Persian Jews

Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor state is Iran. The biblical books of Esther, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah contain references to the lives and experiences of Jews who lived in Persia. Dating back to biblical times, Iranian Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus invaded Babylon and freed the Jews from the Babylonian captivity.

Today, the vast majority of Persian Jews live in Israel and the United States, especially in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and on the North Shore of Long Island. There are smaller Persian Jewish communities in Baltimore, Maryland and the Twin Cities. According to the latest Iranian census, the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 9,826 in 2016; a population website numbers the Jews In Iran as 8,500 in 2021.Jewish Population by Country 2021 website
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Terminology

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'' ( fa, اسرائل, a term which means "Persians"). In Iran, Persian Jews and Jewish people in general are both described with four common terms: ''Kalīmī'' ( fa, کلیمی), which is considered the most proper term; ''Yahūdī'' (), which is less formal but correct; ''Yīsrael'' () the term by which Jewish people refer to themselves; and ''Johūd'' (), a term having negative connotations and considered by many Jews as offensive.

History

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. 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.

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.

According to ''Encyclopædia Britannica'': "The Jews trace their heritage in Iran to the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BC and, like the Armenians, have retained their ethnic, linguistic, and religious identity." 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."

Under the Achaemenids

Cyrus the Great and Jews

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).

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. 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."

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."

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.

Under Darius

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

According to the Book of Esther, in the Tanakh. Retrieved October 28, 2006.

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. In August 2000, Chief Rabbi Cohen met with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami for the first time. In 2003, Chief Rabbi Cohen and Maurice Motamed met with President Khatami at Yusef Abad Synagogue, which was the first time a President of Iran had visited a synagogue since the Islamic Revolution.Report of Iranian President’s visit from Yousef-Abad Synagogue, Tehran
Iran Jewish Haroun Yashayaei is the chairman of the Jewish Committee of Tehran and leader of Iran's Jewish community. On January 26, 2007, Yashayaei's letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad concerning his Holocaust denial comments brought about worldwide media attention.

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

Conditions

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

Most Iranian Jews say that they view Iran as their home and are allowed to practice Judaism freely, but there is suspicion and fear too.

They generally hold pro-Iranian stances and refuse to go up to Israel.

Contacts with Jews outside Iran

Rabbis from the Haredi sect Neturei Karta, which has historically been opposed to the existence of Israel have visited Iran on several occasions.
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.

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.

Thirteen Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution, most of them were executed 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.

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. To place the incentives in perspective, the sums offered were up to 3 times or more than the average annual income for an Iranian. However, in late 2007 at least forty Iranian Jews accepted financial incentives offered by Jewish charities for immigrating to Israel.

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. 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.

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 "Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini didn't mix up our community with Israel and Zionism—he saw us as Iranians."Jews in Iran Describe a Life of Freedom Despite Anti-Israel Actions by Tehran
The Christian Science Monitor, February 3, 1998 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 requires that those schools must open on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath. (This has apparently been changed as of February 4, 2015.) 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.

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." On September 23, 2021, the wife of the Rabbi of the Jews of Iran gave an interview to a Jewish newspaper

Jewish centers of Iran

Most Jews live in Tehran, the capital.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) Today 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. Traditionally however, Shiraz, Iran, Shiraz, Hamedan, Isfahan, Tabriz, Nahawand, Babol and some other cities of Iran were home to large populations of Jews. At present there are 25 synagogues in Iran. 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".

Legal restrictions

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 of Iran, President, or as a military commander. Jews may not serve as judges, and aside from the seat reserved for a Jew in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 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.

Jewish education in Iran

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, 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.

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.

Jewish sites of Iran

Many cities in Iran have Jewish or sites related to Judaism in some way. Prominent among these are Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, tomb of Daniel#Susa‌, Iran, Tomb of Daniel in Susa, Habakkuk#Persian shrine, 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) in Kashan, which are also visited by Muslim pilgrims.

File:Habakuk mausoleum Tuyserkan Iran.jpg, The shrine of Habakkuk in Toyserkan
File:Tomb of Esther and Mordechai exterior.jpg, The Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan
File:Tomb of Daniel 1.jpg, The Shrine of Daniel in Susa
File:Peighambariyeh Qazvin.jpg, ''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 Iran–Iraq War, 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."

Demographics

The The Jewish Encyclopedia, Jewish Encyclopedia estimated that in 1900 there were 35,000 Persian Jews in Iran (almost all of whom lived in present-day Iran), although other sources estimate somewhat higher numbers for the same time. On the eve of Israel's Israeli Declaration of Independence, 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, Baháʼí faith.

Iran

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 Exodus of Iran's 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, (sources date from 2006, 2007, and 2008, respectively) though estimates varied, with some as high as 40,000 in 1998. and some as low as 17,000 by 2010 However, the official census in August 2012 indicated that there were only 8,756 Jews still living in Iran.Iran young, urbanized and educated population: census
Al Arabiya In the 2016 Iranian census, the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 9,826 As of 2021, only 8,500 Jews still live in Iran.Jewish Population by Country 2021 website
/ref> After Israel, it is home to the second-largest Jewish population in the Middle East. Notable population centers include Tehran, Isfahan (1,200), 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 Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Majlis.

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. 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 200,000-250,000.Why are people going to Iran?
Jpost.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.

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."ISRAEL: Iranian Jews show solidarity with Iranian protesters, Babylon & Beyond, Los Angeles Times
Latimesblogs.latimes.com (2009-06-23). Retrieved 2011-05-09. The largest concentration of Persian Jews in Israel is found in the city Holon. In Israel, Persian Jews are classified as Mizrahim. Both former President of Israel, President Moshe Katsav and former Minister of Defense (Israel), 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.

The United States

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 (Los Angeles County), Westside cities of Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica and the Los Angeles Westside neighborhoods of Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, Brentwood, Westwood, Los Angeles, California, Westwood, and West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, West L.A., as well as the San Fernando Valley communities of Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, Tarzana and Encino, Los Angeles, California, Encino.

Beverly Hills

In particular, Persian Jews make up a sizeable proportion of the population of Beverly Hills, California.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. Persian Jews constitute a great percentage of the 26% of the total population of Beverly Hills that identifies as Iranian-American.Universe: Total population more information 2006–2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
Factfinder2.census.gov 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. The community is credited with revitalizing Beverly Hills and re-developing its architecture, and for the development of ornate mansions across the city.

According to the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey, 26% of Beverly Hills' 34,000 residents are of Iranian origin. 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 (Los Angeles, California), Sinai Temple in Westwood, one of the largest Conservative Judaism, 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.

New York

Kings Point, New York, Kings Point, a village constituting part of Great Neck, has the greatest percentage of Iranians in the United States (approximately 40%). 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. 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. The Mashadi community in Great Neck operates its own synagogues and community centers, and members typically marry within the community.

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.

Related Jewish communities

Mountain Jews

The Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan and the North Caucasus (primarily Dagestan) are direct descendants of Persian Jews. 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. 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.

Bukharan Jews

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.

Lakhloukh Jews

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)

Languages

Most Persian Jews speak standard Persian as their primary tongue, but various Jewish languages have been associated with the community over time. They include:
* Dzhidi language, Dzhidi (Judæo-Persian)
* Bukhori (Judæo-Bukharic)
* Judæo-Golpaygani
* Judeo-Shirazi, Judæo-Shirazi
* Judæo-Hamedani
* Juhuri language (Judæo-Tat)

In addition, Persian Jews in Israel generally speak Hebrew language, 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. Jews from Urmia, Tabriz, Sanandaj, Saqqez, and some other cities all speak various dialects that may or may not be intelligible to each other. There are less than 5,000 known speakers today and the language faces extinction in the next few decades.

Genetics

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.

Another study of L. Hao et al. 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 NYU 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."

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 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".

In 2011, Moorjani et al. 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 AD) and 3,400 (14th Century BC) years ago. Although African admixture was determined among South Europeans and Near Eastern population 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 Irani 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" the authors concludes.

Medical conditions

Patients with prolonged paralysis following administration of the anaesthetic succinylcholine are often diagnosed with Pseudocholinesterase 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.

List of Persian Jews

Biblical

* Daniel
* Esther
* Ezra
* Habakkuk
* Haggai
* Mordechai
* Nehemiah
* Zerubbabel

Pre-modern era

* Mashallah ibn Athari – Persian astrologer and astronomer
* Sa'ad al-Dawla – physician and statesman
* Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Rashid al-Din – doctor, writer, and historian
* Benjamin Nahawandi – Karaite Judaism, 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 (scholar), 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
* Yudghanites, Yudghan - religious leader from Hamadan
* Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi - Iranian statesman, served as ambassador and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Baba'i ben Lotf - Persian poet, author of the first Judeo-Persian chronicle
* Anan ben David - founder of the Karaite Judaism, Karaite Movement
* Daniel al-Kumisi - prominent scholar of Karaite Judaism
* Aphrahat - Persian saint, converted to Christianity

Politics and military

* David Alliance, Baron Alliance – Iranian-born British businessman; Liberal Democrats (UK), Liberal Democrat politician
* Michael Ben-Ari – Israeli politician and current member of the Knesset
* Makan Delrahim – United States Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, 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 (Iran), 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 the General Staff (Israel), chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces
* Anna Kaplan – American politician and current member of the New York State Senate
* Moshe Katsav – former President of Israel
* Shaul Mofaz – former Israeli Ministry of Defense (Israel), 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 Anti-Defamation League, 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 Bahá’í faith)
* David Peyman - attorney, worked for the United States Department of State

Science and academia

* Abbas Amanat – professor of history at Yale University (born to a family of Jewish descent that converted to the Baháʼí 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 language, German
* Avshalom Elitzur – physicist and philosopher
* Soleiman Haim – compiled an early and influential Persian language dictionary
* Hakim Yazghel Haqnazar – court physician
* 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 surgery, robotic oncology
* Saba Soomekh – professor of religious studies and Middle Eastern History at UCLA, and author of books on Iranian Jewish culture
* Ehsan Yarshater – historian & founder of the Encyclopedia Iranica (born to Jewish parents who converted to the Baháʼí Faith)
* Moussa B. H. Youdim - Israeli neurologist, neuropharmacologist
* Babak Azizzadeh - prominent cosmetic surgeon
* Armin Tehrany - orthopedic surgeon
* Simon Ourian - World-renowned plastic surgeon

Business and economics

* David Alliance – British businessman
* Asadollah Asgaroladi – Iranian billionaire (convert to Islam)
* Habibollah Asgaroladi – leading Iranian conservative politician (convert to Islam)
* J. Darius Bikoff – founder and CEO of Energy Brands
* Kiana Danial – personal investing and wealth management expert, CEO of Invest Diva
* Mandana Dayani - attorney, entrepreneur
* Henry Elghanayan - real estaste developer New York City
* Habib Elghanian – prominent businessman executed by the Islamic Republic
* Ghermezian family – billionaire shopping mall developers
* Kamran Hakim – real estate developer in New York City
* 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, Isfahan, Iran (New Julfa) (see Khwaja).
* Isaac Larian – American billionaire, chief executive officer of MGA Entertainment
* Saul Maslavi – president and CEO of Jovani Fashion
* Justin Mateen – co-founder and former chief marketing officer of Tinder (app), 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
* Fred Ohebshalom – founder of Empire Management Real Estate
* Joseph Parnes – investment advisor
* Sean Rad – co-founder and former CEO of Tinder (app), Tinder dating app
* Nouriel Roubini – economist
* Ben Shaoul – co-founder of Magnum Real Estate Group
* Joel Simkhai – founder of Grindr dating app
* Eli Zelkha – entrepreneur, venture capitalist, professor, and inventor of ambient intelligence
* Mahbod Moghadam - co-founder of Everipedia, co-founder of Genius (website), Genius
* Sam Mizrahi - Canadian real estate developer
* Victor Haghani - American financier
* Ezri Namvar - Iranian-born businessman and convicted criminal
* Fraydun Manocherian - Manhattan real estate developer
* Erwin David Rabhan - businessman, longtime friend of Jimmy Carter
* Richard Saghian - Founder of Fashion Nova
* Daniel Negari - founder of .xyz, .xyz domain
* Hootan Yaghoobzadeh - co-founder of Staple Street Capital
* Jon Bakhshi - American restauranter
* Kohan Retail Investment Group, Mike Kohan - founder of Kohan Retail Investment Group
* Habib Sabet - prominent Iranian industrialist (convert to the Bahá’í 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
* Assadollah Rashidian - businessman, played a critical role in the 1953 Iranian coup d'état, 1953 Overthrow of Mohammed Mossadegh
* Albert Hakim - businessman, figure in the Iran-Contra affair
* Manucher Ghorbanifar - former SAVAK agent, central figure in the Iran-Contra affair
* Mike Amiri - American fashion designer
* Sam Eshaghoff - American real estate developer

Art and entertainment

* 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 Baháʼí Faith)
*Jojo Anavim - artist
*Yossi Banai – Israeli performer, singer, and actor
*Richard Danielpour – composer
* Yuval Delshad- film director
* David Diaan – actor, producer, screenwriter
*Irán 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 Bahá’í 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 singer), Rita – Israeli pop star
*Maer Roshan - writer, entrepreneur
*Hooshang Seyhoun - prominent Iranian architect (convert to the Bahá’í 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 (rapper), Subliminal – Israeli hip-hop singer
* The Shadow (rapper), The Shadow – Israeli hip-hop singer and right-wing activist
* Elie Tahari – high-end fashion designer
* Shaun Toub – Iranian-born American actor, recipient of the Sephard award at the Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival
* Elham Yaghoubian- writer
* Bob Yari – film producer

Religion

* Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron – previous Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Chief Rabbinate of Israel, Chief Rabbi of Israel
* Shmuley Boteach – American rabbi
* Yousef Hamadani Cohen – former chief rabbi of Iran
* Uriel Davidi – former chief rabbi of Iran
* Mashallah Golestani-Nejad – current chief rabbi of Iran
* Lutfu'lláh Hakím – Baháʼí leader (born to a family of Jewish descent that converted to the Baháʼí 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 scholar

Miscellaneous

* 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 in Iran, 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
* Akhzivland, Eli Avivi - founder of the micronation Akhzivland

See also

* Iran–Israel relations
* History of the Jews in Iran
* History of the Jews under Muslim rule
* Antisemitism in Islam
* Islamic–Jewish relations
* Judæo-Iranian languages
* Judæo-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
* 1999 Arrest and trial of 13 Jews in Iran
* Tehran Jewish Committee
* Dr. Sapir Hospital and Charity Center
* List of Chief Rabbis of Iran
* List of synagogues in Iran
* List of religious centers in Tehran#Synagogues, List of Synagogues in Tehran
* ''Jews of Iran (documentary film), Jews of Iran''
* ''30 Years After''
* ''Madare sefr darajeh''
* International Holocaust Cartoon Competition

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

*
*
* "Iran. 1997" (1997). ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' (CD-ROM Edition Version 1.0). Ed. Cecil Roth. Keter Publishing House.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* 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,

External links

Sephardic Studies, Iran

History of the Iranian Jews
*
*

Former Jewish Ghetto in Tehran

; Media
*



Iranian Jewish Chronicle Magazine

Iran Chamber Society ''The Cyrus Prism: The Decree of return for the Jews, 539 BCE''
edited by Charles F. Horne,


*[https://haifa-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/collectionDiscovery?vid=HAU&inst=972HAI_MAIN&collectionId=81198552700002791&lang=en_US 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

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Iranian Jews,
Mizrahi Jews,
Sephardi Jews topics
Jewish ethnic groups
Jews and Judaism in Persia and Iran,
Ethnic groups in the Middle East