Prof. Lawrence H. Schiffman

Part VII

Anti-Semitism was almost non-existent in the region until roughly the year 500. The cause for the anti-Semitism that existed was the Zoroastrians, also known as the Magians. Their religion was at odds with Judaism, but, for a long time, the Sassanian rulers kept the conflict from exploding. Potential conflict with Christians in Assyria was also prevented. Occasional anti-Semitic outbreaks generally centered around specific occurrences—for example, Magians believed that it was forbidden to bury humans in the ground and attempted to outlaw burial; they were also fire-worshipers and banned the lighting of candles for Shabbat.

The end of work on the Babylonian Talmud, roughly around the year 500, came approximately at the same time that occurrences of anti-Semitism began to increase. The Talmud makes mention of a few occurrences. The rise of anti-Semitism was connected with the decline of the Sassanian Empire which eventually ended in the Moslem Conquest.

Arabs had been moving up the Arabian Peninsula into Mesopotamia. The ruler of Palmyra in Syria, known as Papa ben Netzer in the Talmud, destroyed the area in 261, and the Jews suffered.

Over the course of the last century of Sassanian Empire, anti-Semitism—as well as anti-Christianism—rose. An entire Christian… Continue reading →

Shapur I Coin, Courtesy of ZxxZxxZ, Wikimedia

Part VI

Parthian rule in the region ended in the year 227, roughly at the same time that the Mishnah was edited in Israel. The Babylonian Talmud, therefore, was developed under Sassanian rule, the successor to Parthian rule. During the Hellenistic period, there were considerable attempts to Hellenize the area. Both the Aramean nation, a pagan group, and the Jews were set against the Hellenizing forces. Ctesiphon, the seat of the Sassanian rulers, was not Hellenized.

The Sassanians dominated the city of Ctesiphon until the Moslem Conquest. Thus the Jews lived under the Sassanian Empire, which ruled over Iraq and Iran as we know them today from Iraq. (Some would even include Iraq of the Talmudic period as part of Iran, as it was dominated by Persian forces.)

The society was a highly developed one. In the year 200 the exilarchate came into effect. It was a form of self-government under which Jews were dealt with as a community. The exilarch collected taxes, controlled the system of justice, and regulated all of the Jews’ activities.

The exilarch, known in Hebrew as the Resh Galuta, had a complex relationship with the rabbis. At this… Continue reading →

Part V

The Parthian Empire, an empire which originated in northeast Iran, came into being in 247 BCE and conquered Babylonia in 126 BCE. Little is known of Jewish life in Mesopotamia until the time of the Babylonian tannaim.

The tannaim, also known as the Pharisees, were the teachers of Mishnah, which had begun to develop earlier but gained momentum and volume around the time of Hillel and Shammai, roughly between 40 BCE and the year 0. All that is known is that at the time there were some rabbis in Babylonia, although little information exists about Babylonian academies. It is clear that by the second century there were rabbis in Babylonia.

Although Hillel is knows as “the Babylonian,” it is difficult to prove that he was trained in Babylonia. It is possible that he came to Israel as a youth. However, the idea that a man trained in Babylonia was able to convince the rabbinic leaders of the time, the Bnei Batera—who were themselves from an area that bordered on Syria, beyond the Golan heights—of his interpretation of halachic matters such as Pesach and the sacrifice is quite difficult to accept. The significance of the name “the Babylonian” is… Continue reading →