The Priesthood as You Didn't Know It - XNUMX: The Manipulation of Ben Kusava - XNUMX

We would expect from someone who is credited with a stubborn and troublesome rebellion against the Romans, that this would be reflected in the literature of the Sages, and this one, for its reasons, is silent

The ending of the last episode contained a promise that the current episode will be the culmination of the entire series - the priesthood as you have never known it, and I intend to realize this as much as I can, but due to its relative length I will split it into two.

In the last chapter, we were presented with a significant problem in the history of the nation after the destruction - after the terrible blow of the loss of the temple, the gradual recovery that followed, the additional relief in the form of the Diaspora rebellion during the days of Emperor Trianus and the untimely death of President Raban Gamaliel, who was unwilling to put mature, experienced and therefore worthy successors under him, and on the other hand - Deidach is characterized by the period between the end of the last rebellion and the outbreak of the new rebellion (initiated by Ben Khosva) as a sign of recovery and rehabilitation under the direction of Emperor Hadrian.

The absence of a president from a traditional family caused a significant earthquake in the Jewish leadership, and the position of Rabbi Gamliel was fairly shaken due to struggles between him and a number of senior officials in the Sanhedrin. After his death, the Sanhedrin was led by pragmatic elements with a pro-Roman attitude with the intention of restoring the relationship between Rome and Judah, and we are talking about Rabbi Tarpon and Rabbi Yehoshua.

Moreover, in the era of the inter-rebellions there were those who toyed with the hope of renewing the building of the Temple like Rabbi Ishmael and others. Rabbi Yossi ben Doramskyt, a student of Rabbi Eliezer, requires the following statement on the biblical verse "This is to me and I will be with him": "I will make a beautiful temple before him" (Michelta Darshabi). This hope that seeped into the hearts immediately after the destruction of the Second Temple and was well reflected in the regulations of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, in the almost constant wording of the "Mishivena Temple..." creamed skin and sinew, so it seems, from the tragic destruction of the large and impressive synagogue in Alexandria following the events of the Diaspora revolt. Its destruction, almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, reminded everyone of the terrible curse that had been placed on Egyptian Judaism since the end of the days of the First Temple. In other words, Egyptian Judaism paid the price and then we should expect the resurrection of the temple.

Indeed, we saw the confirmation-confirmation of this in the Talmudic source cited in the previous chapter about the steps to build the temple at the initiative of Pappus and Lulianus - one of the leaders of the revolt in the Romans - at the end of the revolt in the Diaspora or a very short time after it.
This problematic text has an opposite interpretation and it is: the plan to build Ilia Capitolina in Jerusalem at the initiative of the emperor Hadrian, the successor of Trianus, which as is known led to the breaking out of the rebellion of Ben Khosva. And what was the point of it?

The text opens with a strange wording on its face: "In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah, a kingdom decreed that the Temple should be built" (Berishit Rabba Saad, XNUMX). And why strange? The phrase "judgment" connotatively refers to a negative instruction, and how does this fit with the resurrection of the sword temple? Moreover, immediately afterwards the two central figures appear in the revolt of the Jews during the days of Trianus, that is, in the "Polumus of Cetus" according to the sage terminology, they are Pappus and Lulianus, who "sat ... trapezines (tables for exchanging money) from Acre to Antioch and were sufficient ( provide) for diaspora pilgrims (for those who wish to visit the Yehuda province and Jerusalem in its center)" (ibid.).
It is therefore possible to offer three interpretations of the above text, the one discussed in the textual context in the previous chapter (the revolt of the Jews in the days of Trianus), and this in light of the figures that "star" in it (for only in their light can we place, more or less, the chronological core of the text), when all One comes up with another idea.

The first possibility - this is an attempt to restore the Temple as an integral part of the Jewish rebellion during the days of Trianus, in order to take advantage of the "mess" that prevailed in the Roman Empire in general and/or to sanctify the course of the rebellion and even lead to the accumulation of its supporters, and since the end of the course, if it took place at all, was Dramatic and difficult, the writer uses the wording of "royal decree (Roman Empire)".

A second possibility - Hadrian sought to restore the temple in Jerusalem also as an integral part of his restorative, constructive policy, after the destruction caused by the rebellions in his predecessor's days, in the days of Trianus (and not for nothing was he called the aedificator - the builder and the restorer), also because of his somewhat humane character and nature, also due to his familiarity with the The Jews being, prior to his arrest, proconsul in Syria, and the Midrashim are published about his philosophical conversations (he was a dilettante), or as Prof. Yaebetz calls him - "the wanderer", with one of the greatest of the Sanhedrin and even acting in the place of President Raban Gamaliel after his death - Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah. And perhaps-perhaps the idea was here to renew the building of the Jewish temple as a tactical move after the Jewish rebellion against his predecessor, and let's not forget that one of Hadrian's first actions after his death was to execute Lucius Quaitus, the brutal commissioner of Judea at the end of Trianus's reign, undoubtedly also as a tribute to the Jews

A third possibility - the well-known instruction of the emperor Hadrian, the successor of Trianus, to turn Jerusalem into the Ilia Capitolina, and thereby the sword site of the temple, a kind of "Grand Zero", into a polytheistic center, is the one that stands at the center of the above-mentioned midrashic text. Or then we can untangle the threads of the event as follows: Hadrian plans to realize the architectural-ritual enterprise from the very beginning of the period of his tyranny - 119 CE - and not as is accepted by historical research, which advises the beginning of the Hadrian enterprise in 130 CE, when the emperor passes through Judea And the Arab province on its way to Egypt from Syria. First, the Hadrian operation brought many professionals to Judah, from engineers to architects, who were entrusted with the construction of the unprecedented structure. The assumption, therefore, in light of the third interpretation (based on the midrashic text), was that a rumor spread that Darrianus wanted to establish the Jewish temple of the Sword, and when it became clear that "not according to her cry" a wave of frustration developed that almost led to a rebellion breaking out if it were not for the moderate leadership of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah who issued the rebellious spirit from the balloon in Bekat Rimon by conveying to the public the famous Greek parable about Harry who got a bone stuck in his throat and was rescued by the disciple, and the parable - we were rewarded for wanting to rebel and we held back, and therefore we were not severely punished.

Any of the above possibilities, or a sort of partial combination of two of them, may lead us to the conclusion that in the period after the days of Emperor Trianus, winds of hope blew in Judea that the days of the crisis of the destruction had indeed passed and the time had come to renew the building of the temple, and perhaps even as a Athtala Dagaula.

To this atmosphere we will add the following variables: the decline in the status of the presidency in Judea and at least damage to its prestige, the untimely death of the president and the lack of a mature and acceptable successor, struggles between various factions and camps within the Sanhedrin, especially between Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah the pragmatist and leader of the moves among the Roman government and Rabbi Akiva the militant and dogmatist .

These phenomena and moves led to the strengthening of the status of the priesthood such that he was careful to preserve the relationship scrolls of his families and marry only members of priesthood families. This class which lost its status and prestige after the destruction and even though the sages were careful about the honor of the families of the priesthood, the phenomenon of the Sanhedrat in the priesthood was destroyed. And here the preoccupation with the issue of the temple has, so it seems, returned the shine to the eyes of the priests, when they are expecting to return Atara to its former glory, meaning the construction of the temple, the renewal of work on it and its management by their families.

These circumstances were exploited, it seems, by fanatical, extremist elements, such as operated throughout the history of the Second Temple, and especially from the period of the Maccabean revolt and the Hasmonean kingdom, to raise the miracle of the revolt against the Romans and mobilize the priestly elements for this purpose. And again, let's not forget that after the destruction, the crown of leadership passed from the priesthood to the community of sages, the members of the Sanhedrin, with Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai of Bivna leading the charge, followed by Rabbi Gamliel Dibna. Also, no priests were found in the madrasah of these two presidents. There is no reason why the priesthood will only be happy to associate with anyone who guarantees it its previous position, and this will indeed be done.

Pay attention to the following phenomenon, which on the one hand reflects the previous image and on the other hand explains the background to the outbreak of Ben Kusava's rebellion: after the death of Rabbi Gamaliel, near the year 116 or 117, the Sanhedrin leadership in Yavneh - the mythical seat of the Presidency since the destruction of the Second Temple - almost completely disintegrated -Perhaps this was due to a Roman instruction to clip the wings of the mythological leadership. And so we find a line of sages, members of the Sanhedrin, each of whom builds a sort of court of his own, and rules his own territory. And for example - Rabbi Tarpon in Bivna, Rabbi Akiva in Lod, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria in Tzipori and more. This phenomenon invites friction between the various leaders and is fertile ground for the development of rebellious tendencies - to seize the reins of the leadership and in the process deal with the Roman rule.

We will advance chronologically to the end of the twenties of the second century CE, two or three years before the outbreak of the rebellion, and we will be exposed to a series of events that indicate a tense atmosphere of a pre-rebellion. These are reflected in the literature of the Sages, about groups of listists (a technical term that stands out in the writings of Yosef ben Mattathias and aimed at fanatics-rebels) and local-popular-family provocations, who took advantage of such and such acts of Romans to raise the miracle of the rebellion. There is also evidence of the reinforcement of the Roman forces in the province of Judaea, probably on the basis of a pre-rebellion atmosphere.

And what about the reasons for the outbreak of the rebellion? The sources know how to tell about the first motive which is a Roman decree against the word. This is a problematic instruction both with regard to the wording of Roman sources and even the literature of sages, both contrary to the position and character of the emperor, both due to the uncertainty of whether it is an interpretation of the Roman commissioner and whether the decree only concerns those who practice witchcraft, or whether it concerns castration at all, and perhaps -Perhaps this is not a cause of the rebellion but rather the result of Roman punishment. Either way, the rebellion broke out in some connection to this decree.
The second motive concerns the same Hadrian enterprise of establishing Jerusalem as Ilia Capitolina, and even though the non-Jewish sources differ, whether the Ilia Capitolina phenomenon is the cause of the rebellion or its result, the numismatic, mint find of Ilia Capitolina coins together with the collection of rebellion coins in Jerusalem, proves that indeed the city It was built, or at least planned to be built and in advanced stages of execution, before the outbreak of the rebellion.

It is common to see Ben Kosba as the sole, undisputed leader of the rebellion. Was it really so?
Well, sage literature connects the beginning of the outbreak of the rebellion with legendary stories about local leaders who attacked after provocations by Roman forces. Among them, Ben Kusava is not mentioned, but a pair of anonymous brothers, a group of revelers related to a casual family, and a character called "Bar Droma" (Son of the South or Son of the Romans), whom sage literature attributes to him acts of heroism and great physical strength (reminiscent in no small part of the heroes of the Great Eliba Rebellion Diosef ben Matthew).

Ben Kusava appears in the sources later, and he probably takes the leadership of the rebellion.

It is not in the interest of this list to go into the issue of the leadership of the rebellion detached from the priesthood, but that an exemption for nothing is impossible (and I may have time to publish an article on this in the future). The character of Ben Kusva raises many questions, especially regarding the degree of support or reservations the members of the Sanhedrin showed towards him (more on that later), regarding his messiahship and his attitude towards his subordinates. In any case, and here I would like to emphasize an issue that was omitted from the research and the national historical memory (and it is very clear why), and that is - the absence of his military function. We would expect from someone who is credited with a stubborn and troublesome rebellion against the Romans, that this would be reflected in the literature of the Sages, and this one, for its reasons, is silent (and more on that later). Naha, but what about Ben Kusva's fees? Neither its species nor its parts. Here we would really expect an abundance of information regarding his military management. And what turns out? There is not even the faintest hint that emerges from his papers, that he wrote and signed each and every one of them, about military moves, military plans, combat instructions, and the like.

On the other hand, what do we find in his letters? Real estate management for anything and everything, such as selling a field, buying a field, selling agricultural produce, crates and leasing, and more of that kind. In other words, the bills show a "not-so-patriotic" picture of a prince or a prince with estates who cares about the safety of his property, which is perfectly fine, except that this figure completely neutralizes the mythological image that stuck/was stuck to the condemned leader throughout history, and this for reasons of national mobilization - Nationalist, but it is not the interest of this list to present and develop.

Even from his coins there is not even a hint about the connection between Ben Kusva and military activity, and after all it is about a rebellion and not about diplomatic moves of one kind or another. Indeed, this is very puzzling, and perhaps indicates that in fact the dimensions of the rebellion, if there was one at all, were miniature, lest they amount to sporadic guerilla operations.

How, then, does Ben Kusva relate to the subject of the priesthood? We will discuss this in the next chapter.

The series of articles "The Priesthood You Didn't Know" by Dr. Yehiam Sorek

• Part I - the end of the First Temple and the exile in Babylon
• Part II - Return to Zion
• Part III - The Hellenistic period
• Part XNUMX - The priesthood in Marumiya
• Part XNUMX - The priesthood makes muscles
• Part XNUMX - Matthew turns over in his grave
• Part XNUMX - The priesthood begins to lose height
• Part VIII - The reign of Hyrcanus
• Part IX - Herod stirs up the priesthood
• Part XNUMX - The Priesthood and the Christian Jesus
• Part XNUMX - There is life after Herod
• Part XNUMX - The priesthood deals with clothes
• Part XNUMX - Bureau for Exposing Corruption
• Chapter XNUMX - The priesthood in Mim Bemol
• Chapter XNUMX - The priesthood in the worship of the sun and the war cheer
• Chapter XNUMX - Going to fight the Romans
• Chapter XNUMX - The Great Rebellion and the Priesthood
• Chapter XNUMX - A total mess in Jerusalem
• Chapter XNUMX - to the places, the school, get out!
• Chapter XNUMX - One righteous man in Sodom
• Chapter XNUMX - What is in the scrolls?
• Chapter XNUMX - So where is the priesthood?
• Chapter XNUMX - Restoring Ataret to its old age
• Chapter XNUMX - A priestly conspiracy?!
• More of the topic in Hayadan:
  • A large hoard of coins from the time of the Bar Kochba rebellion was discovered
  • The musical side of Ben Kochba (Bar Kochba)
  • Ben Kusaba's manipulation (I)
  • Ben Kusaba's manipulation (B)
  • He was a hero, he called the sparrow, wasn't he?