Venue:
Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Date:
15 September 2003 (6.30-10pm).

Organised by:
The Iran Heritage Foundation
and
The Iranian Jewish Centre
in association with
I.B.Tauris & Co. Publishers.

Supported by:
David Khalili and Dan Marks
with additional sponcership provided by
David Aaron, Manouchehr Aaron, Anonymous Donors, Victor Haghani, Mansour Mokhtarzadeh, Nasser Mokhtarzadeh, Hamid Sabi, Jacob Shavleyan, Hadji Soleimani.

Introduction:
An encounter with the history of the Jews of Iran is to embark on a journey through time, starting with their liberation from Babylonian captivity by Cyrus the Great ( 539 BCE), all the way through to their twentieth century presence in Iran, when Jews made a vibrant contribution to the country’s move into the modern era.

Amongst the world’s Jewish communities today, it is the Jews of Iran who have the longest continuous presence in any specific country. Theirs is a priceless legacy of three thousand years of  artworks, monuments, documentation, photographic records, individual histories and a collective heritage that have made an important contribution to the history of Iran and to our understanding of the Jewish experience.

At the root of Iranian Jewish history, life and culture is the biblical figure Esther, whose great beauty and intelligence won over the affections of Ahasuersus (Khashayar), King of Persia. The Hebrew scriptures recount how Esther discovered that Haman, the king’s advisor, was hatching a murderous plot against the Jews. Esther courageously exposed this plot to the king and thus saved her people.

The story of the Jews of Iran is thus the story of Esther’s children: their contribution to Jewish theology, law and thought in the Babylonian Talmud; their influence on the commercial, economic and political life of Iran through the ages; the periods of difficulty they faced; the body of Judaeo-Persian literature they produced and the immense richness of their culture. Theirs is a history worthy of note and celebration.

This evening’s programme will start with introductory comments by Dr Abraham Levy. Dr Levy’s’s comments will be followed with a lecture by Dr. Houman Sarshar entitled Esther’s Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews.

The lectures will be followed by a reception.

Enquiries:
020 7493 4766, info@iranheritage.org.

Admission:
30.00 Pounds.

Please purchase tickets well in advance due to limited seating capacity.