After a synagogue in Tehran was bombed in U.S.-Israeli air strikes last week, killing more than a dozen people, many people outside Iran were surprised to learn that synagogues and a Jewish community exist in the Islamic Republic. But Université de Montréal historian Yakov Rabkin says the reaction to the attack demonstrates how Jewish life in Iran is misunderstood.

Rabkin, a professor emeritus of history and author of two recent books: Israel in Palestine and Zionism Decoded in 101 Quotes, says Jewish life in Iran is frequently misinterpreted through a European lens.

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Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, dating back 2,700 years. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Jewish population there was estimated between 80,000 and 100,000; today it is closer to 9,000. There are about 100 synagogues across the country, some dating back to the late 19th and early 20th........

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