I. Persian Jewry and the Move to Tehran
Jewish life in Iran stretches back to antiquity. Tehran rose to prominence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as the Qajar capital.
Tehran's Jews spoke Judeo-Persian and maintained Hebrew for prayer. → Full note on Judeo-Persian
II. Scripture and the Masoretic Standard
Iranian Jews accepted the same consonantal Masoretic Text as their Arabic-speaking neighbors. Pointed codices arrived via trade with Baghdad and Aleppo.
III. Revolution and Remaining Community
The 1979 Islamic Revolution prompted substantial emigration, yet Iran still hosts the largest Jewish community in the Muslim Middle East outside Israel.