S. Khubiar's Blog - Posts Tagged "persian"

Leaving Iran: A Glimpse Into The Persian Mind by Isaac Yomtovian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the best book I've read in a long time. The author divides his life experience into sections, each one building on his earliest experiences and impressions growing up in pre-Revolutionary Iran as a "Jahood." Yomtovian has done a masterful job of bringing both the non-Persian and non-Jew into an ancient, yet little-known or little-celebrated arena of Jewish life. As a writer, I could only hope that my work captures some of his gentle and humorous introduction to Persian life and the adjustments required of American/Persian Jews. Ta'arof? No.

Although other Persian Jewish writers have incorporated Persian customs and Farsi vocabulary in their work, Yomtovian has done the best job of explaining terms to the non-Persian reader either within the text or in his added glossary. At no point does the new information become too much for the non-Persian to assimilate. The chapter describing the showing of The Ten Commandments in Iran was so funny I had to read it to my friends.

For those who think Middle Eastern Jews were treated well by their host countries, this book puts their treatment into proper perspective, yet it demonstrates how one's experiences may be remembered more fondly than reality dictates when those first experiences set the norm in young minds and hearts. The most human thing about the author is that in spite of all the problems he experienced in Iran, he still remembers the culture, art, and shared history fondly.

This book delivers exactly what the title promises: a glimpse into the Persian mind.
Leaving Iran: A Glimpse Into The Persian Mind



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