Judaism in Iran (539 BCE-present)

[@SamAronow]

*10,000 subs* 16:13 IDT 24 Sep 2021

[@Yitzhak480]

CONGRALATIONS, MAZAL TOV!

[@Hircine0]

Hell yeah!

[@danido9938]

according to social blade it was on 15:59

[@SamAronow]

Social Blade is wrong; I watched it happen.

[@thedemongodvlogs7671]

מזל טוב!!!

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

An entire video dedicated to acknowledging Persia exists

[@prs_81]

Western propaganda is quite strong unfortunately.

[@sittingstill3578]

What is this referring to? I’ve noticed other comments like this on Persia related videos. Thanks for the consideration.

[@CivilWarWeekByWeek]

@@sittingstill3578 it’s a repeated phrase in a famous documentary

[@sinaaafshar4154]

Persia never existed. It was such a tiny state such as Parthia Media Bactria Aria and ....we called our land always Eranshahr during Sassanid Empire or Iran later ages. Even Ottomans called that land as Iran and you can read 16th century texts which explains Europeans by mistake that is token from Ancient Greek historians they called Iran as Persia while Persi is just name of state and when you call someone Persian means from Persia city of Shiraz. For example delvale explained this he even said Persians of other state all would all as Ajam and we had state of Irak e Ajam ( Persian Iraq ). So when you speak bout Persia it all remind me tiny state of Persia at cost of Persian gulf but as nation Iran was name of it. Although during 1930s our King Reza Shah Pahlavi requested the whole world to call Iran as Iran no more Persia anymore but people like Churchil insisted on calling it as Persia even on international news of the time. During 19th century usage of name of Persia got imperialistic meaning to discriminate other ethnicities of Iran.

[@sittingstill3578]

There are some topics where I take everything stated with a grain of salt. The history of Persia seems to be a new one. An Iranian friend that was raised as a Jew, converted to Islam and finally Christianity told me that Muslims in general but Iranians especially so make arguing a sport. The point being to keep your opponent distracted by circling around ideas while setting out distractions and eventually wear them out. I wonder if that will develop here. I’ve heard that Jews have a similar affinity where “if there are two Jews there are three arguments.” I don’t have much contact with either group these days so I remain ignorant of the extent of this. Thanks for sharing your views and history.

[@fluffysheap]

"Hitting each other with green onions makes us acknowledge that Persia exists" Makes sense

[@Nehamah92205]

We are a Mountain Jews, a very small and forgotten Persian Jewish community in Azerbaijan.🇮🇷🇮🇱

[@Mehrdad.65]

You're our iranian brothers and sisters ❤

[@eujinlee9936]

You migrated to Azerbaijan from Iran?

[@Nehamah92205]

@@eujinlee9936 Yes and no. Azerbaijan used to be connected to the Kingdom Of Persia, and stayed within there borders for a very long period of history. The Jewish people who used to live in southwest Iran moved north in the modern country of Azerbaijan. They stayed there until eventually that region broke off of Persia to become part of the Russian Empire. Obviously, the country of Azerbaijan was formed after the USSR dismantled. Keep in mind that we are Semites, and not Persian nor Azeri.

[@eujinlee9936]

@@Nehamah92205 so you ened up in Northern Iran with all the Azeris? Wow so Azerbaijan used to be apart of Iran?

[@Nehamah92205]

@@eujinlee9936 Yes, Azerbaijans land was part of Persia for almost 2 millennia.

[@jacob_and_william]

This channel is so, so, valuable. Jewish history is amazing and I always learn something incredible. It makes my Jewish history classes in grade school look like they didn't even try.

[@anthonyfuqua6988]

You have Jewish history in Japan?

[@lynzeedavis232]

I don't think you will understand how much of an impact this video has on my life. My family lied to me my entire life so I took a DNA test to test their claims over the years. They were wrong. But I found out that I'm mostly Scandinavian with 10% Persian Jew. I'm trying to learn but it can be a little overwhelming. This helps so much. Thank you!

[@Notasingleword12]

I think you are wrong about the relationship between Mohammed Reza shah and Iranian Jewish community. The last shah of Iran was an important Alie for Israel. He recognized Israel as a independent country and didn't join the military party against Israel in 1967 and 1973 wars.

[@arthurrani]

You’re absolutely right, Iran and Israel relationships during Reza shah Palawi, we’re great, i know Israelis who were born there, Israel national construction company Solel Bone Built hugely in Iran and so forth

[@anthonyfuqua6988]

Does he say Shah and Israel didnt get along? They were great allies.

[@regularguy2807]

I agree he lied about the shah and his son.

[@Israelball]

My family fled Iran from the revolution to LA. They had a wealthy insurance company in Iran but were Jews. They just bought a huge house in Iran. They were friends with the shah, and left when Khomeini came back. They took the last flight to the US, came to New York then decided to move to Los Angeles. The husband went back to try and sell things, Khomeini almost put him in prison but the wife put immense pressure with a congressman to bring him back. Unfortunately they could not bring much. They moved to the valley, started with nothing and built back up. Now they live in Beverly Hills, Rest in Peace to the husband who left with his wife, passed on Christmas 2019 from cancer.

[@eleids]

Can we get some "At this point, we need to acknowledge: Persia exists." merch?

[@thedemongodvlogs7671]

It's at this point we need to acknowledge that Sam blew it out of the park with this one, well done! Also מזל טוב on 10k! And was that a hint for bukharian Jews????!?

[@patrickkelmer6290]

When I´m in Israel again, I hope to meet my favourite shop owner on Dizengoff street again. He is a former officer of the iranian army who fled shortly after the revolution. I hope he is okay, after all this time.

[@canaanite23]

Are you speaking of Shem-Tov? A Persian Jew who sells and repairs music instruments and he or his father played for the Shah ?

[@patrickkelmer6290]

@@canaanite23 no, he sells judaica and ritual objects etc

[@cyrusnocturnus54]

As an Iranian, I consider the Qajar period of Persia among the darkest pages of our history, as most other Iranians. Zands brought much prosperity to Persia and their reign were mostly peaceful. I didn't know the guy betraying Lutf Ali Khan Zand was a Jew

[@Yazdegerdiranyar]

Not worse than the Islamic Republic

[@FrazzleDazzle9]

Yes, Karim Khan-I-Zand was a brilliant spark, in an otherwise disastrous period of Qajar rule in Iran. He considered himself the representative of the people instead of a shah.

[@Hermesborugerdian]

I’m a Persian Jew as well and I’m not sure why you would cover the contemporary Iranian history like that. I think due to your attempts at trying to make us Jew look good you are trying to undermine how much our lives changed under the Shah and the Palavi Dynesty as a whole. That was truly a golden age for our community and let’s not forget that Reza Shah the great did closedown the Nazi radio after their anti-Semitic propaganda. I Understand that here in the west people look at the Shah as a dictator or a US puppet but that couldn’t be further from the truth. he was an Iranian Patriot and truly helped the Jewish community of the country.

[@Mehrdad.65]

دمت گرم. درود بر شما

[@javadi8327]

This is very true. There were a lot of Jews fleeing to Iran during WW2. Reza Shah was neutral during the war, the problem was that his neutrality was more beneficial for Germany than the Soviets and Britain, which is why they eventually invaded and kicked him out. Meanwhile, neutral countries like Switzerland and Sweden did not get invaded, because their neutrality was equally useful for both the Axis and the Allies. The nazis were pan-germans, they did not care for the iranian people, maybe in the beginning of the nazi party there was this idea of "Ayrianism" but that idea later died once they eventually got power and started conquering.

[@adamavikatt2174]

Nice video but you should have gone in depth about the mass conversion of Iranian Jews to Bahá’ísm during the Qajar and Pahlavi Period. Many, many prominent Bahá’í during the Pahlavi period were of Iranian Jewish ancestry. They contributed significantly to the modernization of and industrialization of Iran. Some examples are Habib Sabet - introduced modern Television to Iran Hossein Amanat - designed the Azadi Tower which is an icon of Iran Hooshang Seyhoun - Prominent Iranian architect whose work are many famous Iranian monuments Aziz Navidi - legal adviser to the Iranian Ministry of the Interior and Defense Khalil Arjomand - one of the leaders of the modernization of Iran during the Pahlavi period

[@emilvaspayer5624]

Exactly! I don’t know why Bahá’ísm is never mentioned when talking about Iranian Jews when it is single handedly one of the biggest turning points for them. About 25% of Iranian Jews in Hamadan (one of the oldest Jewish settlements in the world, mentioned in the Bible) converted to Bahá’ísm in the early 1900’s. About 70% of Golpaygan’s Jewish community, which was also one of the most educated and wealthiest in Iran, also converted to Bahá’ísm. Iran’s Jewish population declined so rapidly, I’m pretty sure that I read somewhere that there were some Iranian Jews that feared their community would go extinct due to all the conversions. And I’m also pretty sure most Iranian Bahá’í around the world have Persian Jewish ancestry. That’s what I’ve been told by a Baháí Iranian herself whose maternal grandparents were Iranian Jews.

[@cassiebetelgeuse_x7718]

There were some Iranian Jews who converted to Islam, but it was on much smaller scale than the conversion to Baha’i. It happened during the Qajar and Pahlavi period too. The only ones I can think of are Asgaroladi and Reza Hekmat who was the Prime Minister of Iran for a very short time

[@TheNavid001]

as an Ex Baha'i I totally agree. I think Baha'i history and Jewish history in Iran are deeply intertwined. Some of the longest standing Baha'i families I knew back in my days in the Faith were of Jewish ancestry

[@hisholiness4537]

It's amazing just how many different religions snd beliefs sprouted from this place. Is Iran really this magical?

[@thepersiannarration961]

And of course: abbas hoveyda

[@shai.ben.yossef]

My family on my father's side were Nash Didan (Kurdish jews). Their tribe has been in northern Iran since the Babylonian diaspora period and their language was a dialect of Aramaic similar to the one spoken during the second temple period. Are you going to do an episode on the Nash Didan?

[@shai.ben.yossef]

@@thestan2941 Judah

[@shai.ben.yossef]

@@thestan2941 by this point, everyone is. Watch usefulchart's video about it - "Is everyone a decendant of royalty?"

[@shai.ben.yossef]

@@thestan2941 Nope. And I don't think it'll matter anyway XD

[@shai.ben.yossef]

@dahaka kingidude... Do some research before jumping to conclusions... The french are also indo-europeans yet you won't argue when someone told you they're french-jewish... Just as there are french jews, there are kurdish jews.

[@ukrainukrain7345]

@@thestan2941 lol jews laugh at kurds and give them hopes since 1950 and still not become a country because they used as cards by Jews

[@sepanta8762]

Reza Shah was not a Nazi! Since the British and the Russian governments historically had plotted and acted against the interests of Iran and its territorial integrity, Reza Shah tried to counter their influence by signing commercial/economic agreements with the German government.

[@mezroth]

The Jews of Iran or as we know them the kalimis Are an integral part of the Persian society. They are amongst the oldest communities throughout the Persian history. It is upsetting to witness So many of them leaving. I hope that 1 day they will return And thrive as they have been for thousands of years. Thank you for a wonderful video.

[@formulaone07]

3:35 It would be interesting to see a video dedicated to temporary Jewish states throughout history. For example, I read once (in a questionable source) that there was a Jewish kingdom in Ethiopia around the time of the Crusades. Also, I heard that Southern Arabia had some kind of short term Jewish rule after the leadership converted around 1700 years ago.

[@ihsanamsal2947]

There were prominent Jewish tribes at sheba that existed for long time. Interesting part is at the aftermath of bar kokhba, many levites migrated southward as the consequence of the desecration of the temple and the revolt.

[@tommy-er6hh]

I think you can find the info you want at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_states_and_dynasties

[@ignemuton5500]

the Kingdom of Simien may have indeed been real, though we probably not know until we know how ethiopian jews can to be for sure (that subject is still heavily debated) the Himyarite Kingdom was very likely real so it would be cool to get a video about it.

[@aliyaser7698]

@@ignemuton5500 These are Arabs, and this Arab kingdom made the Abyssinians their slaves

[@javajav3004]

Judasim and Ethiopia go hand in hand since the days of Solomon. Only until the days of Christ did Judasim come third to Christianity and Islam respectively.

[@thebqbqk9936]

I'm a direct descendent of hajji ebrahim kalantar shirazi and some stuff in this is too biased or wrong. overall 80% informative. but wow, so we don't talk about the jewish refugees iran accepted saving thousands of us from germany ?

[@xHASSUNAx]

Damn I was really hoping you'd bring up Abdol Hussein Sardari, the Iranian Schindler that helped thousands of Jews escape the Nazis

[@regularguy2807]

Yeah instead of lying about the Shah.

[@lambert801]

I'm not sure why, but the guy really exaggerated the amount and prevalence of anti-Semitism in Iran. The Pahlavi period was a golden era for Persian Jews of Iran with no systematic and institutional discrimination against them whatsoever. But I suppose he _had_ to come up with some justification for why the Jews were so strangely against the Pahlavi regime.

[@ferdsoroushian7471]

As a Christian minority of Iran, I can say although there were some very few unpleasant memories (especially for my father) but in today’s Iran I have faced no sort of discrimination expect not getting hired in top governmental position. but in general we and my Jewish and Zoroastrian friends do our religious duties regularly, drink alcoholic beverages, have parties and ... within our own communities so all in all I have to disagree with the material presented in this video, which mostly focused on case study. Besides, one noteworthy point is that many religious minorities left Iran after The Hias organization offered some free financial aid, free education up to bachelor degree, some very good loans, and citizenship in US in almost no time!!!, then the decrease in Jewish population numbers (and others i.e. Zoroastrians, Christians…) wasn’t at all related to the bad treatment of iran government ,but rather very good and tempting options that US had to offer back then (notwithstanding that, they were some cases that were really treated badly; in my view Zoroastrians were on the top of the list, since the government thought many people might want to turn back to their ancestral roots.( as Zoroaster was the only Persian prophet and the religion of whole Iranian people before Islam. To give and estimation, for example in my grandparent’s era Zoroastrians weren’t even allowed to come out in rain or.... But since then situation has greatly improved and I and my friends as the new generation feel really safe and good. (as we, religious minorities, have very close relationship with one another, I dare to say this on behalf of at least our Jewish and Zoroastrian friends; I am really confidant that if any impartial outsider wanted travel to Iran, can verify my claims very easily) p.s despite my overall disagreement I appreciate the good intention that I feel was behind creating this video.

[@ferdsoroushian7471]

@Garren sorry for my overdue reply. I'm of the Armenian apostolic denomination. despite not being an expert, My evaluation is that most people here only know that there are several denominations, but almost none know anything more about their differences (instead most of them are in detailed debates about different branches of Shia and Sunni Islam) so all of us here are just referred to as Christian. (only very recently, due to its enormous appearance in the news, evangelists have gained some attention as many-disliked US politicians like Pompeo are of this kind. But still, I haven't heard of any change of behavior toward them)

[@menthol1234]

Du parkahayes? Inch-es eskan sut khosum ? Your name does not sound like a Christian Iranian? Are you animposer who tries to appeal to mullas ?

[@mrmr446]

In the immediate aftermath of the revolution the Tudeh party had more support, so Khomeini cracked down on them hard and in this was assisted by MI6 who gave lists of members to avoid any chance of a left-wing government. How much of this areas history was lost when the Mongols invaded we shall never know.

[@godscroissant1539]

Good the tudeh party were traitors

[@amirfarookhqazi6290]

​@@godscroissant1539 Their leadership sucked and refused to take power, in that sense were traitors to the Iranian workers and peasants. Still, Tudeh party was an impressive party; the largest party in Iranian history and the only workers' party which had mass support.

[@godscroissant1539]

@@ahadpezeshkpoor1042 true that brother just two things it was the safavids not the safaris and also lets keep calling our country Iran because that is our name for our country and lets not use the name they gave us.

[@mrmr446]

@@roberts3965 I can't take anything seriously that calls Carter 'liberal left' and gets the year of the revolution wrong.

[@mrmr446]

@@roberts3965 According to me? The date of the Iranian Revolution is hardly a secret, it's about the most basic thing most people know about it.

[@Alim-od2uz]

Iranian here, and I have ONE point: This video was REALLY unfair to Reza Shah. During the world war, Iran was home to many Jewish refugees from eastern Europe and specially Poland, and Iranian diplomats tried hard in bringing back Iranian jews from nazi-occupied Europe. Reza Shah's economic purchases of airplanes and factories from Germany were of course predictable considering pre-existing hostilities that had risen with the British over the oil deals. Calling Reza Shah a freaking "nazi" was the British narrative for Iran, an explicitly-declared neutral country, not accepting to arrest and hand over all of the German residents of Iran, including engineers in factories, to Soviet and British armies, which I guess doesn't exactly count as neutrality. That jehudkushan (?) thing you brought was something i had never heard of ANYWHERE even from the most hard-line of his critics. And that expression of happiness from tanks and bomber planes rolling over a country's civilian cities and causing a deadly famine wasn't exactly appropriate.

[@godscroissant1539]

Johoudkoshan was a practice encouraged by the celergy during the qajar period.

[@dorjou]

I don't know too much about him or about Iran during this period, but wasn't the name change from Persia to Iran an attempt to appeal to the Nazi party? I remember hearing that it's a reference to Persians being decedents of the Aryans (proto Indo-Europeans). So if he wasn't a literal Nazi, sounds like he was at least a Nazi sympathizer, but again, i don't know much about him.

[@Alim-od2uz]

@@dorjou No. That is a narrative that some French guy made later based on his own perspective. Iran was named Iran in all of the persian literature since forever ago, while "persia" is a Greek word. As for why he asked all other countries to call Iran as Iran, it was mostly to severe connection with the historic image of the weak Qajar Persia and start a new image, similar to why Turkey today is not called Ottoman Republic. Narratives of Reza Shah actually being into Indo-European theory nonesense simply do not match the evidence as he chose the wife of his heir (and thus the mother of next heir) to be an Arab, and when he was asked which foreign leader he felt the most love for, he said Atatürk.

[@dorjou]

@@Alim-od2uz Huh, I guess that's just a common misconception, thanks for letting me know.

[@emilvaspayer5624]

Johoudkoshan is just another word for pogrom. An example would be the Shiraz Blood Libel of 1910 and the Tabriz massacre during the 1800’s

[@matthewbrotman2907]

How integrated are the Persian Jews into the larger “Tehrangeles” immigrant community?

[@SamAronow]

I've never been. My family was from East Los Angeles.

[@Rifat.Rafael.Birmizrahi]

@@ciaronsmith4995 Why would being a jew in Eastern Europe be not normal?

[@adamavikatt2174]

Persian Jews are very, very insular and closed off, at least in my experience. I don’t really know about the new generation but the older generation still don’t interact with non Jewish Persians that much. To be honest, they don’t really interact that much with non Persian Jews either. Most of them don’t interact either with non Jewish Persians and non Persian Jews. I can’t speak for la community, but I remember being told that there are some Iranian shuls in Long Island that don’t even allow non Iranian Jews. The newer generation is probably more open tho

[@lookoutforchris]

No idea about the West Coast but in Long Island and Queens Iranian Jews are not well accepted in the Jewish Community or the Iranian Community. They are the odd ones out in both groups.

[@giannirodriguezmacallister5028]

Iranians are always hospitable for jews. Iranians and the Jews have a 2500 years of relationship. Real Aryans, i mean Iranians, have this opinion: good thoughts are always more important than the race. We Iranians, proud to have this hospitality to the Jews, one of the most noble nations in the world.

[@lookoutforchris]

There are almost no Jews in Iran anymore. Most fled after the Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. There are about 9,000 left.

[@TheRahimpur]

@@lookoutforchris It's not true. 1948- there were 20000 Iranian jews in Israel and 100000 in Iran. until 1968, 70000 moved from Iran to Israel (10,000 moved back to Iran up until 1968). after the revolution the rest left. but most of the Iranian Jews (my grandparents included) came to Israel before the revolution.

[@fazrieisa6654]

@@lookoutforchris biased lol i see some synagogue also exist and active in iran today

[@regularguy2807]

But not anymore.

[@regularguy2807]

They were until they accepted the religion of peace.

[@OliveOilFan]

I love the Persian jewish homeland of Los Angeles

[@Yitzhak480]

2 new playlists on the channel, one is a meme the second is a trilogy, i'm super exited for bukhara and probably china

[@IdanEretz]

An amazing video! You're just getting better. I love how you're highlighting the most interesting parts of less talked about Jewish communities.

[@elh93]

Jews might not be able to get in to the Beverly Hills Country Club, but they can get in to the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, as well as being near to Nate'n'Al's Deli, which is my favorite

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

0:22 I've never, in my entire life, heard about that thing.

[@aliexpress.official]

My family does it too. Its pure chaos.

[@galaxymyt4834]

You don't read Hebrew because a lots of information about Iran in there

[@camman945]

So glad to have found this channel. Not Jewish but very interested in the history.

[@AD-zg7fw]

Not trying to pick a fight but Persia comes from the name the Greeks called it, after Pars or Persepolis. Then the British. Simply put, even though Iran is a basket case nation, Persia is like calling China Han-land. It both ignores all the non Persian ethnic groups and it's not even a local name. Some would say it's the name the opposition gave Persia, that the local name was Iranshahr. Keeping in mind how many times Persia is mentioned in the bible... it probably was not the local name.

[@AD-zg7fw]

Very cool history in your video!

[@lookoutforchris]

China is not what they call their own country, it's Zhōngguó. The Germans do not call themselves Germans or their country Germany, and so on. Exonyms are common across the world. Stop acting like it's derogatory for one people to use a historical Exonym. It's also not even true, probably more common people know the country as Iran and have a spotty history education anyway.

[@javadi8327]

@@lookoutforchris calling it Persia dismisses the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural grouping that the term "Iran" envelopes. As far as I know, there isn't a "German" specific culture and language in Germany, meanwhile, there is a specific "Persian" culture and language in Iran. Zhōngguó means "central state", china doesn't mean anything else other than China, the name China comes from the Qing dynasty, and that's it, there is no specific culture, language, or ethnicity named "Chinese or China". Iran has always been diverse, and using the term Persia removes that diversity, also it confuses the audience, future audiences, and yourself, because now you using a term that means two things at the same time. there have been multiple times I've read Persia or Persian and been confused if they talk about Iran or the region. Just use the right term, even if you don't agree with it just do it for the sake of showing respect. there's a reason we've stopped referring to native Americans as Indians

[@Jewish_Israeli_Zionist]

Cyrus the great is our Messiah! PBUH ❤🙏 And the Persians are a great nation, contributed so much to humanity

[@hakol5938]

Fantastic video as always Sam! Can’t wait for more!

[@juliarose23]

Another great video!! Looking forward to the next one!

[@cuidatrava1]

Love your videos! One thing that keeps nagging on me though is - and no shade meant - where do you get your pronunciation of the letter "a" from, in words like "past" and "vast"? I mean, otherwise your accent is totally North American. Just wondering!

[@flamingflamingo4021]

And here I thought, the Pahlavi Shahs were liberals..

[@ihsanamsal2947]

This topic is very interesting because one of exilarch's daughter is married to a member of Hashim's famliy. Hashim, Muhammad's great grandfather was married to Salma bint Najjar, she was a yemenite jew from Sheba. Somehow created unique union between them that made Exilarch's daughter one of Ali's ancestor. This crucial fact always help me to understand how mutual respect was created between Caliph Omar with the Jews of middle east. In the next period of caliphate, Ali himself was considered one member of Persian Jew by the jews at that time as there were many Jewish scholar considered him as a messiah, but Ali rejected it. Somehow this act caused a rift between Muslims that impacted their community till this day, regarding the accusation towards others, even many muslims dont know about this detail as a significant cause. But it explains very much why Ali placed the center of his government near one of the biggest Jewish civilization at that time as Ali himself was very celebrated by jewish population. He was trying to exploit his family union against the power of Umayyad to secure his power by the blood of Exilarch's daughter He carried.

[@emr6153]

I recently saw a video in which the producer claims that Islam might have actually been born in Petra. Wondering if you'd seen it?

[@ihsanamsal2947]

@@emr6153 Petra is located in a slope. Its hard for many muslim to tell petra as mecca because when Muhammad start the conquest of mecca his army in thousands parading from the 4 gates of mecca while petra only have two gates as we know petra is located in a slope. Many classic focused astronomers such as David A. King have tried to debunk this because of astronomical devices from islamic era were not developed in a day. Well his credibility as astronomer is very determined by this conclusion. But Arabs tradition to determine time and direction was surely a significant factor in further development. Precision and accuration increased with the development of astronomical devices. This one is very interesting. Muslims believed that the valley of becca to be the old name of mecca til this day. Commiphora Gileadensis : a balsam tree that produce resin are wild trees in the region. Grows in vast number in the area near Mecca. This Balsam of Mecca venerated by one of classical Jewish literature. It is mentioning that it grows in the valley of Becca. However, despite the high price market offer, today people from Hijaz are hesitant to make it a commercial product. I heard that they dont want to sell it to non-muslims. It was very surreal when i heard it but im very surprised when i know they were actually serious.

[@benjiksss4988]

Very interesting that many Persian Jews interacted with Islam around that time. Munnabih Ibn Kamil was a Persian Jew who converted to Islam and his sons narrated a few holy Islamic texts. This is more speculative but I’ve also been told by several Muslims that Sahil al Bukhari was another Persian Jew who converted to Islam but I’m not sure about that one

[@zingingcutie8421]

You have a new subscriber, British Iranian here who has always been interested in Jewish history. We sometimes think we are morally superior, in regards to our Jewish brothers and sisters, but as discussed this is not historically accurate. I never thought of the reza shah as a nazi, but i admit perhaps we were wrong. I would like to read some of the sources you cite to prove that reza shah was a nazi or facicist. It could help convince some of the uncles

[@rebeccacuthbertson1271]

Love your channel Sam. So educational and I wish my class that I'm teaching was just a little bit older and studying more recent history to use some of your (what I consider) you're most interesting videos. (We're not going further than the destruction of the Second Temple and Bar Kochba so I'm not teaching anything beyond that). You're doing incredible work, so thank you.

[@Vanalovan]

“He was also a Nazi!” … well this is gonna get awkward

[@regularguy2807]

He is lying.

[@Solomonpious]

Very good my brother! Next one you need to make of Morocco!

[@Yitzhak480]

Koresh the great!, i love it that you are starting to hebrewfied (a real word 100%) the videos, like when you say king Yoshiau in your previous video and said now Koresh and Cyrus, it gives the videos more of a touch Great video as always and congrats on the ten thousands subs coming your way

[@kellywellington7122]

Thank you. I have watched many of your historical videos and I am amused and pleased by your pointed pause to point out Persia. Yes, Persia does exist and European history seems determined to ignore it. Keep up the good work.

[@samcousin6543]

Skipping over the massive military and inteligence cooperation between Israel, the jewish community and the Shah's Iran is a mistake for this video. I realize its a sensitive subject for political reasons, but it is a fact and it is shocking to me that you left it out. Also, what is your citation for the claim that the ulamah was friendly towards the jewish community during the Pahlavi Dynasty, most sources I've engaged with have only implied that this was done because the Pahlavi's forced them to behave tollerantly.

[@SamAronow]

I actually _did_ originally include that in the video- it was fully edited and everything. But I cut it out (among much, much else) because once I was able to step back and watch the whole video, it was out of place. This just needed to be a video about Jews _in_ Iran rather than Jews _and_ Iran, and if I ever make it to the Begin years without burning out, it will come back.

[@samcousin6543]

@@SamAronow I think its very relevant to the story of jews in Iran because it helps people understand just why the current Iranian regime which had to struggle against the mossad prior to the revolution has so much animosity towards zionism and so much suspicion towards the 8000 jews left in the country, who live under constant servailence. In any event, chag sameach. Shabbat Shalom.

[@TA3.6.9]

I've noticed you almost never use the vowel [æ] and instead replace it with [ɑ]. Where did you grow up?

[@davee.9906]

I think people today have a hard time thinking about the conditions they were living in back then. They look at life through their eyes only and can't understand that people were either slaves or dirt merchants and they didn't have time for leisure and hobbies. That's why the bible was so important to them. It provided everything in way of entertainment, learning and faith. And since only very few were literate back then they needed one man to read it to the masses. In the land of the blind the one eyed man is King. And you know whoever that was could add or subtract whatever he wanted and nobody would know.

[@alexsabeti944]

As a Persian jew lived in Iran during Pahlavy Dynasty , after Revolution and in Los Angeles, I have to say that most of the facts in this video is wrong!!!

[@seraphthegatekeeper]

This guy gets a lot of things wrong, but he packages them in a slick presentation without much citation. For example, where does he get the idea that Ester is fictional? Maybe this guy is a Reconstructionist Jew.

[@sepasgozar.]

alex sabeti, thanks and greetings to you, dear Iranian Jews, who don't sell your honor to these lies. as an Iranian, i don't forgive even one death of dear Jewish community in the 1979 revolution. but i think it's not fair that all these Zionists sponsored Hasbara propaganda clips that make so big the death of Jews in 1979 Iran, never ever mention (The Ringworm Children) that those ashkenazi in charge of Israel has genocide 100,000 of innocent Jewish children for obtaining nuke.

[@ariownts123]

yes most of the video is incredibly wrong.

[@galaxymyt4834]

Absolutely my bro

[@Ali-bu6lo]

10:11 The capital of the Zand dynasty was Shiraz not Tabriz

[@mikeoxsmal8022]

Congrats on 10,000 you deserve it

[@dhribbler7303]

Excellent video as usual, are you planning to make a similar video on the Yemenite Jewish community as well?

[@emanmoba]

Too many inaccurate/baseless statements especially in the part covering the Pahlavi period.

[@georgekovacs4278]

Thank you Sam, I think I've learned more about Jewish history and cultural evolution from your presentations than I ever could've from the college history courses I'd taken over 30 years ago. I appreciate the intimate perspective that you so generously provide your audience.

[@Hircine0]

Central Asia? I can't wait! I must share a story about my family's life in Uzbekistan for you, Sam. My grandmother's family, as part of the Soviet evacuation of the eastern front during ww2, migrated from Leningrad to Tashkent. My great-grandfather Mikhail Spivak (My namesake) worked at a plant that produced aeroplane parts for the Red army, initially in Leningrad, then Tashkent (where my great-aunt was raised) and then closer to the end of the war they would continue eastward to Tomsk (where my grandmother was born), and at the end of the war to Moscow (where my mother was born and raised), where they and stayed before immigrating to Haifa in 91-92. :) Besides my family, who continued moving eastward according to the needs of the state, those Jews who evacuated from the eastern front and stayed after ww2 formed the Ashkenasi community in Tashkent, that came to live alongside Bukharim Jews in the city.

[@Artur_M.]

A musician - truly the lowliest of professions. ;) Fascinating video! I'm looking forward to the trip towards Khwarazm next time.

[@nice5396]

Very interesting! I think you are incorrect on some parts like Zand and Reza Shah. I am not a monarchist but about Reza Shah, you said he was a nazi. What did he do that made him an nazi? Iran was under foreign imperialism and he worked with whover he could. He first signed a treaty with the Soviet union and also some with America. That does not make him a communist for working with the Soviets. Of course he should not have worked with nazi Germany but I would say that anybody that traded with them are nazis. Second would be johoudkoshan. That existed and of course the radio should be stopped, but Reza Shah did not do anything with that. Infact when you said Germany proclaimed Iranians as "pure" you did not say that it included Iranian Jews. That is because Reza Shah complained that Iranian Jews were Iranians and harming them would be as harming any other Jew. We also have Abdol Hossein Sardari which saved many Jews in German occupied territory by giving them Iranian passports which after the government of Iran applauded. Iran also denied helping Germany when he asked to blow up Iranian infrastructure. So I do not think it is correct to call Reza shah a nazi.

[@dunnowy123]

Jewish history IS world history lol. Also, I have to acknowledge how awesomely made this video is. From the artwork to the editing. Great job man

[@BUKKAKEMASTR]

This is amazing. As a 1/2 Persian/1/2 Afghani Jew who's family was extremely close to rabbi shofet I had no clue shah Pahlavi was so antisemitic.

[@regularguy2807]

He wasn’t.

[@EzraB123]

As an Ashkenazi I love the LA Jewish community. It's predominantly Mizrahi, traditional/religious and mostly everyone speaks Hebrew. Without it I'd probably make Aliyah.

[@formulaone07]

12:08 Did the 19th century Shia (pogromist) clergy not recognize the old Sunni Islamic way of treatment of "dhimmis" (Jews and Christians) legislated under the Pact of Omar?

[@prs_81]

Well, the main difference between Shia and Sunni sects of Islam is that the Shias don't recognize Omar as a legitimate "heir" to the prophet's legacy. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't recognize any pacts and changes made under his rule of the Muslim world. I could be wrong in all of this.

[@erisefox]

In general I like your videos, but the Book of Esther is fictional??? Please provide your references.

[@ars50ah]

This is unfair, most of the facts in this video is wrong, I was born in the wast of Iran .we had a neighborhood, named mehele jahodian (Jewish quarter ).Many of the ladies were my mom's best friend, because we never, thought they were different from us. we went to the same school, girlfriend and boyfriend, played football together, and many other things. israel currency Shekel , it means (the face,صورت) is Persian. From the time of The Great Cyrus since the Babylonian.

[@Yitzhak480]

BUKHARA IS NEXT, I KNEW IT!

[@Yitzhak480]

i always thought that Sam himself is Bukharian because his russian name, but i learned from the video about his family tree that he is from western russia

[@SamAronow]

My great-grandparents were born in the Pale. Everyone after was born in the US.

[@Yitzhak480]

@@SamAronow so your are an Ashkenazi that decent from the great Parashim of ancient Judea, is Aharon HaParash (from the Poland video) your ancestor.....?

[@SamAronow]

That was just a dumb joke.

[@Yitzhak480]

i know..... but your name is Aron-ov and you are a Parash so it's funny to think about

[@skrimshawman29]

an important point forgotten here is that many Persian Jews liked the Shah

[@regularguy2807]

Until he started commercial enterprise with nazi germany.

[@joseph10352]

What you did not mention is what the green onions represent. Every thing on the Seder table symbolizes some thing. The green onions symbolize the lashes that the Jews received from the Egyptians and that is the only time a man can strike his father. You are however very wrong about Reza Shah and his son Mohammad -Reza Shah. Reza Shah was not a Nazi. He was a nationalist. He was upset about the way the Russian and the British imperialists treated Iran. He was in contact with the Germans since before the first world war. The Germans built factories roads and the railway that was used to supply the Russians with war supplies. The Russian and British imperialists wanted to keep Iran backwards. As a Jew I don’t blame Reza Shah. Under his rule the Jews were protected. Most Iranian Jews have a very positive opinion of Reza Shah and his son. I have met very few who disapprove of them but those are all Communists. What is strange is that most of the live in the USA. What the hell are they living here?

[@golgarisoul]

This video starting off with very strong comedic energy.

[@denizalgazi]

Thank you, Sam! One day, you'll do Jamaica! And also the ABC islands have a fascinating history.

[@siavashfmir]

What a shame. Some facts. Most made up. Would love to point out most of the garbage put out. However, the list is too long.

[@RayHak71]

My ancestors were the Jews who were brought to Mashhad by Nader Shah. We still call ourselves Mashadi Jews even though we left Mashhad 100 years ago.

[@anone2109]

Veeeeeeeery interestingly. This is the first video of yours that I've seen, and I immediately feel as though I've found another diamond in the rough. I'm pretty f*xking stoked.

[@fatemehm2949]

A lot of misinformation to show that Jews did not have a good time in Persia. Currently many of them do not want to leave Iran even under IROI

[@emr6153]

Nice job as always!

[@Antipius]

Fascinating topic, thank you for the amazing videos!

[@ZviGoldstein]

Although there is considerable overlap between the customs of Nowruz and Purim, the month that coincides with the Equinox is Nisan, the month of Passover, not Adar. To be precise, in Jewish halacha, the day the world was set in motion was the first of Nisan, which is Nowruz, 16 days after Purim.

[@fasterthenlies]

Im parsi jew living in tel aviv my grandparents on both sides came from iran and this video is really interesting ! I also watched all the older videos prior to this one and I must say your channel is one of the most important ones on KZbin related to Jewish religion Thank you very much for your amazing work תודה רבה יא גבר !!!

[@عليياسر-ذ5ب]

A native Jew helps the Turks!!!!! What in God’s name is happening? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@liorcnc1456]

How is it helps the turks

[@harensharma3801]

11:24 the Qajar was notorious for treating minorities badly Many Zoroastrians had leave Iran in their rule ..

[@TheNorthernHouse10]

I love the people of Iran.

[@tommerenator]

Purim costumes are a recent european practice, the book of Esther being a play is a contested theory. The majority view is that it was written in. The 4th century B.C., under Persian or Alexandrian rule, perhaps early Seleucid rule. It has many Iranian words, and not so much in the way of Greek influence. Really hated this inaccurate nonsense at the beginning.

[@mikeoxsmal8022]

23 minute sam Arronow video we must be in heaven

[@tamarchristians8100]

Judaism has existed in Iran more than 2000 years.

[@SonofChrist77]

So in a nutshell Persia/Iran restored the Jewish temple not twice but three times but afterwards fell into discriminating and massacring them 🤔 I would like to apologise on behalf of Iran to my Jewish brothers and sisters

[@Therealhamidreza]

We don't recognize Zionists as Jews, Iran has most population of Jewish people in middle east better to say west Asia, (Zionists are not Really Jewish,) In fact there are many jews in United States who claim Israel as sth that doesn't resemble Jewdism

[@SonofChrist77]

@@Therealhamidreza thank you for the information brother didn’t know that

[@patrickkelmer6290]

"Green Onion Training" - where can I learn that?!

[@Jaynat_SF]

Wherever Denise Aronow is, obviously.

[@StalkerQtya]

15:47 The germans caucasian policy was never formalized. Ribbentropp wanted a joint Caucasian Federation, made up by various tribal chieftains and religious officials as leaders with heavy german influence. The Wehrmacht wanted a military government to secure the oil reserves for the armed forces in the first place, to surpass the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe. The SS became the esoteric bullcrap bunch as it always was, and they had several arguments over what and how they want to achieve. Iran would got some concessions if they somehow managed to enter into the war, but it wasn't really a possibility on persian side, until the germans secure the Ciscaucasian region... If the germans were able to do that, the war would be over anyway and there was no reason for Reza to not get into a potential Soviet patricipation. Even the turks, who made fairly good relations with the soviets had plans to seize lands in Georgia and Armenia as soon as the soviets collapsed. However, persian participation went out of the window, when the joint british and soviet forces occupied Iran not even 2 months after Barbarossa began. So it wasn't really as serious as you depict here, and it didn't really made Reza into a nazi. He was an authoritarian absolutist, with anti-jewish sentiments, but he was far from the cesspit of the true national socialists, like Hitler or Himmler.

[@theklorg305]

Do you have any sources on the Barforush Pogrom?

[@JG-vh6oy]

21:58 what’s the song at the end there? It was on a previous video as well :(

[@theklorg305]

What exactly is the etymology of Esfahan?

[@hanohbeizer5368]

נהדר כרגיל, חידש לי המון. חוץ מהקטע של הבצל שהכרתי:)

[@башарал]

at 10:45 my brain went into hyperdrive trying to recall what song that was and I believe its from mount & blade: warband, good choice

[@harelkalifa2451]

Great video! Can't Wait for the Bukhara video!

[@omegapc9520]

great video sam

[@es1653]

People often ask me if I'm Iranian because they say they know lots of people in Iran with my last name. I tell them I don't know because my father came from Poland but his father died when he was eight years old in World War I. If Iran ever becomes open to tourists I would like to visit there.

[@krosack]

Okay, so I guess this is my new favorite page. Can't wait to convert.

[@orboakin8074]

Just stumbled on your channel by chance and am loving the content. One thing I have learned so far is that the middle east and central Asia have always been a volatile hot bed of craziness and instability but Jews have managed to weather through it all. Props to them.

[@doomera5911]

I'm not Jewish, I just like the history

[@kmmmsyr9883]

Fun fact: Turkish word "gavat" which means "cuckold" comes from the name of Shah Kavad

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

*5:05* Today Khuzestan is also named Arabistan because of the same reason! Ironic

[@prs_81]

Is it? I'm from Iran and have never heard Khuzestan called Arabia before.

[@galaxymyt4834]

That's not true khuzestan most of them is bakhtiari or lor group not Arab

[@מ.מ-ה9ד]

@@galaxymyt4834 A) There are more Arabs in Khuzestan than all Bakhtiari people in the entire world. B) How is that relevant to what I wrote?

[@miladsterdoesstuff1568]

Gay/Gey is actually pronounced like the English word Gay lmao. There is still a neighborhood called Jey in Esfahan.

[@Yitzhak480]

Hello Sam, I see your Hebrew's family tree video is gone, was it moved to a different channel, or did you removed it entirely?

[@PearlmanYeC]

Megillas Esther is historic. Within Chazal is the one historic actuality Reference 6 names of Esther and Pearlman Chazal based alt. to understand the Chronology and inside story of Cyrus b, Cambyses I and his 3390 anno-mundi proclamation until Alexander at River Granicus 52 years later in 3442. Current Hellenized consensus inflated by 164 years. 148 during the Persian span and 16 the Greek. reference Pearlman YeC 'Moshe Emes' series for the alignment of Torah testimony, science and ancient civ. volume III 'Torah Discovery Chronology'

[@YahnatanBenAhav]

That Beverly Hills statistic straight up blew my mind. 🤯