کنشت

From Aramaic kᵊništâ ("assembly, gathering"), cognate with Hebrew בית הכנסת (beyt ha-knesset, "house of assembly"). The word entered Persian through ancient contact between the Jewish community and the Iranian world, a heritage dating to Cyrus the Great's liberation of the Babylonian exiles in 539 BCE. Iran today has roughly 9,000 to 20,000 Jews, mostly in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz, with active synagogues. The Iranian constitution recognizes کلیمیان (kalimiyân, Iranian Jews) as one of three protected non-Muslim minorities along with Christians and Zoroastrians.