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September 10, 2006
The Rabbi and the Mulla
In one of his talks in the US, Khatami, the former president of Iran, has said that "our first duty [as Muslims] is to be good citizens of the countries we live in".
This reminded me of the Rabbinic writings in Asurestan (Mesopotamia) at the end of the Parthian times (ca. secon century CE), preserved in the Babylonian Talmud. Apart from the political considerations, what Khatami has said is quite interesting.
In the first few centuries CE, the Jewish community of Mesopotamia was faced with many discrepencies between the laws of the Torah and the social and economic laws of the Arsacid/Parthian government under whose rule they lived. Consequently, the Jewish community was quite marginalised and was concentrated only in a few cities (such as Dura Europus), isolated from the main-stream of the Arsacid social life and the economic prosperity of Asurestan. To solve this problem, Rabbis taught that for a Jew, following the laws of the Arsacid government was as important as following the laws of the Torah. In this way, they managed to initiated the entry of the Jews into the society, so that by the end of the Arsacid era and the beginning of the Sasanian dynasty, Jews had gained prominent places in the society. Important land-owners, businessmen, and officials, as well as the mother of Narse, the seventh Sasanian king, were members of the Jewish community. This also gave much prominence to Jewish learning itself and initiated what has been called "The Rabbinic Era", resulting in much cultural achievements, most importantly the "Babylonian Talmud" itself, now a great source of much scholarship, including information about the Arsacid laws.
This effort of the Rabbis thus normalised the position of the Jews and helped their immersion in the society. In light of the fact that today, many Muslims in America and Europe find it hard to follow both the Islamic laws and the laws of their host countries, this suggestion of Khatami and its echoing of ancient Rabbinic teaching is quite interesting (I wonder if he knows of this similarity himself).
Posted by Khodadad at September 10, 2006 10:38 AM
Comments
Well Khodadad, as often happens, I come to your blog and I learn something new. :) I did not know that the Talmud was written in Mesopotama. I have certainly heard of it, but honestly, I don't know anything about what is in it. For some reason, I always thought that the Talmud originated somewhere in Eastern Europe.
I did not know that Khatami was in the U.S. until I read your post earlier today. Then, in the afternoon, I stumbled upon a bit of Khatami's live question and answer session at Harvard University. It was somewhat tedious for me, as the questions would be translated into Persian, Khatami would make his answer, and then his translator would read his answer in English. Of what I saw, the most memorable exchange was when the good friend of Zahra Kazemi's son asked his question (made a long winded statement). Mainly, he wanted to know why no one has been brought to justice for her murder. He specifically named Mortazavi as the suspected murderer. Well, Khatami agreed that he wanted justice for Ms. Kazemi, but he said that he would not be so quick to name anyone as a suspect. Its been several years, are there still no official suspects?
Oh well, I am sure that you are aware of what Khatami is saying here and there. However, I am glad that he is here. Perhaps the mild mannered Mullah can help to calm some of the current tensions.
Posted by: David at September 10, 2006 04:24 PM
Thanks David. I am glad that you found the post interesting. There are two Talmuds, the Babylonian Talmud or the greater Talmud, and the Jerusalem or the lesser Talmud.
As for Khatami and his visit. Well, one of the major failures of Khatami and his government, which brought him much deserved criticism, was his negligence in following the cases of people who had been wrongly imprisoned, tortured, and sometimes killed, like the case of Ms. Kazemi. He cannot say anything else, since he is not in power and when he was in power, he did nothing serious to bring justice about and stop people like Mortazavi or other sadistic murderers that pose as a guardians of justice in Iran. The fact is that there are suspects, and sometimes people beyond just suspicion, and Mortazavi is certainly one of them. Now, whether they will ever be tried for their crimes is something I am not very positive about.
Posted by: Khodadad at September 11, 2006 02:19 AM
Khodadad,
Can you refer me to a good book that covers this topic? Before reading your post, I understood the Rabbinic Era as resulting from the triumph of the pharisees while Jerusalum was under Roman occupation. At any rate I'm curious to learn more about the history of the Jews in Mesopotamia and Persia.
On a seperate issue: I just read on Payvand.com that there is a Sassanian exhibit in Paris -- will you have an opportunity to go see it and write about it?
Lastly, I saw that you wrote a short story on Bahram the war god in Iranian.com. Any chance you have an English version as my Farsi reading skills are "mahdood"!
Cheers, Bahram
Posted by: Bahram at September 18, 2006 04:02 PM
Bahram jaan, the English version is being prepared.
As for Paris, I just got back to the US from Europe after almost three months. I think I am going to stay put for a while.
As for the Talmud issue. Yes, the incident you refer to is the cause of the "Jerusalem" or the lesser Talmud, as I mentioned above in response to David. The Babylonian Talmud is later, but larger.
As for a book, how about this: "The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation And Commentary" by Jacob Neusner, Hendrickson, 2006. You can also look at "The Formation of the Babylonian Talmud", again by J. Neusner, E.J. Brill, 1970. In general, Neusner is one of the most authorative scholars in the Mishnah and the Talmud and many of the things written by him would be useful and you can also follow-up on his bibliography.
Posted by: Khodadad at September 19, 2006 06:10 PM