The bonds of exile

The famed academic had returned to India after 20 years to speak about the "momentous meeting of two civilizations that took place over 2,500 years ago and is going on in various ways until today.” Dr Shaul Shaked, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University’s department of comparative religion and an authority on semantics, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, was referring to the encounter between the victorious Zoroastrians and the slave community of Jews when the Achemenid Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and set them free. "The repercussions from the encounter have changed the face of western culture for good,” he maintained.

Cyrus’ edict giving the exiled Jews permission to return to Israel with facilities to rebuild their temple — the first declaration of human rights known in history, recorded on a stone cylinder — earned him the everlasting gratitude of the people, becoming the only non-Jew mentioned in the Bible as the "messiah, one anointed by God to lead the world,” stated Shaked. And the Jews continued as subjects of the Zoroastrian empires until the Sasanians lost to the Arabs (in 644 AC) several centuries later, he noted.

Dr Shaul Shaked: parallel paths

It was during Sasanian times that both communities developed their own written scriptures, traditions and oral laws, said Shaked. "The earliest phase of the Avesta, the Gathas are the foundation of the Zoroastrian religion even today. But the Gathas cannot be approached directly. You need the Zoroastrian tradition to put light into them, for interpretation and expansion.” Most of this expansion occurred during the Sasanian period and is written in Pahlavi, said Shaked, adding that the Jews also had a renaissance then. "The law and tradition were codified. The Bible was complemented and expanded by the Talmud.” Indeed there came to be a Babylonian and a Jerusalem Talmud, Shaked informed the Parsi audience in the Banaji Atash Behram Hall on January 30, 2010.

The Hungary born Shaked, who now lives in Israel, acquired his doctorate from the London Uni­versity’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and has a wealth of publications under his name including the sixth book of the Dinkard, as noted Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee and Zoroastrian Studies (ZS) founder Khojeste Mistree in his welcome address. The event had been organized under the aegis of ZS.

Tracing the similarities between the two religions, the scholar noted that both were revealed religions. "Zarathushtra’s revelation comes at the end of a series of earlier revelations. On the Jewish side also there were a series of prophets, but more diffuse, the revelation being eventually transmitted to Moses and others who expanded it and kept it alive. There are parallel lines of prophets, not concentrated as in the Zoroastrian tradition, but in both cases humanity was the recipient of divine revelation. Both traditions are based on an ethical conception of humanity’s place in the world. That’s the main theme.”

It was in the Sasanian period that Zoroastrian schools of thought were established, "but we know little about them. There were groups of scholars and sages. There are names but no precise historical understanding,” maintained Shaked. At the same time Jewish schools opened in Babylon. "We know the names of localities, the discussions and differences, arguments about how to interpret the law. Every point of law was debated. There were different opinions. Tradition came to be based on deliberation, open to criticism. The situation was similar with Zoroastrian schools. Zoroastrianism was the leading religion of the empire and enjoyed enormous power — one of only two powers in the world (the other being Rome) — but the written references are lost. Only small fragments have been preserved.” The Jews, a minority, weaker and fewer in number managed to preserve much more.

According to Shaked the developments in Judaism are known because of the Dead Sea Scrolls, "an important discovery… They showed that certain streams within Judaism were very close in spirit to Zoroastrianism. These writings show a dualistic character: God and his opponent (Satan); also lesser divine entities like angels and demons. The fights between these spirits shaped the world. Judaism could not have had this turn without the Zoroastrian encounter. The Jews transmitted this view of the world to Christianity and later, to Islam. Therefore all contain within their core, the concepts of Zoroastrianism.”

The Zoroastrian view of the world consists of three stages: creation, the world as it exists and eschatology or events at the end of the world, a formulation that is echoed in the other three religions, noted Shaked. There are also two separate levels of existence — the visible getig (finite world) and the spiritual menog (wisdom). "It is a unique Zoroastrian concept. The world is first created in menog and later in getig. Judaism does not share exactly the same view, but in the legendary parts of the Talmud — in the Torah is a blueprint of the world — the thought, the idea preceded material existence. There is the same structure in eschatology, an elaborate story of what will happen when the world comes to an end, about after-death encounters with spirits in the other world. Judaism acquired this idea through its interaction with Zoroastrianism.”

Both Zoroastrianism and Judaism believe in a single God because no other is worthy of worship. "We owe our existence to God and owe him support in the conflict with evil. Jewish and Zoroastrian religious life is not about theology or abstractions but rituals and daily practices deeply connected to human existence. We help the divine by following traditions.” Shaked made a passing reference to "very difficult” purity laws in Zoroastrianism and classical Judaism. Also the enjoinment to recite the scriptures in both and in such small insignificant matters as the care in the disposal of pared nails, no speaking during meals ("which is not observed scrupulously by either Zoroastrians or Jews”), respect for teachers and elders. "The sixth book of the Dinkard revolves round ethical requirements like dealings with friends, elders, in business, the approach to wealth,” noted the scholar whose translation of this work is well acclaimed. Though neither religion has endorsed a theocratic state, Zoroastrian books in Pahlavi and Jewish literature alike speak of the need for the ruler to maintain balance between the lay society and the religious society in his domain.

Referring to Persian as the confluence of various religious traditions, Shaked noted that Jewish scholars adopted Persian as their language, composing and writing freely in that tongue.

And in the end the two communities have shared a common fate, living in diaspora, flourishing in exile, maintained the professor. Not only has it not been a hindrance, it has been a great incentive to the creation of a new way of life. Meeting different cultural conditions the Zoroastrians adopted Gujarati while the Jews went on to adopt several different languages. Tracing the historical parallel, Shaked referred to changes in cuisine, both Parsi and Jewish in different parts of the world: "Exile is adding a special flavor and a strong oral tradition!”