The Amazing Story of Bostanai: The Persian Prince from the House of David

Persia, 618. King Khosrow Parviz woke up from his sleep in screams and panic, with blood dripping from his forehead.

Khosrow was the twenty-second king of the Persian Sasanian Empire, and some believe he was the greatest of them all. His nickname was "Parviz," which means "invincible" in Persian. Indeed, ten years ago he had defeated the Byzantines, conquered Syria, the Land of Israel, and Turkey from them, and reached the gates of Greece. This year, he conquered Egypt. Indeed, invincible. But within his royal palace, on his bed, in his sleep, someone apparently succeeded in defeating him or injuring him. Who was it? You won't believe it.

His servants and bodyguards were alarmed immediately. Some surrounded his bed while others checked all the entrances and exits to find the attacker. They rubbed their eyes. With their own hands and swords, they guarded all the doors, how did someone get in here and dare to attack the invincible king?

But the king only muttered: That awe-inspiring old man swore me, but I didn’t understand his words… the servants wondered at his words. They did not see any old man in the king’s sleeping chamber, and slowly they understood it was a dream. But if it was a dream, where did the king’s injury, dripping blood, come from? It was nothing but a divine dream!

The king called all the scholars and magicians in his court. The Sasanian Empire was idolatrous, practicing foreign worship, and King Khosrow fought against Christians. But the magicians could not understand what occurred in the dream. According to the king’s story, he was walking in an orchard with very special fruits and was chopping down the orchard’s trees one by one. When he reached the last tree, a young and tender sapling, suddenly a magnificent old man, ruddy and handsome, appeared in front of him and held him tightly, for although that man was old and gray, he was also a mighty warrior. The old man lifted the king into the air, snatched the axe from him, and struck his forehead. Then he swore him by the name of Hashem: ‘Do not destroy my orchard! Guard this sapling as the apple of your eye, and your end will not be bitter.’ The old man told him his name, but the name was forgotten by the king.

One of the king’s close advisors was a wise Jew. He knew that the king had destroyed all the Jewish exile leaders and their families because he did not want any religious leaders other than the leaders of the Sasanian Empire. The exile leaders are the seed of the House of David, son after son to Jeconiah, the King of Judah. That old man was none other than King David, may he rest in peace, who came to protect the last sapling from the House of David. And who was that sapling? The king had left one woman unharmed, she and her husband were from the seed of the House of David, and that woman was pregnant. The embryo in her womb is the last sapling of the magnificent orchard of King David, may he rest in peace, and thus he was compelled to defend him!

The king heard these words and remembered that indeed, the name of that old man was David. He sent for the woman and brought her to his palace, and from then on guarded her diligently. When her son was born, he protected him, ensured his health and nourishment, and named him "Bostanai," after the orchard he had seen in his dream. Bostanai grew up as a prince among princes, and an ancient Midrash describes his noble spirit: ‘Bostanai grew and became great, and studied Torah, Mishnah, Talmud, Halakha, wisdom, and understanding, and it was told to the king and he desired to see him and commanded to bring him to him... and he stood before the king from morning till evening, and did not nod his head nor move his foot, and a fly came and stood on his temple and bit him, and he did not chase it away, and his blood dripped before the king... and the king said to him: Why didn’t you chase it away from your face? And he replied: This discipline we inherited from our ancestors, that since we were removed from our royal crown and were obliged to stand in the king’s halls, not to speak, not to laugh, and not to lift a hand before them.’

When Bostanai grew up, he became the forty-first exile leader of the illustrious Jewish Babylon.

Bostanai was a prince of the Persian kingdom, and the king married him to his daughter, the Persian princess Izdunduar. Later, a serious debate arose among the sages about whether the princess’s conversion was proper, and their conclusion was that the conversion was indeed executed correctly, and she, and of course her children, were valid Jews.

Due to Bostanai's renown as a descendant of the House of David, and his greatness in his life, many Jewish greats who trace back to the House of David held lineage papers up to Bostanai, proving they are from the seed of the House of David. Among them: Rabbi Samuel the Nagid, Rav Amram Gaon, Rabbeinu Gershom Me’or HaGola, Maharal of Prague, and Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz.