The whole story of his deathis full of holes:
a. It says he died on Pesach- the Sanhedrin would never judgepeople on a holiday!
b. Even if they had mad an exception for him- they would nevergive the death penalty on a holiday!
c. Jesus was crucified- Jews NEVER crucified
d. It says Jesus was captured, judged and buried in Yerushalaim-but nobody is buried in Yerushalaim because it is a holy place
e. Jesus was supposedly killed on a Friday (Good Friday)- but ifyou look on the calendar- Pesach did not fall out on a Friday.
If Jesus hadn t died- therewouldn t be Christianity because he died for other people s sins.
Back to the story: Jesus waskilled on a Friday. Three women (who were cured by him) came on Sunday to prayby his grave. They saw the grave was open and nothing was in there. Oneexplanation to this is that because Yerushalaim is so holy, the Jews took thebody out of the city and buried it somewhere else.
Saul of Tarsus is really theperson who is responsible for Christianity. He s the one that started runningaround telling the story of the resurrection. The Jews didn t listen to him sohe changed his name to Paul. He left Eretz Yisrael to go convert non- Jews toChristianity. (After the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash there were Jews whoconverted to Christianity.)
In Shmoneh Esreh the Bracha VeLamalshinim is interpreted by some as VeLaminim (Apikorsim)- writtenabout those Jews trying to convert everyone to Christianity.
Christianity was supposed to be the religion of theJews- but it never took off with them.
The Revolt and Destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (7)
A little timeline:
6 CE Theprocurators come in; Coponius the Caesar forced the Jews to count themselves
14 34 CE PontiusPilate is procurator
14 37 CE Tiberiusis Caesar
37 41 CE GaiusCaligula is Caesar; there were arguments between Egyptians and Jesus he sideswith Egyptians; he wanted to put a statue of himself in Yerushalaim; he wasvery antiSemitic
41 54 CE Claudiusis Caesar and he picks Agripas, who s Jewish, to be king from 4144 CE
44 46 CE CaspiasFedas is procurator he was horrible and took away the clothes of the CohenGadol just to be mean to the Jews
54 68 CE Nero isCaesar (he was king at the beginning at the revolt)
64 68 CE Florusis procurator he was the last one and the worst one (took treasures form theBeit Hamikdash)
70 CE TheDestruction of Beit Hamikdash II
The Results of theRevolt and Destruction:
1. The Burning of the Beit Hamikdash
2. Many Jews killed (according to Josephus 1million)
3. Galut = Exile More Jews in Babylon thanEretz Yisrael
4. They took Jews as prisoners and made many ofthem slaves tortured the leaders of the revolt made them fight against lions,etc.
5. They took treasures from the Mikdash TheArch of Titus celebrates Rome s victory and depicts a large homecoming paradewith the treasures of the Mikdash in hand and Jews in chains
6. For the first time, the Jews lost every kindof independence
7. Eretz Yisrael no longer physically belongsto the Jews it s Roman land
8. Fiscus Iudaicus the Romans taxed Jewseverywhere in the Roman world made then pay + Shekel to humiliate them andshow them they re not paying the Mikdash rather Rome
Sources:
1. Josephus
2. Talmud
3. Tacitus he was antiSemitic
4. Eusibius Roman Historian
5. Yosephun Katan a Jew in Italy in the middleages wrote a kind of Cliffs Notes of Josephus work, some believe it really isJosephus work
The Revolt: (beganin 66 CE)
The Causes of theRevolt:
1. Immediate Cause Florus is procurator,Nero is Caesar. The Goyim in port cities hated the Jews so they rioted againstthem and Florus never stopped them.
Also, Florus wantedto build a new sewer system and to pay for it he took money from the BeitHamikdash. He came to Yerushalaim with soldiers to do so and the Jews (reallythe Zealots, who were the leaders of the revolt) threw rocks at them so he ranaway. Florus returned to Syria with his soldiers. Agripas II was the king andhe was popular and loved by the Jews and he made a huge mistake. He made aspeech to the Jews calling for peace to stop a revolt and he tells them thatfighting isn t worth it and blah blah blah. One thing that was a horriblemistake to say was his requesting the Jews to take Florus back the Jews hatedFlorus so he shouldn t have said that. If he wouldn t have said that, they mighthave listened to him but instead they started the revolt.
2. Social Cause Corrupt Cohanim, oppressors
3. Economic Causes
a. Many poor people in Yerushalaim, hightaxes which the rich (Aristocrats) were exempt from
Class struggle the Zealots burnt moneyreceipts of debts of Jews4. Socioeconomic Cause Rich Jews are friendswith the Romans. The leader of the Zealots, Shimon Bar Giyorah freed slavescause he wanted them to help fight. The Zealots burnt Agripas palace and thereceipts for debt
5. Religious [and Political] Cause Auerbach10% of the Roman Empire was Jewish and 20% of the Middle East was Jewish. Moreand more Romans were converting to Judaism Christianity was not adopted yet,and they found stability in Judaism because it was ethical and not corrupt. TheRomans were afraid that the Jews would take over the world so they were harshand cruel to the Jews in their rule of Eretz Yisrael, which lead to the revolt.
Who s fault is therevolt???
1. Josephus the Zealots and the procuratorsthe procurators provoked the Zealots to revolt; Problem the procurators dideverything under the order of Rome so why isn t Rome blamed? One answerJosephus was captured, freed and then became friends with Roman Empire so hecannot start blaming Rome in his works
2. Tacitus the procurators this is probablytrue because Tacitus doesn t blame the Jews even though he is an antiSemite
3. Eusibius the Jews because they didn taccept Jesus so they were punished
4. The Gemarah Sinat Chinam hatred betweenthe Jews for no reason example is the story of Kamtzah Bar Kamtzah
The Sequence ofEvents of the Revolt:
1. The moderates were the Prushim, and thenationalists were the Zealots (Shamai) The Zealots didn t ask for help becausethey are nationalists and did not ask for help from other Roman enemies. Theysaid Hashem helped the Jews on Chanukah and he ll help them now. Florus is inSyria now with his soldiers and he sent a few thousand of them to EretzYisrael. The Jews fought them hard and won. The Romans saw this and knew thiswas a serious revolt.
2. The Roman general, Vespasian, was sent byRome from the North. Jews pick Josephus Flavius (our favorite source guy) to bethe Jewish general. He was a Cohen when he was young and spent a lot of time inRome and appreciated Roman culture most important he knew Roman ways. He cameback to Eretz Yisrael and was considered a moderate.
Cityafter city fell in the hands of Rome until there was one city left Yodfat.
Accordingto Josephus, the Romans seized the city to starve the Jews in it and it wasabout to fall in the hands of Rome. The leaders (including Josephus) go intohiding in a cave. In the cave there was a big debate to give up and themselvesin to Rome or to kills themselves. Josephus says to give up, and they wereready to kill him for that. They decided on a lottery system for every twoJews one would kill the other. Josephus was the last Jew left and gave himselfinto the hands of Rome. At the time there was a power struggle in Romeconcerning who would be Caesar. Josephus goes to Vespasian and tells him You re going to be Caesar and he didn t believe him. All of a sudden amessenger comes and tells Vespasian he s Caesar.
3. The Romans came and made a siege onYerushlaim. The Jews had many resources in the city to last a while but theZealots burnt the food and resources so the Jews would be desperate and notwant to make peace with Romans and they would fight. The leaders of the Zealotswere Shimon Bar Giyorah and Yochanan Migush Chalav (or something like that).
Just note Amongstthe Zealots were the extreme radicals called the Sicarii who killed Romans andany Jews who even said hi to the Romans (this was before the revolt.)
The Romans bringJosephus to Yerushalaim and he tried to make peace but he didn t succeed. Thereason they didn t accept was because the Cohan Gadol Eliezer was a Zealot andhe refused to sacrifice the offerings of the Romans and the Caesar.
Vespasian s son wasTitus (cruel guy) and he was the one who commanded the burning of the BeitHamikdash. Now Josephus said that Titus didn t command that rather while theywere arguing what to do a soldier came and threw a torch in the Mikdash and itburnt this is NOT true Josephus only wrote this cause he wanted Titus to likehim, and he wouldn t get in trouble with Rome. Titus really did burn down theBeit Hamikdash.
Titus punishmentwas that a fly entered his head and buzzed around and made him go crazy. BeitHamikdash burnt from the 9th of Av until midday of the 10thof Av.
Whoeverwas left was captured by Rome and taken into captivity. The situation ishorrible and there are literally pools of blood in the streets of Yerushalaim,and Bnei Yisrael are in Galut.
Bar Cochvah s Revolt (132 135 C.E.) (8)
After the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash the situation isbad but Jewish life is still going on. Approximately 60 years after thedestruction came the revolt why now? So the big question to answer this is which came first the revolt orthe decrees? And why did Hadrian, the Caesar (Adrianus) even decree thesedecrees?
A. The Sources:
1. Dio Cassius Hadrian made Yerushalaim into a Pagan city atemple for the god Jupiter and called it Aelia Capitolina; when he did that,the Jews revolted
2. Spartianus Hadrian decreed that Brit Milah was forbidden, sothe Jews revolted
3. Breshit (1st book of Torah) Rabah Hadrian hadpromised the Jews he would rebuild the Beit Hamikdash and he didn t keep hispromise so he revolted
4. Eusibius he is an antiSemite, and he agrees with Mantel thatthe Jews revolted first and then Hadrian made the decrees. He says the Jewswere naturally violent people looking for fights.
B. Hugo Mantel s opinion he says first the Jews revolted and thenthere came the decrees (he agrees with Eusibius) Why does Mantel think this?
His problem with the other sources:
1.Mantel says that Dio Cassius got his information onHadrian and his proof from Hadrian s autobiography which is not reliablebecause it s probably half true and exaggerated
2. Spartianus also used the autobiography, but in additionto that in his previous works he is not to be trusted and is know to beunfaithful to history and mixes legend and fact, truth and fiction
3. The problem with Breshit Rabah is that to Mantel it justsounds ridiculous, bizarre and not logical (it s a Midrash, by the way)
His problems with the king:
Hadrian was a tolerant king! Mantel brings proof from othersources where it refers to Hadrian as a Man of Peace and Tolerant ofReligion. If a revolt started in another part of the empire he would sendgifts instead of soldiers. We have 2 proofs: Hadrian visited Egypt, and hesacrificed offerings to Egyptian gods which he didn t even believe in. Also, arevolt started in the city of Mauritania and he sent them presents instead ofsending them soldiers.
So how does Mantel answer the question why the Jews revoltin the first place? He says it was 60 years after the destruction and theythought Mashiach was around the corner and coming really soon (like after thefirst destruction). They revolted kinda to get things started.
His problem with the time:
1. Mantel says the Jews started revolting in either 120 C.E.or 127 C.E. which was way before the revolt. They found coins, in Israel,with Hadrian s face from the 120s and he s dressed in his general attire,which means Hadrian, a tolerant guy, is now portrayed as a war person= he wasfighting with the Jews in Israel
2. They found a Roman military road between cities in Israeldated from 127 C.E. which is proof the revolt started before 132 C.E.
3. A whole military legion of soldiers came to Israel in the120s proving that there was turmoil= revolt. There was also a letter from thesoldiers asking for more uniforms and supplies from Rome meaning they werefighting and working hard in Israel.
4. Bar Cochvah succeeded in capturing Yerushalaim and therewouldn t have been enough time to do everything he had to do, and set up akingdom from the short time period of 132135 C.E. he had to have started muchearlier!
His problems with Brit Milah (Spartianus):
Mantel says that Hadrian would never forbid Brit Milah hewas a tolerant king! It was a punishment for them revolting.
Historians answer him Shalit says Hadrian did forbid BritMilah because it was similar to castration which was forbidden in the RomanEmpire. The Romans didn t know Jewish culture and didn t understand what BritMilah really was.
Mantel answers Shalit saying Hadrian knew the Jews andknew and knew their customs and they knew that Brit Milah was not castration.Another historian says Brit Milah was barbaric according to Hadrian and hedidn t know what it was because it s a private ceremony done in Shul. To thatMantel answers the same thing as he did to Shalit.
His problem with the place Yerushalaim:
Mantel says Dio Cassius is wrong because Hadrian isreligiously tolerant. Historians answer him saying that he turned Yerushalaiminto a Pagan city for his soldiers it was the center so it was the perfectplace it was a center where he had many soldiers. Why Yerushalaim? Maybe alsoit was a network of many strategic cities of the Romans so they had to set upPaganism for this major city. It wasn t a punishment for the Jews rather it wasfor his benefit.
Mantel answers WRONG! Firstly, Hadrian knew the Jews andknew what a Pagan temple meant in their holy city he wouldn t do that to them.Secondly, we have no proof that Yerushalaim was part of a network of strategiccities and was strategically located for the Romans.
We now prove Mantel wrong:
1. In the Gemarah there s a Pasuk In the days of Bar Cochvahthousands of children were given Brit Milah this means that before his days,kids weren t getting Brit Milahs= there were decrees that stopped them.
2. Coins They found coins with the image of Bar Cochvah on themthese words and images were superimposed on other words and images a pictureof Hadrian with the words Aelia Capitolina meaning he switched Yerushalaim intoa Pagan city before the revolt and Bar Cochvah
The Gemarah tells us about the course of the revolt. Theycall Shimon Bar Cochvah Shimon Bar Cozibah= the liar the Gemarah didn t likehim because everyone thought he was Mashiach (even Rabbi Akivah thought he wasMashiach) but he wasn t. The Cochvah part came from a Pasuk talking aboutYaakov it says Yaakov was a star so they used that for his name.
Another question the Jews had suffered so much so far whywere they willing to fight again? During the time of Bar Cochvah there wasunity in the nation (Achdut) and everyone wanted to fight (unlike the beforethe destruction where not everyone wanted to fight). One answer: the decreeswere so horrible and they were being pushed to a limit and couldn t take itanymore, so they fought. Another answer: they thought the Galut would only last70 years no more just like after the 1st Mikdash. Every Jewbelieved this they never imagined the Galut would last this long.
Now where did Bar Cochvah get all the weapons, materialsfrom they were right under the Romans noses!?!?
The Jews had been forced into labor and one of those jobswas repairing weapons for the Romans. When the Romans gave them weapons torepair they would tell them the weapons were beyond repair and they would fixthem and save them to use and built up a collection.
The Romans did win but they suffered a tremendous defeat.For 2 years there was victory for the Jews and a Jewish independent kingdom wasset up in Yerushalaim, and Bar Cochvah is the prince. Proof: They found coinsthat said Year one to the freedom of Jerusalem, Year one to the redemptionof Jerusalem, and Shimon the President of Israel.
In the end the Romans recaptured the city. How do we knowthey suffered great losses?
1. They lost a lot of men proof: they needed constantreinforcement (legions from elsewhere) because the Jews kept killing thesesoldiers
2. Hadrian didn t sign his letters from 132135 C.E. with thewords Peace unto me and my army because there wasn t peace and they were introuble
The Romans captured Yerushalaim and the Jews fled to thecity Beitar the last city left. (this happened all in the month of Av) TheRomans captured Beitar and were cruel to those in the city. They slaughteredmany Jews and there were rivers of blood in Beitar. The Romans also mutilatedthe dead bodies and didn t allow them to be buried. He took the bodies of BarCochvah and his warrioirs and hung them symbolically at the gates of Beitar.According to the Gemarah the Romans found one body with a snake coiled aroundits head this was Bar Cochvah because he was a liar and called Bar Cozibah.