Jadīd al-Islām : the Jewish "new Muslims" of Meshhed /

Jad=id al-Isl=am is a fascinating story about a community of crypto-Jews living as Muslims in and around the city of Meshhed, Iran. Converted in 1839 after a libelous story about an alleged Jewish sacrilege of Islam resulting in a massacre of 36 Jews, the community led a perilous existence, opting to behave as Muslims in public but as Jews in the privacy of home and synagogue. Patai artfully reviews the documentary evidence about the calamitous event and the community's response. Intermittent hostile interaction with non-Jadidi neighbors over the years demonstrated Muslim awareness of the deception but an unwillingness to really challenge the situation. Meshhedi Jews maintained this fictional double life until after WW II, when some emigrated to Teheran and others went abroad. The author collected family history, folklore, and ethnographic data on life cycle, education, and religious practices. Most of the material was collected 50 years ago from informants in Israel; there is no real analysis of the data found here or an overarching theme that integrates the variety of materials presented. Nevertheless, this is a unique English-language source on the subject and of special value for comparison with other communities of crypto-Jews and similar situations among other faith communities. All levels. L. D. Loeb; University of Utah

Jewish life in Islamic lands has always fascinated Patai (The Jewish Alchemists, LJ 6/1/94). In this massive, specialized study, he focuses on the Jews of the Iranian city of Meshhed, who were forcibly converted in 1839. They lived an underground life: outwardly, they conformed to Islamic ways, but inwardly they kept a Jewish identity. They were known as "Jadid al-Islam," or "New of Islam." Patai's work is the product of the oral accounts he obtained. He supplements the book with tales of travelers who witnessed the servile and often degraded conditions of these Jews only from the outside, knowing nothing of their incredible but secretive lives. No detail is too small for Patai; he even describes Jewish children's games. This work is best suited for academic and public libraries with very strong Jewish studies collections. Public libraries should consider a few basic introductions to the topic, such as Bernard Lewis's Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times (LJ 2/1/91).‘Paul M. Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., Ill. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.