Person
Serene—the false messiah of Syria סרני משיח השקר
he promised to repeal the law—and the communities had to be taken back
The year is given by Isidore of Beja: 103 of the Hijra, under the caliph Yazid II. The Syriac chronicle calls him Severus; Jewish memory kept the name in a responsum of Rav Natronai Gaon.
It ended quickly: the caliph took him and questioned him, and he answered that he had only been mocking the Jews. He was handed to the Jews for punishment. The communities were left with the question of what to do with those who came back—and Rav Natronai Gaon answered: receive them. That answer is almost the most important thing left of the whole affair: the law of returning strays was written on a living case.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Rishonim
- The responsum of Rav Natronai Gaon (Sha'arei Tzedek) — those who return are to be received back
Documents of the period
- Isidore of Beja, Chronicon, year 103 AH — the year and the circumstances of the appearance
Basis: Talmud and midrash.