Light and Shadows
Light and Shadows
Light and Shadows
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LYN AVINS
MUSEUM CURRICULUM CONSULTANT
GABRIELLE TSABAG
MUSEUM CURRICULUM CONSULTANT
Education Department
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Director of Education and Curatorial Affairs
Betsy D. Quick
These materials for educators were generously funded by the Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation.
Developed in conjunction with the exhibition Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews,
organized by the Beit Hatfutsot The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, Israel, and
presented at the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved. 2012
Table of Contents
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews organized by the Beit Hatfutsot The Museum of
the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, Israel, and presented in Los Angeles at the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
Background Information
Curricular Correlations
14
Classroom Lessons
18
28
36
43
Suggested Readings
52
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Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, About the Exhibition
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Background Information
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Background Information
History of Iranian Jewry
According to the Bible, the first Jews to settle in Persia were members of the
ten tribes exiled by the Assyrians in the eighth century BCE. Some two
hundred years later, following the Babylonian exile, a new wave of Jews from
the Kingdom of Judea arrived on the Iranian plateau. When King Cyrus the
Great, who ruled between 559 and 530 BCE, established the first Iranian
Empire, he annexed the areas of Babylon where Jews who were originally from Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judea resided. As chronicled in the
Bible, he decreed that Jews be granted freedom of religious observance and
allowed those who had been exiled to Babylon to return to Jerusalem. Many
Jews, however, decided to remain in Persia.
In the seventh century CE, Muslims conquered Persia. In the aftermath of
the Muslim-Arab conquest, the lives of Iranian Jews became progressively
difficult, especially following the institution of Shiite Islam as the state religion
in the sixteenth century. The Iranian Jewish community subsequently experienced numerous episodes of persecution and discriminatory edicts, as well
as periods of targeted violence.
The living conditions of Iranian Jews and other minorities began to gradually
improve in the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth
century with the rise of the Pahlavi monarchs in 1925Reza Shah (r. 1925
1941) and his son, Muhammad Reza Shah (r. 19411979). This period was,
however, brought to an end with the Islamic Revolution of 1979. With the
establishment of an Islamic state in Iran, most of the countrys Jews emigrated to the United States, Europe, and Israel. The Jewish community members
remaining in Iran continue to maintain a Jewish lifestyle and to preserve
customs and traditions formed in the course of many centuries.
The biblical story of Esther takes place in Shushan (which is identified with
present-day Hamadan in Iran), home to a large Jewish community. It relates
that Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman, is chosen to marry the
powerful King Ahasuerus. Advised by her wise cousin and guardian,
Mordechai, Esther initially keeps her faith a secret from the king. In the course
of the story, Esther, working with Mordechai, manages to thwart the plans of
Haman, the kings advisor, to exterminate the Jewish community. She does
so at great risk to herself and by revealing her faith to Ahasuerus. The Jewish
festival of Purim commemorates these events.
This story had great significance for Persian Jews, who faced persecution and
periods where they had to endure forced conversions or otherwise conceal
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their religion. The tombs of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan were regarded
as holy sites, and the name of Esther was often inscribed on amulets. In the
fourteenth-century epic Ardashr-nma (Book of Ardashr), the great
Iranian Jewish poet Shhn created a noteworthy variant of the story of Esther,
replacing Ahasuerus with the figure of Ardashr, the founder of the Sassanian
dynasty. In fusing these two figures, the poet transposed the story from a
religious context to a historical one. Shhn also suggested that Esther was
of royal standing prior to her enthronement as the kings wife. In addition, he
made the historical figure Cyrus the son of Esther and Ardashr. Thus he
related the Jews return to their homeland (which Cyrus would permit
after conquering Babylon) and the construction of the Second Temple to the
Jewish identity of the king, a messianic figure in the Bible (Isaiah 44:2845:1).
Shhns unique narrative resulted in the creation of a new Judeo-Persian epic
that presented the members of the Jewish minority as descendants of the
founder of the ruling dynasty. This redefined their collective identity as inseparable from that of the Iranian nation and positioned them as equal members of
Iranian society.
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Jewish Professions
Because they were perceived as ritually impure, most Iranian Jews could no
longer earn a living in trades that they had traditionally specialized in, such as
banking or working as wholesale merchants and middlemen trading in silk,
spices, raw materials, and precious stones. Under the restrictions created
by Shiite law, they were pushed toward working as peddlers, used-clothing
vendors, musicians and entertainers at Jewish and Muslim festivities, jewelry
makers, dyers of cloth, and producers and sellers of wine and other alcoholic
beverages (a profession strictly forbidden to Muslims according to Shiite law).
At the same time, since they were considered to be "People of the Book," and
acknowledged for their valuing of literacy and education, a small number of
Jews were still able to engage in more profitable and respectable professions,
working as doctors and folk healers, clairvoyants and talisman makers,
apothecaries, midwives, and middle-rank merchants.
The Jews of Mashhad
On March 26, 1839, the Jewish inhabitants of the city of Mashhad were
forced to convert to Islam. Mobs attacked the community, burning down
the synagogues, looting, and killing between thirty and forty people. Jewish
leaders were forced to proclaim their allegiance to Islam, and in order to save
the towns 2,000 inhabitants, they acceded to the order that all Jews in the
city convert to Islam. Most people did so and stayed in Mashhad, adhering to
Islamic practices in public while secretly observing Jewish traditions. These
newly converted Jews to Islam came to be known as jadid l-Islam (Persian
for new to Islam), Crypto-Jews, or anusim (Hebrew for forced converts).
Some immigrated to Afghanistan and Bukhara, where they could openly live
as Jews. Nearly a century passed before Mashhads Jews could again
practice their faith in public, with the coming of the Pahlavi dynasty. After
World War II, many settled in Tehran, Israel, and Great Neck, New York.
Today there are some 15,000 Mashhadis worldwide, of which 10,000 live in
Israel.
Preserving Traditions of Music and Poetry
It is ironic, based upon their history, that the Jews of Iran became guardians
of musical and poetic traditions in the non-Jewish Persian sphere. Following
the rise of Shiite Islam, Muslims were forbidden to compose and play secular
music, but this prohibition did not extend to minorities. The Jewish community thus came to play a key role in preserving the legacy of classical Persian
music. As for poetry, because Jewish religious ritual is centered upon the
reading of the Torah, Jews historically tended to be literate and were exposed
to religious and secular literary sources. Secular and liturgical poems were
integral to Jewish community life, and poetry was also given expression in
Persian-Jewish epics, which were copied and preserved in manuscript form
for hundreds of years.
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Background Information
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From the sixteenth century to the late nineteenth century, Iran was ruled
according to strict Shiite Islamic doctrine, and this had powerful implications
for the lives of Jews and other minorities. Beginning in the late nineteenth
century, however, the country underwent a gradual process of westernization and secularization, accelerated under the reign of the Pahlavi monarchy,
which commenced in 1925. Another dramatic turn followed in 1979 with the
Islamic Revolution, the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy, and the establishment of a theocracy under the Republics first supreme leader, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini (in office 19791989). The past three decades of Islamic
rule have led to radical changes in Irans internal and foreign policies, which
have had far-reaching effects on all ethnic and religious minorities in Iran,
including the Jews.
Today, about 25,000 Jews remain in Iran, where many are allowed to practice
their religion provided they pay allegiance to the Republic. Glimpses of their
lives are captured in the documentary images taken by photographer Hasan
Sarbakhshian. Some historians estimate, however, that nearly 70 percent of
the Jewish community left Iran at the time of the Revolution to begin new
lives in communities far from their ancestral homes. The Goldenberg Galleria
portion of Light and Shadows ends by focusing on those who settled in Los
Angeles, and highlights the art of Shelley Gazin and Jessica Shokrian.
With the visits by the Qajar-dynasty monarch Nasser al-Din Shah (r. 1848
1896) to Europe in 1873 and 1889, Iran began to become slowly receptive to
Western influence. European Jews reminded the shah of the generous actions
of King Cyrus toward the Jews of Judea who were exiled in ancient Babylonia, and they also informed him that they had learned of atrocities being
committed against Iranian Jews in contemporary Iran. The shah promised to
improve the living conditions of the Jews and allowed European organizations
and schools to come to Iran and help the community.
The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 opened the way for cataclysmic
changes in Iran with the establishment of a parliament, greater freedom of the
press, and the writing of a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for
Muslim and non-Muslim citizens. In February 1921, Reza Khan, commander
of the Persian Cossack Brigade, staged a coup detat, renamed himself Reza
Shah Pahlavi, and became the ruler of Iran (r. 19251941). The reign of the
Qajar dynasty thus came to an end in 1925. It was followed by the Pahlavi
monarchy (19251979), which continued to encourage the westernization of
Iran.
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Like the members of other Jewish communities worldwide, Iranian Jews felt
a deep spiritual connection to the land of Israel and experienced a sense of
longing for it over the course of many centuries. These feelings were given
expression in prayers, poetry, and traditions, including pilgrimages to the cave
of Serah Bat Asher, near Isfahanwhere, according to local lore, a secret
tunnel led directly to Jerusalem.
Overt Zionist activities, however, only began to take place in Iran following
the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which signaled Great Britains support for the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The
Central Committee of the Zionist Federation in Iran was established a short
time later in 1919, followed by the creation of chapters elsewhere. For the first
time, Iranian Jews had a central body to which they could appeal for help in
the face of persecution by Muslims.
During the 1940s and 1950s, ties with international Jewish organizations
continued to grow stronger. Meetings with these representatives and the
foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 endowed Iranian Jews with a sense of
national pride and a desire to participate in building a new life in an independent Jewish state. Although no precise data are available, it is estimated that
60,000 of the 100,000 Jews living in Iran were preparing to immigrate to Israel
in 1948.
The reigns of Reza Shah (r. 19251945) and his son, Muhammad Reza Shah
(r. 19411979), although authoritarian and oppressive in many respects,
paradoxically provided stability and allowed for increasing modernization,
secularization, and westernization. The worldview upheld by the Pahlavis
was based on an ideal of national, rather than religious unity, and this enabled
religious minorities to aspire to the status of equal citizens for the first time
since the rise of Islam in Iran in the seventh century. Jews experienced a
new sense of security with the establishment of Israel in 1948, its rapid rise
to power, and its victories over Arab neighbors. New alliances were forged
between the two countries, which were deepened with cooperative arms
and intelligence policies as well as oil sharing. Such cooperation angered the
conservative Islamic clergy, and this would later contribute to the fall of the
Pahlavi monarchy.
In 1963, however, the shahs White Revolution produced a series of reforms
that led to a period of expanded rights and benefits for many. These included
a secular dress code, granting the vote to women, abolishing the country's
feudal system, redistributing land, and privatizing factories, which contributed
to the hope for a golden age of prosperity for all. At the same time a number
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Background Information
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of controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party and a general suppression of political dissent enforced by
Irans intelligence agency, SAVAK.
A dramatic turn occurred in 1979 with the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime
and the formation of the Islamic Republic. The vision of the new leader of the
Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (who ruled from 1979 until
his death in 1989), required strict adherence to Islamic culture and religious
values. Jews and other minorities were once again accorded dhimmi
status (protected, but second-class citizenship). Initially, the beliefs upheld
by the Islamic regime led to growing hostility toward Jews, aggravated by the
connection of Iranian Jews to Israel and Zionist initiatives. Once stability was
achieved in the wake of the revolution, attacks against Jews and other
religious minorities (except the Bahais) gave way to more balanced and
tolerant viewpoints.
Today some 25,000 Jews live in Iranin contrast to an estimated 85,000 to
100,000 on the eve of the revolutionand superficially their lives seem to
have continued undisturbed. As long as they conform to the norms of
personal conduct required by the Islamic state, do not show support for the
state of Israel, and discreetly practice their faith, Jews are tolerated and are
allocated one seat in the Iranian Parliament. Today, Tehran has eleven
functioning synagogues, two kosher restaurants, a home for the elderly,
a cemetery, and a large charity hospital.
Ironically, the crisis in the life of the Jewish community in Iran was also the
starting point for the flourishing of Iranian Jewish communities outside of Iran.
Approximately 50,000 Jews are believed to have left Iran within a year of
the formation of the Islamic Republic. The largest group came to the United
States with the majority settling in Los Angeles. Great Neck and Queens in
New York became home to the second largest community of Iranian Jews.
These immigrant communities faced many of the same challenges that others
had experienced on arriving in the United States. Few spoke English or had
the skills or job experience required to join the American workforce, and
American liberal social values clashed with traditional ways of life for many.
Some financially successful families had preemptively moved their wealth
outside Iran, however, and these funds supported the reestablishment of the
community in the diaspora, as well as the development of charitable organizations and new business ventures.
Today Iranian Jews reside throughout Los Angeles County with larger concentrations on the Westside and in the San Fernando Valley. The Orthodox Iranian
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Background Information
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Curricular Connections
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Curricular Connections
Teaching about a community with an almost three thousand-year history will
certainly give teachers many opportunities to correlate lessons with California
State Standards. Although the teaching units primarily are directed to middle
school students, many of the lessons have components that will be pertinent to studies in the earlier grades and also can be extended for use in high
school classrooms.
The following excerpts from Frameworks for California Public Schools list
some of the many significant goals addressed by these materials:
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Educational Goals and Curricular Connections
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Curricular Connections
Goal of Democratic Understanding and Civic Values
Understand the unique experiences of immigrants from Asia, the Pacific
Islands, and Latin America.
Develop an appreciation for the multicultural, pluralistic nature of U. S.
society.
Goal of Skills Attainment and Social Participation
Participation Skills: Develop social and participation skills.
Critical Thinking Skills: Judge information related to a problem.
Study Skills: Read and interpret maps and globes. Organize and express
ideas in writing and speaking. Understand, use, and create graphic
information (timelines, etc.).
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Educational Goals and Curricular Connections
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Curricular Connections
Following are some representative grade-level correlations suggested
by the History-Social Science Content Standards for California Public
Schools:
Grade One:
1.1 Students describe the rights and individual responsibilities of
citizenship.
1.4 Students compare and contrast everyday life in different times and
places around the world and recognize that some aspects of people,
places, and things change over time while others stay the same.
1.5.3 Students compare the beliefs, customs, ceremonies, traditions, and
social practices of the varied cultures, drawing from folklore.
Grade Two:
2.1 Students differentiate between things that happened long ago and
things that happened yesterday.
Grade Three:
3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps,
tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about
people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
Grade Six:
6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and
social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.
6.3 Students analyze the geographic, economic, religious, and social
structures of the Ancient Hebrews.
Grade Seven:
7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and
social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.
Grade Eight:
8.2.6 Students enumerate the powers of government set forth in the
Constitution and the fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.
Grade Ten:
10.1 Students relate the moral and ethical principles in ancient Greek and
Roman philosophy, in Judaism, and in Christianity to the development of
Western political thought.
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Educational Goals and Curricular Connections
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According to the Bible, the first Jews to settle in Persia were members of
the ten tribes of ancient Israel exiled by the Assyrians in the eighth century
BCE. One of the worlds oldest Jewish communitiesand the oldest religious
minority in Iranthe Jewish community has confronted numerous challenges
in its almost 2,700 years of existence there. The succession of dynasties and
peoples who conquered Iran impacted and enriched Persian Jewish culture in
a variety of waysas has the nearly 1,400 years of living under Muslim rule.
These influences are revealed in special traditions and unique beliefs.
The exhibition attests to the vibrant life of Irans Jewish community from
ancient times to the present day. It is a life marked by times of great cultural
achievement and periods of prosperity as well as by great hardship,
persecution, and even forced conversiontruly a story of light and shadows.
The following chronology includes some of the historical events that had great
impact on the lives of the Jews of Iran.
1. First Temple Period727 BCE to 597 BCE
Conquering Assyrians deported many thousands of Israelite Jews from
ancient Israel to parts of what are now Iran and Iraq.
In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great, leader of the Persian Empire, conquered
Babylon and permitted exiles to leave and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem,
later referred to as the Second Temple. Many returned, as reported in biblical
texts, but most chose to remain under the benevolent rule of Cyrus and later
kings.
2. Second Temple Period330 BCE to 70 CE
Alexander the Great of Greece conquered the Persian Empire. Upon Alexanders death his empire was divided. The largest division, headquartered in
Damascus, stretched east to include the Jewish communities in Persia.
In 70 CE the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The
disaster affected Jews throughout the world and ignited hopes of a return to
Zion and the rebuilding of the Jewish homeland.
3. Parthian and Sassanid Periods3rd Century BCE to 650 CE
Under the Parthian Dynasty, Jewish communities enjoyed greater religious
tolerance and autonomy and willingly migrated to settle in Iran and surrounding regions.
A succession of dynasties ruled the region, including that of the founder of the
Sassanid dynasty, King Ardashr (c. 224 CE), who is often associated with the
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 1
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Israelis viewed Iran as a non-Arab ally on the rim of an unfriendly Arab world.
Relations between Iran and the Jewish state of Israel were good, extending to
trade and even joint military operations.
8. The Islamic Revolution of 1979
On January 16, 1979, the Shah of Iran and his family fled to Egypt. The leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini, took power and declared the nation to
be the Islamic Republic of Iran. This led to increased power for the mullahs
(Muslim religious leaders) and the consequent subjugation of both nonMuslims and non-Shiite Muslims to strict Islamic law.
Approximately 85% of Iranian Jews emigrated from Iran to the West, primarily
to Israel and the United States, in fear of repression and intolerance from the
newly empowered Islamic led government.
Immediately after the Islamic Revolution, the new government of Iran severed
ties with Israel. Iran maintains ties with Islamic organizations such as
Hezbollah and Hamas and does not recognize Israel as a nation.
Activities
Lesson 1: Travel through Time on a Timeline
By drawing and using a timeline students will be better able to understand the
situation of Persian Jews during specific periods and to compare the relationships of a period to the previous or subsequent one.
Have students construct a timeline for the period 800 BCE to 2200 CE. They
will use a 30 long piece of butcher paper or three sheets of letter-sized paper,
taped together along the shorter edges to make a sheet that measures more
than 30.
With a yardstick draw a line halfway up the 30 sheet. Mark the line at each
inch mark.
Number the inch marks for each century beginning with 800 BCE (followed
by 700, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 1). Continue with the CE (common era)
marks 100, 200, 300 .2100.)
Be sure that for discussion purposes, students understand the duration of a
decade, century, and millennium. After examining the list of significant dates
in the above background to this unit, students should transpose the information onto the class horizontal timeline that they have constructed. This
information will help them compare the relationships between, and the relative
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The earliest known declaration of human rights was written by Cyrus the
Great of Persia in the 6th century BCE, more than 2500 years ago. Inscribed
onto a clay cylinder housed today in the British Museum in London (and
featured, along with other Cyrus imagery in the Light and Shadows powerpoint for teachers on the Fowler Museum website), Cyruss Charter of Human
Rights states that all humans have universal rights without regard to their
religion, ethnicity or nationality.
The ethnically Persian Cyrus considered himself the guardian of the thousands of peoples from various nations who lived in his kingdom and he considered all people to be members of one human family.
Unlike most conquerors, he allowed the diverse ethnic and religious groups
to remain loyal to their own heritage while at the same time joining with others
as citizens of his kingdom. Fifty years after Cyrus captured Jerusalem from
Assyria he decreed that the thousands of Jews who had been captured by
the Assyrians and brought against their will to Babylon could return to their
homelands. They could return to their homes in ancient Israel and rebuild their
Temple in Jerusalem. Many did return while others chose to remain in Persia.
They formed the beginnings of new Jewish groupsone of these evolved into
what we know today as the Iranian Jewish community.
Cyruss policy of human rights no longer exists in the land where he once
ruled. Attacks against Jews and other religious minorities (except the Bahais)
gave way to more balanced and tolerant viewpoints. Full liberty is still not a
reality for all Iranian citizens.
A. Lead discussions based on the following questions:
What is a universal human right? Define universal / human / right.
What is the difference between a right and a privilege?
Are rights something all individuals are due simply for existing, or are they,
as many believe, given to us by a higher power?
Can rights be bestowed upon individuals by a government or a ruler?
(If that is the case, can these rights also be taken away? If they can be take
away, are they really rights or merely privileges?)
B. Using a map, locate nations that are free according to the Democracy
index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Democracy_Index_2011_green_and_
red.svg
What is the ranking of the United States? Of the Islamic Republic of Iran?
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C. On December 10, 1948, after the horrors of World War II and many years
of effort by U. S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in New
York, the purpose of which was to state and protect the rights of all people
everywhere.
Obtain copies of Cyruss Declaration of Human Rights, the United States Bill
of Rights, and the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all accessible
on the Internet.
Compare and contrast the declarations of human rights. Do they have
similarities? Differences?
Present some Articles from the U.N.s Declaration (Official Version) to the
class and have them rewrite them in their own words. We have selected the
following, but others may be particularly relevant to your studies: Articles 1,
9,12, 13, 18, 19, 26. www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
As part of a follow-up discussion, let students compare their rewritten versions with the Plain Language Version, rewritten in everyday language.
www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/plain.asp
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The hymn has been given new voice in popular songs, rounds, gospel and
reggae, and featured television programs. The lyrics vary somewhat, but all
refer to the forced exile of 2700 years ago. Students can find several versions
on YouTube.
Find the river Babylon on the map. How far is it from Zion
(one of the biblical names for Jerusalem)?
How many miles/kilometers would one have to walk from Jerusalem to
Babylon?
Why is this song particularly popular with African American churchgoers?
Are there other songs or poems reflecting the topic of refugees that you can
find (or write)?
B. Over the centuries Jews were continuously persecuted for their religious
beliefs and often forced to leave homes in many lands, among them Israel,
Spain, Portugal, England, Russia, France, Germany, Eastern Europe, Iraq,
Egypt, Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Morocco, Uganda and the nations of
the U.S.S.R. (Students can locate these countries on a map or globe).
History repeated itself many times, including the 1979 exodus of thousands
of Iranian Jews from the newly formed Islamic Republic of Iran to new homes
in Israel and the United States. These Jews may have left behind their homes
but they took with them their memories, their faith and their traditions that
they planted in new soil in new lands. History is filled with similar storiesthe
sad tale of the refugee is not unique to Jews.
C. Explain to the students they will research stories of refugees from different
eras and different lands. They should compare the mass deportation of Jews
to Babylon in the 6th century BCE with other forced migrations in history.
(Note: Many such stories can be found at the library and on-line.) Students
should address questions as the following:
Were they deported as a group or as individuals?
Where did most of the refugees settle?
Why was this group of people persecuted?
Were they eventually permitted to go home?
Is the expulsion memorialized in any way today by the group?
How do the nations to which refugees have fled respond? What are the
cultural, legal, and economic issues?
In the U.S., what are the official positions that Immigration Services take in
regards to specific groups of refugees? How does the U.S. classify
refugees and how does this affect their status?
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Assign one of the stories, or the story of other refugee groups not listed here,
to a student or a group of students. These should be reported on to the class
and be the impetus for sharing reasons why people become refugees, experiences of refugees in their new homes, and the responsibilities to be assumed
by governments and by individuals for welcoming and aiding refugees.
Some stories:
The expulsion of Jews from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition (1492)
The Trail of Tears relocation of members of the Cherokee and other Native
American nations during the presidency of Andrew Jackson (18311838)
The expulsion of Armenians from their homes in Turkey (1914)
Jewish refugees from Arab lands (1930s1950s)
Jewish refugees who survived World War II (1945)
Albanian refugees from war in Kosovo: (19981999)
Refugees from the Partition of India and Pakistan (19391947)
Arab and Jewish refugees (1948)
The struggles of the Hmong following the Viet Nam war
The Lost Boys of Sudan (19832005)
Tutsis refugees from Rwanda (1994)
Syrian refugees fleeing into neighboring Turkey (present day)
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Nearly a century passed before Mashhads Jews could again practice their
faith openly, as the Pahlavi dynasty began. After World War II, many settled
in Tehran, Israel, and Great Neck, New York. Today there are some 15,000
Mashhadis worldwide, of which 10,000 live in Israel.
It is ironic that the Jews of Iran, despite their second-class citizenship,
became the primary guardians of musical and poetic traditions in the
non-Jewish Persian sphere. Following the rise of Shiite Islam, Muslims were
forbidden to compose and play secular music, but this prohibition did not
extend to minorities. Jewish musicians, singers, and dancers were permitted
to entertain at both Muslim and Jewish celebrations in Iran. Given the restrictions on the occupations that they could enter, many Jews did in fact earn
livings as musicians and performers. They specialized in playing
traditional Iranian instruments (among them the tr, setr, and santr). The
Jewish community thus came to play a key role in preserving the legacy of
classical Persian music.
As for poetry, because Jewish religious ritual is centered upon the reading of
the Torah, Jews historically tended to be better educated than the majority
population in Iran, and poetry was given expression in Persian-Jewish epics,
which were copied and preserved in manuscript form for hundreds of years.
Jews have woven textiles and carpets since Biblical times. In the twentieth
century, Jews, including those from Mashhad, were able to benefit from Irans
involvement in the development of Persian carpets as an industry and an
export commodity. Some of the Jewish immigrants to America brought their
knowledge of the carpet business with them, and today many carpet dealers
in Los Angeles and other major American cities are Jews with Iranian roots.
Activities
Lesson 1: People of the Book: Shared Traditions
As noted in the background, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are all monotheistic religions, their followers considered People of the Book. As such, along
with distinct differences, they share many concepts. Let students think about
these similarities and differences as they fill in the worksheet at the end of this
unit. (Although here we are primarily concerned with the three monotheistic
faiths, some students may be more familiar with another faith and may wish to
so label the fourth column and answer the questions in that column also.)
After they complete the worksheet, ask students for ideas they may now have
for utilizing the information to increase understanding and tolerance. Can they
see avenues for connections among different faiths to substitute for
arguments over differences?
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 2
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A. Introduce students to the 2007 Jerusalem Post interview cited in the background statement. Mashhadi Jews not only concealed their true selves and
their religious beliefs, they had to hide ritual objects that would reveal their
observances. Displayed in the Light and Shadows exhibition (and included
in the Light and Shadows powerpoint for teachers on the Fowler Museum
website) are a Ner Tamid (the Eternal Light that always remains lit near a
synagogue ark), a Torah with its text typically inscribed on a long, continuous
scroll, and a ketubah or wedding contract signed by a bride and groom.
These were disguised or concealed by Jews in Mashhad. Before viewing the
exhibition have students brainstorm ways to hide such objects while still
keeping them in ritual use.
You may wish to have students devise methods ofconcealment or disguise
for other such objects or practices. What strategies might they use if they had
to hide the ritual objects or practices of their own family?
B. Discuss why Rachel Betsalely responds to questions about missing her
former home in Iran with the statement for us in Iran, it wasnt our country.
We werent allowed to be part of it. We had to live two lives to survive. So I
dont feel the same sense of attachment to Iran as others from more open
countries might. For me, Israel is my only home.
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Often the topic or subject of the first line is simply renamed in the last line,
and all other lines refer to aspects of that subject. Another use of the
diamante is to express contrast with the last line naming an opposite of the
first line topic. Here the second and third lines refer to the first line; the fifth
and sixth lines refer to the last line. The fourth (middle) line acts as a bridge
referencing the two contrasting words in lines one and seven.
light
bright, telling
opening, enriching, enveloping
see all, hide some
hesitating, obscuring, hinting,
dim, secretive
shadows
The title of the exhibition, Light and Shadows, suggests many possible
themes of contrast including light/shadows, concealed/revealed, present/
past, ancient/modern, freedom/restriction, Iran/U.S./ here/there, together/
apart, fear/security, young/old, and display/hide. Diamante poems can be
composed about any of these, and more.
Another poetry form suitable for all ages is the use of more than one language
in a poem. Here all students can use the two languages most pertinent to
this study: Persian and English. The same activity, however, could be used
with their home language by students with other backgrounds, i.e., Spanish,
Hebrew, Vietnamese.
To begin a bilingual poem combining Persian and English words, students
should collect and build a Persian vocabulary to be posted in the room.
Likely categories would be the names of colors, seasons, sounds, numbers,
animals, etc.any words the students decide might be useful to them. They
could use Persian-English dictionaries, but it would be better to use this as
an opportunity to dialogue with Persian speakers. All poetry forms you assign
or class members choose would be suitable. One approach is for students to
compose their poems in English and as (or after) they compose their poems,
have them substitute Persian words for some of those English words. You
might want to further direct them to include at least one Persian word in each
line or in every two lines.
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Rugs and carpets from Iran have been exported to most parts of the world.
There are many traditional motifs in the carpets, varying with the region; most
common are the botah (a paisley-like design), stylized flowers, and geometric
shapes. Patterns are often symmetrical and a large medallion is featured in
the center. Carpets made by and for Jews frequently feature inherently Jewish
motifs, including stars of David, menorahs, Torah crowns, and Hebrew
writing (see Light and Shadows powerpoint for teachers on the Fowler
Museum website).
Students can work alone or in small groups to recreate a Persian rug on the
school playground.
To make planning drawings, students should use sheets of large square graph
paper, deciding on a scale (perhaps, two squares on the paper will equal two
square feet on the ground. They can make individual rugs as small as 1 x 2
or work together to make larger scale carpets.
Utilizing some of the elements in a Persian carpet, encourage students to
outline the design of their carpet onto graph paper and use colored pencils
and pens, or pastels to fill in the remainder of the design. By planning ahead
and designing with the aid of the grid, students will be able to transfer their
design to the outdoor space.
Remind them that each carpet design could include some elements of
Persian carpets: a boundary or border, a field which may or may not include
a central medallion, and various motifs such as the botah, lotus, flowers
and leaves, which can be arranged in a pattern within the boundary and /or
scattered across the field.
Students should also preselect the colors of their carpet, utilizing between
five to ten colors. Too many will make the carpet too busy. Remind them
that since they will be painting with chalk, they can also blend the colors to
create subtle shades of bolder colors.
Once the graph paper drawing is complete, they can move outdoors where
(on a cleanly swept area) you will need to draw a large grid pattern, probably
converting your paper graph to the sidewalk, 2 inches to 2 feet. Students
should draw in one square of the grid at a time, copying directly from their
paper design.
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Prepare in advance. Chalk painting is fun, but can be messy. Make sure all
supplies are on hand before you start:
Use sidewalk chalk or pastels to paint the carpet. (Pastels are more
expensive, but produce deeper colors and last longer).
Blue painters tape can be used to mark off borders and when removed,
leaves a sharp clean line of color.
Paper towels, sponges, old ragsanything for cleanup that you can discard
afterward.
Oversize t-shirts or smocks to avoid getting clothes dirty.
Different sizes of paintbrushes and sponges for applying the color.
Lots of water, both for drinking, but especially for washing hands.
Something to kneel on while drawing to prevent sore knees, i.e.: rolled up
towels, rubber kneepads or gardeners pads.
If working in the sun, dont forget the sunscreen and hats.
Dont forget to bring a camera to take pictures!
The above list is suggested at http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/art/
chalkart061599.html
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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Activities
Lesson 1: Amulets to Heal and Protect
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A. Following is a simplified outline of the story of Purim and Queen Esther. (An
image of a wall painting [in present-day Syria] that tells this story is included in
the Light and Shadows powerpoint for teachers on the Fowler Museum
website.) For younger students, you could present these events in mixed
order and have the students put them into proper sequence. Older students
will tell the Purim story in their own words using the outline as prompts. You
may wish to have students divide up the parts of the principle characters:
King Ahasuerus, Queen Vashti, Mordecai, Haman, and Esther, and tell the
story from their viewpoint; or role play the story with these characters.
1. King Ahasuerus of Persia held a huge banquet for everyone in his kingdom.
2. He ordered his wife, Queen Vashti, to perform at the banquet wearing her
beautiful crown.
3. Vashti refused.
4. King Ahasuerus was angry and banished Queen Vashti from the palace.
5. He chose a new queen, the beautiful Esther, niece of Mordecai who told her
to keep her Jewish identity a secret.
6. Mordecai learned of a plot to kill the king. He told Queen Esther, and Esther
reported it to the king.
7. The king ordered the two plotters to be hanged.
8. Haman, the kings minister, demanded complete loyalty of everyone in the
kings service, and ordered all to bow down to him.
9. Mordecai refused to bow down, saying that bowing down to another
person was forbidden by his Jewish faith.
10. Haman was angry and he decreed the destruction not only of Mordecai,
but of all the Jews of the kingdom.
11. To determine the day for carrying out the decree, Haman cast lots, or
purim. The lot fell on the 13th of the month of Adar.
12. Mordecai urged Esther to plead with the king to save the lives of her
people.
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 3
page 41
page 42
page 43
From the sixteenth century to the late nineteenth century, Iran was ruled
according to strict Shiite Islamic doctrine that held powerful implications for
the lives of Jews and other minorities. Beginning in the late nineteenth
century, the country underwent a gradual process of westernization and
secularization, which was accelerated under the reign of the Pahlavi
monarchy (19251979). The year 1979, though, saw the Islamic Revolution,
the overthrow of the Pahlavi monarchy, and the establishment of a theocracy
under the Republics first supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (in
office 19791989). The past three decades of Islamic rule have led to radical
changes in Irans internal and foreign policies, which have had far-reaching
effects on all ethnic and religious minorities in Iran, including the Jews.
Today, about 25,000 Jews remain in Iran, where many are allowed to practice
their religion provided they pay allegiance to the Republic. Some historians
estimate, however, that nearly 70 percent of the Jewish community left Iran
at the time of the Revolution to begin new lives in communities far from their
ancestral homes.
In the nineteenth century, Iran slowly began to become receptive to Western
influence. The Qajar-dynasty monarch Nasser al-Din Shah (r. 18481896)
visited Europe in 1873 and 1889. There European Jews reminded the shah
of the generous actions of King Cyrus toward the Jews of Judea who were
exiled in ancient Babylonia, and they also informed him that they had learned
of atrocities being committed against Iranian Jews in contemporary Iran. The
shah promised to improve the living conditions of the Jews and allowed
European organizations and schools to come to Iran and help the community.
The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 opened the way for cataclysmic
changes in Iran with the establishment of a parliament, greater freedom of
the press, and the writing of a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for
Muslim and non-Muslim citizens. In February 1921, Reza Khan, commander
of the Persian Cossack Brigade, staged a coup detat, renamed himself Reza
Shah Pahlavi, and become the ruler of Iran. The reign of the Qajar dynasty thus came to an end in 1925 and was followed by the Pahlavi monarchy
(19251979), which continued to encourage the westernization of Iran.
Like the members of other Jewish communities worldwide, Iranian Jews felt
a deep spiritual connection to the land of Israel and experienced a sense
of longing for it over the course of many centuries. Overt Zionist activities,
however, only began to take place in Iran following the Balfour Declaration of
1917, which signaled Great Britains support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The Central Committee of the
Zionist Federation in Iran was established a short time later in 1919, followed
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 4
page 44
by the creation of chapters elsewhere. For the first time, Iranian Jews had a
central body to which they could appeal for help in the face of persecution by
Muslims.
During the 1940s and 1950s, ties with international Jewish organizations continued to strengthen. Meetings with their representatives and the foundation
of the state of Israel in 1948 endowed Iranian Jews with a sense of national
pride and a desire to participate in building a new life in an independent
Jewish state. Although no precise data are available, it is estimated that
60,000 of the 100,000 Jews living in Iran were preparing to immigrate to Israel
in 1948.
The reigns of Reza Shah (r. 19251945) and his son, Muhammad Reza Shah
(r. 19411979), although authoritarian and oppressive in many respects,
paradoxically provided stability and allowed for increasing modernization,
secularization, and westernization. The worldview upheld by the Pahlavis was
based on an ideal of national, rather than religious unity, and this enabled
religious minorities to aspire to the status of equal citizens for the first time
since the seventh century rise of Islam in Iran. Jews experienced a new sense
of security with the establishment of Israel in 1948, its rapid rise to power, and
its victories over Arab neighbors. New alliances were forged between the two
countries, which were deepened with cooperative arms and intelligence
policies as well as oil sharing. Such cooperation angered the conservative
Islamic clergy, and this would later contribute to the fall of the Pahlavi
monarchy.
In 1963, however, the shahs White Revolution produced a series of reforms
that led to a period of expanded rights and benefits for many. These included
a secular dress code, granting the vote to women, abolishing the country's
feudal system, redistributing land, and privatizing factories, which contributed
to the hope for a golden age of prosperity for all. At the same time a number
of controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party and a general suppression of political dissent enforced by
Irans intelligence agency, SAVAK.
A dramatic turn occurred in 1979 with the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime
and the formation of the Islamic Republic. The vision of the new leader of the
Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (who ruled from 1979 until
his death in 1989), required strict adherence to Islamic culture and religious
values. Jews and other minorities were once again given dhimmi status (protected, but second-class citizenship). Initially, the beliefs upheld by the Islamic
regime led to growing hostility toward Jews, aggravated by the connection
of Iranian Jews to Israel and Zionist initiatives. Once stability was achieved in
the wake of the revolution, attacks against Jews and other religious minorities
(except the Bahais) gave way to more balanced and tolerant viewpoints.
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 4
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Activities
Lesson 1: Whats in a Name?
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If you wanted to, and were able to choose a different name, what would it
be?
Does your family name (last name) reflect your familys background, religion,
occupation, or location? Names ending with ian or yan may reflect
Armenian or Persian tradition. Those ending in ez may show a Latin
culture while those beginning with Mac, Mc, or O may be a sign of
Scotch or Irish heritage. Many groups often name boys after their fathers,
reflected in name beginnings Ibn, and Ben, and name endings, witz,
vitch, son, and sen, all meaning son of.
2. Ask how many of your students are in the first, second, third (or more)
generation to come to America. Have the naming trends in their own families
changed from generation to generation? If so, share examples.
3. Names often go in and out of fashion. Ask the students what they think are
some of the most popular names today? List the suggested names and follow
up with an Internet search to discover the actual answers. Can students
determine if the popularity of names varies with different regions in the United
States? Are there names that are particularly evident in your school? Naming
trends in the U.S. may be explored on the Social Security website (http://
www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/babynames/) and your students may find this a
fascinating history.
B. Students can research the worldwide, varied traditions and practices of
naming children, particularly addressing the customs of their own heritage.
They will find many differences in the source of names, the rituals or
ceremonies involved, name changes that come about with age or marital
status, etc.
They may investigate:
Are babies named after a parent? If so, is it more often the father or the
mother?
Is there a member of the family who is given the honor of naming the new
baby?
Do all members of the family share the same family or last name?
Is anything special done to protect the baby from evil spirits?
Are babies named when newly born or after a period of time?
Is the baby-naming part of a special ritual?
Does the babys name tell his/her position in society?
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A. Students will state their values and the standards they feel are necessary
to live a good life and to help build a better world. By so doing they will be
emulating many Jews who left Iran for Israel and the United States.
When Jewish people move into a new homeone street away or halfway
across the worldone of their first activities is to place a mezuzah on their
front doorframe. The mezuzah is a small case containing scrolls of religious
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews, Unit 4
page 49
So many times in their history, the Jewish people of Persia/Iran have had to
conceal aspects of their identity. Today this is not a necessity for those who
live in Los Angeles or elsewhere in the United States. Many young people,
however, (and some of their elders, as well), no matter their ethnicity, do not
choose to reveal themselves totally to others. Some aspects of their lives are
revealed only to family, others shared only with close friends.
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For this final activity in the Light and Shadows resource, students will combine
the ancient hamsa symbol with its five fingers and the historical small lettering
of micrography to tell about themselves in todays world. The completed
activity will both conceal and reveal. They will draw the faint outline of a
hamsa, selecting either the kind with five fingers separated and pointing
upward, or the one with two outward pointing curved thumbs (or thumb and
little finger), one on each side of three upward pointing central fingers.
On the outline the students then will write about themselves, revealing
interests, desires, goals, memories, relationships, etc., so that all the lines of
the hamsa symbol are covered with words. Individual words and phrases or
a narrative or a poem about the writer will all be suitable. The outline of the
hamsa will now show up as a series of words
As a last step of the activity, using a copy machine, reduce the drawn image
until the desired size is reached, so the words appear very small as in
micrography. The revealing words now are concealed by their very small size.
As an alternative to the hamsa for their outline, students can make an
outline of something that represents an activity or an interest for which they
are known or is readily revealed (i.e., a soccer ball, a ballet slipper, a symbol of
their faith, a video player).
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Suggested Readings
page 52
Suggested Readings
Baer, Leah
2002 Lifes Events: Births, Bar Mitzvah, Weddings, and Burial Customs.
In Esthers Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews, edited by Houman
Sarshar, 311-336. Beverly Hills: The Center for Iranian Jewish History.
Dallalfar, Arlene
2002 Worlds Apart: Mothers, Daughters, and Family Life.
In Esthers Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews, edited by Houman
Sarshar, 403-414. Beverly Hills: The Center for Iranian Jewish History.
Davidovitch, David
1968 The Ketuba: Jewish Marriage Contracts through the Ages.
Israel: E. Lewin-Epstein, Ltd.
Ebtami, Houshang
2002 The Impure Jew, In Esthers Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews,
edited by Houman Sarshar, 95-102. Beverly Hills: The Center for
Iranian Jewish History.
Kelley, Ron
1993 Caught Between Two Cultures: Young Iranian Women in Los
Angeles. Irangeles: Iranians in Los Angeles, edited by Ron Kelly,
223-232. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Kelley, Ron
1993 Interview with Homa Mahmoudi, Clinical Psychologist.
In Irangeles: Iranians in Los Angeles, edited by Ron Kelly, 162-174.
Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Levi, Habib
1999 Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran: The Outset of the
Diaspora. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers.
Menashri, David
2002 The Pahlavi Monarchy and the Islamic Revolution.
In Esthers Children, edited by Houman Sarshar, 379-402.
Beverly Hills: The Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History, Beverly Hills.
Reichel, Michael
2004 Persian American Jewry at a Crossroads: Will the Traditions
Continue? New York: LV Press.
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Suggested Readings
Sarshar, Houman
2002 The Mahalleh. In Esthers Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews.
Beverly Hills: Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History;
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.
Sarshar, Houman (ed.)
2002 Esthers Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews. Beverly Hills: Center
for Iranian Jewish Oral History; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication
Society.
Soomekh, Saba
2012 From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish
Women Between Religion and Culture. New York, SUNY Press.
Yeroushalmi, David (ed.)
2012 Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews. Los Angeles:
Beit Hatsutsot, The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, and the
Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles.
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