The Jewish State Everyone Forgot About!
And no, it’s not the one you’re thinking about!
So by 488, the Persian Empire wasn't doing so great. The Sassanian King of Kings was constantly challenged by the Great Houses and the Zoroastrian religious authorities, rebellions were spreading in what is now Georgia and Armenia and the peasant class was growing more uneasy and alienated from the elite.
Shah Kavad I had an idea how to solve this problem: Communism!
Well, not exactly.
However, he did back Mazdak, a religious reformer who called for sharing wealth and property and supported free love. This movement weakened the power of the aristocrats but also got the Great King deposed and exiled to the Castle of Oblivion (I swear, that's a real place!)
Now, at the time the Jews of Babylonia were ruled by an Exilarch (what an awesome word!) called Mar-Zutra II. Like all the subjects of the Shah, they also suffered from the increasing instability and religious and ideological zeal overtaking the country.
Their solution: indepdence.
Mar-Zutra II led a rebellion in 513 (or 495, it’s a bit murky), easily defeated the disorganized Persian forces and declared a Jewish state in Mahoza, modern day Al-Mada'in in central Iraq.
The state was a theocracy and survived for seven years, until Kavad fled from prison with the aid of his sister and an extra-large carpet to what is now called Afghanistan, returning with an army, crushing his enemies and restoring order to the empire (which unfortunately cost both Mar-Zutra II and the reformer Mazdak his life).
Mar-Zutra’s son returned to the Land of Israel, where he became head of the Academy of Tiberias. The ancient position of the Exilarch was abolished and wasn’t renewed until 651, after the Muslim conquest of the Sassanian Empire.
So yes, for seven years, a Jewish state (or rather a statelet) existed in the heart of what is now called Iraq.
We need to bring back exile to the Castle of Oblivion as an option.
Only yesterday I read about this episode in Jewish history in Simon Dubnow's History of the Jews. Of course in that book one reads more of the trials and tribulations of the Jewish community under the yoke of Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Muslim rulers. The oppression varies over time, but it is no surprise that the world encompassing those geographical areas and the descendants of those cultures are today so viciously anti-Israel. They've had hundreds if not thousands of years of practice.