- The Media Line - https://themedialine.org -

Purim Special – The Jews of Iran: ( Modern Times)

Tickets ($18) here [1].

Join us in this journey as we explore the rich and dynamic history of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities: Iranian Jews. In this session, we will focus on the time period from the XIX century to the present day-exploring Jewish life during the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties, as well as after the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Through music, photography, visual and literary arts, as well as historical sites, we will take a virtual journey to a region steeped in twenty-seven centuries of uninterrupted Jewish history that continues to the present day. Our tour will include the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Mashhad, and others. We will also explore the Persian Jewish diaspora in Israel, Europe and the United States of America.

10% of the profits will be donated to UJA-Federation of New York, the world’s largest local philanthropy, distributing funds to hundreds of nonprofits in New York, Israel, and around the world.

Ruben Shimonov is an educator, community builder, and social entrepreneur with a passion for Jewish diversity. He previously served as Director of Community Engagement and Education at Queens College Hillel. Currently, Ruben is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network, an organization that is building a supportive community for LGBTQ+ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. He also serves as Vice-President of Education & Community Engagement on the Young Leadership Board of the American Sephardi Federation, as well as Director of Educational Experiences & Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee. He is an alumnus of the COJECO Blueprint and Nahum Goldmann Fellowships for his work in Jewish social innovation, and has been listed among The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” young Jewish community leaders and changemakers. Ruben has lectured extensively throughout the world on the histories and cultures of various Sephardic and Mizrahi communities. He is also a visual artist specializing in multilingual calligraphy that interweaves Arabic, Hebrew and Persian.