Jews of Iran - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Subsistence was provided by manual labor and middleman occupations. Diet was heavily dependent on rice, bread, and vegetables. Dairy products processed by local Jews, as well as meat, chicken, and beef ritually slaughtered and distributed by Jewish butchers, were part of the diet. Meat was consumed at least twice a week. The diet began shifting in the late 1960s as processed foods such as pasta, vegetable oil and fat, soft drinks, candy, and ice cream became more available. Among the Western-educated, European, American, and Israeli cuisine became more common. The basic diet, however, remained unchanged.

Lacking banks, fearing robbery, and having been precluded from investing in land, most Jews traditionally disposed of spare cash through moneylending. Many served the community as butchers, ritual slaughterers, and other religious functionaries. Others worked as metalsmiths, masons, drapers, musicians, druggists, doctors, and liquor and carpet merchants. In more recent times, with the breadth of economic opportunity broadly expanded, many more Jewish professionals and entrepreneurs have emerged. Teaching and civil service have provided new opportunities. Others have become automobile dealers and international shippers. Many of the poorest Jews have emigrated; the prerevolutionary community was, for the most part, economically comfortable.

Industrial Arts. The traditional cottage industries of Iranian Jews included warp winding and the manufacture of wine and liquor, jewelry, musical instruments, ritual artifacts, and mosaics. More recently, coppersmithing, "antiques," and tourist items for foreign Jews were also made by Jewish artisans.

Trade. Although a few rural Jews traditionally engaged in farming, most were peddlers. Urban Jews, too, were usually middlemen, plying their merchandise in nearby villages and among distant pastoralists or visiting the homes of perspective buyers within the city. Most have shops along the main streets or booths in the bazaar. Some sell from pushcarts. In Pahlavi times, large Western-style automobile showrooms, stores, and movie theaters were owned by Jews.

Division of Labor. In the past, Jewish women's occupations were limited to peddling, spinning cotton, midwifery, healing, and sewing. Since the early 1960s, many women have obtained high school and college educations and entered nursing, laboratory technology, teaching, librarianship, and business.

Land Tenure. Iranian Jews were generally not permitted to own land until 1925. Since then, Jews have invested heavily in urban property and rural agricultural holdings. Most own their own homes outright or lease by "key" money.