Home > Issues > Issue 74 | October 2025

Issue 74 | October 2025

Articles

Zoroastrians at Heart – Iran’s Zoroastrian Heritage

Thamar E. Gindin

Beneath the veil of Iran’s current regime, its people have nurtured their pre-Islamic roots with pride. Until June 12, 2025, the Zoroastrian faith, the Sassanid-Persian Empire, and above all Cyrus, “king of kings,” were all part of an ident

Amsterdam Festival Prayer Book

Ephraim Shoham-Steiner

Two rabbis, a stonemason’s guild, a Jewish merchant, and the archbishop of Cologne all helped solve the riddle presented by a magnificent, medieval prayer book found in Amsterdam Ephraim Shoham-Steiner In September 2019, an armo

Persian Riddle – Iran and Israel

David Menashri

Fifty years ago, Israelis lived and worked freely in Iran. How did those peaceful relations turn to war, and how do Iranians perceive Israel now, after half a century under the Islamic Republic? David Menashri The Islamic Revolu

Behind the Veil – Mashhadi Jews

Hilda Nissimi

Crypto-Jews are usually associated with the conversos of early modern Spain and Portugal, but less than two hundred years ago, the Jews of Mashhad, Iran, met a similar fate. How did a century in hiding affect Jewish life in this community?

Columns

Tale of a Trail | Gihon Spring

Tamar HaYardeni

Jerusalem’s water supply has been vulnerable to attack since antiquity, prompting ingenious solutions that have long intrigued archaeologists. What made the city’s water source so unusual – and how was it protected from enemies? Tamar HaYar

Portrait of a People | Everyday Miracles

Naomi Samuel

Naomi Samuel Abraham, Sarah, and the AngelOil on wood58 X 71 cmBelgium, 1520Louvre, Paris Jan Provoost1465-1529 Northern RenaissanceNort