It is said that Jews have been in Iran for more than 2,600 years, arriving there even before the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE and the resultant exile of the Jews from Judea to Babylon (modern day Iraq).
As a result of the defeat of the Babylonian empire in 537 BCE by Cyrus, the founder of the first Persian Dynasty, the captivity of the Jews in Babylon was ended.
Many Jews returned to Jerusalem (perhaps afraid, as the Psalmist said, that their tongues might cleave to the roofs of their mouths and their right arms wither for forgetting Jerusalem), but others chose to relocate from Babylon to the land of their liberator, increasing the small community already based in the area of Iran known as Shushan.
Cyrus was followed on the throne by his son, Darius, who in turn was succeeded by Xerxes I. King Ahashuerus of the Book of Esther is believed to be the same man as Xerxes I, son of Darius and grandson of Cyrus. Xerxes I was born in 519 BCE and was assassinated in Persepolis in 465 BCE.
According to traditional Jewish sources, the story of Purim took place in the mid-300s BCE, during the rule of the Persian-Median Empire and the Babylonian exile, after the destruction of the First Temple and before the building of the Second Temple.
King Ahasuerus succeeded Cyrus, the Persian king who allowed the Jews to begin rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed. Ahasuerus and Esther are said to be the parents of Darius, another king who permitted Jews in Persia to return to Jerusalem, something Ahasuerus had prohibited.
But many Jews in the Babylonian exile chose to stay where they had already set down roots and built a community infrastructure that centuries later would produce the Babylonian Talmud. Today’s Persian and Iraqi Jews trace their lineage back to those communities.
At the present, the population of the Jews in Iran is estimated about 20’000 of which about 10’000 people are in Tehran. The rest of the Iranian Jews are residing in Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Yazd, Kerman, Rafsanjan, Borujerd, Sanandaj and Oromieh respectively.
The administration of the Jewish Social Religious affairs in the past has been under two authorities, “Hebra” (the assembly of the elite of community) and “Bet-Din” (the house of religion). Since 1938, Hebra was formally registered under the title of “The Tehran Jewish Committee (Association)” and is now operating under supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Endowments Organization. This association has committees (subgroups) like Cultural, States, Youth, (Domestic) Dispute Settling, and Cooperative committees (for poor families).
By establishment of the National legislature in the Constitutional period (about a century ago), religious minorities in Iran obtained representation in the parliament and since then Jews have always had representatives in the parliament. Also after the victory of the Islamic revolution (1979), there is a Jewish representative in the parliament. After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, a Jewish representative has had an active presence in the Constitution of the Elite Council. According to the Constitution, Jews have a representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (the Parliament called “Majlis”). Political, social, and religious activities of the Jewish society revolve around Jewish religious authorities. Any position, declaration or pursuance of legal, political, and social issues of the Jewish society is addressed through bodies such as the Jewish representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Tehran Jewish Committee Board of Directors.
At the present, this community has many synagogues, special schools, cultural complexes, youth, students and women centers, centers for the elderly, central libraries, computer training centers, music training centers, meeting halls and kosher butchers according to the Jewish religion in different regions and cities of the country. Information and publishing of Jewish cultural works through books and journals has almost always been possible also after the Islamic Revolution. In addition there are also periodical local bulletins, such as the magazine of “Tamouz” (up to 1989) and the monthly of “Ofegh-BINA” (organ of Jewish Committee since 1999). Tehran Jews usually do their sport activities in the sport club of “Gibor.” This club is responsible for sport training courses and competitions as well as contests between religious minorities and always has cooperation of Jewish and non-Jewish coaches. The Jewish Women Organization is cooperating with this club in women’s sport affairs, too. The Charity Hub is one of the charity agencies of the Jewish society with its main activity through the Dr. Sapir Hospital in the south of Tehran city, providing services to all Tehran’s citizens. The cost of maintaining this hospital is primarily provided by Jewish charity.
Religious teaching for Jews is taught formally up to the end of high school according to books approved by the Education Ministry at certain hours (instead of Islamic teachings and the Quran) in public schools. Along with this, sessions for training of religious teachings and the explanation of Torah and sometimes teachings of Talmud are given in the synagogues (Talmud Torah). In addition, groups of youth usually organize religious gatherings and congregations and religious speeches in most of the synagogues of Tehran and other cities throughout the country.
Tehran Jews have established and made use of many schools. In recent years a number of these schools are now being used by the Education Office for Muslim students because of the reduction in population as well as the dispersion of Jewish students in other public schools. Now, there are four special schools active in Tehran teaching Jews.
There are many holy and historical places of Jews in Iran, such as the tomb of Prophet Daniel in the city of Shoush, the tomb of Ester and Mordechai in Hamedan and of the Prophet Habakkuk in Touiserkan.
There are also tombs of several outstanding Jewish scholars in Iran like "Harav Uresharga" in Yazd and "Hakham Mullah Moshe Halevi" in Kashan. Muslims also respect these sages.
The tomb of Esther and Mordechai is in the city of Hamadan, the site of Megillat Esther’s Shushan, about halfway between Teheran and Iran's western border with Iraq, Hamadan is in the west of Iran. The city used to have a large population of Jews, so that the Bazaar was known as “the Jewish market”.
The main reason for the Jewish presence in Hamadan is the tomb of Esther and Mordecai, which historically has been a gathering point for many Jewish people.
In the past the city had five Synagogues, but some of them are now being used by Moslems. Some famous doctors and artists of the Iranian Jewish community are from this city.
Nowadays there are a few Jewish families living in Hamadan. However, many Iranian Jews from other cities of Iran come during the year to visit the tombs, specially on Purim to read the Megila, the scroll of Esther.
Going to visit the tomb, one had to bow low to go inside its entrance, assuring that a pilgrim entered with an attitude of respect. Pilgrims would pray while walking around two large, ornately carved trunks, before they would back out of the tomb. By backing out, the pilgrims avoided showing disrespect to the great personages buried inside.
The burial sites of Mordechai and Esther are said to be in the cellar below, in the exact locations where the two trunks are placed on the floor above.
Architect Yassi Gabbay, who renovated the tomb about 25 years ago, said pilgrims used to light candles in an antechamber before entering the main room of the tomb, but said that custom was stopped as a result of a fire. Candles were particularly dangerous in the main room, he added, because of the pilgrims' custom of draping the ornately carved trunks with cloths as a remembrance of their visit.
The tomb itself dates back only to the 16th or 17th century, built over a deep pit in which the original burials are believed to have taken place.
Although the small Jewish community of Hamadan has mostly emigrated since the Islamic revolution, the tomb remains well cared for by the Islamic Revolutionary authorities.
There is a question about how it happened that Esther's and Mordechai's tomb is in Hamadan, rather than in Persepolis, which was the ancient capital of Persia (Iran).The answer is that after King Ahashuerus died, there was a king who did not know Esther.
Hamadan, which has far cooler temperatures than the desert city of Persepolis, was the summer capital of Persia. A story has it that Esther and Mordechai removed themselves from the palace to the summer resort, where they spent their final years.
In the shrine-and-pilgrimage-focused Middle East, Jews would often make the trek to pray at the tombs of Esther and Mordechai.
The tombs of Esther and Mordechai were the Jewish place to go and ask and pray and cry, especially when it was difficult to go to Israel and the Kotel HaMaaravi, the Western Wall.
Most Jewish ceremonies in Iran would be performed in the privacy of the home, or in the synagogue, to avoid attracting attention. But it is not unusual that people take photos and reporters make films of Jewish worship which occasionally are being shown on Iranian television.
Mr Arash Abaie is a religious teacher of Judaism in Tehran Jewish high schools and is a lecturer in Tehran Synagogues. He is the author of three books on Judaism for high school, editor in chief of a Jewish magazine and editor of books on Judaism. He has calculated the exact daily Jewish prayer hours in a solar year for the Tehran horizon. He is member of a scientific board of AID (Institute for Inter-religious Dialogue).