The 12th century was a period of widespread messianic expectation among Jews in the wake of the tragedies they experienced in the course of the First Crusade. The best-known pseudomessiah of the time was born in Kurdistan. His name was Menahem ben Solomon, but he became famous as David Alroy (David has an obvious messianic significance, while Alroy is a corruption of his Arabic family name).
Background
Little is known of his origins or his personal life. The messianic movement was originally created by his father, Solomon, who claimed to be the prophet Elijah and who notified various Jewish communities that Jewish exiles from all lands would soon be gathered in their own homeland under his leadership.
Career
David Alroy collected a considerable armed Jewish force with which he intended to conquer the Holy Land. His impressive appearance, scholastic excellence (founded on studies in the Talmudic academies of Baghdad), his familiarity with Jewish mysticism, and his skill in sorcery, all combined to win him a large and devoted following. When he announced his intention to return to Jerusalem, he called on his adherents to fast and pray as an essential penitential preparation, and they obeyed without hesitation.
Alroy managed to take possession of his native town of Amadia, which was a strategically placed fortress. He dispatched messengers to many communities, including Baghdad, to prepare for his military advance. His messengers (or perhaps opponents masquerading as messengers) told the Jews of Baghdad to gather on their rooftops on a certain night in order to be flown miraculously to join the messiah. Many Baghdadi Jews obeyed and spent the night on their roofs.
The official Jewish leadership condemned the movement and threatened its adherents with excommunication, while the local authorities began to take energetic measures against his influence. Alroy was captured and imprisoned for conspiracy and political agitation. Rumors of his magical escape from prison are in keeping with the miracles ascribed to the messiah.
Two different traditions account for his early death. One states that the authorities had him killed; the other that he was murdered by his father-in-law, who had been bribed by the Turkish authorities.
The Jews of the region continued to revere his memory and were known as Menachemites. The Jews of Kurdistan to this day regard him as one of their heroes. When the Jews of Iraq went to Israel in 1950-1951 they called one of their settlements Kefar Alroy (“Alroy’s Village”).
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
In the words of the Spanish Jewish traveler, Benjamin of Tudela: He took it into his head to revolt against the king of Persia and to gather around him the Jews who lived in the mountain of Chaftan, in order to wage war against the Gentiles and to capture Jerusalem. He showed miraculous signs to the Jews and declared that God had sent him to capture Jerusalem and to lead them forth from among the nations, and they believed in him and proclaimed him the Messiah.”