Why Do Jews Still Live in Iran? | Unpacked

it's no secret that the Jewish State and the Islamic Republic of Iran are not friends us officials confirming that Iran has launched drones and missiles toward Israel us officials say Israel was responsible for a missile strike but there's a Twist Iran is home to one of the biggest Jewish communities in the Middle East nearly 10,000 Iranian Jews still operate Jewish schools and synagogues across the country they have a chief Rabbi and a representative in Iran's Parliament there's even a handful of kosher restaurants but like their fellow citizens Jews in Iran cannot speak freely which means

that Jews on the outside can't really know what life is like for our brothers and sisters in the Islamic Republic which raises the question why do Jews live in Iran Jews came to Iran roughly 2,700 years ago well to be more accurate they were dragged there against their will by a rather nasty Empire it was a bitter start to a long and vibrant history and though it's impossible to sum up nearly three Millennia in a single video the biblical story of Esther does a pretty good job the Hebrew Bible tells us that the Persian Emperor

is looking for a new wife to add to his heram he chooses a beautiful woman named Esther not realizing that she's Jewish and she's got no interest in revealing her secret because the emperor second in command is a passionate anti-semite and he was on a mission to slaughter every Jew in the Empire he doesn't realize the queen is one of those Jews it's now up to her to save her people so Esther tells her husband that his advisor is planning to kill her along with the rest of her people the emperor is to put it

lightly not thrilled to hear his second in command is a genocidal lunatic whose plan to kill all the Jews will rob Persia of its Queen you know the rest of the story they tried to kill us they failed let's e the emperor immediately gets rid of his genocidal advisor and hires Esther's Uncle instead thousands of years later we still celebrate The Bravery of Persia's Jewish Empress historians are split on whether this story actually happened as written since there's no hard evidence for much of this Tale But in the gaps between fact and Faith Queen Esther

emerges as a symbol of all Persian Jews in fact in the last century Jewish Scholars have even begun to refer to the Jews of Iran as Esther's children the name fits like today's Persian Jews Esther is descended from Israelite refugees hauled into Exile yet she manages to R to a position of great power and influence meanwhile her uncle morai foils a plot to kill the emperor demonstrating his loyalty to the Empire he's proudly Jewish and proudly Persian just like Esther's children are today Persian Jews didn't always have representatives to look out for their interests remember

they arrived as refugees dragged into Exile thousands of years ago but just a few decades after the first Jewish refugees arrived in Persia a new emperor changed everything most people call him Cyrus the Great the Hebrew Bible calls him the anointed one he is celebrated even today for allowing Jewish Exiles to return to their Homeland and rebuild their Holy Temple many did but a sizable Community chose to stay behind Cyrus was a tolerant open-minded ruler and his policy set the tone for centuries of Jewish life in Persia despite occasional interludes of intolerance Esther's children thrived

for the next 1300 years producing great Scholars Merchants doctors bankers and political advisers to whoever was in charge and then Islam came to Persia from the Arabian Peninsula with it came new Norms new cultures even a new language but the Persian people had no interest in giving up on their beautiful ancient language and culture and social norms they accepted Islam but they drew the line at arabize and on this they found themselves perfectly aligned with their Jewish neighbors who had been refusing to assimilate into the dominant culture for centuries sure neighboring cultures influence each other

all the time but Persian Muslims just like Persian Jews borrowed only the elements that served them and clung to their unique traditions and language under their new Muslim leaders Persian Jews were considered a or demies second-class citizens forced to pay ATT tax in exchange for protection technically any non-muslim monotheist was a demi the category was expansive and depending on who was in charge it could Encompass people of all religions but plenty of rulers across the Muslim world had no interest in actively subjugating their dii so despite their lowered social status many Persian Jews still managed

to eek out a dignified life in Muslim Persia that was until the safaids took charge in the early 1500s instituting a new strict form of Shia Islam and sending Persian Jewish life into a tail spin this version of Islam had a lot to say about who was pure and who was not Muslims pure everyone else not the primary carriers of this metaphysical impurity were the Jews and Persia's new rulers spent lots of time devising ways to keep them from passing on this impurity to their Shia neighbors Jews were barred from entering Muslim bath houses touching

food that a Muslim might eat drinking from public Wells going outside in the rain and that's just a tip of the iceberg by the late 19th century things were mostly looking up for Persian Jews in the nation's capital the government of officially recognized the Council of the Jewish Community a network of Jewish schools opened all around the country many Jews joined the Brewing political revolution agitating for the establishment of a parliament governed by a constitution that would guarantee their rights and to its credit the parliament actually listened when the Jewish communities reported persecution and harassment

but progress is slow in 1910 angry riers attacked the M of shiras leaving many of its Jews destitute when a new sha roast to power Persian Jews dared to hope that the sporadic prgrams and forced conversions might be over for good razakan had been a colonel in the Persian army during World War I as a career officer he'd earned the Loyalty of his Brigade so when he marched Onan in the winter of 1921 the Army marched with him by 1925 he was the country's New Emperor and the founder of its last Dynasty he chose a

new name for himself razes Sha paloi Sha being the Persian word for King a decade into his rule he renamed his country too Persia was now officially Iran razes sha was not a liberal and he did not turn Iran into a democracy but he was a practical man and he wanted to modernize his country to turn Iran from a religious Backwater to a strong secular nation state that could resist the meddling of foreign powers his reforms were controversial particularly among the poor and The Devout but for religious minorities including Jews his Reign was the start

of the golden Agee which peaked after his son Muhammad Raza took the throne at age 21 by the 1960s the newa had kicked off the white Revolution why because it was not bloody and really elevated the country and the people granted freedoms for women religious minorities because he was doing good things for the country and I think history would put him in a better place that he appears today under Muhammad raaza Iran's economy grew by Leaps and Bounds literacy rates skyrocketed women thrived foreign businesses jockeyed to invest some westerners predict that Iran would soon be

a first world country able to compete with the most developed European nations our country in the next 10 years will be what you are today in the next 25 years according to other people I'm not saying that will be among the five most prosperous countries of the world Highly Educated Iranian expats began returning to their Homeland eager to participate in its blossoming economy they were joined by a different group of expats Israelis who had come to live in Iran Professor manashi had left Iran as a child in 1949 his parents were zionists so though Iran

had been their home for centuries they wanted to live in a Jewish state but it wasn't a permanent goodbye Iran kept its doors open to the rest of the world including Israel which meant that Professor manashi was welcomed back when he decided to do his fieldwork in tran this was a period that is the I called it the Golden Era of Iranian Jews in a way they had more rights than the Muslims when I was in Teran to be a Jew was wonderful Iranian Jews had never been safer or more prosperous the Sumit left for

Israel nearly 100,000 Jews remained it was the best of both worlds on the one hand Persian Jews knew they had a spiritual Homeland just a plain right away on the other they were loyal to the country that had been their home for thousands of years not since the days of Cyrus the Great had Iran offered them so much security and opportunity shahin zakim spent her childhood in pre-revolution Iran she has nothing but fond memories so despite their religious identification with Israel plenty of Iranian Jews stayed put life under the Sha was good even today Iranian

Jews continue to sing his Praises it's not uncommon to see pictures of the Sha in Iranian Israeli Market stalls plus Many religious Iranian Jews were wary about the secular Zionist movement now not to mention the vast cultural differences between Iranians and Israelis those who did go to Israel often found themselves baffled by the informality of Israeli culture but trouble was brewing humans are complicated and Emperors even more so their Legacy isn't measured only in their personal interactions and the Sha's policies affected millions of people and while some enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and acceptance the wealth wasn't

evenly distributed the gap between rich and poor was was nearly insurmountable the poor began to protest they were joined by University students and middle- class intellectuals advocating for class struggle uniting them all was a fiery and charismatic religious cleric who had soon become internationally famous his name was rallah h under the banner of Islam he brought together the poor and the intelligencia the Marxist and the middle class The Devout and the secular he never pretended to be a moderate never watered down his message to A appeal to a wider audience but he was canny he

spoke to each group in the language that most appealed to them the anti-imperialists heard him call the Sha a western puppet the religious heard him criticize the Sha's reforms as an attack on Islam the marxists heard him promis the society where all would be equal these groups imagined very different futures for their country but all agreed that someone had to topple the Sha before they could build their perfect Iran so they rallied behind Ki despite his aout hatred of modernity feminism liberalism and the West many of the ayatollah's criticisms were completely unfounded like is claimed

that the Sha was a Jewish spy or an American snake but at the heart of his critique lay an uncomfortable truth the Sha was an autocrat his secret police were among the most feared in the Middle East and he wasn't particularly interested in the concerns of The Devout or the intelligencia or the marxists he was trying to build a secular nationalist modern country and as far as he was concerned he had succeeded he had built a ran into a wealthy rapidly modernizing Powerhouse that could hold its own against any country in the west secularism nationalism

and modernity those were the values of the Sha's Iran he often said if Iran were to undergo a revolution it would come from the top down not the bottom up and for some people that was true and that seems to be the consensus among Jewish Iranians most of whom experienced their first taste of Liberty and equality under the Sha but remember there are always Shades of Gray how do you weigh the legacy of a leader do minority rights balance out secret police does gender equality cancel out wealth gaps and when you compare the reign of

the Sha to the regime that came after who comes out ahead the story of the Sha does not have a happy ending it turned out that successful revolutions don't come from the top down but from the bottom up he couldn't fight the swell of popular opinion he'd exiled Ki and still the Ayatollah had captured the people's hearts By 1979 the Sha was weak and terribly ill he had no more energy to fight for his Iran he fled the country with his family leaving a temporary prime minister in his place the shaw of Iran today embarked

on what could be his Exile there was little cheer or cause for it as the Shaw and Emperor stepped onto the foreign soil of this provincial airport ever since the palav have lived in Exile royalty without a throne watching an islamist regime set their country on fire meanwhile Iran's Jews held their breath political instability rarely ends well for minorities the Islamic revolution was no exception khabib Ayan was the president of the tan Jewish society and an important Community leader he was also one of the country's richest most powerful men but that didn't stop the Islamic

revolutionary Court from arresting him on trumped up charges of Zionist Espionage and friendship with the enemies of God whatever that means didn't stop his sham of trial which was over in 15 minutes it didn't stop the firing squad that took his life it didn't stop the new government from confiscating all of his assets if this could happen to one of Iran's richest and most powerful Jews what hope did any Jew have so most Jews simply fled leaving everything behind but those who stayed found themselves caught in an impossible bind on the one hand the country

and culture they loved so much on the other a regime that seemed intent on dismantling everything that made life in Iran so sweet [Music] but Iran's Jews had bigger problems to worry about like Queen Esther before them the Jewish Community leaders now had to craft a strategy to keep their people safe they assured humi of their loyalty and support disavowing Israel and Zionism for his part he assured them of his protection as long as they publicly rejected the Jewish State as long as they supported the regime they'd be safe mostly that was true mostly Matthew

sumek was born in Iran in 1982 up until the morning he and his family fled their home in secret he had entirely normal childood it just happened to involve arbitrary detention physical punishment and baseless charges of Zionist Espionage still I remember some difficulty for my parents and my family because they were Jews you know sometimes they would get accusations I remember they took away some properties from my father some kind of Rights specifically my father was jailed you know in Iran because he was Jewish they were they were accused of being Zionist like a spy

of Israel Matthew's father was not a spy he was a Jew and that's all the authorities needed to lock him up and punish him but the sumuk were lucky after he had been unjustly imprisoned and beaten Mr sumuk had Muslim friends who could speak for him eventually he was led out of prison scarred but alive by the mid90s Matthew's parents had had enough they wanted their sons to have a better life one that didn't involve arbitrary detentions and beatings we didn't know anything about it that we are we are going to move the last minute

all of a sudden I saw myself at 4 or 5:00 in the morning in the air air airport you know leaving the country we just had just a few suitcases my parents they left all the belongings and all the like whatever the house he left everything behind to to to show that he's coming back because otherwise I don't think they would let him go out of the country life in Iran had become intolerable the sum family left everything they had officially joining a huge community of Iranian Exiles abroad many like Shaheen fled to Israel the

country they had been forced to disavow but it wasn't so easy to escape [Music] [Music] but they made it they left their Beloved Country behind and they started over as Israelis many more came to the United States establishing enclaves in New York and Los Angeles or as some call it deangeles immigrating isn't easy and Persian Jews fac challenges no matter where they were but like most immigrants they integrated they worked hard they found success and they clung proudly to their culture especially in the United States for the Jews of of Los Angeles or New York

keeping the Persian identity protect them from assimilation that's my understanding if you remain Iranians chances are less that you will be assimilated in Israel we are all assimilated we are now in a war in which people are killed no one asked them are you ashkanazi are you Sadi our enemies don't care what kind of Jews we are when you're fighting for your survival no one is stopping to ask where your grandfather was born or how you practice but outside of the Jewish State a specifically Jewish Persian identity is one more Safeguard against assimilation Persian Jews

in the United States are one of the proudest and most successful communities in the entire Jewish diaspora they are also some of the most local and passionate advocates for the state of Israel and for free Iran in this they found a kinship with other Iranian Exiles who are brokenhearted over what has become of their country whether they are Jewish or not Iranian expats are proud of their culture and they are horrified for what the Islamic regime has done to it Persian culture is ancient it has withstood foreign invasions it has resisted arabization and it will

continue to survive no matter what happens the Persian Jewish Community is just as resilient these are Esther's children their story is another chapter in a long proud history of Jewish survival against all Lots