When Judah Was Captured By the Persian Empire and Who Was Living There

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

The Persian Empire took control of Judea in c.539 BCE when Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire, which had previously controlled the region; this event is often referred to as the "Persian conquest of Babylon" and marked the beginning of the Persian period in Judea, also known as the "Province of Yehud" within the Persian Empire.  

The Persian period in Judea lasted from 538–332 BCE or from 586 to 516 BCE by Gentile historians. During this time, the Persian Empire ruled the region, which included the province of Judah, now known as Yehud (land of Jews).                       

Judea was made up of the tribe of Judah and a few of the Benjamites andSimeonites who joined them at the time of the Assyrian attack in 721 BCE when 10 of the 12 tribes were captured and taken away. Judea contained the city of Jerusalem.                       

     The Triumph of Mordecai by Pieter Lastman, 1624, Esther's cousin and uncle.

One of the important Benjamites was a man named Mordecai who  lived  in the 400sBCE who was a palace official in Shushan, Persia, the capital, during the  reign of King Xerxes who we know as King Ahasueros,  husband of our famous Queen Esther.  

Mordecai is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described in Tanna Devei Eliyahu as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin and member of the Sanhedrin. Jair was an Israelite hero of the Exodus Period;  he captured a group of villages in Northern Gilead from the Amorites which were thence forward known as the "villages of Jair."  (Num. 32:41).  Another Jair was an Israelite judge known later originating from Gilead, probably a descendant.  

Mordecai was also the cousin, uncle and guardian of Esther, who became queen of Persia under the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I). Mordecai's loyalty and bravery are highlighted in the story as he helps Esther foil the plot of Haman, the king's vizier, to exterminate the Jewish people. His story is celebrated in the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates his victory.

Mordecai discovered that the Jewish extermination was fixed by lot for the month of Adar 13, but the Jews escaped, resisting their persecutions on that date and in Shushan, also on the next day.  Purim, the holiday, is celebrated then on Adar 14.   Adar is the 12th month of the Jewish religious year, 6th of the civil;  falling in February to March.  Adar is an Assyrian origin name.  

Xerxes I commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BCE until his assassination in 465 BCE. Darius I was thought to be his father. He is known to us as Ahasueros.   

He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great. Jewish history has Darius and Cyrus related as father and son.  We might assume that Darius was the son or grandson of Esther and Ahasueros with the connection to the tribe of Benjamin through Esther.  

The tribe of Benjamin was considered to be quite special, stemming from the 12th and youngest son of Jacob and 2nd son of Rachel who died in childbirth, raised by her sister and handmaidens.  They had land between Ephraim and Judah which included Jerusalem.  Saul, 1st king of Israel, was a Benjamite.  Their territory was a bone of contention between Israel and Judah after the division  of the kingdom and eventually, was partitioned between the two, mostly with Judah.  

Cyrus II died in 529 BCE as king of Persia.  He had overrun the Babylonian Empire which included Eretz Yisrael.  In 538 he was known to grant permission  to the exiles of Judah in Babylon  to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 1:1-44;  II Chronl. 36-22-23)  The Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus II as a Divine agent (Is.44:28:45:1).

Darius ((son of Xerxes I)-He was the eldest son of the Persian king Xerxes I and his wife Amestris. His younger brothers were Hystaspes and Artaxerxes, and his younger sisters were Rhodogune and Amytis.) reigned from (522-486 BCE) and had inherited the throne of Cyrus. In 465 BC, Darius may have ascended to the throne as King of Persia after his father was murdered in a conspiracy carried out by Artabanus and Aspamitres the eunuch, who were confidential advisers of Xerxes. Afterwards, they deceived Artaxerxes into believing that it was his older brother, Darius, who murdered his father. Darius was then taken to the palace of Artaxerxes and put to death.

  At the beginning of his reign, Xerxes/Ahasueros permitted Zerubbabel, grandson of king Jehoiachin (598-597 BCE) and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple.  It seems the Jews had their own views of Darius and Cyrus II from other history records.  

Mordecai with his niece and cousin, Hadassah AKA Esther of the scroll of (Megillat Esther).  

Hadassah was a young Jewish woman, niece and cousin of Mordecai, the Benjamite, so she was no doubt also of his tribe of Benjamin. She was the daughter of Abihail.   Abihail was the father of Queen Esther and uncle of Mordecai (Esther 2:15; Esther 9:29).   

 It's the Jewish name for Esther, who became Queen Esther, wife of king Ahasueros, who learned of Haman's plot to kill all Jews in the kingdom through his wife, Esther.  He also learned that he himself was also to be assassinated along with the Jews.  Ahasueros saw to it that Haman was hanged and his position as Chief Minister was filled by Mordecai.  According to the Book of Esther, Esther entered the beauty contest not out of personal desire to be queen, but because she was "taken" into the king's harem, meaning she was essentially forced to participate as part of a royal decree, with the goal of ultimately using her position to protect her Jewish people from a potential threat; she did not reveal her Jewish identity to the king during the contest, following her uncle Mordecai's instructions to conceal her heritage.  Evidently things were that bad !                     

Ahasueros's 1st wife and Persian Queen was Vashti.According to the Aggadah (or Haggadah), a book of Jewish tradition and folklore, Vashti was the daughter of the  Babylonian king Belshazzar. The night that Belshazzar was killed (Daniel 5), Vashti was captured by the conquering Persians and given to Xerxes as a wife. According to various legends, Vashti’s refusal to appear before the king was due to modesty (she was told to appear nude), fear for her husband’s life (she figured she would be mobbed by the drunken crowd and the king would be killed), loathing for her husband (whom she considered to have non-royal blood), or the fact that she herself had leprosy. Another tradition says that Vashti was not simply banished from the king’s presence but was executed. It’s important to note that none of these details are in the biblical account, and there is no way to confirm their veracity.  According to Babylonian records, the last king of Babylon was Nabonidus who reigned from 556 to 539 BCE whose eldest son, Belshazar, acted as viceroy during his fathers lengthy stays in Arabia.  Belshazzar is also mentioned in Herodotus and Xenophon that Babylon fell on a feast-day.  

The king divorced her after she had refused to dance at his banquet for the entertainment of his guests.  This is when, after being a divorced king, he realized the need for another spouse, so held a beauty contest where Esther competed and won. Vashti was a hard act to follow, but Esther was supposed to be very beautiful.    

Resource:

https://bible-history.com/map-babylonian-captivity/susa

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abihail#:~:text=Abihail%20was%20the%20daughter%20of,Esther%20and%20uncle%20of%20Mordecai.

Hidden Facts About Queen Esther's King In Talmud

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

There came a time when Jews were not in control of their own lives; when they had been exiled to Babylonia from Jerusalem and their land of Judah.  A Jewish girl had become the King's wife and Queen of Persia with her religion being unknown to her husband, Ahasuerus,  and he was a real anti-Semite !   This is no fairy tale.  It's part of Persia's history and their king known as Xerxes I, and it's an important part of our Jewish history.  

  The Book of Esther was first printed in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh. It was later included in the Christian Old Testament.  

                         Rock relief of Xerxes I, found in Persepolis, kept at National Museum of Iran

The plot is structured around banquets (Hebrew: מִשְׁתֶּה, romanized: mišˈte, plural מִשְׁתָּאוֹת mištāˈhoṯ or מִשְׁתִּים mišˈtim), a word that occurs twenty times in Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Hebrew bible. This is appropriate given that Esther describes the origin of a Jewish feast, the feast of Purim, but Purim itself is not the subject and no individual feast in the book is commemorated by Purim. 

The book's theme, rather, is the reversal of destiny through a sudden and unexpected turn of events: the Jews seem destined to be destroyed, but instead are saved. 

In literary criticism such a reversal is termed "peripety", and while on one level its use in Esther is simply a literary or aesthetic device, on another it is structural to the author's theme, suggesting that the power of God is at work behind human events.       

                                        Talmud's Version

King Achashverosh hosted a lavish 180 day feast "for all his officials and servants, the army of Persia and Medea, the nobility and provincial officials."  It culminated in a final week of festivities "for all the people who were present in their capital of Shushan;  the aristocracy and the commoner alike."

It would appear to us to be an ancient precursor to Mardi Gras.  However, it marked the 3rd anniversary of the reign of King Achashverosh while also marking  70 years since the beginning of the Jewish exile. The king was aware of he Jewish prophets telling of the end of the Babylonian and Persian exile after 70 years.  

His calendar was different enough from the Jewish calendar for Achashverosh to miscalculate when the 70 years began and thought that the Jews would now be in utter despair, and that the land of Israel and the Jewish nation would become permanent gems in his own crown of glory.  He staged this elaborate party and wore priestly garments plundered from the Temple.  Also, the Temple vessels, now part of the Persian treasury, were on display for all to see.  Then he invited Jews he knew.  

Such a party would be like having a theme park built along the site of Auschwitz, and inviting Jews to come and enjoy the attractions; a high mark of insult for the Jewish people.  And they accepted the invitation.  They had become desensitized to the meaning of their history.  These Jews of Persia had lost sight of their history so they accepted the mediocrity of the present. Their memories had faded along with sensitivity and commitment.  They enjoyed themselves despite what they were celebrating !  I would call it being completely Hellenized!  

Haman enters the story at this point with the threat of annihilation.  The Talmud tells us tells us now of a new awakening in the Jewish people.  The spark that ignited Haman's fury was only a simple confrontation with "Mordecai the Jew."  At least he did not cover up who he was.  Haman had been newly elevated to a high position of power;, and expected everyone in the kingdom to bow down and prostrate themselves before Haman.  

 The Talmud offers several interpretations of King Achashverosh, also known as Ahasuerus, from the Book of Esther. 

• The Talmud states that Achashverosh ruled over "the globe" (kippah), which some interpret to mean the entire world. However, the Book of Esther states that his kingdom included 127 provinces, which stretched from India to Ethiopia.

  

  
  
• The Talmud describes Achashverosh as someone who was not of royal blood, but instead became king by purchasing the position.
• 

  The Talmud suggests that when Achashverosh promised Esther "up to half of the kingdom", he meant to exclude the rebuilding of the Temple.
  
• The Midrash interprets the name Achashverosh as an acronym for acharit veraishit shelo, which means "the end and beginning are His".
• The Midrash says that Achashverosh alludes to God, the King of the World. 

Achashverosh is a central figure in the Purim story. He is often understood to refer to Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire from 486–465 BCE. By using this spelling of king (Ahasueros)-Achashverosh, I can see it is from a different source;  this time from the Talmud.  

 Resource:

https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2023/06/esther-achaemenian-history#:~:text=The%20Book%20of%20Esther%20(fig,classical%20sources%20are%20unaware%20of

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerxes_I.

Our History: From Slavery in Egypt's Empire to Slavery in Persian Empire

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

It all started with Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah in the Hebrew year of

2080, which was about 1671 BCE.   They left the city of their fathers, Ur OF THE CHALDEES, which told them that they were immigrants in that city of Ur and had come from the Chaldeans.  They did not want others to think they were natives of Ur.  

Chaldea and people from there, the Chaldeans (Kasdim in Hebrew) were a Semitic tribe which migrated to Southern Babylonia and adopted the ancient Babylonian culture.  Chaldea was a small country in southern Babylonia, which is now southern Iraq. It was located between the Persian Gulf, the Arabian desert, and the Euphrates delta. Chaldea existed from the late 10th or early 9th century BCE to the mid-6th century BCE. The country and its people were absorbed into the indigenous population of Babylonia. The Chaldean Empire collapsed after the death of King Nebuchadnezzar II. 

Our history of slavery in Egypt began in the Hebrew calendar of 2332 or 1428 BCE  after one pharaoh okayed our living in Egypt through Jacob's family who had sheep and promised to also watch over the pharaoh'scattle as well.  The next pharaoh felt there were too many of these Israelites or Ivrim, and placed them in bondage. The time from living in Egypt and being freed by Moses was 400 years.   

Moses freed his newly found people as he had been raised by a princess,the daughter of the present pharaoh who found him in a river basket during a time of slaughtering male Ivrim babies by the pharaoh. He took them ona 40 year exodus back to their homeland we call the Exodus, and on theway, wrote 5 books now called the Torah given to him at Mt. Sinai in theHebrew year of 2448 or 1312 BCE.   

The Ivrim,  now called the Jewish people, entered the land to becomeIsrael in the Hebrew year of 2488 or 1272 BCE.  Saul was chosen as the first king of Israel in about 1030 to 1010 BCE, followed by David and thenhis son, Solomon from 961 BCE to 920 BCE.  

Solomon built the Temple, the first Temple, in the Hebrew year of 2935 or825 BCE.  It was later destroyed by the Babylonians and the Ivrim weretaken as slaves in the Hebrew year of 3338 or 422 BCE. Actually, we havethe dates of 597 BCE and again 586 BCE as dates that Nebuhadnezzar'sBabylonians had attacked the 10 tribes.   Dates figuring from Jewishhistorians go along with these dates.  

Before that in 721 BCE, the 10 northern tribes of Israel were stolen away by the Assyrians leaving Judea and its surrounding lands of Samaria.  

Now, getting to our main history of Purim events:  we come to the Hebrew year of 3405 or 355 BCE.  This is when 10,000 scholarsand leaders were exiled to Babylonia from the Hebrew year of 3327 / 434 BCE when they destroyed the 1st Temple the nextyear and exiled the Jews by the Hebrew year of 3338 or 422 BCE of the Jewish  period  of history when Babylonian Exile started.  This was done  by Nebuhadnezzar and the Babylonians.  

                    Persian Empire Era 

The Persians conquered the Chaldeans, ending their ethnic identity. They gradually gained supremacy over the native inhabitants and gave their name to the entire area.  In other words, Media and Persia joined forces to conquer Babylonia in the Hebrew date of 3388 or 372 BCE.  (Attempts were made, initially under Merodach-Baladan, to overthrow Assyria, and they finally succeeded in the 7th century BCE under Nabopolassar and his son, Nebuchadnezzar, who established an empire extending from Assyria to the Egyptian border by the Hebrew date of 3338 or 372 BCE). 

Cyrus became king of the Persian Empire in Hebrew time of 3390 or 371 BCE.  He was also believed to be the son or grandson of Queen Esther and King Ahasueros.  It was Darius I (522-486 BCE) who inherited the throne of Cyrus.  It was he who permitted Zerubbabel and the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem to resume reconstruction of the Temple.  Darius III led his Persian warriors.  

                            The Persian Empire (Today's Iran)  In modern Iran, the Persians make up the majority of the population. They are native speakers of the modern dialects of Persian, which serves as the country's official language.                                  

 

Esther became queen of Persia in 3404 or 356 BCE.  She was the niece of Mordecai.  Mordecai became the new prime minister in 3405  or 355 BCE after he exposes Hamans' plot to kill all the Jews of the Persian Empire.   Their empire lasted from 3390 on Hebrew calendar or 371 BCE when Achashverosh (Ahasueros) took his throne  in 3401 or 360 BCE.  Haman became Prime Minister of Persia.  Slavery wasn't enough for Haman;  he wanted all Jews dead.  Up till now, slaves worked for people, making their lives easier.

 This was conquered by the Persians in 539   The fame of the Chaldeans as astrologers made the terms synonymous long after their empire had vanished.  Aramaic has been called Chaldaic or Chaldee, but this is a misnomer.                            

We continue to remember this history with our holiday of Purim.  We're not the only people who remember such history.  Saddam Hussein declared himself to be the NEW NEBUCHADNEZZAR and attacked Israel, but was defeated in the Gulf War which ended on Purim 5751 or 1991 CE. The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003.

Iraq used to be called Mesopotamia but was conquered by the Arabs in 637 CE.  It's Jewish population had been on their side wanting deliverance from Sassanid persecution.  Jews had been expelled from Arabia and settled in Kufa.  Iraq gained their independence in 1932 when they were  persecuting the Jews in a pogrom in 1941.  Most Jews finally left during Israel's saving grace of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.  123,500 reached Israel since 1948.  

Resource:

Edited on 2 dates at 7:23pm on 1/20/2025

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Around the year with the National Jewish Outreach Program by Shimon Apisdorf/intro by Rabbi Ephraim Z.. Buchwald

When Israel's Best Friend, Iran Became Their Worst Enemy

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

                                             Haman's Folly

Most of us know the earlier story of when King Ahasueros and Queen Esther saw that the king's Viceroy, Haman, had started the holocaust against the Jews of Persia.  That was Haman's fury because he didn't like the Queen's uncle, Mordecai.  He thought Mordecai was too uppity.  The scene was then set.  Esther found out about it and told the king and the king, now knowing that Esther herself was Jewish, put an end to Mordecai by hanging him.

Book of Esther Characters; Ahasueros, Vashti-1st but dismissed queen, Esther, Mordecai, Haman.  Esther was a Jewish woman who lived in Persia during the period following the destruction of the First Holy Temple, which was in 586 BCE when many Jews had been taken as slaves to Babylonia, which was subsequently overtaken by Persia. She was married to King Achashverosh, whom some identify as Artaxerxes (ארתחששתא),1 king of Persia.  Jews returned 50 years later to rebuild the Temple.  

In the Book of Esther, we read that the Jews living in exile who were kidnapped and taken by the Babylonians in 597 BCE and more taken again in 586 BCE and were living in  the 127 provinces  of the Persian Empire.                                     

They, and those left in Israel were all under Persian rule and had been ever since King Cyrus II the Great in 538 BCE had taken over land Assyrians had held,  which lasted for the next 200 years.  By Esther's day, Jews were numerous and influential in the capital of Susa (Shushan). Cyrus died in 529 BCE.  In 538 BCE he granted permission to the exiles of Judah in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.  The Jewish exiles regarded Cyrus as a Divine agent for turning out to be a kind king.  In fact,, he is thought to be the grandson or son of Esther.   

 There had even been another Jewish Queen, Shushan Dukhit.  Shushandukht (Middle Persian: was the wife of Yazdegerd I.   Yazdegerd I was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III, he succeeded his brother Bahram IV after the latter's assassination. Yazdegerd I's largely-uneventful reign is seen in Sasanian history as a period of renewal.   Shushan was also the  mother of Bahram V. She was the daughter of a Jewish exilarch, Huna bar Nathan. She created the Jewish neighborhood in the city of Isfahan. She also established Jewish colonies in the cities of Shush (Susa) and Shooshtar. The existence of a Jewish queen enhanced the life of Persian Jews and during this period Jewish exilarchs had regular attendance to the Shah's court. The Iranologist, Ernst Herzfeld, (1879–1948) speculated that the tomb of Esther and Mordechai in the city of Hamedan might be the tomb of Shushandukht. Could she be Esther's daughter?                       

Zoroastrian influence then came along, trying to put an end to Jewish observances that brought out much persecution against Jews in 468-57 BCE. Zoroastrianism dates back to the 6th century BCE. Founded in ancient Persia, it likely influenced the development of Judaism and predates both Christianity and Islam.                                      

                               Hajji Firuz on the Chalous Road

Firuz from 459-486 CE caused more persecutions against Jews.  2 magi were murdered in Isfahan (the capital then)  and this was blamed on the Jews as the city had a large Jewish population.  Jews finally joined a revolt led by Mar Zutra II in 513-520 CE.  Mar-Zutra II was a Jewish Exilarch who led a revolt against the Sasanian rulers in 495 CE and achieved seven years of political independence in Mahoza. Mar-Zutra II became Exilarch of the Jewish community in Babylon at the age of fifteen in 483 CE, twelve years before the revolt.

   Persian art of Jews-Now a special exhibition, “Light and Shadows: The Story of Iranian Jews,” on view at the Yeshiva University Museum in New York City, provides insight into the fascinating history of one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities. The show features more than 100 objects that document the life of Iran’s Jewish community from ancient times to the present—archaeological artifacts, illuminated manuscripts, amulets, musical instruments, textiles, paintings and photographs.

By the 19th century, Jews of Persia were among the most depressed of the world's Jewish communities, not withstanding  the diplomatic interventions occasionally secured by Western Jewry, and intermittent premises of ameliorations (improvements)  by successive shahs  were overlooked.  In 1839, Muslims attacked the Jews of Meshhed, murdering 36 of them, and forcing the conversion of the rest. .Starting in 1898, schools of the Alliance Israelite Universelle did something to introduce a more modern spirit;  but progress was slight and the Jedid al-Islam (The Jewish "New Muslims" of Meshhed) did not dare to return openly to Judaism.                                   

For years, Israel maintained close political, economic, and security relations with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah took the title Shahanshah ("King of Kings") on 26 October 1967 and held several other titles. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, b: Oct. 26, 1919 in Tehran; d: 27 July 1980 in Cairo, Egypt.  

Israel purchased a significant portion — and in some years all — of its oil from the Shah’s regime, while Iran used Israel as a middleman to sell its oil to third countries. The alliance over oil required that Israel and the Shah ensure the safety of shipping routes. This strengthened their partnership in the struggle against Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser’s repeated attempts to promote ideological and military alliances throughout the Middle East that were hostile to Iran and Israel, particularly in the Gulf states and the Arabian Peninsula.   

The switch from Persia to Iran happened in 1935 when the Shah of Persia, Reza Shah, asked the international community to start calling the country Iran rather than Persia. He even went as far as going to the League of Nations and asking them specifically to start referring to the nation he ruled as Iran.

U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi  U.S. Pres. Harry S. Truman and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi shaking hands at Washington National Airport upon the shah's arrival on Truman's presidential airplane, November 16, 1949.The Harry S. Truman Library/NARA

Private and state-owned Israeli companies, ranging from textiles, agriculture, electrical appliances, water, fertilizers, construction, aviation, shipping, gas, tires and even dentures, had been operating extensively in Iran. In some years, Iran was one of the main destinations for Israeli exports. Meanwhile, Israeli academia also enjoyed relatively extensive cooperation with academics in Iran.

The Shah never officially recognized Israel.  Jews began to emigrate to Israel after 1948.  Iran de facto recognized the State of Israel in March 1950, but in light of internal pressure by those who opposed Israel and the Shah’s pro-Western and pro-American policies — as well as external pressure by Arab states — Iran avoided officially recognizing Israel.

The Shah did have “secret” representation in Tel Aviv beginning in 1961, and Israel had permanent representation in Tehran, which at one point became an embassy that included military attachés. Due to the sensitive nature of the agreement, Israeli representatives in Iran generally refrained from conducting relations with the Shah regime through bureaucrats in the Foreign Ministry and other government ministries. Instead, it carried out its business through a narrow circle of Shah loyalists and politicians, as well as the top echelons of Iran’s defense establishment. Sometimes those relations were conducted directly with the Shah himself and his Royal Court minister.

Equality of political rights was introduced by the Shah,  to the Jews of Iran. The social and economic status of Jews changed little.  In the 1960s and 1970s, many Jews moved from the provinces to Teheran.                                 

The 1979 Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution, was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various leftist and Islamist organizations.

   Everyone had to contend with the 1st  Ayatollah, Ruhollah Khomeini.  Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, also known as Ayatollah Khomeini, who was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989.

In 1988, Iranian authorities, acting on the orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, summarily and extrajudicially executed thousands of political prisoners across the country. The number of executions is not definitively known, but according to estimates from former Iranian officials and lists compiled by human rights and opposition groups, Iranian authorities executed between 2,800 and 5,000 prisoners in at least 32 cities in the country.  

Then Khomeini didn't start persecuting the Jews after their revolution in 1978, but many felt very uncomfortable  under the strict Islamic regime and left for Israel and the West.  The Jewish numbers fell from 80,000 in 1978 to 20,000 in 1989.  I know of a whole group of teen-aged boys who left on camels who left their parents and their goal was to get to either place.  The one I know made it to the USA and with a Jewish group's help, became a doctor. He was succeeded by Ali Khamenei on 4 June 1989.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took over on 4 June 1989.  

  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Former President of Iran, riding on a rocket meant to hit Israel.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, born Mahmoud Sabbaghian, is an Iranian conservative politician who served as the 6th president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He was known for his hardline views and nuclearisation of Iran.

  Since 1985, Iran and Israel have been engaged in an ongoing proxy conflict that has greatly affected the geopolitics of the Middle East, and has included direct military confrontations between Iranian and Israeli organizations, such as in the 2006 Lebanon War.  Iran has taken over the states near Israel so that they are closer to attacking Israel. Iran has been alleged to have founded and funded Hezbollah, a relationship that some say continues to this day in an apparent nexus with Syria. During the 2006 Lebanon War, between the state of Israel and Hezbollah, Iran came out in firm support of Hezbollah in particular, and Lebanon in general. They serve Iran's goal of destroying Israel. Following Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's visit to Tehran in 2008 and the signing of a military and economic agreement between the two countries, formal military ties were encouraged. So Iran has a foot in Syria and Lebanon, the proxies.  

  An Ayatollah wheeling and dealing with Putin of Russia

 Ahmadinejad did nothing but threaten Israel verbally.  Iran has let it be known that that they are preparing bombs with nuclear energy that will be delivered either from close proximity or from Iran on a missile.  They are doing everything they can in preparation to wipe out Israel.  In 2007 he said Israel was the flag of Satan.  Ahmadinejad, who triggered outrage in the West two years ago when he said Israel should be “wiped off the map”, has often referred to its destruction but says Iran is not a threat.  He said the Lebanese and the Palestinians had pressed a “countdown button” to bring an end to the state of Israel.  Iran’s clerical leaders have branded the USA as“the Great Satan.” 

While Ahmadinejad has said Iran is not a threat to Israel, Iranian officials have said Tehran would respond swiftly to any Israeli attack. Some analysts have speculated Israel may try to knock out Iran’s atomic sites.  No kidding, Iran.  Israel is prepared.  

To sum it up, Cyrus was Israel's best friend, maybe even a relative.  Then it was the Shah who dealt with with Israel. The revolution happened in 1978 when Jimmie Carter (1977-1981) was the USA president.   Menachem Begin was Prime Minister of Israel then.  He took over on the 21st of June 1977.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajji_Firuz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar-Zutra_II

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15307-zutra-mar-ii

https://www.amazon.com/Jadid-al-Islam-Muslims-Folklore-Anthropology/dp/0814326528

https://www.972mag.com/israel-shah-iran-dictatorship/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammad-Reza-Shah-Pahlavi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Israel_relations#:~:text=Since%201985%2C%20Iran%20and%20Israel,in%20the%202006%20Lebanon%20War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution

https://historyofyesterday.com/when-did-persia-become-iran-b10d639f5b71