During the latest exchange of bombardments between Israel and Iran, Jewish and Muslim emigrants in the United States looked back toward their homeland — and checked on each other.
A 900-Year-Old Jewish-Iranian Manuscript and the Story It Tells
They were small, remote communities that preserved and passed on ancient Jewish traditions, while adding a distinctive local flavor. What were the unique features of Jewish manuscripts produced in Iran a thousand years ago, and how did one of them make its way to the National Library of Israel?
Your Travel Guide to Iran
Using a rare 1945 map preserved in the collections of the National Library of Israel, we have created a guide to Iran from another era, a journey through picturesque cities, sacred sites, and a geopolitical landscape seasoned with a dash of Iranian grandiosity.
Seven Torah Scrolls in the Mosque Wall
Forced conversions of Jews are often associated with the Middle Ages, yet the case of the “Anusim” (forced converts) of Mashhad in northern Iran occured in the 19th century. Some of them even made their way later to the Land of Israel. This is a story of secret identities put to the test and a community that defied the odds to survive.
“Israel is a graveyard for Jewish languages”: An Interview With Dr. Tamar Eilam Gindin
The culture of Iranian Jews in Israel is bound up with a language that is nearly lost: Judeo-Persian. According to Dr. Tamar Eilam Gindin, a linguist and scholar of Iran, Judeo-Persian is not just one language. It is rather like a tapestry woven over thousands of years of Jewish history in Persia, so that sometimes different dialects were even found in the same city. In this interview, Dr. Eilam Gindin discusses the fate of Judeo-Persian in Israel as well as the secret language of Persian Jewry…
How Iran’s Jewish Community Purchased the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai
Documents discovered in the CAHJP archives reveal a surprising initiative undertaken by the Jews of Iran and the country’s government to mark 2,500 years since the Edict of Cyrus
