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Days of Darkness, Days of Light: The Unknown Story of Iran's Jews
Jews have lived on the Iranian plateau since about 720 B.C.E., approximately a thousand years before the arrival of Islam. In antiquity they participated freely in every sphere of society, from the army to the courts. But with the arrival of Islam in 650 C.E., all non-Muslims came to be deemed as second-class citizens and were compelled to wear clothes of specific colors. In 807 Caliph Harun al-Rashid issued a decree forcing Jews to affix yellow patches on their clothes. The plight of the Jews worsened in 1501 with the ascendancy of the Safavids, who made the Shi'ite creed the dominant form of Islam in Iran. The Shi'ite clergy then introduced the notion of religious impurity and applied it to all non-Shi'ites, even Sunnis. Jews were subjected to a wide range of humiliating and dehumanizing restrictions: they could not leave their houses on rainy days, build homes with walls taller than those of their Muslim neighbors, paint their houses white, buy property from Muslims or sell foodstuff to them. In public, to distinguish themselves from Muslims, Jewish men had to wear unusually large turbans and women had to attach bells to their chadors (veils). A Jew who touched food in a store was forced to buy it at whatever price the merchant demanded because it was now impure and no longer consumable by a Shi'ite Muslim. These policies--waxing and waning in their severity and implementation--would last for the most part until the beginning of the twentieth century, when in 1906 the Iranian Parliament opted a Constitution which stated (in Article 8) that Jews, Zoroastrians, and Christians could no longer be treated as second-class citizens. Consequently, the Jezieh or poll tax imposed on all non-Muslim citizens was appealed, as were a host of other discriminatory practices. Jews were now permitted to partake in military service, buy homes, and open shops outside the Jewish quarters. In short, it took nearly thirteen hundred years for the Jews to regain the freedoms they had in ancient times.
In Khomeini's Shadow
Revolution. Everything in Iran changed on February 1, 1979, the day Ayatollah Khomeini returned to our country a few days after the departure of the Shah. Suddenly, millions were demanding an end to 2,500 years of monarchy--including hundreds of young Jews who joined the revolution against the wishes of their elders, hoping to recast their identities as secular Iranians who could assimilate seamlessly into the fabric of the promised utopia.
Paradise Lost - An Iraqi Jewish Story
Tamara Ruben, the education director of Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, New Jersey, was born in Iraq in June 1950, only two weeks before her family, along with thousands of other Iraqi Jews, fled their country in search of a safer life. She was interviewed by RJ editor Aron Hirt-Manheimer.
Transcending Walls in Tel Aviv
To attract the younger generation, who do not have the same motivation as their grandparents to be members of a synagogue, we have to think beyond our comfort zone.
The Restaurant Revolution in Israel
Thirty years ago, no one would have predicted that one day Israel would produce a generation of talented, innovative, and remarkably creative chefs. In those days, dining in Israel was restricted largely to ethnic restaurants, Middle Eastern street food, a few overly expensive French restaurants, and several pretentious hotel-based dining rooms.
Exploring: The Artists' Trail
Art lovers: here's your guide to discover Israel's art treasures.
The Creative Congregation's Guide to Israel
A warm wind blew in from Egypt and across the sands of the Negev desert as the sun began to set. Unleavened bread and bitter herbs lay in front of each person reclining on mats and pillows on the tent floor. Ancient rites and rituals…and yet this group of Jews celebrating Passover in the Holy Land had not crossed the Red Sea but flew in from Los Angeles Airport. Rabbi Steve Leder of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles had brought his flock here to “create a seder they will never forget.”
Exploring: Cleopatra's Bath & Other Desert Delights
The Dead Sea has been a source of fascination for thousands of years.
The God Survey
A rabbi shares what happened when he presented his congregants with a survey about the existence and nature of God.
Exploring: Israel's Tranquility Trail
As our minivan approached the ruins of the Crusader castle that once defended Caesarea, our guide pointed to a delicate white wildflower at the side of the road. "The Havatselet Hasharon," Ikey informed us, "blooms only once a year, marking the end of summer.