Hey there!
Im not sure if this is the right sub to ask but I was wondering what your thoughts of this question are.
My family is of Persian Jewish ancestry, and it's quite safe to say that my ancestors had lived in Iran for well over 2.5 thousand years.
I am quite curious as to whether or not Persian Jews are specifically Persian, or do they form another group of Iranian people?
If anyone got any sources to help me understand the genetic history and markup of Jews in Iran then I'd be very greatful.
Thank you and peace be upon us
I was thinking about the history of the Old Testament and this question I’ve read before came back up in my mind. The theory goes that when Cyrus liberated the Jews from captivity he allowed them to govern themselves. However, they were not allowed to have a King but were allowed to govern themselves by religious authorities. The argument goes they wrote the Old Testament (or at least a large portion of it including the Books of Moses) in order to codify the laws they would live under and provide legitimacy in the absence of a Monarch.
Thoughts/counter-arguments to this theory? The extension also goes that even if some of the books were written before this period, they were compiled and/or edited at this time for the purpose described above. Feel free to comment on this as well!
Herodotus recorded soldiers and supplies from the region of Syria Palaistini(a region that includes modern-day Israel and Palestinian Territories north of the Nahal Be'er Sheva), but the war wasn't mentioned in any Jewish source about Jewish lives in Persian era.
>"But now Poseidon had gone to visit the Ethiopians worlds away, Ethiopians off at the farthest limits of mankind." Odyssey 1.21-25.
>"You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me." Psalms 81:9.
My parents (reform and conservative ashenaz/ancestors from eastern europe) think Persian Jews that live on Long Island in a town not far from us are “stuck up”.
Is there any basis for this reputation? Or is it just another example of my parents being on the moon.. why might my parents think this? What are the origins of this stereotype among other jews?
(I asked them if they had a bad experience with P jews and they said no, but they just have heard they are exclusive or “stuck up”...i’m not sure what my parents mean or if they even know what they mean!)
(Background: My mom and her family are from Iran, my dad's family is secular Ashkenazi. All of the Jewish holidays and traditions in my life have been done the Persian way)
I know that Ashkenazim and Sefardim have many opinions about each other and their traditions, but I'm wondering what some of you think about Persian Jewry. It's kind of weird that most Persians share their synagogues with Ashkenazis or Sefardis yet they celebrate holidays and do things quite differently. Any thoughts?
