A kind of prayer that Yohanan ben Zakhai recited in the temple before leaving Jerusalem quoted in the Jerusalem Talmud sheds light on the politics of the period of the rebellion
In the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Yoma, chapter XNUMX, page Mag, page XNUMX, we read as follows: "Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakhei said to him (to the temple, to the temple) (so in the text): Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that your end will be the sword, as it is said, 'Open your doors to Lebanon and fire will consume your palms.'"
It is possible to exempt this sentence and narrow down its meaning by claiming that the words were written and edited hundreds of years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and therefore it should not be seen as some kind of textual passage without importance and meaning, because at the time the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled, it was clear and known that the temple had been destroyed for a long time.
However, it is possible to insist on a different interpretation, since the amount of time that has passed in all the Tana'ite and Amorite literature between the subject of the quotation and the time of editing, is enough to invalidate any statement from the mouth of this or that sage.
And if so, assuming that we attribute credibility to the words of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai, then in the sentence quoted by his name a kind of internal echo of an earthquake erupts.
and why? We know that Rabban ben Zakhai himself escaped under mysterious/ambiguous circumstances from the besieged Jerusalem on the eve of its destruction, made his way to Livna (whether by choice or by Roman compulsion of the closure camp) and there he established the "Beit HaVad", which evolved into a veritable Sanhedrin. In this act, there are many and good people who see it as a further salvation, and even beyond that, of Judaism, and there are, like me, who see it as rebellion and perhaps even usurpation of the concept of ruling by force, that is, a dramatic transition of the presidency from the traditional, almost sanctified, family of Rabbi Gamaliel to the family of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai. This is evident in his moves, in his rulings, in the group he surrounded himself with, in the factors he excluded and repressed, and perhaps above all in his actions designed to sanctify the name of Yavneh and downplay the importance of Jerusalem, including the temple.
Well, taking into account these interpretive data, it is possible to refer to that unknown, hitherto unknown sentence, quoted above from the Jerusalem Talmud, as a statement that reflects the intention and way of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. After all, what is he actually saying, to her almost magically to the temple, along the lines of - have you come to threaten us, that you will be destroyed? After all, we know this and are even preparing ourselves for a replacement, that is, it will be built as a replacement, and perhaps considering a plan in advance. Moreover, we can manage even without a hall, if we find a replacement for it.
Immediately following, the Jerusalem Talmud brings a story about Shimon the righteous who headed the High Priesthood during the Hellenistic period for forty years and announced that during the year he would leave the world and even offered to appoint his son Nachunion as his successor. And in the end it turned out that it was a misunderstanding and one that stirred up roaring and emotional waves from the depths of the priestly family. And in the end, Shimon, the brother of Nachonion, fled to Alexandria and erected an altar to God there in criticism of the intrigues of the priesthood.
The temple to which Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai addressed the same Simeon the Tzadik seems to be, and it is not for nothing that the passage was brought as a helpful allegory.
Moreover, it required great courage from Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai to turn cynically, mixed with considerable arrogance and arrogance, to the temple, and it is not a question of a stone building, essentially inert, but a structure containing immense holiness, with God's spirit hovering in and over it, and which has symbolism for God himself. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai therefore stands and defies God, as a number of quite respectable Sanhedrin sages used to do. After all, it was known that following the destruction of the Second Temple, a number of reactions were known among the Jewish leadership and its members, such as fasting, fasting, abstinence, and even a certain apostasy, and there were a number of prominent figures who defied God and blamed Him in one way or another for the destruction itself and the burning of the Temple.
Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai was among the latter group, as was hinted at in the commentary on the passage above, and not without reason because strategic plans were running through his fevered mind at the time.
Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai was not a prominent and central figure in besieged Jerusalem on the eve of the Holocaust. The decision to lead a great revolution in the field of Jewish leadership, the leadership of Rabbi Gamliel's house, was rewarded in his heart, somewhat similar to the usurpation rebellion of Matthias in the mythological traditional leadership of the leadership of the temple in Jerusalem, which constituted the outbreak of the Hasmonean rebellion.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakhai's strategic decision was to cooperate with the Romans and in return to win the Meznatic leadership on their behalf, and we find explicit evidence of this in the Talmud.
This tendency led him on the one hand to escape in a "strange" way from the besieged Jerusalem, to meet with one of the commanders of the Roman legion (with Vespasian or Titus? Not sure) and to ask in return for the particular assistance he gave the Romans the beginning of the renewal of leadership in Yavne. Incidentally, this phenomenon was common during Roman military conduct in various places, and it reflected the motif of "separate and rule".
Therefore, the power granted to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai on behalf of the Romans fueled his mind with the courage to turn to the temple as he did.
7 תגובות
Ori
A more recent history question:
Where was the Egyptian army in June 67 - Yemen or Sinai?
We cannot know what Yohanan ben Zakhai thought. The immediate consequences of his act are well explained by Yahyam Sorek, but they are not the important consequences. Ben Zakhai's move created the exile (as opposed to the exile that was already there before) whose main point is: Judaism does not need sovereignty, that is, political independence. This independence will come in the days of the Messiah, that is, as Rabbi Hillel stated - never.
I apologize if I was blunt in my last response.
Dr. Yachiam
The academy suffers from a Marxist tendency which is manifested in trying to explain every human phenomenon in terms of political power/money/sex, etc. Is it unthinkable that there is a person who acts from ideological motives?
I like your series, but in my opinion, you overheated your dish here. Too bad.
A note about the traditions: The Mishnah and the Gemara convey traditions in a very associative way. Laws change based on actual behavior of conditions and precepts. A tractate of blessings, for example, is all around the table and which one is supposed to have stayed at another's house and what he ate and how he greeted. The things were written down decades and hundreds of years later, so the fact that we can't remember phone numbers doesn't mean that our ancestors couldn't remember details and pass them on.
Although I am of the opinion that the legend you brought is mostly a parable, but according to the tractate of Yoma, already 40 years before the destruction, long before the legions camped around Jerusalem, signs of the near end began to be seen:
Forty years before the destruction of the house, there was no destiny rising on the right, and there was no tongue of a white ray of light, and there was no western candle burning, and the doors of the temple were opening by themselves, until Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakhai rebuked them. He said to him: Hall, hall, why are you horrifying yourself? I know in you, that your end will be destroyed, and Zechariah ben Adua has already prophesied about you, "Open your doors to Benon, and fire will consume your lands" (Zechariah 1:40) (Yuma XNUMXth XNUMX). (Note that there are legs to speak precisely in the New Testament according to which Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple about XNUMX years before). There were probably already such revelations of corruption that could not be atoned for by the work in the temple (= "Lebanon" from the square of Israel's sins). And so he finished his post.
You claim that he seized power by force, but Rivaz was one of the disciples of Hillel the Elder, and the Gamaliel dynasty is a descendant of Hillel the Elder.
It is also not known that he prepared a continuation generation for himself. From Titus he asked "Give me Yavneh and her sages, the lineage of Rabbi Gamaliel.." Rabbi Gamaliel continued to lead the people after his death, and his disciples continued with him.
At the end of his days, it became clear that Ribaz always doubted whether he did the right thing by not staying in Jerusalem:
When the Rebbe died, his students came to visit him. As he saw them he began to cry.
God to his disciples: The lamp of Israel, the right pillar, the strong hammer, why are you crying?
He said to them: Those before a king of flesh and blood would lead me, who today is here and tomorrow in the grave, that if he is angry, his anger is not eternal anger, and if he forbids me, his prohibition is not eternal prohibition, and if I die, his death is not eternal death, and I can appease him with words and bribe him with money The Romans] - I would still cry. Now that I am being led before the Almighty God who lives and exists forever... and nothing more but that there are two ways before me: one of heaven and one of hell, and I do not know which way I am being led, and I will not cry?!
They said to him: We fought, we blessed.
He said to them: Yahr let there be a fear placed upon you as a fear of flesh and blood.
His disciples said to him: So far?
He said to them: And Louis! You will know when a person passes by saying that a person will not see me.
At the time of his death, he said to them: Remove the dishes from the impurity, and prepare a throne for Hezekiah, king of Judah, who is coming (Berachot XNUMX:).
King Hezekiah survived the siege during the days of Sennacherib. His arrival at the Ribaz symbolizes the confirmation of the withdrawal from the city in his days.
Talk about the interpretation, interesting in itself. Provides historical and political background of those days.
Of course, you can ignore the reprimands of an "anonymous user" - religious, ultra-Orthodox evidence that sanctifies the rabbis and their words.
Nevertheless, I am not inclined to agree with the interpretation. The things attributed to Rabbi Yochanan in this matter are not reliable (and you also expressly agree with this). And how can you give an interpretation to things that were not said?
I am not disrespecting Rabbi Yohanan who, in those bad days, pre-Holocaust days, days of fratricidal war, found the resourcefulness to establish the center in Yavne as a ready alternative to the Great Holocaust. (I do disdain those who quote him and cast great doubt on the things attributed to Rabbi Yochanan. The religious sermons refer to speculations and inventions as complete facts). This center, (which in my eyes was a center of idolatry, and in his eyes an anchor for the Jewish identity), provided the Jews with a certain center, a substitute for the tribal fire. A replacement for the anchor that the Romans blew up. As a result of his actions, the level of assimilation and assimilation in the surrounding population decreased - after the loss of the ten tribes hundreds of years before.
nonsense.
All of this was good for Rabbi Yochanan's interpretation in that generation, but today, thousands of years later, it is clear that Jerusalem would have been destroyed anyway, and our continuation is only by him and only by him, and without his brilliant mind, neither I nor you and your interpretation would be here,
And about the feverish brain you mentioned, please turn to the mirror and check first if you have a brain at all, and then check how feverish it is.
shame.
The Haggigim, Herod (who was a proud Jew). He was hated perhaps because of his Arab features. The same Herod would revive and renovate the temple. And so it turned out that if you opposed Herod, the temple is less important to you. The influence from those days is still evident, for example the Knesset has 120 seats. Despite the difficulty in fulfilling its function (each MK sits on several committees) .