Persian Chief Rabbi
1908 CE–1995 CE · Modern · Jerusalem
R. Yedidya Shofet (1908-1995) was the Chief Rabbi of Iran from 1944 until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, guiding the Persian Jewish community through some of the most turbulent decades of its long history. Born in Kashan and educated in Jerusalem, he became chief rabbi of Tehran in 1944 and the senior figure of Iranian Jewry.
His leadership preserved Iranian Jewish institutions through Reza Shah's modernization, the Mossadegh era, and Mohammad Reza Shah's Pahlavi monarchy. After the 1979 revolution he made aliyah to Israel, and later moved to Los Angeles where he served the large Iranian-American Jewish community in exile. His memoir is a primary source for modern Persian Jewish history.
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Isfahan (Esfahan)אספהןPersia / Iran — central
What they did here
Born in Kashan, central Iran; raised in the Kashani Jewish community.
Isfahan (Esfahan) in this era
Isfahan in the Pahlavi era (1925-79) had a Jewish community of about 5,000, served by multiple synagogues in the Joubareh quarter. Under the Islamic Republic the community has continued — Iran officially recognizes Jews as a religious minority with reserved Majlis representation — but emigration has reduced it to perhaps 1,500 today. The Joubareh synagogue (Esther's Tomb is in nearby Hamadan; Isfahan's principal Jewish landmark is the Mullah Yaakov synagogue) remains an active center for one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities anywhere.
About Isfahan (Esfahan)
Isfahan held one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in Persia, in the Joubareh quarter. Under Shah Abbas I (r. 1588-1629) it briefly served as Safavid capital. Persian Jewish chroniclers like Bābāī ben Lutf documented its sufferings under Safavid Shi'a rule.
Works
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