Why did Iranian Jews settle in Great Neck and Los Angeles?

The largest wave of Iranian Jewish immigration to the United States followed the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Great Neck, New York offered strong schools and proximity to Manhattan, while Los Angeles offered an established Jewish community, warm climate, and business opportunities, and both grew into major Persian Jewish hubs.

Why is Los Angeles nicknamed 'Tehrangeles'?

The nickname reflects the large Iranian population, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, concentrated around Beverly Hills and Westwood, home to Persian restaurants, cultural centers, and synagogues such as Nessah.

What is Nessah Synagogue?

Nessah Synagogue, founded in 1980 by Rabbi David Shofet, is an Orthodox Sephardic congregation in Beverly Hills that has served as a central institution for Los Angeles's Iranian Jewish community.

How large is the Persian Jewish population in Great Neck?

The Persian Jewish community makes up a large majority of the population in parts of Great Neck, including the village of Kings Point, with more than ten synagogues serving the area.

What customs are unique to Persian Jewish culture?

Persian Jewish tradition includes an elaborate symbolic-foods table for Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat dishes such as gondi and tahdig, large multi-generational celebrations, and the cultural (non-religious) celebration of Nowruz, the Persian new year.

Persian Jewish Community: Great Neck & Los Angeles

Quick answer: The Persian (Iranian) Jewish community in North America grew rapidly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, with two major hubs emerging: Great Neck, New York, on Long Island’s North Shore, and the Los Angeles area — especially Beverly Hills and Westwood, sometimes nicknamed “Tehrangeles.” Both communities blend Persian Jewish tradition, Sephardic halachic practice, and modern American Jewish life.

A Community Formed by Revolution and Resettlement

Jewish life in Persia (modern-day Iran) stretches back more than 2,500 years, making Iranian Jews one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in the world. Large-scale immigration to the United States accelerated sharply after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when tens of thousands of Iranian Jews left in a short span of years, resettling primarily on the East and West Coasts. Two communities absorbed the largest share of that wave: Great Neck, New York, and Los Angeles, California.

Great Neck, New York

Persian synagogues began appearing in Great Neck soon after the 1979 revolution, as Iranian Jewish families settled into this Long Island suburb known for its strong public schools and Manhattan commute. The community grew so quickly that in the village of Kings Point, part of Great Neck, Iranian-background residents came to make up close to 40% of the population. Today, the Persian Jewish community accounts for a large majority in parts of Great Neck, supported by more than ten synagogues within close proximity of one another.

That density of religious infrastructure — combined with kosher restaurants, Persian grocers, and Hebrew schools — has made Great Neck one of the most self-contained Persian Jewish communities in the country. Families relocating to the area, or simply comparing neighborhoods, can browse homes for sale or rentals near Great Neck’s synagogue corridors.

Los Angeles: “Tehrangeles”

Los Angeles is home to the largest Persian Jewish population outside of Israel and Iran itself, concentrated in and around Beverly Hills, Westwood, and the greater Westside — an area informally nicknamed “Tehrangeles” or “Irangeles” for its large Iranian population generally. Estimates of the local Persian Jewish population range from roughly 30,000 to 50,000.

Nessah Synagogue, founded in 1980 by Rabbi David Shofet under Orthodox Sephardic halacha, became a central address for Iranian Jewish religious life in Beverly Hills. Sinai Temple in Westwood, historically an Ashkenazi Conservative congregation, also came to serve a substantial Iranian Jewish membership as the community grew. The Eretz-Siamak Cultural Center is another well-known gathering place, and organizations like the Iranian American Jewish Federation (IAJF) — active for more than four decades — and younger groups such as 30 Years After support civic engagement, philanthropy, and Persian Jewish identity across generations.

If you’re exploring the Westside’s Persian Jewish neighborhoods, HeimishMart’s Community Explorer can help you map synagogues, schools, and kosher shops in relation to available real estate.

Jewish Day Schools and Continuity

Education has played a large role in keeping both communities close-knit. In the Los Angeles area, Sephardic day schools such as Maimonides Academy have educated generations of Persian Jewish children alongside their broader Sephardic curriculum, while yeshivas and Hebrew schools tied to synagogues like Nessah reinforce Persian Jewish identity alongside Torah study. In Great Neck, families send children to area day schools such as Long Island Hebrew Academy and North Shore Hebrew Academy, which serve the broader Great Neck Jewish community, Persian and Ashkenazi alike, while synagogue-based Hebrew schools help preserve Persian-specific customs and Judeo-Persian language exposure at home.

Community Life and Customs

Persian Jewish culture carries distinct customs into American Jewish life: elaborate Rosh Hashanah tables built around symbolic foods (simanim), the celebration of Shabbat with dishes like gondi and tahdig, and a strong emphasis on hospitality and extended-family gatherings. Persian Jewish weddings and life-cycle events are often large, multi-generational affairs, and Nowruz — the Persian new year in March — is widely celebrated alongside Jewish holidays as a marker of cultural heritage rather than a religious one.

Both the Great Neck and Los Angeles communities maintain active calendars of lectures, holiday programs, and fundraisers. Residents and newcomers alike can check upcoming Jewish events to find programming near them, or look into chessed and community support resources.

Purim and a Living Connection to Persian History

For Persian Jews, the story of Purim carries a personal resonance that other communities experience mostly through text: the Book of Esther is set in the Persian royal court, and Iranian Jewish tradition holds that the tombs of Queen Esther and Mordechai are located in Hamedan, in western Iran, a site that generations of Iranian Jews visited as pilgrims before large-scale emigration. That historical thread still shapes how many Persian Jewish families in Great Neck and Los Angeles mark Purim today, often with distinctly Persian foods and a stronger emphasis on the holiday’s connection to Jewish survival in the diaspora.

Family and philanthropic ties also run deep. Charitable giving, both within the Jewish community and toward broader Iranian-American causes, is a significant part of communal identity, and organizations in both cities regularly host galas, lectures, and civic events that draw multiple generations of the same extended families.

Work, Business, and Everyday Connections

Persian Jewish families in both Great Neck and Los Angeles are heavily represented in real estate, jewelry, technology, and medicine, and community networking plays a significant role in hiring and business referrals. Anyone job-hunting in or near these communities can browse local job listings, and those looking to sell a home, rent an apartment, or advertise a service can post directly through Add a Listing.

By the HeimishMart Community Desk — HeimishMart is the community marketplace for Jewish homes, jobs, and local life across North America.