"The Iranian languages spoken by the Jews are often lumped under the term “Judeo- Persian. However, there are also several spoken languages, different from Judeo-Persian, that also belong to the Iranian stock and are associated with Jewish populations in Iran. What we refer to here as “Judeo-Median” are a number of languages that have their core in central Iran and are/were spoken by the Jewry of Isfahan, Kashan, Yazd, and outlying western towns. Beyond Judeo-Persian, there are the spoken Iranian languages used by vari- ous Jewish communities. These Judeo-Iranian languages can be classified into two groups, each belonging to a different branch within the Iranian stock. One group belongs to the Southwest branch, as does Persian, and consists of Bukhari, Juhuri, and Judeo-Shirazi. The other group of Iranian languages spoken by the Jews belongs to the Northwest Iranian branch. From a dialectological point of view, these ver- naculars are part of a group loosely classified under the general designation of Central Plateau dialects (cpds), but for comparative reasons we can desig- nate them as Median, owing to their location within the ancient province of Media. The invincible language database Ethnologue uses the designation “Dzhidi” (i.e., Jidi) for all Iranian dialects spoken by the Iranian Jews. This data could not be more inaccurate. First, Jidi is a designa- tion used by the speakers of the Jewish dialect of Isfahan (Judeo-Isfahani), and does not necessarily apply to the Jewish dialects native to other towns. Secondly, as we shall see below, the native Jewish dialects spoken in various towns are very far from constituting a homogeneous whole and therefore can- not be lumped together collectively as a single language. Thirdly, these dialects or languages, which we refer to here as Judeo-Median, are from the Northwest branch of Iranian family, genealogically distinct from Persian, a Southwest Iranian language, and also from Bukhari (and Juhuri). Finally, in contrast to Judeo-Persian, with its long written tradition, Judeo-Median has survived in spoken form only. Jewish vernaculars like Jidi are spoken in a dozen towns in central, western, and southern Iran. Major Persian cities such as Isfahan, Kashan, Hamadan, Yazd, Kerman, and Shiraz are known for their historic Jewish commu- nities, each with its own native vernacular generally surrounded by Persian- speaking Muslims. ” Hamadan: "With this another question must be addressed: why did the original Median language of Hamadan not continue to be spoken by its Jewish population, considering the fact that the Jewish community of Hamadan is one of the oldest in Iran? The longstanding status of Hamadani Jewry is implied by Biblical reference to the city (as Ahmehta, in Ezra 6:2) and the popular belief that attributes the founding of its Jewish community to Esther (Yeroushalmi 2009:256). The same traditions locate the burial place of Esther and Mordecai in Hamadan, whose shared shrine has been a major pilgrimage site for all Iranian Jews throughout the centuries. Hardship and local persecution forced many Jews to move from one town to another, and it is not unlikely that during this period the Jewish community of Hamadan saw major displacements, resulting in the ousting of its original language"

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