Evidence for the massacre in Ein-Gadi

One of the groups of zealots that operated during the great rebellion was the sect of the Sikris, a name derived from a small dagger that they hid under their cloaks and used to eliminate their opponents. Their worldview was derived from a messianic-nightmare and violent Lao-bat-Kibush ideology, which Joseph Ben-Mathetyahu calls the "fourth philosophy".

The spiritual father of the zealots, from whom they drew their determination and stubbornness, was the biblical Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, who killed the singer Zimmeri ben Salo, the one who turned the mouth of Moses and participated in the worship in honor of Baal Pa'or. Even the prophet Elijah, who slaughtered the priests of Baal in Carmel, stars on a central shelf in the jealous bookcase, as do other biblical "heroes" whose hands are indeed dipped in blood, but their actions are "kosher" and "righteous", for they exalt God in their throats and they themselves boast as messengers of the God of hosts and God bigotry These models were guided by sleeping fanatics such as Mattathias and Judas Maccabeus, and no less than them, the fanatics of the great rebellion in the Romans (66-73 CE).
I do not intend to develop the issue discussed on the stage that is given to me here, but to point out a horrific event carried out by a fanatical sect whose name may be known but the act in question was well hidden by their loved ones and admirers, members of the group that believes in the ritualistic, Jewish ethnocentric tribal bonfire. This is responsible, by the way, for purifying the actions of the ancient leaders of the nation on the one hand and for slandering historians like us, who dare with "most of their insolence" to peel back the masks of time and present our ancestors in their historical glory.
One of the groups of zealots that operated during the great rebellion was the sect of the Sikris, a name derived from a small dagger that they hid under their cloaks and used to eliminate their opponents. Their worldview was derived from a messianic-nightmare and violent Lao-bat-Kibush ideology, which Joseph Ben-Mathetyahu calls the "fourth philosophy". This is a patriotic zealot, seeking to bring the kingdom of God on earth at any cost. "It will be easy for them to accept upon themselves", as Yosef ben Matatiyahu informs us, "all kinds of strange deaths and acts of revenge against their relatives and friends (provided that) they do not call anyone by the name of Lord" (The Precedents of the Jews, 23:XNUMX).
The Sicari fortified themselves in the besieged Jerusalem during the Great Revolt against the Romans and used terror methods there in the name of the principle of bringing the kingdom of heaven closer together. They defined submission to Rome as idolatry (for which, as the Sages say, a person will be killed and not cross) and from that they derived a legitimacy that sanctifies all their actions towards every competitor and rival. For example, they harmed rich Jews under the guise of collaborators, robbed their property and distributed most of it among the poor with the aim of fooling the fanatical side. They burned the central archive where the promissory notes were gathered as a sort of social revolution. And if that wasn't enough, they destroyed the aqueduct that carried water to Jerusalem and set fire to the food treasures stored in Jerusalem for hard times, indeed the hard times have come and there is no water or food in Jerusalem. The Sikris forced a war of terror against other fanatical groups and turned Jerusalem into a brutal and murderous battlefield. Their charismatic leader was Menachem ben Yehuda the Galilean who likened himself to Christ. Menachem was murdered in the Temple while wearing royal robes, and his zealous supporters, led by Eleazar Ben-Yair, abandoned Jerusalem in panic and fled to Masada.

Yosef ben Matatiyo tells about their plots in Masada and he unfolds before us a difficult picture but one that characterizes the fanatics: "And another fourth scourge added then to bring a holocaust on the people. Not far from Jerusalem is a strong fortress, which was built by the kings, to deposit their treasures in times of war and also to reach it for their souls, and its name is Masada. This fortress was captured by the people called Sikris and for the first time they raided the nearby places and plundered there only the side they needed, because their fear (of the Romans) prevented them from multiplying Hams" (Wars of the Jews against the Romans, XNUMX:XNUMX). Notice what prevented them from multiplying Hams, robbery and plunder? Was it the order of conscience and morality? no and no. The fear of the Romans fell upon them and they stopped going berserk.
The zealots waited vigilantly for a more favorable situation in order to carry out their plan, and all of this of course in the "legitimate" guise of God's elect, the judges of the whole land, God's messengers on earth and those seeking to advance the coming of redemption. Near Masada sits Ein Gedi, where Jews work in the Roman imperial estate. Some grow dates and some extract the precious perfume from the persimmon fruit. Who knows if the Sicris recognized them as collaborators with the Romans, perhaps as traitors, perhaps as getting rich from their special work. In any case, the Sikris will not rest or be quiet until they destroy those innocent and peace-loving "sons of wrongdoing", and they chose to do this on a symbolic time - during the Passover holiday, when the Jews wore a goat's eye, clothed themselves with holiness and were sure of God's protection and certainly on a holiday that symbolizes freedom and redemption. But it turns out that the harm that befell them came closer to their Jewish brothers, the Sikri fanatics.
What was? Let's take a look at the writings of Joseph ben Matthew, who defines these acts of fanatics in a pair of words: "great abominations". And this is how he testifies: "And on the occasion of the unleavened bread, which the Jews do to commemorate their deliverance when they left the slavery of Egypt and returned to the land of their forefathers, the Sikris went out at night, hiding from the prying eyes, lest they should be the devil's, and raided one by one a city of sorrow called Ein Gedi. And before the men of the army in the city had time to take their weapons and gather, the Sikris hurried to disperse them and drive them out of the city and killed the weak, who did not have the strength to escape, the women and children, seven hundred souls or more. After that they took out all the spoil of the houses and robbed all the firstfruits and carried them to Masada, and after that they looted all the villages around the fortress (Masada, XNUMX) and destroyed the whole land, and day by day the number of the vandals, who came to them in crossings, increased. And also in the other parts of the land of Judah, where the robbers had sat there until that time with arms folded, horrors took place, as in the case of the sick body, where an inflammation arose in the head and the disease spreads to all the limbs. Because the strife and tumult in the first city freed the hands of all the villains in the land to do Hams, and each one took the plunder of a village from his dwellings into the desert. And there they gathered together and each swore an oath to the other and emerged in battalions, which were smaller in number than a war army and larger than bands of robbers, on temples and cities, and wherever they poured out their anger on him, great evil found the people like the distress of those stricken in war, and the robbers did not give them time to take revenge on them, because they hurried run away with the loot in their hands. And there was no place found in the land of Judah that did not witness the loss of Jerusalem together" (Wars of the Jews against the Romans, XNUMX:XNUMX).

Before us is a horrifying and horrific event of massacre and robbery, in terms of murder-and-inheritance, which was carried out by a group of fanatics, who exalt God in their throats and the platform of social justice and the moral infrastructure are supposed to be their pillar of fire and cloud, and perhaps because of their extremism they tend to believe that they are allowed to do anything, even massacre .

About 15 years ago, nine burial systems from the Second Temple period were uncovered on the southern slopes of Nahal Arugut, in which skulls were dismembered and smashed, probably with a sharp instrument, a kind of war axe, and perhaps also with a smasher, according to the archaeological researchers. This assumption is, apparently, proof of the terrible massacre that the Sikri fanatics carried out on the innocent and helpless villagers of Ein Gedi, who fell victim to the messianic, sleepless lust for power of the Sikri fanatics.

As we bask in the fragrance of the heroism of the Masada fighters, in various ceremonies at the foot of the Masada and at its summit, it is appropriate to distinguish between myth and ethos, between an aura woven over the years and a gloomy atmosphere of terror and cruelty that the "heroes" dominated their surroundings. There was indeed a terrible massacre there, and anyone who wants to forget it or silence it, is the one collaborating with the forces of darkness and evil.

Dr. Yehiam Sorek, Historian, Beit Berel College