1.  Historical Background

Tehran, Iran’s capital since 1786, was mentioned by Muslim geographers in the ninth century as a village near the city of Ray. It received attention after the Mongol destruction of Ray in 1220, but was not developed further until the seventeenth century. Although the settlement of Jews in Tehran dates back to the mid-eighteenth century, documented reports by travelers cannot be traced prior to the reign of Fatḥ ʿAlī Shah Qājār (1797–1834). The Jewish population of six hundred  reported by Rabbi David d’Beth Hillel in 1827 can be compared to the four thou…