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Pentateuch in Hebrew and Judeo Persian
The Jewish community of Persia, today Iran, is probably one of the oldest Diaspora communities in the world along with, what is now, Iraq, and goes back roughly 2500 years. The history of the Jews in this country could best be summarized by stating “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. The best of times were very good and Jews excelled in the arts, commerce, and politics. The worst of times were not very good and was marked by severe persecution which included expulsions and sometimes forced conversion to Islam (the 1839 pogroms in Mashhad). When the Pahlavis came to power in the 20th century, the situation for the Jews was very favorable. Then came the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the new government has vowed, and is vowing, to destroy Israel and annihilate the Jews in it. In addition, the Jewish community in Iran has often been intimidated to take a vocal anti-Israel stance. Tens of thousands have since emigrated, most, never returning.
It is mentioned in the Bible,
in II Kings, that in the ninth year of the reign of Hosea, king of Judah
(722 B.C.), the King of Assyria took Israel captive and "placed"
some of the Jews whom he deported "in the cities of the Medes” (today’s
Kurds)—an event which may have a possible bearing in connection with certain
likenesses between the Zoroastrianism and Judaism (see postings in this blog on
Assyria and Kurdistan).
In the ensuing centuries, the Assyrians were overthrown by the Babylonians who
were, in turn, overthrown by the Persians under King Cyrus who was highly
thought of in Jewish history. The taking of Babylon in 539BCE by Cyrus
inaugurated a new era in Jewish history. Jews in his empire were given an
immense amount of freedom, and this freedom also extended to his decree that
permitted the Jews to return to Judea and rebuild their homeland. (The fact
that only a few tens of thousands willingly went back to Judea has no bearing
on him.) During the reign of Ahashverash, the story of Purim took place where
Jews were allowed, through the urging of Esther, the wife of Ahashverash, to
defend themselves from an attempted annihilation at the hands of their enemies
under the evil Haman. Since that time, the Jews in Persia (including Babylonia)
had very close ties to the Jews in the ancestral homeland. Jewish life within
the empire itself reached a high point in the 5th century when King
Yazdagird I married a Jew and became the mother of his successor, Bahram V.
In the 7 century, the Arabs
began to invade foreign lands in the Middle East and North Africa, including
Persia. All lands that were invaded became “Arab” countries. But Persia was an
exception. The Persians had no love for the Arabs and resisted becoming
“Arabized”. However, they did adopt Islam and Persian life was influenced by
sharia law ever since. This involved relegating Jews to subservient dhimmi
status. This, along with Christian discrimination, led many Jews to seek some
relief through mystical/religious observance, leading to some individuals to proclaim
themselves the “messiah” of the Jews who would lead them back to the ancestral
homeland. Among the most well-known of such individuals was one, historically
referred to as the Prophet of Khuzistan. His anger was directed mainly at the
Christians and he led his following in the destruction of numerous churches in
Khuzestan province and the surrounding areas, but ultimately, he didn’t succeed
in leading a return to the Land of Israel and he died an unknown. Another of
these “messiahs” went by the name Abu Isa, a Jew of Isphahan. In the 8th
century, he led a rebellion against the caliph of Persia in order to bring
freedom to the Jews and lead them back to Israel. He, too, was unsuccessful,
and his rebellion was crushed.
For many centuries, Persian,
as well as Babylonian Jews, often settled in Israel, messiah or no messiah.
Some also visited, or went back and forth between the two countries. Rabbis
often corresponded with those in Jerusalem on controversial matters of Jewish
law. In the 15th century, there was a notable increase in the number
of Persian Jews coming to settle in Israel. Correspondingly, Halukkah activity
between the two countries also increased and many Palestinian emissaries would
visit the Jewish communities of Persia to raise funds for the poor in Israel.
Among these emissaries was Rabbi Moshe Alsheikh who went at the end of the 16th
century. In the mid 17th century, as the study of kabbalah increased
and with it, the concerted search for the location of the Lost Tribes of
Israel, the emissaries who went to the east, did so with that objective. The
most well-known was Rabbi Baruch Gad who went to Persia for the express purpose
of finding the Lost Tribes. Through his efforts, contact was made with the
community known as the B’nai Moshe who were thought to be one of them. Unfortunately,
nothing more is known of them other than they seem to be a very powerful force
in Persian society. Other emissaries who established close contact with the
Jews of Persia, especially the rabbis, were Jacob Eliashar in the 18th
century and Abraham ibn Ephraim in the 1890s. Since the beginning of the 19th
century, Aliyah from Persia increased slightly. The vast majority who came were
poor, but even so, many among them were merchants and rabbis. One was even a
physician – Eliahu Mizrahi. In 1839, some of the Jews of Mashhad, who were
forced to become Muslim, and known thereafter as Jadid al Islam, a status
similar to that of the anusim from Spain and Portugal, had settled in Israel
where most had returned to Judaism.
In the mid-19th
century, Persia established a diplomatic mission in Israel and, as with the
European missions, the local Jews were very much involved with Persian
political affairs. Yitzhak Maman had acted as Persian consular agent as had
Yosef Moyal in the 1870s and Avraham Ajami c. 1900.
Since the beginning of the
Zionist movement, Persia Jews became very active in the Jewish renaissance in
Israel although they didn’t necessarily refer to themselves as “Zionists”: 1886 The Jerusalem neighborhood of Shkhunat
Pahim was founded by Persian Jews. 1895
Mula Haim Eleazar came to Israel. He was a prominent hazzan and was active in the
local Persian Jewish culture. 1900
The Ohave Tzion society was established for the welfare of the Persian community.
1902 Agaian Yaacov Hacohen and
Mashiah Levi were active in raising the necessary funding for the establishment
of a Persian synagogue and Talmud Torah. 1917
Toward the end of the First World War, there was another Aliyah of the
descendants of the Jadid al Islam. C. 1918
The General Committee of the Persian Community in Jerusalem, and the
association of Persian Youth were established. 1920 Aliyah of entire Jewish community of Barsheh. 1925 Reza Shah outlaws Zionist
activity. Jews were prohibited from going to British Mandatory Palestine but
some secretly do. 1941 Abdication of
Reza Shah. 1943 Mohammad Reza Shah,
his successor, establishes a friendly policy towards Jews and allows a group of
Polish Jewish orphaned children from the Holocaust to transit through his
country on their way to Palestine.
Since independence, many Persian
Jews became prominent in Israeli society: Menashe Amir has been a
Persian-language broadcaster for Kol Israel since the late 50s; Amnon Netzer
was likewise a broadcaster since the late 50s, journalist and activist in the
Persian community; Moshe Katzav was former President of Israel, a strong
supporter of ethnically cleansing the Jews from Gaza, later convicted of rape;
Rita is one of the top singers in Israel today, singing in both Hebrew and
Persian. She is also very popular in Iran itself in defiance of the ruling
ayatollahs; Shaul Mofaz is a retired Israeli military officer and politician
serving in various Knesset posts.
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