Ties That Bind
There are at least 30,000 people living in Iran, who are considered to be the descendants of one of the ten lost tribes of ancient Israelites. There very essence is written in history, where in 727 BC, Jewish peoples fled from the Mediterranean to Ecbatan/Hamadan, a central western plateau area of Iran. Here, they stayed, until a new wave arrived, fleeing from the wrath and persecution of Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian King.
In history, it is written that Cyrus (the Great) of Persia, dominated the Babylonian kingdom, destroying their system of persecution and murder of Jewish people in Babylon. His first orders were to allow free movement and open practice of their religious rites and rituals. The Temple of Marduk was also rebuilt, by order of Cyrus, who stated; “As for the house of God which is at Jerusalem, let the house be built.....And let its cost be given from the king's house. Also let the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the house of God and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place. And you shall put them in the house of God."
Although the Persian Empire and Persians held the highest positions in the state structure, it was also subjected to the control of many ethnic and religious minorities such as the Jews. The Persian King, Cyrus, decided that it would be much easier, if not healthier for his empire, if these minorities were given legal, cultural, and administrative elasticity in order to govern their own people. This status quo of the Persian Empire was probably one of the first successful advocates of a society in which tolerance and compromise between different peoples could be achieved. As for Jews, it was a breath of fresh air after years of segregation and disenfranchisement. Now, Jews were legally accepted as equals, allowed to marry out, hold office, buy or sell land, and pass laws.
For many Iranians, Esther, the Queen of Persia (the wife of the King) is relatively unknown. Her history is even less endearing to them. The fact that her grave purportedly lies in Hamadan is ignored if not ridiculed by many; Esther, the niece of Mordechai, was one of the roots of this new social structure, probably convincing the King to change his political stance on Jews in favor of all minorities. I can’t accept any rational reason why the Persian Empire would not loosen its restrictions on the Jews, especially when they were a people of loyalty and industry once trusted. Visit a synagogue for the Festival of Purim to hear her story and more.
The last days of the Persian Empire marked the last rays of a setting sun, as the Moslem conquerors took over the Empire, turning heads. These conquerors called for the harassment, segregation, and prosecution of all non-Muslims. Because the Islamic Shari’at laws called for the punishment of non-believers, “najess” (dirty) Jews were not allowed to be citizens of the Islamic empire. They were barely differentiated from the untouchables of India nowadays. Minorities, and in particular, Jews, were not allowed to take high office, build large houses, or intermarry. The Jewish people were practically living in ghettos and even forced to wear yellow badges to mark their status. All religious minorities were forced to pay a religious tax to continue with their traditional ways. The Qajar dynasty did not help.
Eventually, during the 20th century, with the help of European imperialists and politics, the Pahlavi dynasty reversed the social environment for all Jews, giving them full rights, and accepting them as equals. This marked difference was also a slap in the face to the fire-buckling Clerics who deemed Jews as pigs and only good enough to be abused. (A Jewish family owned the Cinema Rex in Tehran, one of the successful theaters of Iran.)
Although this minority is not prosecuted openly in the country, it is a noteworthy fact that their people are markedly lower than a Muslim being that the country now runs on a neo-legal shari’at system. On average, it is still very much taboo to discuss Judaism or Jews, as well as being a social error (to many) for a Jew to mingle with Muslims, although there might be changes to that very soon.
This is a small portrait of an immense world; the treatment and the lives of these Jews has scaled many years, however, their persecution was far more tolerant than the Spanish Inquisition, or the Russian Pogroms, let’s not forget. The Jews based in Ottoman territories were the least harassed, compared to the Jews of the region of Asia and elsewhere.
After many ordeals for the Jews of Mashhad, you can find more of them in New York City than you would in Mashhad today. That is the case for many Iranian Jews, who live either in Los Angeles, New York City, or Israel.
Here is a little read from a comment posted by F. Ashkey:
“Such outbreaks prompted the Jewish communities in some of the European nations, by now enjoying far greater tolerance and better treatment than their co-religionists in the "East," to petition the Persian monarch,
Naser-al-Din Shah
, for protection and improved conditions of the Jews in Iran. Naser al-Din Shah received several petitions in the European capitals and in his 1873 memoirs provides this account of his conversation with the celebrated Rothchild, the Jewish leader and capitalist: "He greatly advocated the cause of the Jews, mentioned the Jews of Persia, and claimed tranquillity for them. I said to him:
‘I have heard that you, brothers, possess a thousand crores of money. I consider the best thing to do would be that you should pay fifty crores to some large or small State, and buy a territory in which you could collect all the Jews of the whole world, you becoming their chiefs, and leading them on their way to peace, so that you should no longer be thus scattered and dispersed." We laughed heartily, and he made no reply. I gave him an assurance that I do protect every alien nationality that is in
Persia."
It is ironic that Naser al-Din Shah would be discussing a concept central to Zionism with the Rothchilds which were instrumental in passing of the Balfour Declaration leading to the eventual establishment of the state of Israel. But the most important part of this passage is the last sentence which refers to the Persian Jews, people who had lived in Iran for over two thousand years, as an "alien nationality," lumped together with other aliens in Iran. This best reflects the sovereign's attitude toward his own people, though of a different religion. Hence under the Ghajars, little changes took place before the Constitutional Revolution of 1905-11. “
Note: The links tell more.
Archive
Opinion
This account is different from the majority of accounts that I’ve read; it seems whitewashed.
Rugs-n-Mugs
