The Denver Jewish news., 1924-07-17
JEWISH PROSECUTIONS IN
PERSIA
~ MIRA MOOsA sALIM, j. n A.
Representative in Persia
Copyright tn' Jewish Tclcgraphlc

! =
e,ued the Jewish persecution to some
extent, but the persecution sin con
iinues, even In the Capital itself A
jew Is regarded as deiiled and may not
touch anything belonging TO a Mohnm-
medan even II he intends to buy It.
Al yezd, a jew may not ride n donkey
or n horse inside the city. and he must
wear old Persian style clothing.
Only two years ago. the Mullahs
| fMoslem priests OF Tehcran drafted
list ot fourteen restrictions against
the Jews and insisted on the Govern.
mcnt and the Majliss Gnrliament)
having them enforced. When the Gov
ernment delayed, the Mullahs invented
charge against the Jews Of Theran
TO incite the population to massacre
them. A donkey belonging to one Of the
influential Mulluhs was driven In
among n crowd OF Jewish boys leaving
the school building. The boys beat 1t
OF and the cry was raised that the
Jews had dishonorod the Mulah. The
Jewish quarter was invaded by Mos
lens armed with swords.
The Jewish shops were closed for
over n week, number Of Jews were
wounded and several houses were sack
ed II was only by the Intervention
Of Rabbi Kornfeld, the American Am.
bassador to Persia that pogrom was
ayerted.
This being so In the Capital, In the
midst of authority, the position in the
distant provincial towns may be imag.
ined Any Mohammedan who has n
grudgc against jew, can vent his
spite by crying out that he saw the
Jew speak to Moslem woman or
heard him insult the Mohnmmedan re-
ligion. This Immediately brings 10 the
scene crowd Of Mohammedans who
fall upOn the unfortunate jew, and
after he. has been well beaten, he will
he taken to the Police station, tried
uHN puEisftu. "A jew Ilisl Hot pay
any sort OF musical instrument in. his
house for three months during the
year (the Moslem months of mourning
and fasting) nor on any Thursday
night nor at all, If he happens to re-
side near a Mosque. In some cities a
Jew must not leave his house on u
rainy day because he may brush against
a MOhammedan and deiile him by the
touch Of his wet garment.
In the past, the Jews Of Persia have
been generally poor, but their position
in this respect is improving rapidly and
ioday they are regarded with envy by
the mohammedans, who often COM
plain to the Government, that the Jews
have concentrated the commerce of the
country into their hands. Most of the
younger Jews are engaged in importing
goods from Europe. II profitable busi-
ness mt the present time, and the most
educated of them are employed in Gov
ernment Offices.
Having lived in Persia for several cen
iuries, the Jews have acquired almost
the same customs as the Mohammedans
(eNcept those of religion). Jewish
women like the Mohammedan, wear
the black Cahdor tblack cloth over
the body when going out, and they
believe in many superstitutions, which
are expressly condemned by Judaism.
They believe In Jinns tdomons) and
when member of n family is suffer
ing from nervous disease, they say
that he is being attacked by the Jinns
whom he has Intentionally or unin-
tcntionally offended In order to cf-
feet a cure, great banquet is arrang-
ed, by which the victim seeks to ap-
pcuse the Jinns. A room is beautiful
ly decorated and the tables are heaped
with fruits and dclicacies, music Is
played and an extra dish Of food Is
added each. When 1t appears ms If the
food has been touched (probably by a
lnOuse) tllc noustnbiu TtJplctSi utCthl-
Ing it as sign of forgiveness, rela-
tives and friends are called In and
everybody eats and is merry. The same
method is adopted to concliate the
.Iinns. if child dies young. A bath
(public bnth) pit or kitchen is be
lieved to he haunted by Jinns, so mo-
body enters n bath alone, and nobody
pours hot water into u pit or throws
II stone in kitchen without saying
the word "Pahriz," i. c. ''look out"
for fear of injuring Jim.
Persons going on pilgrimage to Je-
rusalem are called Hail and such per-
sons usually Wear n red Turkish cap
Jews sit ON the ground with crossed
legs. They eat with their fingers in
stead of with forks and spoons, just as
the Persans do. They can read and
write Hebrew but cannot speak 1t 50
they speak Persian and write Persian
with Hebrew letters, which is called
Ju1aa. parsir