Persian American Jewry at a Crossroads

While serving as the Principal at the North Shore §Hebrew Academy Middle School, Rabbi Dr. Michael §Reichel developed an intimate working relationship §with the Persian communities in Great Neck and §Queens, New York. It was through this contact with §many Persian families that he decided to delve into §the Persian history and culture and how it related §to their attitudes toward Jewish life and education. §Rabbi Dr. Michael Reichel presents a ground-§breaking, thoroughly researched history of the §beginning of Jewish settlement in Persia to the §present. This book also provides a much anticipated §examination of the differences in attitudes and §behaviors related to education, background, §practices, and values of Persian American Jewry. §Valuable insights are also provided into many faces §of Persian American Jewish culture and religious §practice. Professor Amnon Netzer, Iranian Studies at§Hebrew University states, Very interesting a§pioneering study in this specific field. §Dr. William Helmreich, Professor of Sociology and§Judaic Studies at CUNY praises the work as, An§excellent, important, pioneering work the first§empirical study ever of this community.