My Story - From Amnon Netzer
“In 1963 I began my studies in Iranian discipline at Columbia University, New York. A few steps from Columbia University there is the Jewish Theological Seminary, which preserves more than 200 Judeo-Persian manuscripts. A year later, I began a careful study of these manuscripts. This was my first encounter with Judeo-Persian manuscripts — an interest which has continued to the present. Later, this research was extended to Judeo-Persian manuscripts in the collections of major libraries of the world such as the British Library, the Bibliothÿeÿque Nationale in Paris, the Hebrew University, the Ben Zvi Institute , the Klau Library in the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and those microfilms of the Judeo-Persian mss preserved in Leningrad which were available in the Hebrew University. Professor Ehsan Yarshater of Columbia University encouraged me to adopt the Judeo-Persian culture and history as my main field of research. For my Ph.D. thesis, Prof. Herbert Paper of the Hebrew Union College suggested that I should make a careful study of the unique Judeo-Persian manuscript, Dÿa´ÿniyÿa´ÿl-Nÿa´ÿma, preserved in the British Library. My thesis was completed under the guidance of Prof. Yarshater, to whom I owe my knowledge of and interest in this unique field.”
“I began my annual trips to the cities and villages of Iran to collect written and oral material for archival preservation and academic research”
"In 1970 I began to teach in the newly established Department of Indian Iranian and Armenian Studies in the Hebrew University. As far as I know, I introduced the subject of the history and culture of Iranian Jewry to the university curriculum. A year later, I began my annual trips to the cities and villages of Iran to collect written and oral material for archival preservation and academic research. I was able to bring from Iran over forty manuscripts, which were deposited in the Ben Zvi Institute. In addition, I recorded on tape interviews with hundreds of Jews and non-Jews throughout Iran who provided me with an extensive collection of oral history, songs, and dialects. My systematic research embraced the area of Isfahan, Kashan, Hamadan, Boroujerd, Yazd, Kerman, Shiraz, and Rasht, including villages around these cities. However, my research trips were terminated by the outbreak of the Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1979. During the last 22 years I have benefited from the scholarly works of my predecessors and colleagues."
"Jes Asmussen, Wilhelm Bacher, Walter Fischel, Gilbert Lazard, Habib Levi, Herbert Paper, Shaul Shaked, Ezra Spicehandler, Ehsan Yarshater, Michael Zand and others, and have endeavored to contribute to the advancement of Judeo-Persian studies. A large number of Judeo-Persian poems and poets have been discovered, and information concerning known poets such as Shahin, Imrani and Amina has been revised and enhanced. Together with Prof. Shaked, I organized four International Conferences on Irano-Judaica which were held in Jerusalem in 1987, 1990, 1994 and 1998; a fifth is now in preparation. The volumes of Irano-Judaica, edited by Prof. Shaked and myself, are intended to encompass a broad range of interests which will help advance the study of inter-cultural relations between Iran and Judaism. At Present I am engaged in the publication of a critical edition of all of Shahin's poetic writings. In papers given at some twenty International Conferences in Israel, Europe and the US, I concentrated on analyzing Judeo-Persian history and culture throughout centuries."
A story just beginning
“The number of scholars who devoted their efforts to this field is limited. Concerning the history of Iranian Jewry, it should be said that the source material for the period before the þ19th century is meager. The only substantial work available is the Kitab-i Anusi of Baba’i ben Lutf of Kashan (1656-1662). As for the modern history of the Jews of Iran, from the beginning of the 19th century up to the present, I have published articles which are listed in the attached List of Publications. Important among them is a major project concerning the life and work of the Jewish representative in the fifth Majlis (1923-26) known as “Mister Haim”, who was accused of spying for the British and plotting to dethrone the king, Reza Shah, in an attempt to make Iran a Republic. From the beginning of his political activities in þ1921, Mister Haim created a hazardous and turbulent decade for the Jews throughout Iran. He was sentenced and executed in December 1931. Thorough archival research, especially in the British Foreign Office Archive, has been carried out in the last 20 years. From June 1989 until May 1997, I have published over 92 series of articles; these will continue for several years, until the opening of the closed and classified files of the British Foreign Office Archive. I am hopeful to complete the projects concerned with Shahin and Mister Haim within few years. However, as far as linguistic and literary studies are concerned, this field offers ample opportunity and challenge to scholars. Research in Judeo-Persian history and culture is still in its infancy.”
Amnon Netzer