"The present work provides a historical overview of Jews living on Iranian soil and offers studies dealing with specific facets of their centuries old cultural heritage. Divided into two separate but closely related parts, the book consists of eight chapters. Part one, History and Community, includes four chapters that throw light on the history of Iran's Jewish minority from the 8th-century BCE through the 20th century. The second part, Cultural Heritage, investigates some specific features of Jewish culture and tradition in Iran. These include Judeo-Persian literature and poetry, a typical Judeo-Persian treatment of a Jewish canonical text, and the character of Jewish education in pre-modern Iran"--Provided by publisher. Born in Tehran,. David Yeroushalmy completed his primary and part of his secondary education at the Alliance Israelite school in Tehran. He Immigrated to Israel in 1961 and upon completing his secondary education he enrolled in the Departmen t of Middle Eastern History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Completing his B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and in Political Science, he served in the Israeli Army as an officer. Upon the completion of his military service he began his graduate studies at the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. He earned his M.A.. degree at the latter university in 1977, and pursued his doctoral studies at Colombia University New York, in the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures. He specialized in Persian and Hebrew languages and literatures. His Ph.D dissertation, dealing with the pre-modern literature of Persian speaking Jews, examined the literary remain of the 15th -16th century Jewish poet known by his pen-name as Emrani. Upon the completion of his dissertation in 1986 D. Yeroushalmy was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel-Aviv University, where he has been teaching Persian language and Iranian history and culture. During the years 1987-1992 he was a full time lecturer at the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures at Colombia University. Dr. Yeroushalmi s main field research and publications the literature, culture and history of Persian speaking Jews. In additions to various articles dealing with the latter areas, he has taken part in various research and academic projects and activities in the course of the last three decades. His Book entitled The Judeo-Persian Poet Emrani and His Book of Treasure, was published by E.J. Brill Publishers, Leiden, in 1995. another book dealing with Judeo-Persian literature, is forthcoming in Jerusalem. Dr. Yeroushalmi s current research focuses on the communal and cultural history of Iranian Jewry in the course of the nineteen-century.