Customer Reviews

Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran: The Outset of the Diaspora

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This is a fascinating history of the oldest Jewish community in the Diaspora. In an initial chapter,the author makes a credible case that the ten lost tribes of Israel are really the Jews of Kurdistan and other northern provinces of ancient Persia. Since Babylon was a Persian province for a thousamd years, the Babylonia talmud was really a product of Persia's Jewish community and Persia was the center of Jewish thought for a thousand years. The book also chronicles what life was really like for Jews under Islam and completely undercuts the myth that Jews were protected from persecution, mass murder and forced conversions in Islamic countries. The Jewish experience in Persia is put in the context of general Persian history in each chapter. The role of the clerics in state rule is amply illustrated and makes understandable the current Islamic regime in Iran and why the populace has accepted the rule of the Islamicists. This is an important book for those who want to understand Jewish history and for those who want to know how religious minorities are treated in Islamic countries.

Until I read this book, I thought I knew a lot about Jewish history. Was I wrong! This book is highly readable and totally fascinating. The author was an Iranian Jew who used original sources--Jewish, Iranian/Persian, and Arabic---in compiling the three-volume work from which this book grew. Written with no European bias, before political correctness took its toll of honesty, this book is a real eye-opener. I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand Jewish history, the present Israel-Arab situation, and the roots of the terror war now engulfing the world.

Baffled by the Reviews

I must first start by saying that this is an ongoing review that will be edited. I am doing this book for a book report in my Ancient Iran class. It was recommended to me after doing the topic of "the treatment of the Jews by the Achaemenids." To give you an idea where I am coming from I am a student at the University of Minnesota where I am majoring in History (Ancient period,) Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies (Religions of the Ancient Near East, Christianity, Islam and Judaism,) with a minor in Jewish Studies.

I must admit that if I was not required to read this book I would have put it down after the first chapter. Even if the rest of the book is outstanding it cannot get all 5 stars. But because of the start of it I question the entire book and I question it for this reason...

In the introduction (page xvi) it says "The research methodology used by Dr. Levy is in his unique endeavor was scientific and unbiased." I'll call B.S. The first chapter at least is neither scientific nor unbiased. In history, scientific research would be basing conclusions on archeological evidence and ancient texts. While he does use the Hebrew Bible and mentions Josephus, his conclusions are far from what the evidence suggests. He is also HIGHLY biased towards the Jewish religion and the history found in the Hebrew Bible.

The book starts with Levy summarizing the Hebrew Bible as if it is history. He starts with Abraham and explains the history of Abraham. First, there is no "scientific" evidence to suggest that Abraham was an actual person plus the features of the Abraham story (camel domestication, Philistines, Chaldeans) do not match the timeline. He is similar to Naqsh-i Rustam in the Mazdian and Zoroastrian traditions found in the Shahname of Firdowsi. No actual scholar regards Abraham as an actual person.

Next he talks about the Exodus from Egypt. We have no actual evidence to suggest this ever happened other than the Hebrew Bible, which the unbiased Levy seems very familiar with. All other evidence actually points to the opposite of the Biblical claims. He then continues on with his history of the Jews and he finally reaches the point in which we might have actual history recorded. Arguments are made in the scholarly world that King David was a real person but just as many are made to say the opposite. After King David and Solomon the Bible starts to talk about what many would consider "real" history.

You don't have to take my word for it, here are a few books that support my case in addition to my professors...

Brettler, Marc Zvi. How to Read the Bible. Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2005. Print.

Coogan, Michael David., ed. The Oxford History of the Biblical World. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.

Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi. Brettler, and Michael A. Fishbane. The Jewish Study Bible: [featuring The] Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

Collins, John Joseph, and John Joseph Collins. A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007. Print.

Coogan, Michael David., Marc Zvi. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Smelik, Klaas A.D. Writings from Ancient Israel: a Handbook of Historical and Religious Documents. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1991. Print.

Shall I give you more books?

Also his idea that the religion of the Jews was vastly different than anything else in the area is absurd. The Israelite religion is very similar to the Canaanite religion and contains many of the same myths the Babylonians and Assyrians with influences from Egyptian religion. The main point I am trying to make is that it is not monotheistic and very different as Levy claims. I believe the Zoroastrian religion of Persia IS the influence for modern Judaism. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion and oddly enough the first truly monotheistic statement in the Hebrew Bible comes in Isaiah, which oddly enough talks about the liberation by Cyrus the Great in which Cyrus is called "his anointed" or messiah. Before this point there is no implication that "God" or "LORD" (Elohim, Yahweh) was the one and only God. "You shall have no other gods (lower case g) BEFORE ME." Exodus 20:3. This is a clear statement of other gods. For such an Iranian Patriot as suggest in one of the reviews of Zilina, he certainly does not give much credit to the ancient Iranians...and that leads me to this...

Levy states, "The religion of the Medes and Persians before the advent of Zoroaster... is unknown, but it can be asserted that they did not worship idols. Zoroaster introduced Ahura Mazda, the god of Good and Ahriman, the god of Evil, to the Iranians and gave them the Zend and Avesta."

Wrong again. The religion of the ancient Iranians was Mazdian made up of the Ahuric Order, stemming from the Indo-European Kulturbund, which is also shared by the religion of the Greece. The Mazdian religion believes in the same gods and the Zoroastrians. What Zoroaster did was changed the interpretation. The Mazdian religion was monotheistic that was composed of 6 gods (Vouh Manah, Asha Vahishta, Spenta Amaiti, Khshathra Variya, Haurvatat, and Ameretat.) that were under the main god Ahura Mazda. What Zoroaster did was established that those 6 gods were not different gods but ASPECTS of Ahura Mazda, making 1 god (monotheistic) Ahura Mazda. In my opinion that would be comparable to The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost making up God.

Page 22... "In short, the Jews were the first people to recognize the one, unique God and to worship him." Read the above paragraphs. In addition to that Pharaoh Akhenaton is credited with being the first monotheist, worshiping only the Solar Disc. From there he speculates about the 10 lost tribes of Israel without any real proof for his claims. That ends the first chapter...

I hope the rest of the book shows more scientific and unbiased research than that portrayed in the first chapter...Let's put down the Bible and do some real research on the Ancient Near East and Ancient Iran.

If you are interested in the subject, this is the most informative book on the subject. Unless you are able to read the original books in Persian, this is the stuff. The translation is very well done and it is a pleasurable read. Some very interesting facts!

I had the privilege of meeting Habib Levy in the late 60s. Habib Levy was a true Iranian patriot. The first Jewish officer in the Iranian army. The book is fabulous and is a translation and abridgement of a much larger scholarly set of books published originally in Farsi.

Adam's review shows this book (and others like it) are desperately needed. To take away the anti-Semetic liars spin on the world (so often controlling the media).

On the eve of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, 80,000 Jews lived in Iran. In the wake of the upheaval, tens of thousands of Jews, especially the wealthy, left the country, leaving behind vast amounts of property. Today as little as 25,000 jews live in the country.

The Council of the Jewish Community, which was established after World War II, is the representative body of the community. The Jews also have a representative in parliament who is obligated by law to support Iranian foreign policy and its anti-Zionist position.

Despite the official distinction between "Jews," "Zionists," and "Israel," the most common accusation the Jews encounter is that of maintaining contacts with Zionists. The Jewish community is faced with constant suspicion of cooperating with the Zionist state and with "imperialistic America" - both such activities are punishable by death. Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau, are immediately put under surveillance and must pay an additional fee. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Again, the Jews live under the status of dhimmi, with the restrictions im posed on religious minorities. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

Iran's official government-controlled media often issues anti-Semitic propaganda. A prime example is the government's publishing of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Czarist forgery, in 1994 and 1999.2 Jews also suffer varying degrees of officially sanctioned discrimination, particularly in the areas of employment, education, and public accommodations.

The Islamization of the country has brought about strict control over Jewish educational institutions. Before the revolution, there were some 20 Jewish schools functioning throughout the country. In recent years, most of these have been closed down. In the remaining schools, Jewish principals have been replaced by Muslims. In Teheran there are still three schools in which Jewish pupils constitute a majority. The curriculum is Islamic, and Persian is forbidden as the language of instruction for Jewish studies. Special Hebrew lessons are conducted on Fridays by the Orthodox Otzar ha-Torah organization, which is responsible for Jewish religious education. Saturday is no longer officially recognized as the Jewish sabbath, and Jewish pupils are compelled to attend school on that day. There are three synagogues in Teheran, but since 1994, there has been no rabbi in Iran, and the bet din (Rabbinical court) does not function.

Following the overthrow of the shah and the declaration of an Islamic state in 1979, Iran severed relations with Israel. The country has subsequently supported many of the Islamic terrorist organizations that target Jews and Israelis, particularly the Lebanon-based, Hezbollah. Nevertheless, Iran's Jewish community is the largest in the Middle East outside Israel.

On the eve of Passover in 1999, 13 Jews from Shiran and Isfahan in southern Iran were arrested and accused of spying for Israel and the United States. Those arrested include a rabbi, a ritual slaughterer and teachers. In September 2000, an Iranian appeals court upheld a decision to imprison ten of the thirteen Jews accused of spying for Israel. In the appeals court, ten of the accused were found guilty of cooperating with Israel and were given prison terms ranging from two to nine years. Three of the accused were found innocent in the first trial.5 In March 2001, one of the imprisoned Jews was released, a second was freed in January 2002, the remaining eight were set free in late October 2002. The last five apparently were released on furlough for an indefinite period, leaving them vulnerable to future arrest.

At least 13 Jews have been executed in Iran since the Islamic revolution 19 years ago, most of them for either religious reasons or their connection to Israel. For example, in May 1998, Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate.
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The Jewish Journal interviewed an Iranian Jew, Frank Nikbakht .

In his groundbreaking article, Nikbakht's most powerful weapon was the reproduction of a large number of official documents from the Iranian press: a mass of neo-Nazi ravings, from the "Protocols of Zion" to anti-Semitic cartoons and interviews with the head of the neo-Nazi group, American Vanguard. Some of the original documents such as the "Protocols" were even amplified and improved upon, with poisonous new fantasies about Jewish evil added to the mix. Even the excerpts from the Koran were expanded with anti-Jewish passages. Although he did not yet know of the arrests in Iran, he warned in his article: "These words can translate into deeds if there is no international pressure."

Nikbakht, one of the leaders of the tiny L.A.-based Committee for Religious Minority Rights in Iran, became aware that there had been a noticeable increase in the amount of anti-Semitism coming from the Iranian press beginning around 1993. By 1995, Jews were accused of bringing AIDS into Iran and causing economic chaos. The ground-work was being laid for greater persecutions. That same year, Fayzollah Mekhubabt, a 78-year-old cantor in a Teheran synagogue, was taken to prison. His eyes were gouged out before he was executed. Mekhubabt was buried in a Muslim cemetery. His family was forced to disinter his remains in order to bury him in a Jewish cemetery.

In 1998, Nikbakht says, an article appeared in the Iran press that indicated the last Jew to be killed had been involved in corruption and espionage. "Every crime in the book he had committed. And the article urged government officials to probe more deeply into the Jewish community because this would not be their last conspiracy. It urged the government to look into all of the cultural, political and economic problems in the country from this perspective. In other words, they suggested blaming the Jews for everything."

His article was published in State Department human rights reports about Iran.