Below is the video of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meeting with a number of orthodox Jews from New York, exchanging message of peace and unity.

The Jewish Rabbis emphasized their disagreement with the state of Israel, labeling Zionism and the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians as a complete contradiction to teachings of Torah.

Does the Jewish population have freedom in Iran?

There are 25,000 Jews living in Iran, who have a permanent representative in the Iranian parliament. When Israel backed a plan to pay Iranian Jewish families $60,000 to settle in Israel, Society of Iranian Jews met the announcement with scorn, issuing this statement: “The identity of Iranian Jews is not tradable for any amount of money. Iranian Jews are among the most ancient Iranians. Iran’s Jews love their Iranian identity and their culture, so threats and this immature political enticement will not achieve their aim of wiping out the identity of Iranian Jews.”

Source: Barrygeo

Part 1

Part 2

Iranian Jews message to Israel: Our national identity is not for sale

So what were the incorrect information and myths that the movie 300 presented to its viewers?

Lets start by the Persian kings themselves.  As depicted in “Xerxes” also known as “Khashayar”, the kings never shaved their heads or beards. They braided their hair. The Persian or Iranian Kings did not pierce their body or least not their faces to be visible; this was true throughout the Achaemenid or “Hakhamanesh” and the dynasties that followed them with occasional exception of ear piercing.

Photo Source: Johnxfire

It is important to know that unlike the movie 300 depicts, most Greek leaders, kings and scholars, if not all of them, including “Alexander the Great” were admirers of the Persians empire, kings, palaces and magnificent gardens. Most well-known of such palace was Persepolis, described as “The Richest City Under The Sun” whose remaining is still quite a magnificent site near today’s city of Shiraz. Alexander, in his youth, like many other Greek young students at the time studied the Iranian empire and its vast kingdom. The admiration and love for the Persian kingdom and their majestic palaces was so much that after the defeat of the Achaemenid’s king Darius III, Alexander married his daughter and declared himself “The Last Achaemenid Persian king”. He prepare a  massive and glorious state funeral for him and procrlaimed that “He (Darius) is to be put to rest and honored as a Persian king.”

Unlike as it was shown by Zack Snydeir, director of 300, the Persian kings did not whip or beat their workers. As a matter of fact, the Persepolis, also known as the city of kings, was built by workers who were paid for moving the stones and sculpting them; the salary astonishingly was based on the quality of their work. This also included women who participated in most of the decoration as well as construction. Such a governing system was unheard of at the time, a period during in which, the Egyptians, the later Romans, and the Greeks themselves would beat and torture their slave workers to death.

The movie 300 also stressed on the implication that Xerxes or “Khasharyar shah” proclaimed himself as God. The Persian kings never declared themselves as Gods. It is widely accepted that the Iranians were the first people who declared their worship to the “one God”. This was fundamintal a religious belief that all kings and their general public adhered by. The kings, however, were perceived as the mediator between man an the God of Ahura Mazda. This religious belief was founded on one of the most ancient holy books; the book of “Avesta”, which enclosed the religion of Zoroastrianism, a small minority of which that day still exists in Iran and parts of India.

Based on the Zoroastrian doctrine, it was the strong emphasis on honesty and integrity that gave the ancient Persians credibility to rule their vast kingdom. This was true even in the eyes of the people belonging to the conquered nations (Herodotus, mid 5th century B.C). “Truth for the sake of truth” was the universal motto and the very core of the Persian culture that was followed not only by the great kings, but even the ordinary Persians who made it a point to adhere to this code of conduct.

The Persian kings believed in one religion and cultural tolerance. This important foundation initiated during the ruling of Cyrus the Great, the first Achaemenid king, who freed the Jews from exile in Babylon to return to today’s Palestine and Egypt. Under the rule of Cyrus The Great, the “Cyrus Cylinder” was issued; the most ancient document that is considered to be the first universal declaration of human rights.

After a summer full of ups and downs in the news, we now hit the number 9 date; 09 09 09 or 09/09/09 and for some September 09, 2009.

A lot of people are wondering what this actually means? 09/09/09 is marked as the third most searched term on Google Trends and September 9, 2009 is marked as sixth most favourite today. So today is a pretty popular day to search “today”. But why September 09, 2009 is so important?

Well there are a lot of reasons why. You can find sites dedicated to 09/09/09 numerology, countdowns, sites showing you how to get ready for 09/09/09, you can even find pages with “lets party like its 09/09/09″ theme.

But here are some of the more popular reasons

Repeating single digits dates:

Today represents the last set of repeating – all single-digit dates – that is seen for nearly a century. If you happen to live long enough you can see another single digits on 01/01/01 (That is until January 1, 2101 – 92 years later) or if you really count on you longevity then open you calendar a millennium from now and mark down January 1, 3001.

Cheaper deals:

If you are looking for special deals for a special occasion, 09/09 could be the day you save. Top of these savings are wedding and travel packages. There is news of wedding clerk offices offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. If you are a student then you might find a satisfying back-to-school 09/09 coupon.

Math:

Lots and lots of math equations playing with the number nine.

For instance, someone with lots of time on their hand or maybe a bit more brains that the normal crowd has figured out that September 9, 2009 is actually 252nd day of the year… So 2+5+2 adds to 9.

And there are lots more.

Cultural meaning:

Chinese 9 vs. Japanese 9

China and Japan have opposite feelings about this number.

The Chinese opened the Beijing Olympics games at 8:00 pm on 08/08/08 since the number 8 represents luck. However, In the Chinese tradition the number 9 is related to long life since its pronunciation closely resembles “long-lasting” and not so surprisingly the number eight sounds like wealth. For the Japanese on the other hand number 9 is considered unlucky.

It is quite easy to encounter people who claim to be from religious generations and take pride in such self-proclaimed title. Although I rather regularly encounter such people, who range in degree of proclaimed fanaticism and certainly from all different religious backgrounds, I find it hard to find a handful, sometimes even traces or glimpses of religious practices or attitudes, which corresponds to the religions teachings that they should abide by daily.

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