It is inevitable that economic interests are not the only driving force behind historical events; ideological aspects and historical emotions also play a significant role, especially when common interests converge. The Jewish-Persian relationship has been a dynamically renewed one throughout history, as evidenced by the texts of the Torah, which we will mention from their original sources.
A series of calamities
Historically, it is established that the Jews have faced a series of calamities throughout their history, the harshest of which was the Assyrian invasion of the Kingdom of Israel and its capital, Samaria, in 721 BCE, followed by the Babylonian invasion of the Kingdom of Judah in 597 BCE, and then in 587 BCE, which was accompanied by the destruction of the Temple and the exile of most of the people of Judah to Babylon after they killed the king who had rebelled against his Babylonian masters.
King of Judah
The Torah states: "So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they took him to task and killed the sons of Zedekiah (the king of Judah) before his eyes; they also put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon," (II Kings 25:6-7).
Nebuchadnezzar
The scene appears extremely humiliating, and the Torah goes on to speak about the captain of the royal guard for the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar: "And he burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem and every great house he burned with fire... Thus, the people of Judah were taken captive from their own land," (II Kings 25:8-21).
The echo of humiliation from the Babylonian conquest resonates within the Jewish mentality and in all the texts of the Torah in a prominent and unmistakable manner, where the destruction of the Temple is seen as a profound humiliation that the Jewish psyche has never and will never overcome, since they believed they were the chosen people of the Lord who would never abandon them.
Jews to return to Jerusalem
In 539 BCE, the Achaemenid Persian king Cyrus was able to conquer Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem if they wished; this was to use them as a forward base against the Pharaohs in Egypt, while the Torah elevated him, as was its custom, to the ranks of the prophets, even though he was a pagan who worshiped the gods of Babylon. The Torah states, "Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up," (II Chronicles 36:23).
The text appears to be fabricated from the perspective of giving the event a religious coloring.
During the reign of king Cambyses II (529–522 BCE), who succeeded Cyrus and invaded Egypt, he settled the Jews on one of the islands of the Nile called Philae as a protection against possible rebellions of the Egyptians against him.
The reign of Darius I
The alliance continued to flourish during the reign of Darius I (522–486 BCE), during which the Temple was inaugurated in the sixth year of his reign, and it was insignificant compared to the first Temple, to the extent that "many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses who saw the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid, while many shouted for joy," (Ezra 3:12).
King Artaxerxes I
The work to strengthen the advanced military center of Jerusalem by the Persians continued, and the Jews thought that the Persians were serving them because the Lord had appointed them for this task, based on the idea of the sacred people that their God does not forget. King Artaxerxes I (456 – 424 BC) wanted to strengthen the walls of Jerusalem and send more Jews there, but the Torah frames the story in a divine context, stating: "There was a prophet named Nehemiah who served as a cupbearer to the king, and the king noticed his distress. This alleged prophet, who only knew how to serve wine, informed him that he wanted to return to Jerusalem to strengthen its walls and enhance the prestige of the small temple. The Persian king said: 'We inform you that all the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and workers in the temple are exempt from any tribute or tax... And let it be decreed that anyone who does not apply the law of your God and the law of the king shall be put to death or exiled or face a financial penalty or imprisonment,' Ezra 7:24-26."
Sense of superiority
Nehemiah returned alongside Ezra, the second significant figure in Jewish religion after Moses (peace be upon him), who established the racial foundations, stating: "And now do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons, and do not seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever," Ezra 9:12.
This text indicates the Jews' animosity towards their neighbors and their sense of superiority, especially after the Persian king generously bestowed upon them untold amounts of gold and silver to adorn the second temple, according to the claims of the Torah.
The reign of King Ahasuerus
We intentionally skipped over the reign of King Ahasuerus (485 – 465 BC), who was a cruel and tyrannical ruler and was assassinated by one of his aides. However, the Torah elevates him to the ranks of saints because of Esther! This is due to the importance of understanding his story with the Jews outside the context of the temple.
In a stormy wine session, "the goblets from which the wines were served were of gold, and the vessels of the tables were of various kinds, and the royal wines were in abundance due to the king's generosity," Esther 1:7. The king orders the replacement of the queen who disobeyed his command to attend his banquet, and hundreds of women from various parts of the vast kingdom are brought forth; he chooses a beautiful Jewish woman, the niece of Mordecai the cupbearer, named Esther.
Haman
The narrative states that the king's minister Haman wanted to entrap the Jews, exiling and killing them, and Mordecai became aware of this. The Torah says: "So Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry," Esther 4:1. The practice of lamenting was a deeply rooted Jewish custom that the Persians and their followers adopted to this day.
The Torah is filled with such texts, including one regarding the treacherous death of one of David's supporters, which states: "David commanded his leaders and all the people who were with him, saying: Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and cover your faces with dust in mourning for Abner," 2 Samuel 3:31.
Mordecai appeals to his niece, who intercedes with the king, leading to the execution of Haman, his sons, and his associates. “And the remaining Jews spread throughout the provinces of the king gathered and defended themselves, and they rested from their enemies after they killed seventy-five thousand” (Esther 9:16).
The Book of Esther
The Book of Esther, which contains no mention of the Lord or any divine reference, states: “And Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews near and far, urging them to celebrate every year on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, which were the days when the Jews rested from their enemies” (Esther 9:20-22).
Jews continue to commemorate these events today in a festival called Purim.
As for Mordecai, the uncle of the Jewish queen Esther, the commonly circulated Torah exaggerates his status to mythical levels: “And King Ahashuerus imposed a tribute on the land and the islands of the sea, and Mordecai the Jew became second in rank to King Ahashuerus and held a prominent position among the Jews” (Esther 10:1-3).
These are the perceived virtues of the Persians by the Jews, whom they imagined to be a divine message, while it was nothing more than a transaction of interests.
Friendly relationship
The covert friendly relationship between Jews and Persians is beyond discussion, and the apparent conflict in our day under the guise of the Islamic Republic is merely political hypocrisy dictated by a shared interest in the region and the control of its resources.
Many Western Zionist politicians have been heavily influenced by these sentiments, including former U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-1953), who boasted of reading the Torah twelve times and declared, “I am Cyrus!”
Finally, the Persian historian Naser Pourparvar states in his book “Twelve Centuries of Silence” that Jews present the Achaemenid Persians as creators of culture and civilization or anything they desire, due to the service they provided by liberating them from Nebuchadnezzar’s captivity. He mentions that 90% of Iranian historians are Jews; they depicted Cyrus as a divine savior, even though he lived and died as an ardent polytheist!
