{"id":2191,"date":"2021-04-27T15:20:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/?p=2191"},"modified":"2021-04-27T15:20:51","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:20:51","slug":"persian-jews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abudinen.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/27\/persian-jews\/","title":{"rendered":"Persian Jews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Persian Jews<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Iranian Jews<\/strong>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0(Persian<\/a>:\u00a0\u06cc\u0647\u0648\u062f\u06cc\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u06cc\u0631\u0627\u0646\u06cc\u200e,\u00a0yahudi\u0101n-e-Ir\u0101ni<\/em>;\u00a0Hebrew<\/a>:\u00a0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d9\u05dd \u05e4\u05e8\u05e1\u05d9\u05dd\u200e) are\u00a0Jews<\/a>\u00a0historically associated with the\u00a0Persian Empire<\/a>, whose\u00a0successor state<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0Iran<\/a>. The biblical\u00a0Book of Esther<\/a>\u00a0contains references to the experiences of the Jews in Persia. Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of\u00a0Cyrus the Great<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Achaemenid Empire<\/a>. Cyrus invaded\u00a0Babylon<\/a>\u00a0and freed the Jews from\u00a0Babylonian captivity<\/a>.[biblical ref??]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regions with significant populations<\/th><\/tr>
\"\" Israel<\/a><\/th>200,000[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u2013250,000[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/td><\/tr>
\"\" United States<\/a><\/th>60,000\u201380,000[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/td><\/tr>
\"\" Iran<\/a><\/th>8,300 (2019)[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/td><\/tr>
\"\" Canada<\/a><\/th>1,000<\/td><\/tr>
\"\" Australia<\/a><\/th>~740[note 1]<\/a><\/sup><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, the vast majority of Persian Jews live in Israel<\/a> and the United States, especially in Los Angeles<\/a>, Beverly Hills<\/a>, and on the North Shore<\/a> of Long Island<\/a>. There are smaller Persian Jewish communities in Baltimore, Maryland<\/a> and the Twin Cities<\/a>. According to the latest Iranian census<\/a>, the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 9,826 in 2016.[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terminology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today the term Iranian Jews<\/strong><\/em> is mostly used to refer to Jews from the country of Iran<\/a>. In various scholarly and historical texts, the term is used to refer to Jews who speak various Iranian languages<\/a>. Iranian immigrants in Israel (nearly all of whom are Jewish) are referred to as Parsim<\/em> (Hebrew<\/a>: \u05e4\u05e8\u05e1\u05d9\u05dd\u200e meaning “Persians”). In Iran, Jews and Jewish people in general are referred to by four common terms: Kal\u012bm\u012b<\/em> (Persian<\/a>: \u06a9\u0644\u06cc\u0645\u06cc\u200e), which is considered the most proper term; Yah\u016bd\u012b<\/em> (\u06cc\u0647\u0648\u062f\u06cc), which is less formal but correct; Israel<\/em> (\u0627\u0633\u0631\u0627\u0626\u0644) the term by which the Jews refer to themselves; and Joh\u016bd<\/em> (\u062c\u0647\u0648\u062f), a term having negative connotations and considered by many Jews as offensive.[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Main article: History of Jews in Iran<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jews had been residing in Persia since around 727 BCE, having arrived in the region as slaves after being captured by the Assyrian<\/a> and Babylonian<\/a> kings. According to one Jewish legend, the first Jew to enter Persia was Sarah bat Asher, grand daughter of the Patriarch Joseph<\/a>.[7]<\/a><\/sup> The biblical books of Isaiah<\/a>, Daniel<\/a>, Ezra<\/a>, Nehemiah<\/a>, Chronicles<\/a>, and Esther<\/a> contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia and accounts of their relations with the Persian kings<\/a>. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem<\/a> and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was effected “according to the decree of Cyrus<\/a>, and Darius<\/a>, and Artaxerxes<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a0Armenian<\/a>,\u00a0Georgian<\/a>,\u00a0Iraqi<\/a>,\u00a0Bukharan<\/a>, and\u00a0Mountain Jewish<\/a>\u00a0communities.[8]<\/a>[9]<\/a>[10]<\/a>[11]<\/a>[12]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REVIEW Some of the communities have been isolated from other Jewish communities, to the extent that their classification as “Persian Jews” is a matter of\u00a0linguistic<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0geographical<\/a>\u00a0convenience 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.[13]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REVIEW VIEWPOINT According to\u00a0Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica<\/a><\/em>: “The Jews trace their heritage in Iran to the\u00a0Babylonian Exile<\/a>\u00a0of the 6th century BC and, like the\u00a0Armenians<\/a>, have retained their ethnic, linguistic, and religious identity.”[14]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0Library of Congress<\/a>‘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.”[15]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the Achaemenids<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cyrus the Great and Jews<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cyrus the Great<\/a>\u00a0allowing Hebrew pilgrims to return to the\u00a0Land of Israel<\/a>\u00a0and rebuild Jerusalem, painting by\u00a0Jean Fouquet<\/a>\u00a0circa 1470<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyrus the Great<\/a>\u00a0was “God’s anointed”, having freed the Jews from Babylonian rule.[biblical ref??] After the conquest of\u00a0Babylonia<\/a>\u00a0by the Persian\u00a0Achaemenid Empire<\/a>\u00a0Cyrus 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\u00a0Book of Esther<\/a>\u00a0are set entirely in Iran. Other Persian cultural influences remain to the present day, such as the Jewish festival of\u00a0Purim<\/a>\u00a0which parallels a springtime\u00a0Zoroastrian festival<\/a>\u00a0called\u00a0Fravardigan<\/a>. However, various biblical accounts say that over forty thousand Jews did return (See\u00a0Jehoiakim<\/a>;\u00a0Ezra<\/a>;\u00a0Nehemiah<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jews<\/a>).[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Joan Winn Leith believes that the decree in Ezra might be authentic and along with the\u00a0Cyrus Cylinder<\/a>\u00a0that 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.”[19]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By some accounts, the tomb of the prophet\u00a0Daniel<\/a>\u00a0is located in\u00a0Susa<\/a>. The\u00a0Second Temple<\/a>\u00a0was eventually (re)built in\u00a0Jerusalem<\/a>, with assistance from the Persians, and the Israelites assumed an important position in the\u00a0Silk Road<\/a>\u00a0trade with\u00a0China<\/a>.[16]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Darius<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Main article: Second Temple<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyrus ordered rebuilding the Second Temple<\/a> in the same place as the first; however, he died before it was completed. Darius the Great<\/a> came to power in the Persian empire and ordered the completion of the temple. According to the Bible, the prophets Haggai<\/a> and Zechariah<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Ahasuerus<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to the\u00a0Book of Esther<\/a>, in the\u00a0Tanakh<\/a>,\u00a0Haman<\/a>\u00a0was an\u00a0Agagite<\/a>\u00a0noble and\u00a0vizier<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0empire<\/a>\u00a0under Persian King\u00a0Ahasuerus<\/a>, generally identified as\u00a0Xerxes the Great<\/a>\u00a0(son of Darius the Great) in the 6th century BCE.[20]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Haman and his wife Zeresh instigated a plot to kill all the Jews of ancient\u00a0Persia<\/a>. The plot was foiled by Queen\u00a0Esther<\/a>, the Jewish Queen of\u00a0Persia<\/a>. 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\u00a0Purim<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. \u00a0“Iranian Jews Living in U.S. Have Complex Feelings About Mideast Crisis”<\/a>.\u00a0Fox News<\/em>. 7 August 2006.<\/li>
  2. ^\u00a0a<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0b<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Why are people going to Iran?<\/a>. Jpost.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.<\/li>
  3. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0“Jewish of Iran”<\/a>.<\/li>
  4. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0“On Being Persian”<\/a>.\u00a0Huffpost<\/em>. 15 October 2013. Retrieved\u00a06 February\u00a02019.<\/li>
  5. ^\u00a0a<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0b<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0c<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0“Iranian Census Report 2016”<\/a>\u00a0(PDF). Iranian Statistics Agency.<\/li>
  6. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0“Persian Gates”<\/a>. Forward.com. 28 July 2006. Retrieved\u00a09 March\u00a02013.<\/li>
  7. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Gorder, Christian (2010).\u00a0Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran<\/em>. Lexington Books. p.\u00a08.<\/li>
  8. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Kevin Alan Brook.\u00a0The Jews of Khazaria<\/em><\/a>\u00a0Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a01442203021<\/a>\u00a0p. 233<\/li>
  9. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0“\u0532\u0565\u0576 \u0555\u056c\u0561\u0576\u0564\u0565\u0580\u056b \u0570\u0561\u057f\u0578\u0582\u056f \u0576\u0565\u0580\u056f\u0561\u0575\u0561\u0581\u0578\u0582\u0574\u0568 \u0546\u0575\u0578\u0582 \u0545\u0578\u0580\u0584\u0578\u0582\u0574 \u0576\u057e\u056b\u0580\u057e\u0561\u056e \u054c\u0561\u0578\u0582\u056c \u054e\u0561\u056c\u056c\u0565\u0576\u0562\u0565\u0580\u0563\u056b\u0576,\u0535\u0580\u0565\u0584\u0577\u0561\u0562\u0569\u056b 9 \u0546\u0578\u0575\u0565\u0574\u0562\u0565\u0580\u056b 2010 \u0569.”<\/a>Friends-of-armenia.org<\/em>. Retrieved\u00a030 December\u00a02017.<\/li>
  10. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0“EGHEGIS, [EGHEGIZ, YEGHEGIS, ELEGIS:, Siwnik] \u2013 armenia \u2013 International Jewish Cemetery Project”<\/a>.\u00a0Iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org<\/em>. Retrieved\u00a030 December\u00a02017.<\/li>
  11. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0James Stuart Olson, Lee Brigance Pappas, Nicholas Charles Pappas.\u00a0An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires<\/em>. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a00313274975<\/a>\u00a0p. 305<\/li>
  12. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Begley, Sharon. (7 August 2012)\u00a0Genetic study offers clues to history of North Africa’s Jews | Reuters<\/a>. In.reuters.com. Retrieved 2013-04-16.<\/li>
  13. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0The Jews of Iraq<\/a>. Dangoor.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.<\/li>
  14. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Iran on the Britannica Online Encyclopedia<\/a>. Britannica.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.<\/li>
  15. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Iran \u2013 Jews<\/a>. Country-data.com. Retrieved 2011-05-29.<\/li>
  16. ^\u00a0a<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0b<\/strong><\/em><\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Gorder, Christian (2010).\u00a0Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran<\/em>. Lexington Books. p.\u00a017.<\/li>
  17. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Grabbe, Lester L. (2004).\u00a0A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah<\/em><\/a>. T & T Clark. p.\u00a0355.\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a0978-0-567-08998-4<\/bdi><\/a>.<\/s><\/li>
  18. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Davies, Philip R. (1995). John D Davies (ed.).\u00a0Words Remembered, Texts Renewed: Essays in Honour of John F.A. Sawyer<\/em><\/a>. Continuum International Publishing Group. p.\u00a0219.\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a0978-1-85075-542-5<\/bdi><\/a>.<\/s><\/li>
  19. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Winn Leith, Mary Joan (2001) [1998].\u00a0“Israel among the Nations: The Persian Period”<\/a>. In Michael David Coogan (ed.).\u00a0The Oxford History of the Biblical World<\/em><\/a>(Google Books<\/a>).\u00a0Oxford<\/a>;\u00a0New York<\/a>:\u00a0Oxford University Press<\/a>. p.\u00a0285.\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a00-19-513937-2<\/bdi><\/a>.\u00a0LCCN<\/a>\u00a098016042<\/a>.\u00a0OCLC<\/a>\u00a044650958<\/a>. Retrieved\u00a014 December\u00a02012.<\/li>
  20. ^<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Johnson, Sara Raup (2005).\u00a0Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context<\/em><\/a>. University of California Press. pp.\u00a016\u201317.\u00a0ISBN<\/a>\u00a0978-0-520-23307-2<\/bdi><\/a>.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Persian Jews\u00a0or\u00a0Iranian Jews[4]\u00a0(Persian:\u00a0\u06cc\u0647\u0648\u062f\u06cc\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u06cc\u0631\u0627\u0646\u06cc\u200e,\u00a0yahudi\u0101n-e-Ir\u0101ni;\u00a0Hebrew:\u00a0\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d3\u05d9\u05dd \u05e4\u05e8\u05e1\u05d9\u05dd\u200e) are\u00a0Jews\u00a0historically associated with the\u00a0Persian Empire, whose\u00a0successor state\u00a0is\u00a0Iran. The biblical\u00a0Book of Esther\u00a0contains references to the experiences of the Jews in Persia. Jews have had a continuous presence in … Leer m\u00e1s<\/a><\/p>\n