In the early 20th century, the Iranian Jewish communities were mostly disenfranchised, marginalized, and impoverished. About 80 percent belonged to the lowest social and economic classes, 10 percent were part of the emerging middle class, and 10 percent counted among the country’s elites. Within three decades, that situation had changed. 10 percent were impoverished, 80 percent belonged to the middle classes, and 10 percent remained in the elite. By the 1979 revolution, Jews played a role in every Iranian political camp: as supporters of the monarchy or the revolutionary movements. This talk analyzes the institutional history of the Jewish communities in Iran—and the pivotal role they played in facilitating integration and other social developments. The examples to be discussed will help us understand how Iran’s Jews adjusted to a rapidly changing post-revolutionary society, especially in light of the regional conflict between their respective spiritual and national homelands, Israel and Iran. Through this discussion, we will examine the way we read and write the history of Iranian Jews.
Speaker/Performer: Lior Sternfeld, assistant professor of history and Jewish Studies at Penn State
Iran Colloquium: Mahalleh or Ghetto? The Challenges of Writing a Jewish History of Iran
Friday, October 11, 2019 - 12:00am