Today, the terms Iranian Jews or Persian Jews are mostly used to refer to Jews from Iran, which was known historically as Persia. In various scholarly and historical texts, the term has extended to be 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 ‘ Persians ‘. In Iran, Persian Jews and …
Iranian Jews[4][a] constitute one of the oldest communities of the Jewish diaspora. Dating back to the biblical era, they originate from the Jews who arrived in Iran as Babylonian captives. 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 Iran; there has been a …
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews (Persian: یهودیان ایرانی, yahudiān-e-Irāni; Hebrew: 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 …
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Iran’s government is often perceived as antisemitic, but the country has a longstanding Jewish community dating back 2,700 years
In Tehran, the Jewish-run Dr. Sapir Hospital stands as a symbol of interfaith service, offering medical care to all Iranians, regardless of religion or ethnicity. Despite state-level hostility between Israel and Iran, many Iranian Jews distinguish their identity and patriotism from foreign politics.
The Jews in Iran trace their origins back to the Persian king, Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylonia in the 6th century B.C. and freed the Jewish slaves, reportedly at the request of his wife Esther, who was a Jew.
Israel now hosts the largest population of Iranian Jews, at more than 47,000, with an additional 87,000 descendants of paternal lineage only, and 65-70,000 of maternal lineage (CBS Statistical Abstract 2008). Kfar Saba is a social center for Persian Jewry, while many also settled in Jerusalem, Netanya, and Tel Aviv.
The Iranian case demonstrates how Jewish identity can coexist with strong local and national affiliations outside Israel. For more than two millennia, Jews in Iran have lived within Persian society, adapting to changing political systems while preserving religious and cultural traditions.
After 1979, Jewish emigration from Iran increased dramatically in light of the country’s Islamic Revolution and fall of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Today, the vast majority of Iranian Jews reside in Israel and the United States.