The story of Esther (working copy)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Persia_map.gif
Persian satrapies
Picture by Marco Prins and Jona Lendering (http://www.livius.org/). With permission granted by the authors to download, copy, re-format and redistribute the pictures for use on computers, computer networks or as a printed publication, provided that no fees are charged for their distribution

(492 – 449 BC) Series of wars between Greek states and Persia, particularly two invasions of Greece by Persia (490, 480 – 479). http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/a/a3/300px-Persian_empire_490bc.gif


larger: http://www.peymanmeli.org/Images/IranMapEmpire1.jpg
This is Iran (Persia) map up to the end of Sassanid era

http://www.bangitout.com/uploads/15megillahesther.jpg (illuminated megillah)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satrap
Satrap (Persian: ساتراپ) was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Esther#Origin_and_meaning_of_her_name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vashti
persian word وَ شتی آ
According to the Midrash, Vashti was the great-granddaughter of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, the granddaughter of King Amel-Marduk and the daughter of King Belshazzar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai The Talmud says Mordecai prophesied in the second year of Darius.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahasuerus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haman_(Bible)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther#Historical_reading
Those arguing in favour of an historical reading of Esther, most commonly identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes II (ruled 405 - 359 B.C.E.) although in the past it was often assumed that he was Xerxes I (ruled 486 - 465 B.C.E.).
Jewish tradition relates that Esther was the mother of a King Darius and so some try to identify Ahasuerus with Artaxerxes I and Esther with Kosmartydene.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzGD33yWyWZVOIyNDbKD5Ioqh-36-NB-QmkILgBksxoFl16oHP1vgtTo01ezIrBFRRKnJEcVu_WeIx3-ZA424ZyzBKFjYnuuatOR1yyfGCudObC7QA6iFT4J0FvOK0z6OrSZ9s5NlsMFmZ/s1600-h/esther+&+mordechai.jpg tomb of esther and mordecai

in Hamadan: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.farsinet.com/hamadan/images/esthertomb_s.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.farsinet.com/hamadan/esther.html&h=152&w=106&sz=3&hl=en&start=17&tbnid=YYxkkvXvkYxgfM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=67&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtomb%2Bof%2Besther%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26suggon%3D0%26sa%3DG



http://www.payvand.com/news/07/mar/1199.html movie to be produced about Esther and Xerxes


"shirini haman" a European treat http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/hamantashen.jpg


purim spiel:


I. hands, feet, clothes refuse to appear at the banquet; then the crown herself


II. bye, dohiye man. kalimat ghalbi.


here's take this cell phone. The palace is in the network; it will be easier to get in touch."


III. befamarid through door; ampule de coca cola; batman to the rescue via cell phone


IV. Ester alerts A. kitaab khube ; mard hafan



V. H gets his way. esme u chieh? mmmm A drunk and book falls open


Resources:
Sarshar 2002 Esther's Children at SDSU library

Rosh Hashanah Seder (draft) New Year

from http://jewish-holiday.com/estheriran.html
from Esther’s Children ©2002 by Houman Sarchar, published by The Jewish Publication Society
see web-site
Photo caption: TEHRAN’S MAHALLEH Photo by Antoine Sevruguin, c. 1880-1900. Mahalleh, meaning “quarter, district or neighborhood,” is the word widely used in Persian to refer to any given part of a city or town based on demographic (e.g. the jeweler’s district). The mahalleh-ye juhudha (the Jewish district) was called simply mahalleh by the Jews. In the area known as ‘Sar-e chal, the more wealthy Jews would buy a home at the end of one of the cul-de-sacs in the tight and narrow maze of alleys to gain more protection from the mobs during the periodic raids and lootings.

http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=persian+jewish+rosh+hashana+seder&kgs=0&kls=0





http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2006/09/rosh-hashana-seder-persian-style.html


Apple and honey; Chives (or leeks); Zucchini; Kidney beans or black-eyed peas; Beef tongue (traditionally, meat from a sheep’s head); Meringue; Beetroot; Dates; Pomegranate.





The point, Gould says, is to have a food that represents airiness when the prayer is recited: “May it be Your will…that our sins be as light as lungs.”





While the symbolism of some of the foods may be obvious - apples and honey for a sweet year; pomegranate and beans for profusion - others are included because of word associations between their names in Hebrew or Aramaic, and their related prayers. For example, in Hebrew the date is called tamar. The blessing said over the date at the seder, using the word yitammoo, asks that evildoers be done away with. The root of yitammoo is tam, directly taken from tamar.The blessings over chives and beets make the same request, also based on wordplay. Zucchini symbolizes a public recognition of good deeds and a “ripping up” of bad. (“Kra” in Hebrew means zucchini, but is also the root for “read” and “rip.”) Meat from the head of a cow or sheep represents intelligence or scholarly pursuits.





from: http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2006/09/21/news/news08.prt


Said and Rosa Rastegar, Dr. Houman Sarshar, and Diana and Barry Gould at the Goulds' home in Stamford. Dr. Sarshar, author of "Esther's Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews," spoke at a recent event called, ìA Celebration of Persian Jewish Culture,î sponsored by the Persian Jewish community of Stamford and the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan & Darien. Photo by Norm Ostroff





“The most important factor about the Jewish High Holidays in Iran is that the Jewish holidays most fully celebrated are the ones that coincide with Persian holidays,” writes Dr. Houman Sarshar, author of “Esther's Children: A Portrait of Iranian Jews,” director of publications at The Center for Iranian Jewish Oral History, and a psychotherapist in New York City.Since Rosh Hashanah coincides with an ancient Persian festival (Mehregan), it is celebrated grandly by Persian Jews.





By doing many of the same things during the Jewish holiday as Muslims do during coinciding Muslim holidays, Sarshar writes, “Iranian Jews get to be Jewish and Iranian at the same time.”





She lists the ritual foods that adorn her seder table every Rosh Hashanah, blessed in this order:


Apple and honey


Chives (or leeks)
Zucchini


Kidney beans or


black-eyed peas


Beef tongue (traditionally, meat from a sheep’s head)


Meringue


Beetroot


Dates


Pomegranate

at sdsu

http://circuit.sdsu.edu/search?/testher%27s+children/testhers+children/1,1,1,B/detlframeset&FF=testhers+children&1,1,

http://circuit.sdsu.edu/search?/asarshar/asarshar/1,4,4,B/detlframeset&FF=asarshar+houman&1,1,
in English and farsi, 4 volumes


http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=Dr.+Houman+sarshar&kgs=0&kls=0

http://homasarshar.com/cijoh/pastproject/OrangeCounty.htm

in la center for iranian jewish oral history since 1995
http://www.cijoh.org/
Center for Iranian Jewish Oral HistoryTel: (310) 472-3012 Fax: (310) 472-3043 Web Site:

http://homasarshar.com/cijoh
http://homasarshar.com/cijoh/about/index.htm

http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=pomegranate+farsi+rosh+hashanah&kgs=0&kls=0

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/10877/edition_id/208/format/html/displaystory.html
Adhami's parents came from Tehran to Los Angeles as students in the 1960s. But her interest in Iranian Jewish culture, she said, grew with the arrival of thousands of refugees fleeing the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Newcomers would come to her parents for guidance in navigating American life. "I was hearing the stories over and over," Adhami said in a recent telephone interview. "And it was always the same themes -- everybody's pain and loss."
Nazarian may have been unable to take her wedding photos with her out of Iran, but she retains recollections of life there.
In addition to her strong memories of Passover, Nazarian remembers a different kind of seder. She wrote and translated from Farsi, the Persian language, the text of a Rosh Hashanah seder, a singularly Iranian Jewish custom.
In addition to apples and honey (for a sweet year), seven symbolic foods -- pomegranates, dates, beets, zucchini, black-eyed peas and the head or tongue of a cow or sheep -- are blessed and eaten, each representing an aspect of health and good fortune.
Nazarian was inspired to create the English-language seder guide for the children of Iranian immigrants raised in America.
"If they cannot read and write Hebrew or Persian," said Nazarian, "they're not going to have a seder. This is our tradition. We have to keep all the holidays."

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&suggon=0&q=%22soraya+nazarian%22

San Diego resources

http://larcmaterials.sdsu.edu:8080/Materials/PersianMaterials.jsp (contact LARC for access)

I'm counting on you! sefr to hezaar (o - 1000)

Numbers from 0 to 19; 20 - 100; to 1,000,000 ; to 1 milliard (1B)

http://modernpersian.com/part_23.htm -- lengthy explanation in English of numbers, fractions, etc. using Farsi script and transliteration for Colloquial and Literary

Mathematician Reza Yahaghi writes a brief transliteration for the numbers 1 to 1,000,000+.

Notes to follow

Nazanim's Someday

Persian Jewish: five options of religious music in LA

From Dr. Atefeh:

http://www.museumofworldmusic.com/Ptm.html

http://www.farsinet.com/farsi_hymns/audio/wedding_song.mid

http://www.farsinet.net/nejat/audio/aroosi_long.mp3

Where is Farsi spoken in Asia?

Here's is one area (need more images of others):



An image of the region published by NASA's GSFC
"The region displayed in this black and white, red band (Band 5) mosaic includes nearly all of Pakistan, part of eastern Iran and a bit of southern Afghanistan, and a smaller segment of India, extending over about 2,100 km (1,305 mi) from west to east. " Primary Author: Nicholas M. Short, Sr.

Need flags of the world for Bukharan, Tajiki, Afghani flags.

Songs for learning the alif baa

in Arabic from another of my blogs

Numerals are the symbols used to count the numbers--did I get that distinction right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals

In Arabic, these numbers are referred to as "Indian numbers" (أرقام هندية arqām hindiyyah).

Calendars, dates, days of the week, times of the day

Last updated 29 June 2009

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=246 Tehran weather and time

Convert dates between the Gregorian calendar and

the Iranian calendar and the Islamic calendar
the Jewish (Hebrew or Babylonian) calendar

"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!" "Get me to the church on time!" (Musical lyrics that hinge on knowing when.)

Transliteration Codes (for Dr. Atefeh's class)

Transliteration codes for Persian 101/102, Summer 2008 intensive Persian at LARC/SDSU (text + music)

In this course, as long transliteration is needed the following codes will be used:
Deep aa as in “car” : alef in آب is presented by aa ( double a): aab
Short a as alef in “dad” is presented by a (single “a” fathe or zebra in Persian): دَر dar
The letter خ with kh as خانه khaaneh , with gh as قند ghand ,
To represent the represent the o sound as in go (zammeh or pish in Persian ) we use the o : گل flower: gol
The e sound as the initial sound in "elbow" is represented by e ( kasreh or zir in Persian) : khaane خانِه
The letter ژ as in Dr. Zhivago is presented by zh. or in the word ژاله or zhaale
The sound i as the English word “in” is presented by i: Iran ایران
The sound y as in the English word “ youth” is represented by y : یک yek ( one)
The sound oo as in soon is presented by و as in بو ( smell) : Boo. In case this sound occurs at the start of a word is represented by او as in اوشون ( a place next to Tehran) :ooshoon
The diphthong or glide is represented by y as as in آمریکایی aamrikaayee/
میل meyl = desire ( as in the word “fail”)
دولَت = dowlat as in the English work “row”



To help your remember the grammar constructs of :
1) possession which is presented by phonetic sign, we will used é : naané man : my bread = نان ِ من
2) verb to be which is presented by the letter “h” ه in Persian we will use eh as:
این آبه in aabeh
حالت چطوره؟ haalet chetowreh?

The Persian Diaspora

Last updated 30 July 2009.

Publications in English: Payvand , tehranbureau

From June 26 – September 5, 2009 at NY's Chelsea Art Museum,
Influences of Homeland and Diasporaon the Artistic Language of 56 Contemporary Iranian Artists, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath was reviewed by TEHRAN BUREAU's LEILA DARABI in New York 28 June 2009, "Iran Inside Out." There is a companion exhibit and a weekly film series.



"Established in 1989, the Persian Cultural Center (PCC), better known to the community as "Kanoon", is a 501(c)(3) non-profit national organization, with no-political or religious affiliation. PCC is based in San Diego and was created to celebrate, share and promote the very rich cultural abundance of its many ethnic groups and their history."

According to its web-site, San Diego's PCC encompasses the Iranian School of San Diego, the Persian Cultural Dance Academy, and the charity of the Iranian Foundation. Here is a humorous immigration skit from four ISSD students, shared via youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SII4tZS7tE

The Association of Iranian Americans, North County (San Diego)
انجمن ایرانیان شمال سندیاگو
had its first event on July 19th in Encinitas in 2008.



The Network of Iranian American Professionals of Orange County, is just north of San Diego (social, business, and cultural).

Iranian.com, is a website for the expatriate Iranian community, mostly Iranian-Americans (lots of ads)

In Israel, Yad vaShem posts pages in Persian about the 1940's Shoah شوا .

I heard it on the grapevine -- audio broadcasts in Farsi

http://www.intkolisrael.com/

Glimpses of daily life in Iran

Thanks to our tutor for introducing us to "Inside Iran" from the BBC's Rageh Omaar, now on youtube as a 10-part series.

Jewish life in Iran: Proud but discreet (BBC 9/2006)

Pars Times list of Government offices in Iran

Food is always on my mind when I get distracted!

On 4 June, both intensive Persian language classes visited the Soltan Banoo restaurant on Park Blvd for a delicious, relaxing patio lunch.

You can find Behrooz Farahani's recipes (at bottom) from
Bandar Restaurant.

On 2 Jun, the beginning class learned which food actually goes with the word toot (mulberry) after I brought in some from the Persian market on Convoy. (review with photos; another)

Wondering how to say the name of that spice in Farsi (or any other language) ?