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Encyclopaedia Judaica

Jews in Persia 03 (today Iran): Kajar dynasty 1794-1925

Harsh prosecution of the Jews in Persia - Zionism and racist Herzl as "renaissance movement"

from: Persia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 13

presented by Michael Palomino (2007)

<Under the Kajar Dynasty (1794-1925)

[Religious intolerance of the Shahs against "ritual uncleanliness of the nonbelievers" - forced conversions - badges and hats - kin liability - Jews have no oath rights before the courts - rights to an inheritance]

The political and religious foundations of the Kajar dynasty which ruled over Persia were essentially a continuation of those of the Safawid dynasty. The Shi'ite concept of the ritual uncleanliness of the nonbelievers prevailed, with the related attitude of the Persian authorities toward their non-Muslim minorities, Christians and Jews alike. The intolerant attitude toward the Jews led to innumerable legal and political restrictions which made their daily life, throughout the 19th century, and uninterrupted sequence of persecution, oppression, and discrimination. The reports of many European missionaries and travelers to Persia describe the tragic fate of the Jews in Persia during the Kajar dynasty. Whole Jewish communities, as well as many individual Jews, were forcibly converted to Islam in many provinces of the Persian Empire, a movement which reached its peak in the forced conversion of the whole Jewish community in *Meshed in 1839 under Muhammad Shah (1835-48).

Even during the reign of Nasr-ed-Din Shah (1848-96), who realized the necessity for thorough reform of the whole Persian administration and social structure, persecution of the Jews continued, coupled with legal and social discriminations of the severest nature, including the enforcement of a special Jewish badge and Jewish headgear. The entire community was held responsible for crimes and misdemeanors committed by its individual members; the oath of a Jew was not accepted in a court of justice; and a Jew who converted to Islam could claim to be the sole inheritor of family property, to the exclusion of all relatives who had not changed their religion.

[Persian Jewry has almost no connections abroad - emancipation movement since 1850 - help of European Jewry]

The Jewish minority in Persia had been left entirely to itself and no outside organization, Jewish or other, had taken any interest in its fate. Contact with the Jewish world at large, and particularly with the Jews in Erez Israel, was occasionally maintained through the shelihim [[intermediaries]] sent on behalf of the communities of Hebron, Tiberias, Safed, and Jerusalem, to the remote Jewish communities in Persia, Bukhara, and Afghanistan.

In the middle of the 19th century four brothers of one Jewish family were the busiest and most popular physicians in the city of Tehran. One of them, Hak Nazar, was for some time court physician of Muhammad Shah. They had, however, just as little influence on the actual political situation of their coreligionists as did the European physicians subsequently appointed by Nasr-ed-Din and his successors, among whom  figured most prominently the Austrian physician, J. E. *Polak. In the second half of the 19th century the Persian Jews acquired a powerful ally in their struggle for justice and emancipation - Western European Jewry.

THE INTERVENTION OF WESTERN JEWRY.

[1865: Delegation from the English Jewry under Moses Montefiore intervening in Persia - famine in 1871]

Reports on the plight of Persian Jews moved the *Board of Deputies of British Jews and later the *Anglo-Jewish Association under Sir Moses Montefiore and the *Alliance Israélite Universelle under Adolphe Crémieux to action, urging intervention by the British and French ministers in Tehran.

When news of a terrible persecution of Jews in Hamadan reached London in 1865, Sir Moses Montefiore decided to leave for Persia and to obtain from the shah an edict of safety for the persecuted Persian Jews. However, he was dissuaded by the British Foreign Office, who stated that "the journey would be perilous even to a younger man and could be undertaken by him at the risk of his life."

In addition to their political plight, the Jews of Persia experienced new hardship through the outbreak of a famine in 1871, which the leaders of European Jewry tried to alleviate through a relief fund.

[1873: Nasr-ed-Din Shah making a trip through Europe - petitions of the European Jews to the shah]

The Jewish leaders in Paris and London were again on the point of considering sending a Jewish delegation to Persia when (col. 316)

the news reached them in 1873 that Nasr-ed-Din Shah, anxious to appear as a tolerant and progressive monarch, had embarked on a visit to Europe. Seizing their opportunity, the leaders of the Alliance Israélite Universelle and the Anglo-Jewish Association organized a movement intended to impress the shah with the importance and influence of European Jewry, to stress their equality and emancipation in all European countries and their unanimous desire to see an improvement in the condition of their coreligionists in Persia.

In every European capital through which the shah planned to travel, committees of the most influential Jews were organized to present him personally with petitions calling for the improvement of the Persian Jews' situation. This was carried out in Berlin on May 4, 1973, in Amsterdam on June 10, in Brussels on June 17, in London on June 24, in Paris on July 12, in Vienna on August 6, and in Constantinople on August 20.

In London the shah had a meeting with Disraeli and also received Sir Moses Montefiore in private audience in Buckingham Palace. In all these petitions the spirit of Cyrus the Great was recalled and the grievances of the Jews in Persia were listed.

The highlight of these activities was the memorable interview in Paris between the shah and Adolphe Crémieux and his associates on July 12, 1873. Apparently impresses by the strength and unity of European Jewry, the shah promised to make the protection of his Jewish subjects his own and his grand vizier's special responsibility, to establish a special court of justice for the Jews, and above all to help in the establishment of Jewish schools in Persia as suggested by the European representatives.

In order to encourage and strengthen  the persecuted Persian Jews, the text of the petitions submitted to the shah in the various capitals of Europe, together with the reply of the shah and his minister, were translated into Hebrew and published as a booklet called Mishlo'ah Manot (1874), which was distributed among the Jewish communities in Persia.

[since 1873: In Persia the persecution of the Jews is going on - new shah trips to Europe - new petitions]

Despite all the well-meaning promises of the shah, the central government in Persia failed to prevent new outbreaks of hostilities against the Jews. There was, therefore, enough reason to intervene again and to remind Nasr-ed-Din during his last journey to Europe of his previous promises and assurances. On July 4, 1889, a deputation of British Jewry, led by Sir Albert Sassoon, had an interview with the shah in Buckingham Palace. The members of the deputation included Lord Rothschild, Sir J. Goldsmid, and Sebag Montefiore. The demand for the establishment of Jewish schools in Persia was again the central issue.

[1896-1907: Constitutional movement in Persia under Shah Muzaffar-ed-Din brings development in direction of representation of all religions - and the next Shah Muhammad Ali stops it 1907-09]

Under Shah Muzaffar-ed-Din (1896-1907) a definite improvement in the destiny of Persian Jews took place in connection with the constitutional movement, which had far-reaching consequences for all religious groups in Persia. Persian Jews took an active part in this constitutional movement, receiving official thanks for their efforts from the first parliament of Persia in 1906, although neither the Jews, the Armenian Christians, nor the Zoroastrian minority were yet permitted to send their own deputy to parliament and had to agree to be represented by a Muslim deputy. For Persian Jews the constitutional movement meant a step forward toward their emancipation and equality. The dualism in legislation between the religious laws, the shari'a, and the civil law, was abolished , as were the discriminatory and humiliating medieval restrictions against the Jews. Unfortunately for the country, three months after parliament convened Shah Muzaffar-ed-Din died, and under the new ruler, Shah Muhammad Ali (1907-09), the constitutional movement quickly disappointed the high hopes placed in it by the liberal elements among the Muslims and the Jews in Persia. (col. 317)

[since 1918: "US" interventions by the Distribution Committee for the impoverished Jews in Persia]

At this stage the Persian Jews were assisted in their struggle for survival by the intervention of the U.S. diplomatic representative in the country. Reference to Persian Jews appeared in U.S. diplomatic correspondence in 1918, in connection with the relief activities of the *American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The The State Department, as well as U.S. diplomatic representatives abroad, helped the committee in distributing funds, food, and other necessities to the starving Jews everywhere.

This intervention also continued in the period after World War I, through the U.S. representative in Persia from 1921 to 1924, namely the minister plenipotentiary, Joseph Saul *Kornfeld, a former rabbi.

[1907-1914: Constitutional crisis in Persia - new parliament in 1909 - financial crisis brings "American" financial experts - Russian and British annexations]

The dissolution of the Persian parliament; the deposition of Shah Muhammad Ali by the National Assembly; the reconvening of a second parliament in 1909 by Ahmed Shah (1909-25); the great financial crisis which brought the American experts, M. Shuster and A.C. Millspaugh, to Persia; the steady changes in the cabinet and the government; and the encroachment of Russia in the north and Great Britain in the south - all this contributed to a state of unrest and danger, so that at the outbreak of World War I, Persia stood at the very brink of dissolution.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JEWISH SCHOOLS IN PERSIA.

[since 1898: Jewish schools against Islam and Christian schools]

For the Persian Jews the rule of Muzaffar-ed-Din was a turning point, since at this period the first Jewish schools of the Alliance Israélite Universelle were established in Persia. The idea of Jewish schools in Persia, conceived in 1866, became in 1873 the central issue in the discussions between the Jewish authorities in Europe and the Persian government; in 1889 it was still a matter of discussion alone, but finally, after ten years, it was realized.

In 1898 the first school of the Alliance Israélite Universelle was opened in Tehran, followed by similar schools in Hamadan in 1900, in Isfahan in 1901, in Shiraz and Sena in 1903, and in *Kermanshah in 1904. As two main dangers threatening Jewish survival in Persia during the 19th century were Christian missionary activities and the *Bahai movement, the Jewish schools of the Alliance played an important role in the struggle for spiritual survival.

["US" help and ORT help for the Jewish schools in Persia - new Jewish "educational movement" with "Judaism" and Hebrew education]

The educational facilities available to Persian Jews were considerably strengthened and augmented from 1944, not only through the activities of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the establishment of vocational training schools and workshops under the auspices of the *O.R.T., but also by a new educational movement sponsored by a group of prominent U.S. and European philanthropists and generously supported by the Joint.

This movement, known as "Ozar ha-Torah" or "Gandj Danesh", which aimed at strengthening traditional Judaism and Hebrew education among the Jewish communities in Morocco, Persia, and elsewhere, succeeded in establishing, in close cooperation with the Alliance Israélite Universelle, new schools, teacher training seminars, summer camps, and other educational facilities. Under the leadership of its first director, Rabbi I.M. Levi, Ozar ha-Torah instilled a new religious spirit into the younger generation.

ALIYAH TO THE HOLY LAND.

[Jewish emigration from Persia and immigration into the "Holy Land" - Zionism and racist Herzl - "renaissance movement"]

The 19th century was also characterized by a mass immigration of Persian-speaking Jews from Persia and neighbouring countries to Erez Israel. Almost parallel with the *Hibbat Zion movement in Russia, but probably without any direct contact with it, a great number of Persian-speaking Jews set out for the Holy Land. They came from Tehran and Shiraz, from Hamadan, *Yezd, and Isfahan, from Kashan and Meshed, from *Herat and Kabul, from Bukhara and Samarkand.

The awakening of Persian Jews in the 20th century was also expressed in a Zionist movement which spread throughout most of the Jewish communities in Persia. This renaissance (col. 318)

found literary expression in the establishment of a Judeo-Persian and Hebrew press in Tehran, which printed the first Persian textbook of modern Hebrew. This was followed by a history of the Zionist movement, written in Persian in Hebrew characters (1920) by Aziz b. Jonah Naim, and a Hebrew translation of Herzl's Der Judenstaat and his biography by A. Bein.

[[Supplement: Racist Herzl wants to drive the Arabs away
Herzl prescribes in his book "The Jewish State" (1896) that the Jews have the right to take Palestine and have the right to drive and to exterminate the Arabs as the natives in the "USA" had been driven away and exterminated. At this time the Arabs had no shooting weapons. This racist extermination propaganda provoked heavy resistance in the Arab states. And since 1915 the Arabs got shooting weapons from the British against the Turkish troops, and the Herzl plan is not any more possible to fulfill. Zionism with Herzl as it's base is the reasons of the Middle East conflict, and it's even worse that "USA" are the ally of Israel (because "USA" exterminated the natives and drove them away!). But the Free Mason Herzl government in Jerusalem is not giving up this racist Herzl - and is not giving up the "USA" as an ally - until today (2007) ... ]].

This circle also also published a Jewish newspaper in Persian, Ha-Ge'ullah, and another called Ha-Hayyim, which became the mouthpeace of the Jewish renaissance [[racist]] movement in Persia. Some of Bialik's poems were translated into Persian by Aziz b. Jonah Naim and published in these periodicals.> (col. 319)

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