History of the Jews, Vol. 3 (of 6)

by Heinrich Graetz

The congregation of Mosul was still more considerable than that of Bagdad. It numbered nearly 7000 families. This city was elevated to the position of capital through the hero Zenki, father of the great Nureddin, and like him the terror of the Christians, and as Zenki was not ill-disposed to the Jews, they enjoyed extensive liberties under him. The Arabic historians relate the following story. Once he came with his army to the city Jesirat-ul-Amar (on the upper Tigris), where there dwelt 4000 Jewish families. They had a synagogue which they believed had been built in the time of Ezra, and Zenki took up his quarters in the house of a Jew. His host complained to him of the impoverishment of the city through these constant military expeditions, and Zenki thereupon left the city, and ordered his army to encamp in tents before the gates. His successor, Saif-Eddin Ghasi (1146–1149), observed the same friendly attitude towards the Jews. At the head of the Mosul congregation was a man named Zaccaï, who also proclaimed himself to be a scion of the house of David, in consequence of which he bore the title of "Prince." He divided his authority with another, who was considered a distinguished astronomer, and bore the honorable title "Profound Connoisseur of the Sphere of Heaven," and was in the service of the Prince of Mosul.

The Jewish inhabitants of New Nineveh were regarded as the most ignorant among the Jews, and were not even conversant with the Talmud. North of Mosul, among the Carduchian mountains, or among the mountains of Chaftan, there were many large congregations, some of which were oppressed under the Sultans and the Persians, but others were free and wild as the mountains on which they dwelt. These free Jews in the land of Adher-Baijan (Aserbeidsan) used weapons, lived in friendly intercourse with the fanatical assassins who dwelt in that part, were the enemies of every one who was not one of their co-religionists or allies, and often made descents into the valley for booty. They were themselves inaccessible, and lived in primitive ignorance, without knowledge of the sources of their religion. They accepted the rabbi whom the Exilarch sent to them, and acted according to his directions. There suddenly appeared amongst them (about 1160) an ambitious and versatile man, who thought to profit by the military ability, the bravery and ignorance of these Jews for a purpose which is now unknown. This man, named David Alrui (Alroy) or Ibn-Alruchi (Arruchi), achieved considerable notoriety in his time, and in our own days became the hero of a brilliant novel. This young man, an inhabitant of Amadia, of handsome appearance, clear mind and high courage, had attained to deep knowledge of the Bible and the Talmud, as well as of Arabic literature. On his return to Amadia, which appears to have been his birthplace, the Jews were not the only persons who were amazed at his vast acquirements, but others also, among whom was the commander of the town, named Zain-Eddin. At this time violent tumults arose in consequence of the crusades, and of the weakness of the Caliphate, and made the whole of the country as far as Asia Minor a veritable pandemonium. The government was divided among the weak Caliph, his vizirs and generals, the Seljuk Sultan, and the Emirs, every one of whom played a distinct part, and sought only conquest and increase of power; and subordinate persons like Nureddin and Saladin obtained mighty conquests. All these circumstances combined in encouraging David Alrui to play a political part. He wanted, however, to gain as confederates his countrymen and co-religionists, many of whom were efficient warriors. This he could only accomplish if he were able to awaken their national sentiment. David Alrui, or as he was sometimes called, Menahem ben Solomon, accordingly issued a spirited appeal to the Jews of Asia, saying that he was appointed by God to deliver them from the yoke of the Mahometans, and to bring them back to Jerusalem. For this purpose they were to assist him in waging war against the nations. The first place to which David Alrui turned his eyes was the strong castle of Amadia, which he thought would serve as an excellent base of operations for his enterprises. To get possession of it, he wrote to the Jews of Adher-Baijan, Mosul, and Bagdad, to come in great numbers to Amadia, and bring swords and other weapons under their cloaks. In response to this summons, many Jews who believed Alrui to be the promised Messiah, met in the town at an appointed time, with sharpened weapons concealed about their person, and the commandant at first entertained no suspicion, as he thought that this great crowd was attracted to the town by Alrui's fame as a scholar.

At this point history abandons us, and we can only have recourse to legend, which continues the thread of the story as follows: At the invitation of the Persian Sultan, David Alrui is said to have appeared before him, unattended by his retinue; he then boldly declared himself to be the Messiah, and was thrown into prison in Taberistan. Whilst the Sultan was deliberating what punishment he should mete out to him and his adherents, Alrui suddenly entered the council chamber, and informed him and his astonished counselors that he had set himself free from prison by the aid of occult arts, adding that he feared neither the Sultan nor his ministers. The Sultan ordered Alrui to be seized, but the latter, it is said, made himself invisible, and in this manner crossed a river, defying capture, and traveled in one day to Amadia, a journey which ordinarily took ten days. When he suddenly made his appearance among his credulous followers, and related to them his adventures, the authorities were seized with a panic. The Sultan gave orders to the Caliph that he should inform the Jewish representatives in Bagdad, that, if they did not turn David Alrui from his purpose, he would put all the Jews of his empire to the sword.

The enthusiasm for David Alrui had spread, especially among the Jews of Bagdad, and afforded two knaves an opportunity for defrauding the ignorant populace of their property. They produced letters, which they gave out were written by the hero of Amadia, in which the redemption was fixed for a certain night. The two impostors now practised on the credulity of the enthusiasts; they were all to fly from Bagdad to Jerusalem on the appointed night, and for this purpose they were to mount their roofs, put on green robes, and await the hour. In their confidence that the hour of redemption was about to arrive, they committed their property into the hands of the two impostors for proper distribution. The night came, the crowd was assembled on the roofs of their houses in eager expectation; women wept, children shouted, every one was on tiptoe of anxiety to try to fly, until daybreak opened their eyes to the imposition practised on them. The rogues had decamped with the property entrusted to them. The people of Bagdad called this time "the year of flying," and thereafter reckoned time from this event.

The Exilarch and the principal of the college in Bagdad conceived it their duty, partly on account of the enthusiasm, which was passing all bounds, and partly on account of the punishment with which they had been threatened, to address themselves to David Alrui, and try to turn him from his purpose by threats of excommunication. The representatives of the congregation of Mosul, Zaccaï and Joseph Barihan Alfalach, wrote to him in the same strain; until at last the Mahometan commandant of Amadia, who was most of all eager to be rid of him, persuaded the father-in-law of Alrui to put him out of the way. He killed his son-in-law whilst asleep, and thus put an end to the disturbance. The Sultan nevertheless decreed a persecution of the Jews of those provinces which had adhered to Alrui, and the Prince of the Captivity with difficulty appeased his wrath with a present of a hundred talents of gold. It is only after his death that a Messiah is actually believed in and revered; many Jews of the congregations in Adher-Baijan continued to venerate the murdered Alrui for a considerable time; they called themselves Menachemists, and swore by his name.

There dwelt an independent, warlike Jewish tribe, at that time, east of Taberistan, in the province of Khorasan, on the highlands by Nishabur. This tribe numbered 4000 families, and was governed by a Jewish prince named Joseph Amarkala Halevi. These Jews around Nishabur believed that they were descendants of the tribes of Dan, Zebulon, Asher, and Naphtali. They bred cattle in the valleys and on the mountain slopes, were good archers, had in their midst learned Talmudists, and stood in friendly relation with the Turkish hordes called Ghuzz. The latter, who lived on the banks of the river Oxus, between Balch and Bokhara, were accustomed to make incursions in the surrounding countries, and were the terror of the civilized nations. Once, when the Ghuzz had been on a ravaging tour, the Seljuk Sultan Sinjar Shahin-Shah undertook an expedition against them (1153). His army, however, lost its way in the desert, and many of the men perished through hunger and exhaustion. At length he came to the country of the free Jews, and demanded of them provisions and a free passage to the province of the Ghuzz. The Jews objected that they owed no one any allegiance beyond their own prince and his allies, adding that they would treat their friends' enemies as their own. Immediately they prepared for battle, but Sinjar sent them a message that, if they refused to satisfy his demands, he would on his return order the execution of all the Jews in his dominions. This threat had effect; the leaders of the Jews met in council, and decided that they would consider the safety of their distant brethren, and give the Seljuk army provisions; but at the same time they warned the Ghuzz of the danger menacing them, and bade them be prepared. In consequence, Sinjar's army, which pressed forward, was routed by the Turkish hordes, and their leaders were taken prisoners.

The congregation of Ispahan in Persia numbered at that time 15,000 Jews, and at their head stood Sar Shalom, who had been appointed by the Exilarch rabbi over all the congregations of Persia. In the second Persian town, Hamadan, there are said to have been 50,000 Jews, and in Shiraz 10,000. In the city of Tuster, formerly called Susa, there were still 7000 Jews, who lived on the banks of the river. The community had fourteen synagogues, and near one of them was supposed to be the grave of Daniel. As the markets of the town lay on one side of the river, and the Jews of the other side were thus shut out from all commerce, those on the one side were more affluent than the others. The latter ascribed their poverty to the circumstance that they had not Daniel's grave in their midst; and they requested that the coffin should be allowed to be in their possession. The others, however, were not prepared to give it up, and the consequence was that feuds and bloody fights arose between the two congregations, until they came to an agreement that each side of the town, in turn, should enjoy possession of the coffin each time for the space of one year. The removal of the coffin was effected every time with great pomp, and it was accompanied by crowds of Jews and Mahometans. When the Sultan Sinjar once came to Susa, and saw this procession in honor of the removal, he thought it shameful that the bones of the pious Daniel should be disturbed in this manner, and commanded that the coffin should be deposited at a spot midway between the two parts of the town. As the river was at an equal distance from both, the coffin was hung on chains over the river, and under it no one dared fish. The bier of Daniel nevertheless proved unable to protect the congregation. At the time when Petachya of Ratisbon was there (about 1180), only two Jews, who were dyers, lived in Susa. The cause of this decrease is not known.

North of the Black Sea and in the Crimea there were only Karaite Jews; these lived in the most primitive ignorance, and had no knowledge of their rival doctrine, the Rabbanite law; they even cut their bread before the Sabbath, and on the evening of the Sabbath remained in total darkness. The Rabbanite Jews, however, had spread to Khiva, where there was a congregation of 8000 families, and to Samarkand, which had as many as 50,000 Jews, at whose head was Obadiah. About the community in India, Petachya mentions that there existed Jews with dark skins, that they lived according to the precepts of their religion, but had very little knowledge of the Talmud. Many Jews knew nothing more of Judaism than the celebration of the Sabbath and the circumcision. In the island of Kandy (Ceylon) there are said to have been at this time 23,000 Jews, who stood on an equality with the rest of the inhabitants. The king of this island had sixteen vizirs, four of his own nation, and the same number of Jews, Mahometans, and Christians.

In Aden, the key to the Arabian and Indian seas, there was a large Jewish congregation, which was independent, and had several castles; it carried on war with the Christians of Nubia, and was in communication with Egypt and Persia.

In Arabia there were likewise Jewish congregations, although the first Caliph banished them from the country. It is true they were not allowed to dwell in Mecca and Medinah, cities sacred to the Mahometans, and it may be that there was nothing specially attractive for them in those cities, for they had become quite insignificant during the five hundred years since Mahomet. But in the fruitful and commercial city of Yemen, and in the desert tracts of northern Arabia, on the other hand, there were Jewish congregations. In Yemen there dwelt, it is true, only about 3000 Jews, who, on account of their busy commercial relations with the neighboring countries, were by no means uncultured, and numbered learned Talmudists in their midst. The most learned among them was Jacob ben Nathaniel Ibn-Alfayumi. The Yemen Jews were known for their benevolence: "Their hand is stretched out towards every traveler, they keep open house for strangers, and every weary person finds rest among them." The Jews of northern Arabia, on the other hand, were more numerous, and, as in the time before Mahomet, they formed independent, warlike tribes, possessed castles, pursued agriculture, and to some extent also cattle-breeding, and journeyed in caravans to transport goods, or, after the fashion of Bedouins, to attack travelers and plunder them. Their number is said to have amounted to 300,000 souls, but this is certainly exaggerated. A large portion dwelt in Taima, and had a Jewish prince named Chanan, who boasted of Davidic descent. They had among them ascetics, who had borrowed from the Karaites gloomy principles; they refrained from wine and flesh, and generally fasted the whole week, with the exception of Sabbaths and festivals; lived in caves or rickety houses, clothed themselves in black, and called themselves "the Mourners of Zion." The farmers and cattle-owners allotted to these pious men, and also to those who occupied themselves with the Talmud, a tenth part of their yearly produce. A second group of Arabian Jews lived in the neighborhood of Talmas, and likewise had a prince named Solomon, brother of Chanan, of Taima. This prince lived in the old capital Sanaa (Tana), in a strongly fortified castle. Among these, too, there were ascetics who fasted forty days every year, in order to bring about redemption from the dispersion. A third group, some 50,000, inhabited the province of Chaibar; they were most warlike, but also possessed some Talmudical scholars. Even at that time the legend was spread about that the Chaibar Jews were remnants of ancient Iraelitish tribes, Gad, Reuben, and half Manasseh. The semi-Arabian cities Wasit, Bassra and Kufa, also had numerous Jewish inhabitants, the first 10,000, the second 2000, and the third 7000.