Iran, formerly Persia
IRAN - THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
Persian Jewry [August 2009]
http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Archive/Teheran.asp [October 2000]
Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History, PO Box 2543, Beverly Hills, California 90213-2543, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [October 2000]
http://www.haruth.com/JewsIran.html [October 2000]
Life of Jews in Iran and Jewish history.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF IRANIAN JEWS By Massoume Price "...There were 85,000 Iranian Jews before 1979, almost half have emigrated mainly to USA. " [February 2002]
"Tehran has 11 functioning synagogues, many of them with Hebrew schools. It has two kosher restaurants, and a Jewish hospital, an old-age home and a cemetery." Demick, Barbara. IRAN: Life of Jews Living in Iran. Knight-Ridder. September 30, 1997. [October 2000]
"The roots of the Persian Jewish community reach back to the 6th century B.C. The Jewish community in Persia used to be one of the most culturally vibrant in the world, yet its numbers have dwindled due to centuries of harsh persecution. Before the Islamic revolution in 1979 there were 80,000 Jews in Iran, and though most have emigrated to Israel, there is still a dedicated Jewish community in Tehran. There currently a small number of synagogues in Tehran, as well as three Jewish schools. Though curriculum in the Jewish schools is strictly Islamic and teachers are only allowed to teach the Bible in Persian, there is some Hebrew instruction available through the community's elders. The recent moderate regime in Iran has loosened control on the Jewish minority in Tehran, and the community has been able to revitalize some of its religious practices." Source [January 2002]