The priesthood as you did not know it - XNUMX: a priestly conspiracy?!

The previous list "stuck" us on the question of renewing the temple and the thawing of the relationship between the presidency and the priesthood, and the current one will examine the continuation of the conduct according to Rabbi Gamaliel's policy and status.

And what about the moves of the priesthood. Well, immediately after the destruction, this was characterized by a severe sense of loss, which probably gave rise to deep frustration - a logical result of the breakup. This bad situation probably characterized more the families of the priesthood that lived in or near Jerusalem and less in the settlements of the priesthood in the Galilee. The priesthood comes to its senses with time and is imbued with the feeling that the absence of the temple is a question of time, how much - unknown, until Ataret returns to its former glory, and in any case the priesthood must prepare for the conduct of the new, crisis situation.
and how?

First - she manages the genealogy books of her families and especially of her shifts.
Second - it continues to follow the same customs that characterized it until the Holocaust, such as special consecration laws, holding hands in blessing, and more.

Third - she continues to forcefully demand the fulfillment of the Jewish society's obligations towards her, as if the temple had not been destroyed, and especially the collection of the donation. The donation, which according to the Bible has no rate or measure, is sacred and only pure priests and their household are allowed to eat it. However, in the Mishnah, the amount of the donation is listed, and it is divided in a match between Beit Shamai (which claims a relatively large amount) and Beit Hillel (which reduces the amount). The mishna also knows how to tell about priests who came to the granat and there the donation was set aside and distributed to them. The contribution was set aside from the dry grain, legumes and other fruits and also from the wine and oil.

Moreover, priests after the destruction continued to follow special consecration laws, continued to raise their hands in blessing, could collect a donation, challah, the firstborn of an animal and the redemption of the son, the beginning of the gas.

But... these did not take into account that in front of them stands a strong president with strong governmental partisanship who sees the priesthood and its wishes as a danger that threatens his position, and indeed while President Raban Gamaliel's power is growing, he gets into trouble with a group of Sanhedrin members on various issues, among them the status of the priesthood and the priests, and for example in the relationship between a priest and a priest people of the country. In this regard, the Babylonian Talmud expands the veil in Tractate Bekorot and develops the subject in the context of the endless debates, which concern quite a few power struggles between the president and Rabbi Yehoshua. Well, according to Rabbi Yehoshua, there is a difference between a fellow priest and a priest with the land, while the president had the opposite position. When this position of Rabbi Yehoshua became known, Rabbi Gamliel decided to lay a trap for him and publicly humiliate him. This was forged in the Sanhedrin, as a Beit Midrash, when Rabbi Gamaliel took the trouble to raise the aforementioned controversial matter for discussion. Rabbi Yehoshua realized that he was standing on the brink of a trap and declared, similar to the president's position, that there is no difference between a priest who is a friend and a priest with the land. The president insisted and portrayed Rabbi Yehoshua as a liar, whitewashed his face in public and even punished him with a humiliating corporal punishment - to stand while the other members sat in their seats.

This case was repeated and even more so in the controversy surrounding the question: Is evening prayer a permission or an obligation. Rabbi Gamliel intended to repeat his humiliating and punishing stance towards Rabbi Yehoshua, but this time the sages of the Sanhedrin stood on their feet, literally, and decided to rebel against the president and depose him.

Before we explain the matter of the rebellion, we should point out that the tensions between Rabbi Yehoshua and the president probably also reflected a political dimension. Rabbi Yehoshua had connections with the Roman authorities and in general he is considered an "ascholastika dauriita", that is, the philosopher of the Torah as the Sages say. And in later sources, Rabbi Yehoshua is mentioned as someone who socialized with the emperor Hadrian and even had logical and mythological debates with him. Rabbi Yehoshua's position and his connections with the authorities were appalling in the eyes of the president, who perhaps felt a little threatened by his "back", and therefore took advantage of every opportunity to settle accounts with the opposition Rabbi Yehoshua.

And back to the confrontation. The members of the Sanhedrin decided to teach the president a lesson and kicked his status and position. In this regard, the various researchers disagree whether the president was removed from all his powers, and in any case, for a fixed period, or whether he lost only a part of his powers. Either way, the step taken was bold and unprecedented and the question that arose then was - who will stand in the place of the president. The first of the candidates was Rabbi Yehoshua, but his candidacy was disqualified because he was a "baal ma'ase", that is, a party to a conflict and debate, and the above step could be interpreted as a conspiracy. Rabbi Akiva's Muumdut was also rejected and the third in line was Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria who was proposed because of his wisdom, his wealth, his connections with the authorities and above all because of his being a priest, and the whole affair, to mention, exploded because of the question involving the priesthood.

This earthquake - the ouster of a sitting president, considered an unprecedented event by any measure - certainly affected the Jewish diaspora, and indeed we hear of a certain attempt to develop some kind of infrastructure in the city of Rome by the leadership of the local Jewish community, led by Matthias, a Roman, to renew, no less, no more, the building The temple, and where? in the city of Rome. Knowing this, representatives from Judea were immediately sent to Rome, not by the president but at the initiative of the leadership of the members of the Sanhedrin, since he had been deposed in the meantime, and threatened the "Branesh" because he might find himself ostracized and banned altogether.

We do not know when the president returned to office. In any case, he died during the Jewish revolt against the Hellenistic and Roman world, which became known as the "diaspora revolt against the emperor Trianus" (117-114 CE). It was a rebellion that started almost simultaneously in Egypt and Kyrenia and spread a little westward, it also took place in Cyprus and Mesopotamia and perhaps also in Judea, where it was nicknamed the "Quitos polemic".

During the rebellion, as mentioned, Rabbi Gamliel died and was succeeded by Rabbi Tarpon who was a priest and was nicknamed "Rabbi of all Israel", or "Father of all Israel" (the title "Rabbi", it should be noted, was the title of the president).

In Egypt and Kyrenia, the rebellion took on very strong religious-ritual dimensions, when Hellenistic and Roman temples were destroyed and burned by the rebels. Whether there was any connection between the removal of the president from his term of office and ritualistic, and possibly pre-temple attempts, that were linked to the rebellion (and let's not forget that behind the rebellion were fanatical, messianic elements who at the time fled from Judah during the great rebellion) cannot be known for sure, although this is not far from a conclusion Logical. In any case, the news that the rebellion in Egypt ends with the tragic destruction of the synagogue in Alexandria, which resembled, how could it not, a temple, "like a large bassilki ... and seventy golden cathedrals oh there..." (Talmud Yerushalmi Sukkah, chapter XNUMX Noah p. XNUMX ) and from that, this event was to strengthen, theoretically only, the principle of the option of establishing the temple in Jerusalem for later.

During the rebellion, Sage sources tell about two brothers, Pappus and Lulianus, who were captured in Laodicea (then Laodicea, it is today's Latakia) and killed by Trianus (probably on his orders). Sound rebellious? Certainly, but on what background? The sources imply and liken the two to Daniel's legendary spouses.
In order to shed light on the parasha we look at another source - in the Midrash Beresheet Rabbah and this is how it opens: "In the days of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah, a kingdom decreed that the temple be built." The mention of Rabbi Yehoshua's name brings us chronologically to the period of the rebellion, but what is the temple doing here, and more with royal approval, that is, Rome? The continuation removes some shadows in this regard: "Peppus and Lulianus set up trapezines (money-changing booths) from Acre to Antiochia (Antioch) and they were sufficient (supplied) for the exiled pilgrims." The two brothers therefore initiated a tremendous enterprise of pilgrimage and sending donations to the temple that was being built. So why were the brothers killed? We will continue and read.
Immediately afterwards, the source mentions the project of building the second temple by the captives of Zion following the declaration of Cyrus and how the Koths (Samaritans) tried to disrupt the building of the temple, and this in order to unite the two stories.

On the face of it, the interpretation of the complex event appears to be as follows: an unprecedented initiative was carried out, and perhaps against the background of attempts outside of Judah, to restore the temple, which was originally perceived as Roman approval (similar to the declaration of Cyrus), when behind the operation was probably President Raban Gamaliel, or perhaps his successor after the impeachment, the priest Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, who will be remembered in connection with the temple restoration plan by ben Khosva (Bar Kochva) years later. This move was undoubtedly seen as a rebellious step by the Romans, since its destruction symbolized Jupiter's victory over Jehovah. The Roman resistance caused bitter disappointment among the Jewish public, and as a result a physical attempt was made to initiate a revolt, and those who paid the price were, as mentioned above, Pappus and Lulianus.
The same source tells about the initiative as follows - "The capital of Kahaliya Metzmatin in Hada in Keata Davit Rimon. The direction of Datu Kbiya Sharon was crying. Looking for a rebellion against the kingdom." That is, congregations gathered in the valley of Beit Rimon (probably between the valley and the lower Galilee), and when they arrived at the gates of Rome (with the prohibition to build the temple in their hands), the public burst into tears and asked to rebel against the kingdom (the Roman Empire). But the public was apparently attacked by sufficiencies and debates, and therefore the voice was heard: "Yeol had bar-nesh Hakim and your match in Kibara." Emerin: Ya'eul Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah, Dahua Escholastica Dauriita". That would be - (he will be honored) (and) one wise person will come to calm the public down. And the voice was heard: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananiah will rise and come, because he is the philosopher of the Torah. Rabbi Yehoshua brought before the public the well-known Aesopian parable about the lion that ate prey and a bone stuck in his throat, and he could not swallow or vomit. A fowl with a long beak (say a stork or a crane) chanced upon it and pulled the bone from the throat of the king of beasts. The chicken asked for the reward it deserved. And then the lion answered him: Go and tell everyone that you entered the lion's mouth safely and left it safely, and this is your true reward! "... This is how we judged" - concludes the source in the words of Rabbi Yehoshua - "that we entered this nation (Rome) in peace, and we left (it) in peace!" (Beresheet Rabba, Sed, XNUMX). That is, you were on the verge of rebellion and you did not get involved in one more, destructive, catastrophic step, or perhaps - once you rebelled and were badly burned but we forgive you. Stop as long as possible!

So what did we have? An attempt to build the temple (perhaps at the initiative of Rabbi Gamaliel or the group that deposed him) and to provoke a great pilgrimage and an influx of funds to the expected temple, all during the diaspora revolt against Trianus. Rabbi Yehoshua, the oppositionist of the president, woke up, realized the dangers involved in revolting the Romans and calmed the public down.

Beyond the danger of the harsh reaction that was expected from the Romans, Rabbi Yehoshua here represents the new Pharisee position after the destruction - to compromise with the Romans on a pragmatic basis and not to sink into messianic dreams about the restoration of the temple and with it the renewal of the status of the priesthood, the junior and the senior together. This was an antagonistic position to extremist, somewhat delusional elements such as Rabbi Akiva. And why a new Pharisee position? Because until the destruction Phariseeism was portrayed as hawkish, anti-Roman. This position is also fueled by the continuation of the mythological conflict with the sect of the Sadducees, the priests, who never stopped dreaming of establishing the temple and restoring its glory, including - strengthening their position.

The last source discussed above, which is problematic by all accounts, will bring us to study the climax episode of the entire current series and it is - the plan to renew the temple and the priesthood as an integral part of the rebellion of Ben Khosva and more on that later.

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