Persian Jews  

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Persian Jews or Iranian Jews are Jews historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor state is Iran.

Judaism is the second-oldest religion still practiced in Iran (after Zoroastrianism). The Biblical Book of Esther contains references to the experiences of the Jews in Persia. Jews have had a continuous presence in Iran since the time of Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus invaded Babylon and freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity. The history of immigrant Jews in Iran goes back more than 3,000 years, during which time they were part of a multiconfessional society which included adherents of several other religions.

Today, the vast majority of Persian Jews live in Israel and the United States, especially in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and on the North Shore of Long Island. According to the latest Iranian census, the remaining Jewish population of Iran was 8,756 in 2012, while the number of crypto-Jews is unknown.

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Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Persian Jews" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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