ABSTRACT
The most important networks of relationships among Shirazi Jews are those traced by kinship. Any relative or “qom” has rights and duties not extended to non-kin. Since the Shirazi Jewish community is limited in size and is largely locally endogamous, it would be no exaggeration to say that all Shirazi Jews are related either consanguinally or affinally. The means by which Shirazi Jews distinguish relatives from non-relatives will be viewed not only as an attempt to order the jumble of mutual rights and responsibilities, but as having certain adaptive value.
