Jewish Iranians find their roots in their deportation from Israel and their resettlement in the Ecbatana (Ekpatan/present day Hamadan) area of Iran around 727 BC. It is widely believed that the settlers are one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. There was a second wave of resettlement by Jews in Persia that occurred around 680 BC when they began to flee the persecution of the Assyrian King Nabuchadadnezzar for the relative safety of Isfahan.

In 539 BC when Cyrus the Great invaded Babylon, one of his first acts was to free the Jewish inhabitants and encourage them to practice their religion freely and rebuild the temple of Marduk. One of the hallmarks of the Achaemenian Empire was the autonomy granted to various tribes and nationalities that lived in the invaded lands, and Jews were one such group. They were allowed to live their own lives, carry out their own traditions, and mete out justice according to their own rules and laws.

Although Persians occupied the highest positions in the state apparatus, they exten-sively appointed laws to honor the cultural, legal and administrative traditions of the conquered nations.

For example, Jewish settlers remained monogamous: Unlike Moslems, the Jewish husbands did not have the right to take a second wife. Civil disputes were settled by the special "court of the Jews".

As a testament to this spirit of individual liberty, many religious objects sacred to other non-Persian ethnic groups, including Jews were discovered in both in Susa and Persepolis, two of the most important cities of the Persian Empire.

There is undisputed evidence that during this period, equal treatment of all ethnic groups including Jews was commonplace. All religious minorities, could enter into contracts, hold land, be appointed to high office and enter into mixed marriages. Given the worlds current propensity to polarize itself along cultural, religious or ethnic lines, it seems refreshing to see our forbearers were less dogmatic and more forgiving of other peoples' differences.

The books of Daniel, Ezra and Ezekiel laud the Persians and accept the Persian invading forces with open arms and praise. The Book of Esther tells how Esther the niece of Mordecai, an assistant to the Persian king, takes the place of Queen Ahashwerosh, and reverses the King's orders of eradication of Jews. To this day, the Festival of Purim celebrates the story of Esther.

Other Persian dynasties such as Seljuk's and Parthian also followed the same policies towards religious and ethnic minorities as long as they showed loyalty to the rulers. The Jewish population was loyal and industrious, and as such, was left alone to practice its religion and oversee its civil matters.

The first signs of persecution of minorities appear with the Moslem conquest of Persia. The new rulers called for the harassment, persecution and prosecution of those who did not convert to Islam. Religious minorities were given the right to practice their religion only if they paid a religious tax and Moslems were prohibits from becoming friends with Christians and Jews. Christian and Jewish minorities could be taken as slaves and banned from riding horses while carrying arms. The first signs of religious ghettos appear during this period and religious minorities were not allowed to have houses which were higher than those owned by Moslems.

During the centuries and dynasties that followed the lot of the Persian Jews did not improve. Jews were forced to convert into Islam and mistreated. Europeans traveling to Iran describe the horrific lives of the religious minorities where Jews were forced to wear both a yellow badge and a headgear, and their oath was not accepted in courts of justice.
A Jew who converted to Islam could claim to be the sole inheritor of the family property, to the exclusion of all Jewish relatives. If one Jew committed a crime or an illegal act, the whole community would be punished.

The life for the Jewish community of Iran took a turn from bad to worse during the Qajar Dynasty. In 1839 under Mohammad Shah's reign, the entire Jewish inhabitants of Mashhad as well as other cities were forced to convert to Islam until the European community intervened on their behalf and the Shah, fearing retribution, reversed his decree.

The 19th. And 20th Centuries brought drastic changes for the Jewish population of Iran when first the new Iranian Constitution and then the policies of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, incorporated minorities into the fabric of society and made laws banning discrimination and persecution of religious minorities. The most noteworthy change occurred when Reza Shah went to the Jewish temple at Isfahan and bowed and prayed to the Torah.

The gains made by the Jewish minority in Iran have once again been eroding because under the current system of government the laws of Shariat have become the basis of the system of justice and discrimination against religious minorities is a part of the system. For example although Jews are not barred by law to enter the universities, the Islamic background check, which is routinely conducted by the government, in essence prevents their entrance into the higher education. Unfortunately, from a robust minority of about 85000 industrious, artistic and educated Jewish Iranians, only 30,000 are left in Iran.

Jewish School Shiraz