When did most of the Iranian Jews leave Iran to go to Israel or the U.S.?

Question

Did most Iranian Jews immigrate before the Iranian Revolution or afterwards?

Answer 1

Because of Arab and Persian persecution of Jews, including the burning of houses, forcing out of people from their homes, pogroms, creation of a refugee crisis, legal, social and political persecution,  very similar to how the Chechens have been treated by the Russians.

Answer 2

Islamic republic (after 1979)

At the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, there were approximately 140,000–150,000 Jews living in Iran, the historical center of Persian Jewry. Over 85% have since migrated to either Israel or the United States. At the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, 80,000 still remained in Iran. From then on, Jewish emigration from Iran dramatically increased, as about 20,000 Jews left within several months after the Islamic Revolution. In mid- and late 1980s, the Jewish population of Iran was estimated at 20,000–30,000. The reports put the figure at around 35,000 in mid-1990s and at less than 40,000 nowadays, with around 25,000 residing in Tehran. However, Iran's Jewish community still remains the largest among the Muslim countries

Answer 3

many stayed because Iran gave them equal rights.

they also stayed because they felt that Iran is strong enough to protect them form other countries.

If they did immigrate they prob went to the USA.

Answer 4

i think that most of the jews left iran in 1948.

but even today there are many jews in iran...25,000.

it is the only islamic country with big number of jew.

in lebanon there are only 10.

egypt only 100.

ietc etc...

Answer 5

A very complex tale of how the Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great-the world's "first" Zionist-metamorphosed into the Israel-Hating nation we know today.

Cyrus is also sometimes referred to as the world's first Zionist. He righted the wrong done by King Nebuchadnezzar II 58 years earlier when he captured Jerusalem and Judah, and exiled thousands of Jews. "All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah," Cyrus declared. He offered the Jews the opportunity to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple at Persian taxpayer expense. Many accepted, while others remained in Persia.

75% left Iran since the 1979 Islamist Revolution.With the advent of Islam their world would change..the Muslim perception of Jews as impure remained. Occasional violent outbreaks, reminiscent of the blood libels and pogroms carried out in Europe, punctuated the next two centuries of Qajar Dynasty rule. In one incident in the northeastern town of Mashhad in 1839, an ailing Jewish woman was told to use dogs' blood to cure a certain malady. A rumor quickly spread that she had tried the cure on a Shia holiday, deliberately insulting the sect. Jews were attacked and some three dozen killed, while the rest of the Jewish community was given the choice of conversion to Islam or death..

Thus individual &/or family members of the Iranian Jewish community left for decades before the Revolution.

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Jews who have chosen to stay in Iran say that they are content and have no wish to leave their homeland. Tehran has more than a dozen active synagogues, and large groups of Jews also live in Shiraz and Isfahan. "Jews stay in Iran because they have their jobs, their lives and they love it,�" says Shirin Taleh, a family therapist who left Iran in 2001 with her children to join the rest of her family in California and has visited twice since then, including a stay earlier this year.

Shalom

Answer 6

I agree Beautiful Sunset ! she deserves her name.

Answer 7

Most Iranian Jews left after Khomeini led the Islamic revolution that exiled the Shah and put the crazies in power.

(I have an Iranian Muslim friend who always ends up at the police station because the "morals police" say the veil that she uses to cover her hair is too small.)

The ones that stayed have a life that is unbearable (but they pretend it isn't because in the contract they have with the government there is a clause about complaining that says if any Iranian Jew complains of their living conditions all Jews will be exiled from Iran) and are always being arrested under suspicion of working with Israel, because one of the Mossad's purposes is to operate in countries that don't recognize Israel or aliyah agencies to bring Jews home.

Answer 8

I think many left at different stages, before the revolution and after, last year an evangelical group from America even bribed some to leave. Some still live in Iran.

Iranian Jews make up 2% of the population in Israel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Jew...

Answer 9

Most of them are still there and are still thriving.

Answer 10

Israel received 76,000 Iranian Jews from the timeframe of 1948 - '95.  There is also a community in Los Angeles, but I don't know how big it is.

There were a few waves to Israel. One prior to '48, another in '79 and another in '95

Iran Population:

Prior to 1948 120,000

In 1948 the population was 100,000

In 1979 the population was 80,000

2004 population estimated at 25,000

2006 population estimated at 10,000

Iranian Jews are subject to punishment by death to have contact with Zionism, its endeavors or with Americans.  Therefore, Iranian Jews are very isolated and  census past 1986 can only be estimated.

During the 19th century, there was considerable emigration to the Land of Israel, and the Zionist movement spread throughout the community.

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.

The Islamization of the country brought about strict control over Jewish educational institutions. Before the Islamic 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 Tehran 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.

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 does enjoy a "measure" of religious freedom but is faced with constant suspicion of cooperating with the Israel and America, both of which are punishable by death. They are under Dhimmi status.

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. Jewish businessman Ruhollah Kakhodah-Zadeh was hanged in prison without a public charge or legal proceeding, apparently for assisting Jews to emigrate. Jews who apply for a passport to travel abroad must do so in a special bureau and are immediately put under surveillance. The government does not generally allow all members of a family to travel abroad at the same time to prevent Jewish emigration. Jewish leaders fear government reprisals if they draw attention to official mistreatment of their community.

The population of Iranian Jews today can only be estimated due to the community's isolation from world Jewry.