 5 2 Bukharan Jews 5 3 Lakhloukh Jews 6 Languages 7 Genetics 7 1 Medical conditions 8 Prominent Persian Jews 8 1 Biblical era 8 2 Pre modern era 8 3 Politics and military 8 4 Science and academia 8 5 Business and economics 8 6 Art and entertainment 8 7 Religious figures 8 8 Miscellaneous 9 See also 10 References 10 1 Notes 10 2 Citations 10 3 Sources 11 External linksTerminology editToday the term Iranian Jews is mostly used in reference to Jews who are from the country of Iran In various scholarly and historical texts the term is used in reference to Jews who speak various Iranian languages Iranian immigrants in Israel nearly all of whom are Jewish are referred to as Parsim In Iran Persian Jews and Jewish people in general are both described with four common terms Kalimi Persian کلیمی which is considered the most proper term Yahudi یهودی which is less formal but correct Yisrael ישראל the term by which Jewish people refer to themselves and Johud جهود a term having negative connotations and considered by many Jews as offensive 6 History editMain article History of Jews in Iran Jews had been residing in Persia since around 727 BCE having arrived in the region as slaves after being captured by the Assyrian and Babylonian kings According to one Jewish legend the first Jew to enter Persia was Sarah bat Asher grand daughter of the Patriarch Jacob 7 The biblical books of Isaiah Daniel Ezra Nehemiah Chronicles and Esther contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia and accounts of their relations with the Persian kings In the book of Ezra the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple its reconstruction was effected according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia Ezra 6 14 This great event in Jewish history took place in the late sixth century BCE by which time there was a well established and influential Jewish community in Persia Jews in ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities Persian Jews lived in the ancient and until the mid 20th century still extant communities not only of Iran but also the Armenian Georgian Iraqi Bukharan and Mountain Jewish communities 8 9 10 11 Some of the communities have been isolated from other Jewish communities to the extent that their classification as Persian Jews is a matter of linguistic or geographical convenience rather than actual historical relationship with one another Scholars believe that during the peak of the Persian Empire Jews may have comprised as much as 20 of the population 12 According to Encyclopaedia Britannica The Jews trace their heritage in Iran to the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC E and like the Armenians have retained their ethnic linguistic and religious identity 13 But the Library of Congress s country study on Iran states that Over the centuries the Jews of Iran became physically culturally and linguistically indistinguishable from the non Jewish population The overwhelming majority of Jews speak Persian as their mother language and a tiny minority Kurdish 14 Achaemenid period 550 330 BCE edit Under Cyrus the Great edit nbsp Cyrus the Great allowing Hebrew pilgrims to return to the Land of Israel and rebuild Jerusalem painting by Jean Fouquet circa 1470According to the biblical account Cyrus the Great was God s anointed having freed the Jews from Babylonian rule After the conquest of Babylonia by the Persian Achaemenid Empire Cyrus granted all the Jews citizenship Though he allowed the Jews to return to Israel around 537 BCE many chose to remain in Persia Thus the events of the Book of Esther are set entirely in Iran Various biblical accounts say that over forty thousand Jews did return See Jehoiakim Ezra Nehemiah and Jews 15 The historical nature of the Cyrus decree has been challenged Professor Lester L Grabbe argues that there was no decree but that there was a policy that allowed exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples He also argues that the archaeology suggests that the return was a trickle taking place over perhaps decades resulting in a maximum population of perhaps 30 000 16 Philip R Davies called the authenticity of the decree dubious citing Grabbe Arguing against the authenticity of Ezra 1 1 4 is J Briend in a paper given at the Institut Catholique de Paris on 15 December 1993 who denies that it resembles the form of an official document but reflects rather the biblical prophetic idiom 17 Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the Cyrus Cylinder that Cyrus like earlier rulers was through these decrees trying to gain support from those who might be strategically important particularly those close to Egypt which Cyrus wished to conquer She also wrote that appeals to Marduk in the cylinder and to Yahweh in the biblical decree demonstrate the Persian tendency to co opt local religious and political traditions in the interest of imperial control 18 By some accounts the tomb of the prophet Daniel is located in Susa The Second Temple was eventually re built in Jerusalem with assistance from the Persians and the Israelites assumed an important position in the Silk Road trade with China 15 Under Darius the Great edit Main article Second Temple Cyrus ordered rebuilding the Second Temple in the same place as the first however he died before it was completed Darius the Great came to power in the Persian empire and ordered the completion of the temple According to the Bible the prophets Haggai and Zechariah urged this work The temple was ready for consecration in the spring of 515 BCE more than twenty years after the Jews return to Jerusalem Under Ahasuerus Bible edit According to the Book of Esther in the Tanakh Haman was an Agagite noble and vizier of the empire under Persian King Ahasuerus generally identified as Xerxes the Great son of Darius the Great in the 6th century BCE 19 According to the story Haman and his wife Zeresh instigated a plot to kill all the Jews of ancient Persia The plot was foiled by Queen Esther the Jewish Queen of Persia As a result Ahasuerus ordered the hanging of Haman and his ten sons The events of the Book of Esther are celebrated as the holiday of Purim Parthian period 247 BCE 224 CE edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jewish sources contain no mention of the Parthian influence Parthia does not appear in the texts citation needed The Armenian prince Sanatroces of the royal house of the Arsacides is mentioned in the Small Chronicle as one of the successors diadochoi of Alexander Among other Asiatic princes the Roman rescript in favor of the Jews reached Arsaces as well I Macc xv 22 it is not however specified which Arsaces Not long after this the Partho Babylonian country was trodden by the army of a Jewish prince the Syrian king Antiochus Sidetes marched in company with Hyrcanus I against the Parthians and when the allied armies defeated the Parthians 129 BCE at the Great Zab Lycus the king ordered a halt of two days on account of the Jewish Sabbath and Feast of Weeks In 40 BCE the Jewish puppet king Hyrcanus II fell into the hands of the Parthians who according to their custom cut off his ears in order to render him unfit for rulership The Jews of Babylonia it seems had the intention of founding a high priesthood for the exiled Hyrcanus which they would have made quite independent of the Land of Israel But the reverse was to come about the Judeans received a Babylonian Ananel by name as their high priest which indicates the importance enjoyed by the Jews of Babylonia The Parthian Empire was based on a loosely configured system of vassal kings The lack of rigidly centralized rule over the empire had drawbacks for instance allowing the rise of a Jewish robber state in Nehardea see Anilai and Asinai Yet the tolerance of the Arsacid dynasty was as legendary as that of the first Persian dynasty the Achaemenids One account suggests the conversion of a small number of Parthian vassal kings of Adiabene to Judaism These instances and others show not only the tolerance of Parthian kings but are also a testament to the extent at which the Parthians saw themselves as the heir to the preceding empire of Cyrus the Great So protective were the Parthians of the minority over whom they ruled that an old Jewish saying tells When you see a Parthian charger tied up to a tomb stone in the Land of Israel the hour of the Messiah will be near The Babylonian Jews wanted to fight in common cause with their Judean brethren against Vespasian but it was not until the Romans waged war under Trajan against Parthia that they made their hatred felt so the revolt of the Babylonian Jews helped prevent Rome from becoming master there Philo speaks of the numerous Jews resident in that country a population that was likely increased by immigrants after the destruction of Jerusalem In Jerusalem from early times Jews had looked to the east for help With the fall of Jerusalem Babylonia became a kind of bulwark of Judaism The collapse of the Bar Kochba revolt likely also added to Jewish refugees in Babylon In the struggles between the Parthians and the Romans the Jews had reason to side with the Parthians their protectors Parthian kings elevated the princes of the Exile to a kind of nobility called Resh Galuta Until then they had used the Jews as collectors of revenue The Parthians may have given them recognition for services especially by the Davidic house Establishment of the Resh Galuta provided a central authority over the numerous Jewish subjects who proceeded to develop their own internal affairs Sasanian period 226 634 CE edit Main article Exilarch nbsp Hebrew version of Nizami s Khosrow va Shirin By the early third century Persian Empire influences were on the rise again In the winter of 226 CE Ardashir I overthrew the last Parthian king Artabanus IV destroyed the rule of the Arsacids and founded the dynasty of the Sassanids While Hellenistic influence had been felt amongst the religiously tolerant Parthians 20 21 22 the Sassanids intensified the Persian side of life favored the Pahlavi language and restored the old dualistic religion of Zoroastrianism which became the official state religion 23 This resulted in the suppression of other religions 24 A priestly Zoroastrian inscription from the time of King Bahram II 276 293 CE contains a list of religions including Judaism Christianity Buddhism Hinduism etc that Sassanid rule claimed to have smashed The false doctrines of Ahriman and of the idols suffered great blows and lost credibility The Jews Yahud Buddhists Shaman Hindus Brahman Nazarenes Nasara Christians Kristiyan Baptists Makdag and Manichaeans Zandik were smashed in the empire their idols destroyed and the habitations of the idols annihilated and turned into abodes and seats of the gods 25 Shapur I or Shvor Malka which is the Aramaic form of the name was friendly to the Jews His friendship with Shmuel gained many advantages for the Jewish community Shapur II s mother Ifra Hormizd was half Jewish and this gave the Jewish community relative freedom of religion and many advantages He was also friend of a Babylonian rabbi in the Talmud named Raba Raba s friendship with Shapur II enabled him to secure a relaxation of the oppressive laws enacted against the Jews in the Persian Empire In addition Raba sometimes referred to his top student Abaye with the term Shvur Malka meaning Shapur the King because of his bright and quick intellect Arab conquest and early Islamic period 634 1255 edit With the Islamic conquest of Persia the government assigned Jews along with Christians and Zoroastrians to the status of dhimmis non Muslim subjects of the Islamic empire Dhimmis were allowed to practice their religion but were required to pay jizya to cover the cost of financial welfare security and other benefits that Muslims were entitled to jizya a poll tax and initially also kharaj a land tax in place of the zakat which the Muslim population was required to pay Like other Dhimmis Jews were exempt from military draft Viewed as People of the Book they had some status as fellow monotheists though they were treated differently depending on the ruler at the time On the one hand Jews were granted significant economic and religious freedom when compared to their co religionists in European nations during these centuries Many served as doctors scholars and craftsman and gained positions of influence in society On the other hand like other non Muslims they were treated as somewhat inferior Mongol rule 1256 1318 edit In 1255 Mongols led by Hulagu Khan invaded parts of Persia and in 1258 they captured Baghdad putting an end to the Abbasid caliphate 26 In Persia and surrounding areas the Mongols established a division of the Mongol Empire known as the Ilkhanate building a capital city in Tabriz The Ilkhanate Mongol rulers abolished the inequality of dhimmis and all religions were deemed equal It was shortly after this time when one of the Ilkhanate rulers Arghun Khan preferred Jews for the administrative positions and appointed Sa d al Daula a Jew as his vizier The appointment however provoked resentment from the Muslim clergy and after Arghun s death in 1291 al Daula was murdered and Persian Jews in Tabriz suffered a period of violent persecutions from the Muslim populace instigated by the clergy The Syriac Orthodox historian Bar Hebraeus wrote that the violence committed against the Jews during that period neither tongue can utter nor the pen write down 27 Ghazan Khan s conversion to Islam in 1295 heralded for Persian Jews in Tabriz a pronounced turn for the worse as they were once again relegated to the status of dhimmis Covenant of Omar Oljeitu Ghazan Khan s successor destroyed many synagogues and decreed that Jews had to wear a distinctive mark on their heads Christians endured similar persecutions Under pressure many Jews converted to Islam The most famous such convert was Rashid al Din Hamadani a physician of Hamadani origin who was also a historian and statesman and who adopted Islam in order to advance his career in Oljeitu s court in Tabriz However in 1318 he was executed on charges of poisoning Oljeitu and his severed head was carried around the streets of Tabriz chanting This is the head of the Jew who abused the name of God may God s curse be upon him About 100 years later Miranshah destroyed Rashid al Din s tomb and his remains were reburied at the Jewish cemetery In 1383 Timur Lenk started the military conquest of Persia He captured Herat Khorasan and all eastern Persia to 1385 and massacred almost all inhabitants of Neishapur and other Iranian cities When revolts broke out in Persia he ruthlessly suppressed them massacring the populations of whole cities When Timur plundered Persia its artists and artisans were deported to embellish Timur s capital Samarkand Skilled Persian Jews were imported to develop the empire s textile industry 28 better source needed Safavid dynasty 1501 1736 edit Conversion of Iran from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam edit Main article Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam nbsp Synagogue in Tehran A postcard from the Qajar 1794 1925 period nbsp Hamedan Jews in 1918During the reign of the Safavids 1502 1794 they proclaimed Shi a Islam the state religion This led to a deterioration in their treatment of Persian Jews Safavids Shi ism assigns importance to the issues of ritual purity tahara Non Muslims including Jews are deemed to be ritually unclean najis Any physical contact would require Shi as to undertake ritual purification before doing regular prayers Thus Persian rulers and the general populace sought to limit physical contact between Muslims and Jews Jews were excluded from public baths used by Muslims They were forbidden to go outside during rain or snow as an impurity could be washed from them upon a Muslim 29 The reign of Shah Abbas I 1588 1629 was initially benign Jews prospered throughout Persia and were encouraged to settle in Isfahan which was made a new capital Toward the end of his rule treatment of Jews became more harsh Shi a clergy including a Jewish convert persuaded the shah to require Jews to wear a distinctive badge on clothing and headgear In 1656 Shah Abbas II ordered the expulsion from Isfahan of all Jews because of the common belief of their impurity They were forced to convert to Islam The treasury suffered from the loss of jizya collected from the Jews There were rumors that the converts continued to practice Judaism in secret For whatever reason the government in 1661 allowed Jews to take up their old religion but still required them to wear a distinctive patch upon their clothing 27 Afsharid dynasty 1736 1796 edit Nadir Shah 1736 1747 allowed Jews to settle in the Shi ite holy city of Mashhad As many Jews were traders they were able to prosper due to the connection of Mashhad to other cities along the Silk Road most notably in Central Asia In 1839 in an event known as Allahdad incident many members of the Jewish community were forced to convert to Islam or left Mashhad to Herat in Afghanistan or cities such as Bukhara in today s Uzbekistan They became known as Jadid al Islams new Muslims and appeared to superficially accept the new religion but continued to practice many Jewish traditions i e as Crypto Jews Except a few individuals the community permanently left Mashhad in 1946 either to Tehran but also to Bombay and Palestine Most of them still live as a tightly knit community in Israel today 30 Babaʾi ben Nuriʾel a ḥaḵam rabbi from Isfahan translated the Pentateuch and the Psalms of David from Hebrew into Persian at the behest of Nader Shah Three other rabbis helped him in the translation which was begun in Rabiʿ II 1153 May 1740 and completed in Jomada I 1154 June 1741 At the same time eight Muslim mullahs and three European and five Armenian priests translated the Koran and the Gospels The commission was supervised by Mirza Moḥammad Mahdi Khan Monsi the court historiographer and author of the Tariḵ ejahangosa ye naderi Finished translations were presented to Nader Shah in Qazvin in June 1741 who however was not impressed There had been previous translations of the Jewish holy books into Persian but Babaʾi s translation is notable for the accuracy of the Persian equivalents of Hebrew words which has made it the subject of study by linguists Babaʾi s introduction to the translation of the Psalms of David is unique and sheds a certain amount of light on the teaching methods of Iranian Jewish schools in eighteenth century Iran He is not known to have written anything else 31 Qajar dynasty 1789 1925 edit The advent of the Qajar dynasty in 1794 brought back the earlier persecutions nbsp A Jewish gathering celebrates the second anniversary of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in Tehran Lord Curzon described 19th century regional differences in the situation of the Persian Jews In Isfahan where they are said to be 3 700 and where they occupy a relatively better status than elsewhere in Persia they are not permitted to wear kolah or Persian headdress to have shops in the bazaar to build the walls of their houses as high as a Moslem neighbour s or to ride in the street In Teheran and Kashan they are also to be found in large numbers and enjoying a fair position In Shiraz they are very badly off In Bushire they are prosperous and free from persecution 32 In the 19th century the colonial powers from Europe began noting numerous forced conversions and massacres usually generated by Shi a clergy Two major blood libel conspiracies had taken place during this period one in Shiraz and the other in Tabriz A document recorded after the incident states that the Jews faced two options conversion to Islam or death Amidst the chaos Jews had converted but most refused to convert to Islam described within the document was a boy of age 16 named Yahyia who refused to convert to Islam and was subsequently killed The same year saw a forcible conversion of the Jews of Shiraz over a similar incident The Allahdad incident of 1839 was mentioned above European travellers reported that the Jews of Tabriz and Shiraz continued to practice Judaism in secret despite a fear of further persecutions Famous Iranian Jewish teachers such as Mullah Daoud Chadi continued to teach and preach Judaism inspiring Jews throughout the nation Jews of Barforush Mazandaran were forcibly converted in 1866 When the French and British ambassadors intervened to allow them to practice their traditional religion a mob killed 18 Jews 33 34 In the middle of the 19th century J J Benjamin wrote about the life of Persian Jews describing conditions and beliefs that went back to the 16th century They are obliged to live in a separate part of town for they are considered as unclean creatures Under the pretext of their being unclean they are treated with the greatest severity and should they enter a street inhabited by Mussulmans they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt For the same reason they are prohibited to go out when it rains for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them which would sully the feet of the Mussulmans If a Jew is recognized as such in the streets he is subjected to the greatest insults The passers by spit in his face and sometimes beat him unmercifully If a Jew enters a shop for anything he is forbidden to inspect the goods Should his hand incautiously touch the goods he must take them at any price the seller chooses to ask for them Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jews and take possession of whatever please them Should the owner make the least opposition in defense of his property he incurs the danger of atoning for it with his life If a Jew shows himself in the street during the three days of the Katel Muharram he is sure to be murdered 35 A group of Persian Jewish refugees escaping persecution back home in Mashhad Qajar Persia were granted rights to settle in the Sikh Empire around the year 1839 Most of the Jewish families settled in Rawalpindi specifically in the Babu Mohallah neighbourhood and Peshawar 36 37 38 39 In 1868 Jews were the most significant minority in Tehran numbering 1 578 people 40 By 1884 this figure had risen to 5 571 40 In 1894 a representative of the Alliance Israelite Universelle a Jewish humanitarian and educational organization wrote from Tehran every time that a priest wishes to emerge from obscurity and win a reputation for piety he preaches war against the Jews 41 In 1901 the riot of Shaykh Ibrahim was sparked against the Jews of Tehran An imam began preaching on the importance of eliminating alcohol for the sake of Islamic purity leading to an assault against Jews for refusing to give up the wine they drank for Sabbath 42 In 1910 there were rumors that the Jews of Shiraz had ritually murdered a Muslim girl Muslims plundered the whole Jewish quarter The first to start looting were soldiers sent by the local governor to defend the Jews against the enraged mob Twelve Jews who tried to defend their property were killed and many others were injured 43 Representatives of the Alliance Israelite Universelle recorded numerous instances of persecution and debasement of Persian Jews 44 In the late 19th to early 20th century thousands of Persian Jews immigrated to the territory of present day Israel within the Ottoman Empire to escape such persecution 45 Pahlavi dynasty 1925 1979 edit The Pahlavi dynasty implemented modernizing reforms which greatly improved the life of Jews The influence of the Shi a clergy was weakened and the restrictions on Jews and other religious minorities were abolished 46 According to Charles Recknagel and Azam Gorgin of Radio Free Europe during the reign of Reza Shah the political and social conditions of the Jews changed fundamentally Reza Shah prohibited mass conversion of Jews and eliminated the concept of uncleanness of non Muslims He allowed incorporation of modern Hebrew into the curriculum of Jewish schools and publication of Jewish newspapers Jews were also allowed to hold government jobs 47 Reza Shah s ascent brought temporary relief to Jews In the 1920s Jewish schools were closed again In the 1930s shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany Reza Shah s pro Nazi sympathies seriously threatened Iranian Jewry There were no persecutions of the Jews but as with other minorities anti Jewish articles were published in the media Unlike religiously motivated prejudice anti Jewish sentiments acquired an ethnonational character a direct import from Germany 46 By 1932 Tehran s Jewish population had risen to 6 568 40 During World War II Iran declared itself neutral but was invaded by Anglo Soviet forces in 1941 During the Allied occupation many Polish and Jewish refugees that escaped Nazi occupied Poland settled within Iran see Iran Poland relations 48 49 50 At the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 there were approximately 140 000 150 000 Jews living in Iran the historical center of Persian Jewry Over 95 have since migrated abroad 51 The violence and disruption in Arab life associated with the founding of Israel and its victory in the 1948 Arab Israeli War drove increased anti Jewish sentiment in Iran This continued until 1953 in part because of the weakening of the central government and strengthening of clergy in the political struggles between the shah and prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh From 1948 to 1953 about one third of Iranian Jews most of them poor immigrated to Israel 52 David Littman puts the total figure of Iranian Jews who immigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1978 at 70 000 45 After the deposition of Mossadegh in 1953 the reign of shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the most prosperous era for the Jews of Iran By the 1970s only 1 of Iranian Jews were classified as lower class 80 were middle class and 10 wealthy Although Jews accounted for only a fraction of a percent of Iran s population in 1979 two of the 18 members of the Iranian Academy of Sciences 80 of the 4 000 university lecturers and 600 of the 10 000 physicians in Iran were Jews 52 Prior to the Iranian Revolution or Islamic Revolution in 1979 there were 100 000 Jews in Iran mostly concentrated in Tehran 60 000 Shiraz 18 000 Kermanshah 4 000 and Isfahan 3 000 Jews were also located in other various cities throughout Iran including Urmia 800 Salmas 400 Miandoab 60 Baneh Mashhad Kashan Sanandaj Saqqez Tazeh Qaleh Chichakluy e Bash Qaleh Garrus Qaslan Hamadan Tuyserkan Nahavand Kermanshah Hashtrud Zehab Babol Siahkal Damavand Bushehr Kazerun Torbat e Heydarieh Sarakhs Yazd Arak and Khorramabad 53 The Iranian Jewish emigration to Israel is not a recent phenomenon Of the Iranian Jews living in Israel in the early 1900s when 41 immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine before the establishment of Israel there in 1948 only 15 were admitted between 1975 and 1991 They immigrated chiefly because of religious persecution 54 Islamic Republic 1979 present edit At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution 80 000 100 000 Jews were living in Iran From then on Jewish emigration from Iran dramatically increased as about 20 000 Jews left within several months of the revolution alone 45 The majority of Iran s Jewish population some 60 000 Jews emigrated in the aftermath of the revolution of whom 35 000 went to the United States 20 000 to Israel and 5 000 to Europe mainly to the United Kingdom France Denmark Germany Italy and Switzerland 55 better source needed Some sources put the Iranian Jewish population in the mid and late 1980s as between 50 000 and 60 000 56 An estimate based on the 1986 census put the figure considerably higher for the same time around 55 000 57 From the mid 1990s to the present there has been more uniformity in the figures with most government sources since then estimating roughly 25 000 Jews remaining in Iran 58 59 60 61 These less recent official figures are considered bloated and the Jewish community may not amount to more than 10 000 62 A 2012 census put the figure at about 8 756 63 Ayatollah Khomeini met with the Jewish community upon his return from exile in Paris when heads of the community disturbed by the execution of one of their most distinguished representatives the industrialist Habib Elghanian arranged to meet him in Qom At one point he said In the holy Quran Moses salutations upon him and all his kin has been mentioned more than any other prophet Prophet Moses was a mere shepherd when he stood up to the might of pharaoh and destroyed him Moses the Speaker to Allah represented pharaoh s slaves the downtrodden the mostazafeen of his time At the end of the discussion Khomeini declared We recognize our Jews as separate from those godless bloodsucking Zionists 62 and issued a fatwa decreeing that the Jews were to be protected 64 Habib Elghanian was arrested and sentenced to death by an Islamic revolutionary tribunal shortly after the Islamic revolution for charges including corruption contacts with Israel and Zionism and friendship with the enemies of God and was executed by a firing squad He was the first Jew and businessman to be executed by the Islamic government His execution caused fear among the Jewish community and caused many to flee Iran 65 Soli Shahvar professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Haifa describes the process of dispossession There were two waves of confiscation of homes farmlands and factories of Jews in Iran In the first wave the authorities seized the properties of a small group of Jews who were accused of helping Zionism financially In the second wave authorities confiscated the properties of Jews who had to leave the country after the Revolution They left everything in fear for their lives and the Islamic Republic confiscated their properties using their absence as an excuse 66 During the Iran Iraq War which lasted from 1980 to 1988 Iranian Jews were conscripted into the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces and 13 were killed in the war 67 In the Islamic republic Jews have become more religious Families who had been secular in the 1970s started adhering to kosher dietary laws and more strictly observed rules against driving on the Shabbat They stopped going to restaurants cafes and cinemas and the synagogue became the focal point of their social lives 68 Haroun Yashyaei a film producer and former chairman of the Central Jewish Community in Iran said Khomeini didn t mix up our community with Israel and Zionism he saw us as Iranians 69 In June 2007 though there were reports that wealthy expatriate Jews established a fund to offer incentives to Iranian Jews to immigrate to Israel few took them up on the offer The Society of Iranian Jews dismissed this act as immature political enticements and said that their national identity was not for sale 70 Jews in the Islamic Republic of Iran are formally to be treated equally and free to practice their religion There is even a seat in the Iranian parliament reserved for the representative of the Iranian Jews However de facto discrimination is common 71 Current status edit nbsp Yusef Abad synagogue in TehranIran s Jewish community is officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government and like the Zoroastrians and Christians they are allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament Siamak Moreh Sedgh is the current Jewish member of the parliament replacing Maurice Motamed in the 2008 election In 2000 former Jewish MP Manuchehr Eliasi estimated that at that time there were still 60 000 85 000 Jews in Iran most other sources put the figure at 25 000 72 In 2011 the Jewish population numbered 8 756 73 In 2016 Jewish population numbered 9 826 5 In 2019 the Jewish Population numbered 8 300 3 and they constitute 0 01 of Iranian population a number confirmed by Sergio DellaPergola a leading Jewish demographer 74 Iranian Jews have their own newspaper called Ofogh e Bina with Jewish scholars performing Judaic research at Tehran s Central Library of Jewish Association 75 The Dr Sapir Jewish Hospital is Iran s largest charity hospital of any religious minority community in the country 75 however most of its patients and staff are Muslim 76 Chief Rabbi Yousef Hamadani Cohen was the spiritual leader for the Jewish community of Iran from 1994 to 2007 when he was succeeded by Mashallah Golestani Nejad 77 In August 2000 Cohen met with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami for the first time 78 In 2003 Cohen and Motamed met with Khatami at Yusef Abad Synagogue which was the first time a President of Iran had visited a synagogue since the Islamic Revolution 79 Haroun Yashayaei is the chairman of the Jewish Committee of Tehran and leader of Iran s Jewish community 79 80 On January 26 2007 Yashayaei s letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad concerning his Holocaust denial comments brought about worldwide media attention 81 82 83 84 The Jews of Iran have been best known for certain occupations like making gold jewelry and dealing in antiques textiles and carpets citation needed Societal environment edit Iranian Jewish men are conscripted into the Iranian Armed Forces like all Iranian men Many Iranian Jews fought during the Iran Iraq War 1980 1988 as drafted soldiers and about 15 were killed 85 An Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom reported that Iranian Jews in Israel say that they viewed Iran as their home and were allowed to practice Judaism freely but that there was suspicion and fear too 86 Following the assassination of Qasem Soleimani the head rabbi of Iran Yehuda Gerami visited the family of Soleimani and issued anti Israel statements He later discussed the matter with an American audience saying that Israel s attacks on Soleimani had stoked tensions in the Jewish community in Iran and he felt the need to take public action to de escalate the situation He is reported to have said that the Iranian Jewish community prefers to avoid such political entanglements 87 Contact with non Persian Jews edit nbsp A Persian Jew prays in a synagogue in Shiraz Iran 1999 Rabbis from the Haredi sect Neturei Karta which has historically been opposed to the existence of Israel have visited Iran on several occasions 88 89 90 91 The Jewish Defense Organization protested against one such visit by members of a Neturei Karta faction after they attended International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran Maurice Motamed a former Jewish Iranian parliamentarian states that in recent years the Iranian government has allowed Jewish Iranians to visit their family members in Israel and it has also allowed those Iranians who are living in Israel to return to Iran for a visit 92 Limited cultural contacts are also allowed such as the March 2006 Jewish folk dance festival in Russia in which a female team from Iran participated 93 94 Thirteen Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution most of them at least in part for their alleged connections to Israel Among them one of the most prominent Jews of Iran in the 1970s Habib Elghanian who was the head of the Iranian Jewish community was executed by a firing squad by the Islamic government shortly after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 on the charge of having been in contact with Israel among others In May 1998 Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kadkhodah Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate 95 Iranian Jews are generally allowed to travel to Israel and emigrate abroad though they must submit passport and visa requests to a special section of the passport office face restrictions on families leaving en masse and travels to Israel must be done via a third country However the rate of emigration has been low Between October 2005 and September 2006 152 Jews left Iran down from 297 during the same period the previous year and 183 the year before that Most of those who left allegedly cited economic and family reasons as their main incentives for leaving In July 2007 Iran s Jewish community rejected financial emigration incentives to leave Iran Offers ranging from 5 000 to 30 000 British pounds financed by a wealthy expatriate Jew with the support of the Israeli government were turned down by Iran s Jewish leaders 96 97 98 To place the incentives in perspective the sums offered were up to 3 times or more than the average annual income for an Iranian 99 However in late 2007 at least forty Iranian Jews accepted financial incentives offered by Jewish charities for immigrating to Israel 100 It has been asserted that the majority of Iranian Jews prefer to stay in Iran because they are allowed to live a comfortable Jewish life there but Sam Kermanian who served as Secretary General of the Iranian American Jewish Federation for fifteen years disputed this claim stating that the majority of Iranian Jews are elderly and only speak Persian and as a result they are less naturally inclined to emigrate 96 According to Ran Amrani an Iranian born Israeli director of a Persian language radio station with close ties inside Iran wealthy Iranian Jews won t leave because the international sanctions on Iran have so downgraded Iran s currency in value that they would see a massive drop in their standard of living in Israel with those who own multiple homes in Iran unable to afford a single apartment in Israel while poor Iranian Jews would find it difficult to restart their lives in Israel in middle age Amrani claimed that while Jews are allowed to practice their religion they live in fear of being accused of spying for Israel and that they publicly distance themselves from Israel and Zionism to ensure their own security 101 Opinion over the condition of Jews in Iran is divided One Jewish voice presenting a benevolent view of the Iranian Islamic government and society toward Jews is film producer Haroun Yashayaei who says Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini didn t mix up our community with Israel and Zionism he saw us as Iranians 102 Privately many Jews complain of discrimination much of it of a social or bureaucratic nature The Islamic government appoints the officials who run Jewish schools most of these being Muslims and until 2015 required that those schools must open on Saturdays the Jewish Sabbath 103 Criticism of this policy was the downfall of the last remaining newspaper of the Iranian Jewish community which was closed in 1991 after it criticized government control of Jewish schools Instead of expelling Jews en masse like in Libya Iraq Egypt and Yemen the Iranians have adopted a policy of keeping Jews in Iran 104 The desire for survival may prompt Iranian Jews to overstate their anti Israel positions Their response to the questions regarding Israel have been outright denial of Israel or staying quiet An example of the dilemma of Iranian Jews can be observed in this example We hear the ayatollah say that Israel was cooperating with the Shah and SAVAK and we would be fools to say we support Israel So we just keep quiet about it Maybe it will work out Anyway what can we do This is our home 105 Synagogues and Hebrew schools edit See also List of synagogues in Iran Most Jews live in Tehran the capital 106 Today when Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues many of them with Hebrew schools It has two kosher restaurants an old age home and a cemetery There is a Jewish library with 20 000 titles 68 Traditionally however Shiraz Hamedan Isfahan Tabriz Nahawand Babol and some other cities of Iran were home to large populations of Jews At present when there are 25 synagogues in Iran 106 Isfahan has a Jewish population of about 1 500 consisting mostly of businesspeople As of 2015 there were 13 synagogues including the primary synagogue on Palestine Square In Esfahan many Jewish businesses are concentrated in an area called Jewish Passage 107 Legal discrimination edit Iranian Jews remain under various discriminatory legal restrictions regarding their position in society Jews are prohibited from holding significant governmental and decision making positions A Jew may not serve on the Guardian Council as President or as a military commander Jews may not serve as judges and aside from the seat reserved for a Jew in the Majlis Jews may not become a member of the Majlis through general elections A Jew may not inherit property from a Muslim By law if one member of a Jewish family converts to Islam that person inherits all family property Jews also do not have equal rights to Qisas or retribution in the Iranian judicial system For example if a Jew were to kill a Muslim the family of the victim would have the right to ask that the death penalty be imposed but if a Muslim kills a Jew the penalty would be left to the discretion of the judges with the wishes of the victim s family carrying no legal weight 108 Islamic curriculum edit In 1996 there were still three schools in Tehran in which Jews were in a majority but Jewish principals had been replaced The school curriculum is Islamic and the Tanakh is taught in Persian rather than Hebrew The Ozar Hatorah organization conducts Hebrew lessons on Fridays The government monitors activities in Jewish schools to ensure that the main language of education is Persian and not Hebrew 108 In principle but with some exceptions there is little restriction of or interference with the Jewish religious practice however education of Jewish children has become more difficult in recent years The government reportedly allows Hebrew instruction recognizing that it is necessary for Jewish religious practice However it strongly discourages the distribution of Hebrew texts in practice making it difficult to teach the language Moreover the government has required that several Jewish schools remain open on Saturdays the Jewish Sabbath in conformity with the schedule of other schools in the school system Since certain kinds of work such as writing or using electrical appliances on the Sabbath violates Jewish law this requirement to operate the schools has made it difficult for observant Jews both to attend school and adhere to a fundamental tenet of their religion 109 Ancient Jewish sites edit Many cities in Iran have Jewish sites or sites related to Judaism in some way Prominent among these are Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan Tomb of Daniel in Susa Tomb of Habakkuk in Tuyserkan and the Peyghambarieh mausoleum in Qazvin There is a pilgrimage site near Isfahan Pir Bakran dedicated to Serah There are also tombs of several outstanding Jewish scholars in Iran such as Harav Ohr Shraga in Yazd and Hakham Mullah Moshe Halevi Moshe Ha Lavi a 16th century Spanish scholar in Kashan which are also visited by Muslim pilgrims 110 nbsp The shrine of Habakkuk in Toyserkan nbsp The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan nbsp The Shrine of Daniel in Susa nbsp Peyghambarieh the place of the prophets Qazvin Here four Jewish prophets are said to be buried Their Arabic names are Salam Solum al Qiya and Sohuli On December 16 2014 authorities in Tehran unveiled a monument to slain Iranian Jewish soldiers who died during the country s long and bitter war with Iraq between 1980 and 1988 Banners showed the images of fallen soldiers hailed as martyrs in Farsi and Hebrew inscriptions We are not tenants in this country We are Iranians and we have been for 30 centuries said Ciamak Moresadegh the Iranian Jewish parliamentarian There is a distinction between us as Jews and Israel added a shopkeeper in the historic city of Isfahan We consider ourselves Iranian Jews and it has nothing to do with Israel whatsoever This is the country we love 111 The tombs of Mordechai and Esther were desecrated during the 2023 Israel Hamas war 112 Demographics editThe Jewish Encyclopedia estimated that in 1900 there were 35 000 Persian Jews in Iran almost all of whom lived in present day Iran 113 although other sources estimate somewhat higher numbers for the same time On the eve of Israel s independence in 1948 there were by varying estimates 100 000 150 000 Jews in Iran with relatively few Persian Jews residing outside the country Today there are an estimated 300 000 350 000 Jews of full or partial Persian ancestry living predominantly in Israel with significant communities in the United States and Iran Iranian Jews also emigrated to form smaller communities in Western Europe in particular Paris and London and in Australia Canada and South America A number of groups of Jews of Persia have split off since ancient times They have been identified as separate communities such as the Mountain Jews In addition there are a large number of people in Iran who are or who are the direct descendants of Jews who converted to Islam or the Bahaʼi faith 114 Iran edit Iran s Jewish population was reduced from 150 000 to 100 000 in 1948 to about 80 000 immediately before the Iranian Revolution due mostly to immigration to Israel While immigration to Israel had slowed in the 1970s and the Jewish population of Iran had stabilized the majority of Iran s remaining Jews left the country in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Shah In the 2000s the Jewish population of Iran was estimated by most sources to be 25 000 58 59 60 sources date from 2006 2007 and 2008 respectively though estimates varied with some as high as 40 000 in 1998 115 and some as low as 17 000 by 2010 116 However the official census in August 2012 indicated that there were only 8 756 Jews still living in Iran 63 In the 2016 Iranian census the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 9 826 5 As of 2021 only 8 500 Jews still live in Iran 3 After Israel it is home to the second largest Jewish population in the Middle East 58 Notable population centers include Tehran Isfahan 1 200 117 and Shiraz Historically Jews maintained a presence in many more Iranian cities Jews are protected in the Iranian constitution and allowed one seat in the Majlis 59 Israel edit Main article Iranian Jews in Israel The largest group of Persian Jews is found in Israel As of 2007 Israel is home to just over 47 000 Iranian born Jews and roughly 87 000 Israeli born Jews with fathers born in Iran 118 While these numbers add up to about 135 000 when Israelis with more distant or solely maternal Iranian roots are included the total number of Persian Jews in Israel is estimated to be between 200 000 1 250 000 2 A June 2009 Los Angeles Times blog article about Iranian Israeli Jews showing solidarity with the Iranian protestors said The Israeli community of Iranian Jews numbers about 170 000 including the first generation of Israeli born and is deeply proud of its roots 119 The largest concentration of Persian Jews in Israel is found in the city Holon 119 In Israel Persian Jews are classified as Mizrahim Both former President Moshe Katsav and former Minister of Defense and former head of the opposition in the Knesset Shaul Mofaz are of Persian Jewish origin Katsav was born in Yazd and Mofaz was born in Tehran Since at least the 1980s Persian Jews in Israel have traditionally tended to vote Likud 120 United States edit The United States is home to 60 000 80 000 Iranian Jews most of whom have settled in the Greater Los Angeles area in Great Neck New York and Baltimore Maryland Those in metropolitan Los Angeles have settled mostly in the affluent Westside cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Westside neighborhoods of Brentwood Westwood and West Los Angeles as well as the San Fernando Valley communities of Tarzana and Encino Beverly Hills edit See also History of the Iranians in Los Angeles and History of the Jews in Los Angeles In particular Persian Jews make up a sizeable proportion of the population of Beverly Hills California 121 122 123 124 Persian Jews constitute a great percentage of the 26 of the total population of Beverly Hills that identifies as Iranian American 125 Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution tens of thousands of Persian Jews migrated from Iran forming one of the wealthiest waves of immigrants to ever come to the United States 121 The community is credited with revitalizing Beverly Hills and re developing its architecture and for the development of ornate mansions across the city 126 According to the US Census Bureau s 2010 American Community Survey 26 of Beverly Hills 34 000 residents are of Iranian origin 125 On March 21 2007 Jimmy Delshad a Persian Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1958 became the Mayor of Beverly Hills This election made Delshad one of the highest ranking elected Iranian American officials in the United States He once again took the post of mayor of Beverly Hills on March 16 2010 Prominent Persian Jewish congregations in the Los Angeles area include Nessah Synagogue and the Eretz Siamak Cultural Center Persian Jews also constitute a large part of the membership at Sinai Temple in Westwood one of the largest Conservative congregations in the United States The Iranian American Jewish Federation IAJF of Los Angeles is a prominent non profit organization that has been serving the Iranian Jewish community of Greater Los Angeles for the last forty one years IAJF is a leading organization in their efforts to fight local and global Antisemitism protect Iranian Jews domestically and abroad promote a unified community participating in social and public affairs provide financial and psychosocial assistance to those in need through philanthropic activities and more 127 New York edit Kings Point a village constituting part of Great Neck has the greatest percentage of Iranians in the United States approximately 40 125 Unlike the Iranian community in Los Angeles which contains a large number of non Jewish Iranians the Iranian population in and around Great Neck is almost entirely Jewish Several thousand of the Great Neck area s 10 000 Persian Jews trace their origins to the Iranian city of Mashad constituting the largest Mashadi community in the United States 128 Many Mashadi crypto Jews made their Jewish observances more public again following the rise of the secular Pahlavi dynasty upon performing them privately for almost a century 129 The Mashadi community in Great Neck operates its own synagogues and community centers and members typically marry within the community 130 The Iranian American Jewish Federation IAJF of New York has been serving the Iranian Jewish community for the last sixteen years The organisation s goal is to be a unifier amongst Iranian Jews in the Greater New York metropolitan area and engagement in philanthropic activities 131 Related Jewish communities editMountain Jews edit The Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus primarily Dagestan are direct descendants of Persian Jews 132 They took shape as a community after Qajar Iran ceded the areas in which they lived to the Russian Empire as part of the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 133 However they maintained a Judeo Persian language that shares a great deal of vocabulary and structure with modern Persian Most Azerbaijani Jews have immigrated to Israel since Azerbaijan gained independence 134 Bukharan Jews edit Bukharan Jews traditionally speak a dialect of Judeo Persian and lived mainly in the former emirate of Bukhara present day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan Most Bukharan Jews have immigrated to Israel or the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union 135 better source needed Lakhloukh Jews edit There are estimated to be approximately four dozen Persian Jewish families living in Kazakhstan which call themselves Lakhloukh and speak Aramaic They still hold identity papers from Iran the country their ancestors left almost 80 years ago These Persian Jews lived near the border of Iran and commonly practiced trade to sustain their communities The most popular Lakhloukh Jewish family being the Malihi family whom are all descendants of Jaha Malihi A noble in the Persian Empire 136 Languages editMost Persian Jews speak standard Persian as their primary tongue but various Jewish languages have been associated with the community over time 137 138 They include Dzhidi Judaeo Persian Bukhori Judaeo Bukharic Judaeo Golpaygani Judaeo Shirazi Judaeo Hamedani Juhuri language Judaeo Tat In addition Persian Jews in Israel generally speak Hebrew and Persian Jews elsewhere will tend to speak the local language e g English in the United States with sprinkles of Persian and Hebrew Many Jews from the Northwest area of Iran speak Lishan Didan or other various dialects of Jewish Neo Aramaic 139 Jews from Urmia Tabriz Sanandaj Saqqez and some other cities all speak various dialects that may or may not be intelligible to each other citation needed There are less than 5 000 known speakers today and the language faces extinction in the next few decades 140 141 Genetics editFurther information Genetic studies on Jews Genetic studies show that Persian and Iraqi Jews form a distinct cluster amongst the Jewish People and that the MtDNA of Persian Jews and Bukharan Jews descend from a small number of female ancestors 142 Another study of L Hao et al 143 studied seven groups of Jewish populations with different geographic origin Ashkenazi Italian Greek Turkish Iranian Iraqi and Syrian and showed that the individuals all shared a common Middle Eastern background although they were also genetically distinguishable from each other In public comments Harry Ostrer the director of the Human Genetics Program at New York University Langone Medical Center and one of the authors of this study concluded We have shown that Jewishness can be identified through genetic analysis so the notion of a Jewish people is plausible 143 An autosomal DNA study carried out in 2010 by Atzmon et al examined the origin of Iranian Iraqi Syrian Turkish Greek Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jewish communities The study compared these Jewish groups with 1043 unrelated individuals from 52 worldwide populations To further examine the relationship between Jewish communities and European populations 2407 European subjects were assigned and divided into 10 groups based on geographic region of their origin This study confirmed previous findings of shared Middle Eastern origin of the above Jewish groups and found that the genetic connections between the Jewish populations became evident from the frequent identity by descent IBD across these Jewish groups 63 of all shared segments Jewish populations shared more and longer segments with one another than with non Jewish populations highlighting the commonality of Jewish origin Among pairs of populations ordered by total sharing 12 out of the top 20 were pairs of Jewish populations and none of the top 30 paired a Jewish population with a non Jewish one Atzmon concludes that Each Jewish group demonstrated Middle Eastern ancestry and variable admixture from host population while the split between Middle Eastern and European Syrian Jews calculated by simulation and comparison of length distributions of IBD segments occurred 100 150 generations ago which was described as compatible with a historical divide that is reported to have occurred more than 2500 years ago as the Jewish community in Iraq and Iran were formed by Jews in the Babylonian and Persian empires during and after Babylonian exile The main difference between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Sephardic Jews was the absence of Southern European components in the former According to these results European Syrian Jewish populations including the Ashkenazi Jewish community were formed latter as a result of the expulsion and migration of Jews from the Land of Israel during Roman rule Concerning Ashkenazi Jews this study found that genetic dates are incompatible with theories that Ashkenazi Jews are for the most part the direct lineal descendants of converted Khazars or Slavs Citing Behar Atzmon states that Evidence for founder females of Middle Eastern origin has been observed in all Jewish populations based on non overlapping mitochondrial haplotypes with coalescence times gt 2000 years The closest people related to Jewish groups were the Palestinians Bedouins Druze Greeks and Italians Regarding this relationship the authors conclude that These observations are supported by the significant overlap of Y chromosomal haplogroups between Israeli and Palestinian Arabs with Ashkenazi and non Ashkenazi Jewish populations 144 143 145 146 In 2011 Moorjani et al 147 detected 3 5 sub Saharan African ancestry in all eight of the diverse Jewish populations Ashkenazi Jews Syrian Jews Iranian Jews Iraqi Jews Greek Jews Turkish Jews Italian Jews that they analyzed The timing of this African admixture among all Jewish populations was identical The exact date was not determined but it was estimated to have taken place between 1 600 4th Century CE and 3 400 14th Century BCE years ago Although African admixture was determined among some South European and Near Eastern populations too this admixture was found to be younger compared to the Jewish populations This findings the authors explained as evidence regarding common origin of these 8 main Jewish groups It is intriguing that the Mizrahi Iranian and Iraqi Jews who are thought to descend at least in part from Jews who were exiled to Babylon about 2 600 years ago share the signal of African admixture A parsimonious explanation for these observations is that they reflect a history in which many of the Jewish groups descend from a common ancestral population which was itself admixed with Africans most likely Ancient Egyptians prior to the beginning of the Jewish diaspora that occurred in 8th to 6th century BC E the authors concludes 145 148 Medical conditions edit Patients with prolonged paralysis following administration of the anaesthetic succinylcholine are often diagnosed with Pseudocholinesterase deficiency which is a clinically silent condition in individuals who are not exposed to exogenous sources of choline esters One possible outcome beyond prolonged general paralysis is paralysis of the muscles control respiratory function This condition is found in the general population at a rate of 1 in 3000 while the condition is found in Persian Jews at a rate of 1 in 10 149 Prominent Persian Jews edit nbsp Rita Jahanforuz an Israeli pop star of Persian descent nbsp Sean Rad founder of Tinder nbsp Mandana Dayani activist and entrepreneurBiblical era edit Daniel Esther Ezra Habakkuk Haggai Mordechai Nehemiah ZerubbabelPre modern era edit Mashallah ibn Athari Persian astrologer and astronomer Sa ad al Dawla physician and statesman Rashid al Din doctor writer and historian Benjamin Nahawandi Karaite scholar of the early Middle Ages Meulana Shahin Shirazi early Persian poet Muhammad ibn Muhammad Tabrizi philosopher and translator converted to Islam Munabbih ibn Kamil a companion of Muhammad converted to Islam Abu Ubaidah religious scholar Ibn al Rawandi prominent philosopher religious scholar Shushandukht Sassanian queen consort mother of Bahram V Ifra Hormizd Sassanid noblewoman mother of Shapur II Maryam Khanom Qajar royal consort Masarjawaih Persian physician Abu Isa self proclaimed Jewish prophet Mar Zutra II Jewish exilarch Qavam family one of the most influential families during the Qajar dynasty Imrani Persian poet Yudghan religious leader from Hamadan Baba i ben Lotf Persian poet author of the first Judeo Persian chronicle Anan ben David founder of the Karaite Movement Daniel al Kumisi prominent scholar of Karaite Judaism Aphrahat Persian saint converted to ChristianityPolitics and military edit David Alliance Baron Alliance Iranian born British businessman Liberal Democrat politician Michael Ben Ari Israeli politician and current member of the Knesset Makan Delrahim United States Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division under the Trump Administration Jimmy Delshad former two term mayor of Beverly Hills Manuchehr Eliasi former Jewish member of the Majlis Eitan Ben Eliyahu former Major General in the Israeli Defence Forces Saeed Emami former conservative Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Intelligence convert to Islam Naser Makarem Shirazi Iranian Shia religious leader convert to Islam Reza Hekmat Prime Minister of Iran convert to Islam Aziz Daneshrad political activist Dan Halutz former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces Anna Kaplan American politician and current member of the New York State Senate 150 Moshe Katsav former President of Israel Shaul Mofaz former Israeli Minister of Defense current chairman of the Kadima Party in the Knesset Maurice Motamed former Jewish member of the Majlis of Iran David Nahai former head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Abie Nathan humanitarian and peace activist Siamak Moreh Sedgh Jewish member of the Majlis of Iran Haroun Yashayaei chairman of the board of the Tehran Jewish Committee and leader of Iran s Jewish community Mordechai Zar Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset Ellie Cohanim Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti Semitism at the United States Department of State Dalya Attar American politician Moshfegh Hamadani political journalist Tali Farhadian attorney and politician Esther Shkalim Israeli poet researcher Shmuel Hayyim journalist politician Shula Keshet political activist and writer Nitsana Darshan Leitner attorney activist Meirav Ben Ari Israeli politician member of the Knesset Sharon Nazarian Iranian born Senior Vice President of International Affairs for the ADL David Rokni Israeli colonel Galit Distel Atbaryan Israeli politician member of the Knesset Eliezer Avtabi former Israeli politician Sharon Roffe Ofir Israeli journalist and politician Payam Akhavan international lawyer convert to the Baha i faith David Peyman attorney worked for the United States Department of StateScience and academia edit Abbas Amanat professor of history at Yale University born to a family of Jewish descent that converted to the Bahaʼi Faith Shaul Bakhash professor of Iranian studies at George Mason University Aaron Cohen Gadol neurosurgeon specializing in surgical treatment of brain tumors and aneurysms Pejman Salimpour professor physician Pedram Salimpour physician entrepreneur Farshid Delshad historical comparative linguistics in German Avshalom Elitzur physicist and philosopher Soleiman Haim compiled an early and influential Persian language dictionary Hakim Yazghel Haqnazar court physician Iraj Lalezari academic and chemist Habib Levy historian best known for his extensive research on the history of Jews in Iran author of Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran The Outset of the Diaspora Amnon Netzer professor of the history and culture of Iranian Jews Samuel Rahbar discoverer of HbA1C David B Samadi expert in robotic oncology 151 Saba Soomekh professor of religious studies and Middle Eastern History at UCLA and author of books on Iranian Jewish culture Ehsan Yarshater historian amp founder of the Encyclopedia Iranica born to Jewish parents who converted to the Bahaʼi Faith 152 Moussa B H Youdim Israeli neurologist neuropharmacologist Babak Azizzadeh cosmetic surgeon Armin Tehrany orthopedic surgeon Simon Ourian plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian plastic surgeon and television personalityBusiness and economics edit David Alliance British businessman Mike Amiri American fashion designer Asadollah Asgaroladi Iranian billionaire convert to Islam Habibollah Asgaroladi leading Iranian conservative politician convert to Islam Jon Bakhshi American restauranter J Darius Bikoff founder and CEO of Energy Brands Mandana Dayani attorney entrepreneur Henry Elghanayan real estate developer New York City Habib Elghanian prominent businessman executed by the Islamic Republic Ghermezian family billionaire shopping mall developers Manucher Ghorbanifar former SAVAK agent central figure in the Iran Contra affair Kamran Hakim real estate developer in New York City Moussa Kermanian real estate developer in Los Angeles and journalist Neil Kadisha businessman Nasser David Khalili billionaire property developer and art collector Khwaja Israel Sarhad and Khwaja Fanous Kalantar landowners diplomats and tycoons hailing from Isfahan Iran New Julfa see Khwaja 153 Saul Maslavi president and CEO of Jovani Fashion Isaac Larian American billionaire chief executive officer of MGA Entertainment Justin Mateen co founder and former chief marketing officer of Tinder dating app David Merage co founder of Hot Pockets snack food company Paul Merage co founder of Hot Pockets snack food company Joseph Moinian New York City real estate developer Ezri Namvar Iranian born businessman and convicted criminal Fred Ohebshalom founder of Empire Management Real Estate Joseph Parnes investment advisor Erwin David Rabhan businessman longtime friend of Jimmy Carter Sean Rad co founder and former CEO of Tinder dating app Assadollah Rashidian businessman played a critical role in the 1953 Overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh Nouriel Roubini economist Ben Shaoul co founder of Magnum Real Estate Group Joel Simkhai founder of Grindr dating app Mahbod Moghadam co founder of Everipedia co founder of Genius Sam Mizrahi Canadian real estate developer Victor Haghani American financier Fraydun Manocherian Manhattan real estate developer Richard Saghian Founder of Fashion Nova Daniel Negari founder of xyz domain Mike Kohan founder of Kohan Retail Investment Group Habib Sabet Iranian industrialist convert to the Baha i Faith Essie Sakhai art dealer businessman Ely Sakhai art dealer owner of several Lower Manhattan art galleries Sasson Khakshouri businessman founder of the international Kremlin Cup Jack Mahfar Iranian born businessman Albert Hakim businessman figure in the Iran Contra affair Sam Eshaghoff American real estate developer Hootan Yaghoobzadeh co founder of Staple Street Capital Eli Zelkha entrepreneur venture capitalist professor and inventor of ambient intelligenceArt and entertainment edit Isaac Larian creator of Bratz dolls Dan Ahdoot stand up comedian Jonathan Ahdout actor Hossein Amanat architect designer of the Azadi Tower in Tehran born to a family of Jewish descent that converted to the Bahaʼi Faith Jojo Anavim artist Yossi Banai Israeli performer singer and actor Richard Danielpour composer Yuval Delshad film director David Diaan actor producer screenwriter Iran Eory Iranian born Mexican actress and model Chohreh Feyzdjou French Iranian painter Hamid Gabbay Iranian born architect Roya Hakakian writer and poet Mor Karbasi singer Kamran Khavarani architect painter Harmony Korine director screenwriter Ben Maddahi prominent American music executive Faranak Margolese writer best known as author of Off the Derech Jamie Masada comedian and businessman Founder of the Laugh Factory Heshmat Moayyad writer translator convert to Baha i Faith Dora Levy Mossanen author of historical fiction Moze Mossanen Canadian film director and producer Ottessa Moshfegh American author Gina Nahai writer Morteza Neidavoud musician Adi Nes photographer Dorit Rabinyan Israeli writer screenwriter Rita Israeli pop star Maer Roshan writer entrepreneur Hooshang Seyhoun prominent Iranian architect convert to the Baha i Faith Lior Shamriz filmmaker Shahram Shiva performance poet Dalia Sofer writer Sarah Solemani English actress Bahar Soomekh Iranian born American actress Tami Stronach choreographer Subliminal Israeli hip hop singer The Shadow Israeli hip hop singer and right wing activist Elie Tahari high end fashion designer 154 Shaun Toub Iranian born American actor recipient of the Sephard award at the Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival 155 Elham Yaghoubian writer Bob Yari film producerReligious figures edit Eliyahu Bakshi Doron previous Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Shmuley Boteach American rabbi 156 Yousef Hamadani Cohen former chief rabbi of Iran Uriel Davidi former chief rabbi of Iran Mashallah Golestani Nejad current chief rabbi of Iran Lutfu llah Hakim Bahaʼi leader born to a family of Jewish descent that converted to the Bahaʼi Faith Menahem Shemuel Halevy Iranian rabbi Yedidia Shofet former chief rabbi of Iran Younes Hamami Lalehzar prominent religious leader Eliyahu Ben Haim Sephardic rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul rabbi religious scholar Ezra Zion Melamed biblical scholarMiscellaneous edit Menashe Amir Persian language broadcaster in Israel Soleyman Binafard wrestler Hanina Mizrahi educator public figure Ezra Frech American Paralympic athlete Janet Kohan Sedq track and field athlete Shamsi Hekmat women s rights activist who pioneered reforms on women s status in Iran Founded the first Iranian Jewish women s organization Sazman Banovan Yahud i Iran in 1947 Leandra Medine author blogger and humor writer best known for Man Repeller an independent fashion and lifestyle website Homa Sarshar journalist author and feminist activist Columnist for Zan e Ruz magazine Kayhan daily newspaper 1964 1973 Albert Elay Shaltiel philanthropist founder and director of ILAI Fund Houshang Mashian Iranian Israeli chess master Eliezer Kashani member of Irgun Eli Avivi founder of the micronation AkhzivlandSee also editIran Israel relations History of the Jews in Iran Exodus of Iranian Jews History of the Jews under Muslim rule Jewish exodus from the Muslim world Antisemitism in Islam Islamic Jewish relations Judaeo Iranian languages Judaeo Persian languages Judeo Persian dialects Kaifeng Jews a small community of Persian Jewish descent which lives in Kaifeng a city in the Henan province of China List of Asian Jews Mandaeans Mountain Jews Persian people Purim Religious minorities in Iran Allahdad incident Shiraz blood libel Tehran Jewish Committee Dr Sapir Hospital and Charity Center List of Chief Rabbis of Iran List of synagogues in Iran List of Synagogues in Tehran Jews of Iran 30 Years After Madare sefr darajeh International Holocaust Cartoon CompetitionReferences editNotes edit Iranian Australian shows that 3 of them are Jewish Citations edit a b c Iranian Jews Living in U S Have Complex Feelings About Mideast Crisis Fox News 7 August 2006 a b Why are people going to Iran Jpost com Retrieved 2011 05 29 a b c d Jewish Population by Country 2023 worldpopulationreview com Nahai Gina 15 October 2013 On Being Persian HuffPost Retrieved 6 February 2019 a b c Iranian Census Report 2016 PDF Iranian Statistics Agency Persian Gates Forward com 28 July 2006 Retrieved 9 March 2013 Gorder Christian 2010 Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non Muslims in Iran Lexington Books p 8 Kevin Alan Brook The Jews of Khazaria Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers 2006 ISBN 1442203021 p 233 Բեն Օլանդերի հատուկ ներկայացումը Նյու Յորքում նվիրված Ռաուլ Վալլենբերգին Երեքշաբթի 9 Նոյեմբերի 2010 թ Friends of armenia org Archived from the original on 28 July 2017 Retrieved 30 December 2017 James Stuart Olson Lee Brigance Pappas Nicholas Charles Pappas An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires Greenwood Publishing Group 1994 ISBN 0313274975 p 305 Begley Sharon 7 August 2012 Genetic study offers clues to history of North Africa s Jews Reuters In reuters com Retrieved 2013 04 16 The Jews of Iraq Dangoor com Retrieved 2011 05 29 Iran on the Britannica Online Encyclopedia Britannica com Retrieved 2011 05 29 Iran Jews Country data com Retrieved 2011 05 29 a b Gorder Christian 2010 Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non Muslims in Iran Lexington Books p 17 Grabbe Lester L 2004 A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period Yehud A History of the Persian Province of Judah T amp T Clark p 355 ISBN 978 0 567 08998 4 Davies Philip R 1995 John D Davies ed Words Remembered Texts Renewed Essays in Honour of John F A Sawyer Continuum International Publishing Group p 219 ISBN 978 1 85075 542 5 Winn Leith Mary Joan 2001 1998 Israel among the Nations The Persian Period In Michael David Coogan ed The Oxford History of the Biblical World Google Books Oxford New York Oxford University Press p 285 ISBN 0 19 513937 2 LCCN 98016042 OCLC 44650958 Retrieved 14 December 2012 Johnson Sara Raup 2005 Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context University of California Press pp 16 17 ISBN 978 0 520 23307 2 http depts washington edu uwch silkroad exhibit parthians essay html see esp para s 3 and 5 Archived February 5 2005 at the Wayback Machine http www loyno edu seduffy parthians html see esp para 2 Archived May 15 2006 at the Wayback Machine A brief history of Iranian Jews Archived 2011 07 09 at the Wayback Machine see esp para 20 Art amp Culture Parthia com https www utexas edu cola depts lrc eieol armol 4 html see esp para 5 Archived November 22 2005 at the Wayback Machine Translation of the inscription of Bahram II cited after A brief history of Iranian Jews Archived 2011 07 09 at the Wayback Machine The interpretation of the listed terms is based on J Wiesehofer Das antike Persien 1993 p 266 The translation of mandak mktky baptists is tentative and has also been suggested to refer to the Mandaeans see Kurt Rudolph Gnosis und Spatantike Religionsgeschichte Gesammelte Aufsatze 2020 p 616 fn 22 Battuta s Travels Archived December 31 2006 at the Wayback Machine a b Littman 1979 p 3 Joanna Sloame Bukharan Jews Jewish Virtual Library Lewis 1984 pp 33 34 Pirnazar Jaleh The Jadid al Islams of Mashhad Foundation for Iranian Studies Bethesda MD Archived from the original on 11 September 2019 Retrieved 13 November 2012 BABAʾi BEN NuRiʾEL Encyclopaedia Iranica Iranicaonline org Retrieved 30 December 2017 Lewis 1984 p 167 Littman 1979 p 4 Lewis 1984 p 168 Lewis 1984 pp 181 83 Tahir Saif 3 March 2016 The lost Jewish history of Rawalpindi Pakistan blogs timesofisrael com Retrieved 27 February 2023 The history of Jews in Rawalpindi dates back to 1839 when many Jewish families from Mashhad fled to save themselves from the persecutions and settled in various parts of subcontinent including Peshawar and Rawalpindi Considine Craig 2017 Islam race and pluralism in the Pakistani diaspora Milton Routledge ISBN 978 1 315 46276 9 OCLC 993691884 Khan Naveed Aman 12 May 2018 Pakistani Jews and PTI Daily Times Retrieved 27 February 2023 Rawalpindi Rawalpindi Development Authority Rawalpindi Development Authority rda gop pk Retrieved 27 February 2023 Jews first arrived in Rawalpindi s Babu Mohallah neighbourhood from Mashhad Persia in 1839 in order to flee from anti Jewish laws instituted by the Qajar dynasty a b c Sohrabi Narciss M 2023 The politics of in visibility The Jews of urban Tehran Studies in Religion 4 doi 10 1177 00084298231152642 S2CID 257370493 Littman 1979 p 10 Levy Habib Part 1 Part 11 Comprehensive History of The Jews of Iran The Outset of the Diaspora edited by Hooshang Ebrami translated by George W Maschke Mazda Publishers 1999 Littman 1979 pp 12 14 Lewis 1984 p 183 a b c Littman 1979 p 5 a b Sanasarian 2000 p 46 The History Of Jews In Persia Iran ParsTimes July 3 2000 Polish Refugees in Iran during World War II encyclopedia ushmm org Retrieved 20 August 2023 Dekel Mikhal 19 October 2019 When Iran Welcomed Jewish Refugees Foreign Policy Retrieved 20 August 2023 Iran During World War II and the Holocaust www ushmm org Retrieved 20 August 2023 Immigration and absorption Archived 2017 05 15 at the Wayback Machine The Council of Immigrant Associations in Israel Pop up info when clicking on Iran a b Sanasarian 2000 p 47 An Annotated Bibliography Amnon Netzer PDF Thegraduatesocietyla org Retrieved 30 December 2017 Migration Information Source Iran A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home Migrationinformation org Retrieved 2011 05 29 Iran Virtual Jewish History Tour Jewishvirtuallibrary org Retrieved 30 December 2017 Sanasarian 2000 p 48 Iran Geography Mongabay com Retrieved 2011 05 09 a b c Harrison Frances 22 September 2006 Iran s proud but discreet Jews BBC News Retrieved 22 May 2010 a b c Iran Jewish leader calls recent mass aliyah misinformation bid Archived from the original on 29 December 2007 Retrieved 8 July 2008 a b Iran Jewish MP criticizes anti human Israel 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cash offer to move to Israel The Guardian London Retrieved 22 May 2010 Demick Barbara Life of Jews Living in Iran The Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture FASSAC Retrieved 24 December 2014 Report Archived 2007 10 12 at the Wayback Machine Reuters February 16 2000 cited from Bahaʼi Library Online 2011 General Census Selected Results PDF Statistical Center of Iran 2012 p 26 ISBN 978 964 365 827 4 Dellapergola Sergio 2018 World Jewish Population 2017 American Jewish Year Book 2017 Vol 117 pp 297 377 doi 10 1007 978 3 319 70663 4 7 ISBN 978 3 319 70662 7 a b Persian Rabbi Archived 2006 05 19 at the Wayback Machine Persian Rabbi Retrieved 2011 05 29 Harrison Francis September 22 2006 Iran s proud but discreet Jews BBC Retrieved October 28 2006 Iran Kisher Info and Synagogues Kosher Delight Khatami Meets Jewish leaders BBC a b Report of Iranian President s visit from Yousef Abad Synagogue Tehran Iran Jewish The Jewish Community of Tehran Iran Kashrut Authorities in Iran and Around the World Iran Jewish Leader Criticizes President For Holocaust Denial Radio Free Europe Iran s Jews uneasy over Holocaust denier Ahmadinejad Daily Times On the Jewish Presence in Iranian History Archived 2008 10 18 at the Wayback Machine Monthly Review Iran President on Holocaust Denial retrieved 20 August 2023 Iran s Jews feel very much at home The National Retrieved 2011 05 29 Elias Bat Hen Epstein 12 October 2012 All the Jews there live in fear that their telephones are tapped Israel Hayom Retrieved 14 October 2012 Berman Lazar In US Iran s head rabbi says he condemned Soleimani killing to protect Jews www timesofisrael com Second Historic Mission to Iran Nkusa org Retrieved 2011 05 09 Freund Michael 2006 03 08 Neturei Karta sect pays visit to Iran Jewish News Jerusalem Post Jerusalem Post Retrieved 2011 05 09 Kelsey David 2006 03 08 Neturei Karta Prepares Persia for Purim with Solidarity Visit Jewschool Retrieved 2011 05 09 Rabbis visit Tehran to support call for 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Actions by Tehran The Christian Science Monitor 3 February 1998 Rouhani accommodates Iran s Jewish students Al Monitor the Pulse of the Middle East Al Monitor 17 February 2015 Retrieved 8 March 2016 Sciolino Elaine Persian Mirrors Touchstone 2000 p 218 Religious Minorities in Iran Eliz Sanasarian Cambridge University Press 2000 page 150 a b یافته های طرح آمارگیری جامع فرهنگی کشور فضاهای فرهنگی ایران آمارنامه اماکن مذهبی 2003 وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی ص 344 Findings of a comprehensive survey of the country s cultural spaces Iran religious statistical report 2003 the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance p 344 Pleitgen Frederik Iran s Jewish community in Esfahan We feel at home CNN March 11 2015 Retrieved March 11 2015 a b Iran Week Why Some Iranian Jews Stay Tablet Magazine 30 June 2017 Iran State gov 2004 01 01 Retrieved 2011 05 29 Mullah Moshe Halevi in Kashan Retrieved 25 November 2023 Tharoor Ishaan 18 December 2014 Iran unveils a memorial honoring Jewish heroes Washingtonpost com Retrieved 30 December 2017 Israel National News OCtober 2023 Statistics Jewishencyclopedia com Retrieved 2011 05 29 The Conversion of Religious Minorities to the Bahaʼi Faith in Iran Bahai library com Retrieved 2011 05 29 Michael Theodoulou Jews in Iran Describe a Life of Freedom Despite Anti Israel Actions by Tehran The Christian Science Monitor February 3 1998 Archived December 5 2006 at the Wayback Machine Jews of Iran and Rabbinical Literature Preliminary Notes Berman Jewish Policy Archive NYU Wagner Bjpa org 20 September 2010 Retrieved 9 March 2013 Op Ed Columnist What Iran s Jews Say New York Times 2009 02 22 Retrieved 2011 05 09 שנתון סטטיסטי לישראל 2008 מספר 59 פרק 2 מספר לוח 24 Cbs gov il Retrieved 2011 05 29 a b ISRAEL Iranian Jews show solidarity with Iranian protesters Babylon amp Beyond Los Angeles Times Latimesblogs latimes com 2009 06 23 Retrieved 2011 05 09 Adam Taylor Israel s Iranian Jews worry about the nuclear deal Washington Post April 24 2015 a b Iranian Jews Find a Beverly Hills Refuge Immigrants Khomeini s revolution drove 40 000 of them into exile At least 30 000 may live in or near the city that symbolizes weal Articles latimes com 1990 02 13 Retrieved 2021 10 05 Hennessy Fiske Molly Abdollah Tami 15 September 2008 Community torn by tragedy Los Angeles Times Retrieved 22 May 2010 Bahrampour Tara 2009 01 07 Letter from Los Angeles Persia On the Pacific The New Yorker Retrieved 2011 05 29 Iran Native Becomes Mayor of Beverly Hills By Sonya Geis Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday April 1 2007 a b c Universe Total population more information 2006 2010 American Community Survey 5 Year Estimates Factfinder2 census gov West Kevin July 2009 The Persian Conquest Wmagazine com Archived from the original on 5 September 2014 Retrieved 30 December 2017 Iranian American Jewish Federation Mashhadi Jews in New York The Scribe Spring 2003 The double lives of Mashha JPost Cafe Oleh Ask the Experts Jpost com August 22 2007 Retrieved 2012 01 07 In Great Neck New Orthodox Synagogues New York Times Nytimes com 1997 12 14 Retrieved 2012 01 07 Iranian American Jewish Federation of New York Guidestar Brook Kevin Alan 2006 The Jews of Khazaria 2 ed Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers Inc p 223 ISBN 978 1442203020 The traditional language of the Mountain Jews Juhuri is part of the Iranian language family and contains many Hebrew elements In reality the Mountain Jews primarily descend from Persian Jews who came to the Caucasus during the fifth and sixth centuries Shapira Dan D Y 2010 Caucasus Mountain Jews In Stillman Norman A ed Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Brill Online The Mountain Jews are an Iranian speaking community that took shape in the eastern and northern Caucasus after the areas in which they lived were annexed by Russia from Qajar Iran in 1812 and 1813 Mountain Jews by Sarah Marcus Tablet Magazine A New Read on Jewish Life Tabletmag com Retrieved 2012 01 07 Bukharan Jews Jewishvirtuallibrary org 31 August 1991 Retrieved 9 March 2013 In Kazakhstan Jewish Families Carry On a Tradition Born in Persia Archived 2007 10 11 at the Wayback Machine Ncsj org 1951 02 17 Retrieved 2011 05 29 Judeo Iranian Jewish Language Research Website Archived 29 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Jewish languages org 2002 12 27 Retrieved 2012 01 07 Melamed Karmel 2007 02 08 Iranian Jews Rediscover Their Roots In Judeo Persian Literature Iranian American Jews Archived 2009 05 14 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Journal Retrieved 2012 01 07 Glottolog 4 2 1 Lishan Didan glottolog org Retrieved 28 June 2020 Israel Ethnologue Retrieved 28 June 2020 Haberl Charles The Middle East and North Africa Encyclopedia of the World s Endangered Languages Genetics and the Jewish identity The Jerusalem Post a b c Atzmon G Hao L Pe er I Velez C Pearlman A Palamara PF Morrow B Friedman E Oddoux C Burns E Ostrer H June 2010 Abraham s children in the genome era major Jewish diaspora populations comprise distinct genetic clusters with shared Middle Eastern Ancestry American Journal of Human Genetics 86 6 850 9 doi 10 1016 j ajhg 2010 04 015 PMC 3032072 PMID 20560205 Katsnelson Alla 3 June 2010 Jews worldwide share genetic ties Nature doi 10 1038 news 2010 277 a b Ostrer H Skorecki K February 2013 The population genetics of the Jewish people Human Genetics 132 2 119 27 doi 10 1007 s00439 012 1235 6 PMC 3543766 PMID 23052947 Balter M June 2010 Human genetics Who are the Jews Genetic studies spark identity debate Science 328 5984 1342 Bibcode 2010Sci 328 1342B doi 10 1126 science 328 5984 1342 PMID 20538924 Moorjani P Patterson N Hirschhorn JN Keinan A Hao L Atzmon G Burns E Ostrer H Price AL Reich D April 2011 The history of African gene flow into Southern Europeans Levantines and Jews PLOS Genetics 7 4 e1001373 doi 10 1371 journal pgen 1001373 PMC 3080861 PMID 21533020 Genes Tell Tale of Jewish Ties to Africa Forward com 2 August 2011 Retrieved 12 April 2013 Pseudocholinesterase Deficiency Medigoo com Retrieved 30 September 2021 Anna M Kaplan 13 November 2018 Retrieved 29 April 2019 Da Vinci Prostatectomy is There Sex After Surgery Yes if You Choose the Right Procedure Archived from the original on 6 July 2008 Retrieved 14 October 2008 Radjy Amir Hussein 18 September 2018 Ehsan Yarshater Iran Scholar With a Monumental Vision Dies at 98 The New York Times Retrieved 22 February 2021 Husain Ruquiya K 2004 Khwaja Israel Sarhad Armenian Merchant and Diplomat Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 65 258 266 ISSN 2249 1937 JSTOR 44144740 Fashion s Tahari My head s in N Y heart s in Israel j the Jewish news weekly of Northern California Jewishsf com 1996 12 20 Retrieved 2011 05 09 Schleier Curt 28 October 1999 A Night at the Sephardic Film Festival The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles Retrieved 27 November 2018 A Prayer for my Father Jewish Journal 28 May 2020 Sources edit nbsp This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Singer Isidore et al eds 1901 1906 Persia The Jewish Encyclopedia New York Funk amp Wagnalls Levy Habib 1999 Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran Costa Mesa CA Mazda Publishers Iran 1997 1997 Encyclopaedia Judaica CD ROM Edition Version 1 0 Ed Cecil Roth Keter Publishing House ISBN 978 965 07 0665 4 Lewis Bernard 1984 The Jews of Islam Princeton Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 00807 3 Littman David 1979 Jews Under Muslim Rule The Case Of Persia The Wiener Library Bulletin XXXII New series 49 50 Foltz Richard 2013 Religions of Iran From Prehistory to the Present London Oneworld publications ISBN 978 1 78074 308 0 Sanasarian Eliz 2000 Religious Minorities in Iran Cambridge England Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0 521 77073 6 Shalom Sabar Esther s Children A Portrait of Iranian Jews review The Jewish Quarterly Review 95 2 Spring 2005 Wasserstein Bernard 2003 Evolving Jewish Ethnicities or Jewish Ethnicity End of the Road Conference on Contextualizing Ethnicity Discussions across Disciplines Center for the International Study of Ethnicity North Carolina State University Raleigh North Carolina Willis Charles James 2002 Persia as It Is Being Sketches of Modern Persian Life and Character Cambridge Adamant Media Corporation ISBN 978 1 4021 9297 5 Karmel Melamed Persian Jews politicking on Rodeo Drive JTA International Wire News Service February 20 2007 Houman M Sarshar The Jews of Iran The History Religion and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World I B Tauris London New York 2014 ISBN 978 1 78076 888 5External links editSephardic Studies Iran History of the Iranian Jews Sharon Moshe 2010 Bahaism Conversion to In Stillman Norman A ed Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Brill Online Rahimiyan Orly R 2015 Aliya to Mandatory Palestine and Israel from Iran In Norman A Stillman ed Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World Brill Online Former Jewish Ghetto in TehranMediaDocumentary about Iranians in Israel on YouTube Pictures of Persian Jews Iranian Jewish Chronicle Magazine Iran Chamber Society The Cyrus Prism The Decree of return for the Jews 539 BCE edited by Charles F Horne In Search of Cyrus the Great directed by Cyrus Kar in production preview only Archived 4 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Cenrer for Iranian Jewish Oral History Archive on the Digital collections of Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library University of HaifaMiscellaneousTehran Jewish Committee persian Jewish TV Committee Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Persian Jews amp oldid 1198732891, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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