The Jewish Roots of
Kurdistan
The history of Judaism in Kurdistan is
ancient. The Talmud holds that Jewish deportees were settled in
Kurdistan 2800 years ago by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser. As
indicated in the Talmud, the Jews were given permission by the
rabbinic authorities to allow conversion from the local population.
They were exceptionally successful in their endeavor. The
illustrious Kurdish royal house of Adiabene, with Arbil as its
capital, was converted to Judaism in the course of the 1st century
BCE, along with, it appears, a large number of Kurdish citizens in
the kingdom (see Irbil/Arbil in Encyclopaedia Judaica).
The name of the Kurdish king
Monobazes (related etymologically to the name of the ancient
Mannaeans), his queen Helena, and his son and successor
Izates (derived from yazata, "angel"), are preserved as
the first proselytes of this royal house (Ginzberg 1968, VI.412). [But
this is chronologically untenable as Monobazes' effective rule began
only in CE 18. In fact during the Roman conquest of Judea and
Samaria (68-67 BCE), Kurdish Adiabene was the only country outside
Israel that sent provisions and troops to the rescue of the besieged
Galilee (Grayzel 1968, 163) - an inexplicable act if Adiabene was
not already Jewish].
Many modern Jewish historians like
Kahle (1959), who believes Adiabene was Jewish by the middle of the
1st century BCE, and Neusner (1986), who goes for the middle of the
1st century CE, have tried unsuccessfully to reconcile this
chronological discrepancy.
All agree that by the beginning of
the 2nd century CE, at any rate, Judaism was firmly established in
central Kurdistan.
Like many other Jewish communities,
Christianity found Adiabene a fertile ground for conversion in the
course of 4th and 5th centuries. Despite this, Jews remained a
populous group in Kurdistan until the middle of the present century
and the creation of the state of Israel. At home and in the
synagogues, Kurdish Jews speak a form of ancient Aramaic called
Suriyani (i.e., "Assyrian"), and in commerce and the larger
society they speak Kurdish. Many aspects of Kurdish and Jewish life
and culture have become so intertwined that some of the most popular
folk stories accounting for Kurdish ethnic origins connect them with
the Jews.
The tombs of Biblical prophets like
Nahum in Alikush, Jonah in Nabi Yunis (ancient Nineveh), Daniel in
Kirkuk, Habakkuk in Tuisirkan, and Queen Esther and Mordechai in
Hamadân, and several caves reportedly visited by Elijah are among
the most important Jewish shrines in Kurdistan and are venerated by
all Jews today.
Further Readings and
Bibliography: Encyclopaedia Judaica, entries on Kurds and
Irbil/Arbil; Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, 5th cd. (Philadelphia:
The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1968); Jacob Mann, Texts
and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, vol. I (London, 1932);
Yona Sabar, The Folk Literature of the Kurdistani Jews (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1982); Paul Magnaretta, "A Note on Aspects of
Social Life among the Jewish Kurds of Sanandaj, Iran," Jewish
Journal of Sociology Xl.l (1969); Walter Fischel, "The Jews of
Kurdistan," Commentary VIII.6 (1949); Andre Cuenca, "L'oeuvre de
I'Aflance Israelite Universelle en Iran," in Les droits de
I'education (Paris: UNESCO, 1960); Dina Feitelson, "Aspects of the
Social Life of Kurdish Jews," Jewish Journal of Sociology 1.2
(1910); Walter Fischel, "The Jews of Kurdistan, a Hundred Years Ago,"
Jewish Social Studies (1944); Solomon Grayzel, A History of the Jews
(New York: Mentor, 1968); Paul Kahle, The Cairo Geniza (Oxford,
1959); Jacob Neusner, ludaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism in
Talmudic Babylonia (New York; University Press of America, 1986).
Source:
http://www.kurdish.com/kurdistan/religion/judaism.htm
Kurdistan the Birthplace
of the Babylonian Talmud
Under the rule of the Jewish Queen
Shlomis Alexandra (also known as Shlomtzion, the widow of King
Yannai, grandson of Judah the Maccabee) 76-66 BCE, and under the
advice of her brother Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach, the Pharisees (Rabbinical
Jews) split with the Sadducees and other militant Jewish groups.
Although the Pharisees opposed Roman rule, they preferred academic
study to military revolt.
In the years prior to the
destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, this rift in approach to Rome
increased to the point of open conflict with Rome and between the
militants themselves. The Hellenists sought to assimilate or
appease Rome through adopting its culture. The Pharisees sought to
preserve the spiritual heritage of Judaism through academies and
study. The Herodians, Sadducees and their Jordanian converts
plotted revolt. Even though the first revolt resulted in the
destruction of the Temple, there was some recovery. The second
revolt under Bar Kochba in 135 CE, however, was utterly crushed by
Rome. There was a Jewish majority in Israel for hundreds of years
after this, but Israel as a autonomous political entity ceased to
exist.
After these events, the split became
geographical. The militant Jews headed south to Jordan and Southern
Arabia, eventually founding the Jewish State of Himyar (the Biblical
Sheba) in what is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen, still retaining the
name "Iudean" or what has come down to us as "Jews". They practiced
a modified form of nationalistic Judaism that was eventually
transformed into Islam by the Prophet Mohammed. The Rabbinic Jews
moved first east, then north and eventually to Babylon.
Even after crushing the various
Judean revolts, the Romans allowed the Pharisees to establish
centers of learning in Yavneh (near modern Tel Aviv) and later in
the Galilee and Golan heights. The Roman conversion to Christianity
under Constantine and its associated intolerance, combined with the
military aggressions of the Jews of Southern Arabia led to a series
of decrees essentially making Judaism an illegal religion.
Babylon, specifically the area near
what is now called Kurdistan, provided a safe haven for Rabbinic -
but not militant - scholars. The Babylonian Talmud reflects a
society preponderantly based agriculture and crafts. They were
learned in Jewish Studies and had produced in the past the books of
Ezekiel, Daniel and Tobit. At the beginning of the 3rd century CE,
Babylon became the main center of Rabbinic studies. Academies were
founded by R. Samuel at Nehardea and by Rav at Sura. In the later
3rd century, the academy of Pumpedita was founded to replace that at
Nehardea (destroyed in 261 CE). The importance of these communities
was further enhanced with the abolition of the Israeli Patriarch (Local
Ruler) in 425 CE, when Babylon became the spiritual center for all
Jewry.
Chart: A History of the
Jewish People, by H.H. Ben-Sasson, p381
