Handwritten leaf, with messianic calculations from the Book of Daniel, written by a Jew who converted to the Bahá'í faith. The calculations present the Bahá'í revelation as the fulfillment of the Biblical prophecies of Redemption. [Eretz Israel, late 19th century or early 20th century]. Aramaic and some Hebrew.
The Bahá'í faith was founded in Persia as an offshoot of Bábism, by Mírzá Husayn-Alí Núrí – known as Bahá'u'lláh ("Glory of G-d", 1817-1892). Its adherents maintained that the redemption process described in the Koran had already began, and that the world was on the brink of a new era, in which traditional Islam and its laws would be annulled. The Persian authorities, who were wary of this new movement, exiled Bahá'u'lláh to the Ottoman Empire, where he was imprisoned in the citadel near Acre. When he arrived there with his family, they were presented to the townspeople as enemies of the state, of G-d and of His religion.
Despite the difficult conditions, the years spent in the Acre fortress were the most fruitful and intensive for Bahá'u'lláh, and in this time he completed the central book of the Bahá'í faith – Kitáb-i-Aqdas (the Most Holy Book), which defines the principles of this new faith: all religions derive from a common, G-dly source, striving for universal peace, destruction of weapons, scientific advance and ethical conduct.
This leaf, handwritten in square and semi-cursive script (Rashi script), mostly in Aramaic, offers a Bahá'í interpretation to the messianic calculations outlined in the Book of Daniel. The writer wishes to present the advent of the Bahá'í faith and its prophet – Bahá'u'lláh, as the fulfillment of the Biblical prophecy of Redemption. This interpretation is based on the verse: "And from the time the daily sacrifice was removed and the silent abomination placed, is one thousand, two hundred, and ninety" (Daniel 12:11), which designates the year 1290 as the onset of the Redemption. According to the solution suggested by the writer, this number refers to the Islamic year 1290, which corresponds with the year 1873 – year of the revelation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas in the Acre fortress. Accordingly, the writer interprets the second date mentioned in the prophecy, the year of the realization of the Redemption – "Fortunate is he who waits and reaches days of one thousand, three hundred, and thirty-five" (Daniel 12:12), as the year 1915.
The text opens and ends with the numerical value of the Tetragrammaton corresponding with that of Bahá'u'lláh, and acronyms alluding to him. The writer ends with: "A man who received tidings of peace from Yekutiel", with the word "Yekutiel" enlarged. This may allude to the name of the writer.
In view of the language employed in this leaf, the Rashi script, the verses quoted and the usage of Hebrew numerical values, one can conjecture that the writer was a Jew who presumably converted to the Bahá'í faith, and wished to draw other Jews to this faith through his calculations.
The number of Bahá'ís in Eretz Israel until the early 20th century did not exceed a few hundred, with almost no contact with the Jewish settlement. In 1903, the Jewish Colonization Association acquired some of the land of the Bahá'í village Umm Junieh, which later became the first moshava of the Degania group. Close friendship ties developed between the Jewish and Bahá'í settlers, as documented in the memoirs of some of the members of the group.
The Bahá'í World Centre is located today in several locations in Haifa and Acre, and they are renowned for their unique landscapes and structures. In 2008, 26 of them were inscribed on the World Heritage List.
[1] leaf. Approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Stains, folding marks and minor damage.