42 Facts About Persian Jews

Persian Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire.

Today, the term Iranian Persian Jews is mostly used in reference to Persian Jews who are from the country of Iran.

Persian 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.

Persian Jews lived in the ancient communities not only of Iran, but the Armenian, Georgian, Iraqi, Bukharan, and Mountain Jewish communities.

Some 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.

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Oljeitu, Ghazan Khan's successor, destroyed many synagogues and decreed that Persian Jews had to wear a distinctive mark on their heads; Christians endured similar persecutions.

Skilled Persian Jews were imported to develop the empire's textile industry.

Reign of Shah Abbas I was initially benign; Persian Jews prospered throughout Persia and were encouraged to settle in Isfahan, which was made a new capital.

Shi'a clergy persuaded the shah to require Persian Jews to wear a distinctive badge on clothing and headgear.

For whatever reason, the government in 1661 allowed Persian Jews to take up their old religion, but still required them to wear a distinctive patch upon their clothing.

However, following his murder many Persian Jews were massacred in Mashhad, and survivors were forcibly converted, in an event known as Allahdad incident.

In 1830, a blood-libel had wiped out the Jewish population of Tabriz; a power struggle over influence between Jewish and Christian minorities led the Armenians to kidnap and murder a Muslim child from a prominent family, delivering the body to the chief secretary claiming that the Persian Jews had murdered and drank the blood of the child for Passover.

Amidst the chaos, Persian 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, he was killed.

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

An Imam began speaking on the importance of ridding alcohol for the sake of Islamic purity, he soon gained followers and this soon manifested itself into an assault against Persian Jews for refusing to give up the wine they drank for sabbath.

Twelve Persian Jews who tried to defend their property were killed, and many others were injured.

Reza Shah prohibited mass conversion of Persian Jews and eliminated the concept of uncleanness of non-Muslims.

David Littman puts the total figure of Iranian Persian Jews who immigrated to Israel between 1948 and 1978 at 70,000.

Persian Jews were located in other various cities throughout Iran, including Urmia, Salmas, Miandoab, 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.

The majority of Iran's Jewish population, some 60,000 Persian 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 .

Persian Jews'sexecution caused fear among the Jewish community and caused many to flee Iran.

In June 2007, though there were reports that wealthy expatriate Persian Jews established a fund to offer incentives to Iranian Persian Jews to immigrate to Israel, few took them up on the offer.

The Society of Iranian Persian Jews dismissed this act as "immature political enticements" and said that their national identity was not for sale.

Iranian Persian Jews have their own newspaper with Jewish scholars performing Judaic research at Tehran's "Central Library of Jewish Association".

Persian Jews are conscripted into the Iranian Armed Forces like all Iranian citizens.

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Many Iranian Persian Jews fought during the Iran–Iraq War as drafted soldiers, and about 15 were killed.

Thirteen Persian Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution, most of them were executed for their alleged connections to Israel.

Iranian Persian 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.

Between October 2005 and September 2006,152 Persian Jews left Iran, down from 297 during the same period the previous year, and 183 the year before that.

However, in late 2007 at least forty Iranian Persian Jews accepted financial incentives offered by Jewish charities for immigrating to Israel.

Amrani claimed that while Persian 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.

Iranian Persian Jews remain under various discriminatory legal restrictions regarding their position in society.

Persian Jews are prohibited from holding significant governmental and decision-making positions.

Persian Jews do not have equal rights to Qisas, or retribution, in the Iranian judicial system.

In 1996, there were still three schools in Tehran in which Persian Jews were in a majority, but Jewish principals had been replaced.

Iranian Persian Jews emigrated to form smaller communities in Western Europe, and in Australia, Canada, and South America.

Persian Jews are protected in the Iranian constitution and allowed one seat in the Majlis.

In particular, Persian Jews make up a sizeable proportion of the population of Beverly Hills, California.

Persian Jews took the post of mayor of Beverly Hills on March 16,2010.

Persian Jews constitute a large part of the membership at Sinai Temple in Westwood, one of the largest Conservative congregations in the United States.

Many Mashadi crypto-Persian Jews made their Jewish observances more public again following the rise of the secular Pahlavi dynasty upon performing them privately for almost a century.

Bukharan Jews traditionally speak a dialect of Judeo-Persian and lived mainly in the former emirate of Bukhara .