The priesthood as you did not know it - Chapter XNUMX: Going to fight the Romans

The revolt is initiated by a member of the high priestly family and even puts himself at the head of the uprising, although his actions were only in the area of ​​the temple. It seems on his face that the atmosphere of bigotry that began to gather supporters hit some of the priesthood

The model of the Second Temple from Holyland - now in the Israel Museum
The model of the Second Temple from Holyland - now in the Israel Museum

In the previous list we referred to the priestly group that withdrew from Jerusalem and manned the sect of the Judean Desert with the intention of breaking out from there in rebellion against the Romans. In this list we will deal with the extreme priestly group that remained in Jerusalem and it was the one that lifted the miracle of the rebellion.

Joseph ben Matthew declares as follows: "At that time, King Agrippa (the second) gave the high priesthood to Ishmael. He was the son of Fabi. Then a quarrel arose between the high priests and between the other priests and the leaders of the people in Jerusalem, and each of them made for himself a regiment of extremely brave men And chasers of riots and they had a leader, they clashed and quarreled with each other and stoned each other and no one was happy In their hands, things were done out of freedom, as in a city where there is no government. The lack of shame and boldness affected the high priests until they even sent slaves to the caves, which were the property of the lay priests, and it cost the poor priests to perish from want with all justice and honesty" (Jews' Antiquities 181:179-XNUMX).
The picture of the situation before our eyes is indeed difficult. It presents the High Priesthood as involved in power conflicts in Jerusalem, as steeped in violence, as recruiting violent gangs to its ranks, as corrupt and lacking conscience and inner morality. The atmosphere in Jerusalem was anarchic and as if it signaled the waning of the rebellion, and there was a kind of expectation that the leadership, including the high priesthood, would take responsibility and calm the spirits, but the situation was reversed - the Jerusalem leadership, including the priesthood, poured boiling oil over the fire of the Jerusalem chaos.

Sage literature, which rarely refers to the Great Rebellion, does not hold back and laments the atmosphere in Jerusalem in this way: "Woe to me from Beytus, woe to me from Eltan; Woe to me from the house of Hanin, woe to their whisperers; Woe to me from the house of Catharos, woe to me from Columsen; Woe to me from the house of Ishmael son of Piabi, woe to me from the group of them, who are high priests, and their sons are governors, and their husbands are mercenaries and their servants beat the people with sticks" (Pesachim Nez p. 2). The Talmudic description is no less terrible than that of Yosef ben Matthiyahu: the houses of the priesthood mentioned here They curse, use witchcraft, Nazism in writing, hit the people and are infected with general nepotism.

During the commission of Albinus (64-62 CE) it is said that Agrippa II again intervened in the appointment of the high priest. He took the position from Yosef and passed it on to Hanan's son, who was also named Hanan. And so Yosef ben Matatiyo: "It is said about that old Hanan that he was a very successful man, since he had five sons, and all of them were high priests of God. He himself was the first to be awarded the office of Kud for a very long time, something that did not happen to any of our high priests. And Hanan The young man, of whom we said received the high priesthood, was arrogant in spirit and bold-faced to an extent not found, and belonged to the sect of the Sadducees, who are stricter in judgment than all the Jews, as already We told. And because Hanan was (of a nature) like that, he thought that this was his time of fitness, because Festus (the previous commissioner) had died and Albinus (the current commissioner) was still on the way, and he seated a Sanhedrin of judges and brought before it the brother of Jesus called the Messiah - his name is Jacob - and people others and put a category on them, as if they had broken the law, and turned them over to stoning. And they modestly sent messengers to the king (Agrippa II) and asked him to order Hanan not to do this under any circumstances, since he had not acted according to the rule of law before. Albinus was convinced of this and wrote angrily to Hanan and threatened to get rid of him, so King Agrippa took over the high priesthood from him Shemesh was peaceful for months, and appointed under him Yeshua ben Damani as high priest" (The Antiquities of the Jews 203-197).

Seemingly before us is a high priest with dangerous personal caprices, but his adventurousness reflects to a certain extent another facet of the characteristics of the priesthood during the period on the eve of the Great Rebellion. Moreover, it is not for nothing that a man is remembered here (Jacob, brother of Jesus) whose brother, according to Christian tradition, was condemned by the Sanhedrin, before his handover to the Romans, and at the head of the court stood Caiaphas the high priest. Did Hanan the High Priest seek to become famous on the background of an event similar to the case of the Christian Jesus? Maybe. Also, the conduct of the Sanhedrin trial led by Hanan who sought to condemn Jacob to stoning was invalid from the outset because the laws of souls were confiscated from Judah in the Roman period, and any such attempt could have provoked the wrath of the Romans towards the High Priesthood.

The high priest at the beginning of Albinus' reign was Hananiah and he used to offer gifts (bribes) to the commissioner with a generous hand, and where did the money come from? Probably from the temple treasures. He used to recruit "very bad slaves" around him, that is, gang members and thugs, who did despicable jobs for him such as forcibly taking dozens of junior priests, brought them to the disgrace of starvation, from which some simply did not rise.

Joseph Ben Matthieu concludes his essay "The Antiquity of the Jews" with a long and broad reference to the High Priesthood. He reviews the beginnings of the priesthood from the biblical Aaron, Moses' brother, and onwards, when the succession procedures of the priesthood (inheritance of the firstborn son) were formulated, and that only from Aaron's family would the priests come, and not from another source, even if he is king.

The Great Rebellion broke out during the time of Commissioner Floros, who is considered the worst of all the commissioners who preceded him. Then the negative judgment of the emperor Nero regarding the status of the Jews of the city of Caesarea was published in May, 66 AD, and this served as a signal and sign for the outbreak of the rebellion among the Romans. But the stormy winds subsided and peace almost reigned in Judah again.
And Florus, who, according to Josephus, sought to fan the flames of rebellion, summoned the high priests (note: again in the plural!) and the elite elite in Jerusalem and informed them that only on the condition that they came out to honor with their presence the legions of the Roman army coming from Caesarea and with them the inhabitants of Jerusalem, he would see it A signal and a sign to calm the spirits of the people and that they will not expect any more acts of rebellion. The priests and the wealthy elite of Jerusalem gathered the Jewish public on the Temple Mount to appease the people and calm the spirits, but groups of fanatics, those seeking rebellion, emphatically announced that they would not listen to Floros's request/demand. Their shouts and provocations grew louder and received wider support from the public. At the same time, Floros instructed the army commanders to attack the residents of Jerusalem if they took advantage of the aforementioned sensitive situation to insult the soldiers and provoke any sign of provocation.

The priests and Levites realized that the event of the battle could turn into a bloodbath and therefore they behaved in an unusual and unprecedented manner, and according to Joseph ben Mattathias: "... and they (the priests and Levites) carried before them (before the people who stood in Mary) the vessels of the temple and the garments of the priesthood, in which they used to serve in the sanctuary, And the musicians (on harps and violins) and the poets (the Levites) who are in the temple took the instruments of music and they all fell at the feet of the people and bowed his face to keep the holy vessels in their hands and without any pretext for the Romans to despise the treasures of the house of God" (Jewish Wars, 2:15, 4), and we do not find this sight easy: these sacred vessels were intended for the performance of worship only. Taking them out of the temple and in a matter that does not involve the sacred service indicates the great importance they attached to the topic of the expected event of the meeting between the Romans and the Jews. This step, which has the effect of deep despair, was supposed to present to the people the disproportionate Roman reaction to an expected damage to the temple, unless the disgruntled public came to terms and withdrew its hands from some rebellious move.
And Yosef ben Matatiyo continues the dramatic description as follows: "How terrible was the sight of the high priests with dirt on their heads and tearing their clothes and revealing their closed hearts. They called the people known for their piercing names, each one of them, and also begged the whole people, that this little thing would not be easy in their eyes and they will not surrender their holy city to the hands of those who want to destroy it" (The Jewish Wars, ibid.
The priests turn to the public as one man and slam the matter of arrogance, because what will actually happen if the public shows a measure of respect for the Romans? The high priests asked the public, or: how will they bear responsibility for their actions. "Herewith you will shut the mouth of Florus (the commissioner) who is asking him for an excuse to wage war on you, and that way you will have your city as a spoil and you will not add to the week of pain. They will be a terrible act, when such a large people will hear in a voice snoring a quarrel from time to time, without forcing them to admit what I said the many" (ibid.).

It is true that Yosef ben Matthew wrote these things after the destruction, after he served as the commander of the Galilee in the rebellion, after he crossed the lines and after he often blamed the zealots (just as the Sages did) for causing the disaster that also led to the destruction of the Second Temple, and from that his words are slightly biased, but it is narrated by the historian Decent and reliable, who was good at analyzing the events, and the latest event certainly indicates the tragedy of the destruction itself, when A delusional and bloodthirsty handful led the public to the brink of doom.

The priests succeeded in this position to influence those who were dragged and dragged after the zealots and together they all went out to promote the arrival of the Roman army. As the regiments approached, the Jews greeted them with peace, but the Roman army did not respond (which was expected in light of the army's tough behavior as an army) and the Jewish provocateurs perceived this as the extraction of much loot and raised a shout. In response, the soldiers attacked the Jews and beat everyone who was caught. The rest fled everywhere.

The insurgents feared that Floros might take control of the Temple Mount and therefore severed the connection with the capital by destroying several halls. Immediately afterwards, Florus turned to the high priests and the Sanhedrin and assured them that he would take care of removing the troops from Jerusalem except for one battalion that would take care of order and peace.

In the meantime, King Agrippa II arrived in Judea and met with the high priests and the heads of the Sanhedrin. He heard from them about the cruelty of Florus and the acts of Roman provocation and made sure to give the Roman minister of the army, Neapolitanus, a guided tour of Jerusalem to closely monitor the calm, moderate and peaceful tendencies of the majority of the Jewish public.

The Jewish public in Jerusalem begged the king and the priests to send envoys to Emperor Nero to complain and complain about the actions of Florus, "because otherwise" - so Joseph ben Mattheyo - "if the Jews turn a deaf ear to this terrible murder (and referring to the sharp reaction of Florus's soldiers), they will allow them to be suspected, Because there really was a rebellion among them, and if they don't hurry to prove who started taunting them, it will look like they took out the (rebellious) sword from Te'ar" (The Wars of the Jews there, 3). This face shows how sorry the public is that there will be a handful of extreme fanatics.

Later, Agrippa II delivers his dramatic speech in front of the Jerusalem public, in which he drops one by one all the reasons, motives and infrastructures of the instigators of the strife and the supporters of the rebellion. The people are convinced and make sure to repair the damage they caused in the vicinity of the temple - the construction of the halls that bridged the temple and the capital - and are even ready to raise taxes for the Romans. However, the Jewish public did not back down from its demand that the Romans appoint another commissioner under Florus, which was clear that if it was done, it would not be done immediately, and therefore the public's anger, even though it took care to repair the damages and, as mentioned, raise the taxes.
This mix of emotions was immediately exploited by the supporters of the rebellion - "And at that time people gathered together, who harnessed all their strength to provoke the war, and rushed to the fort called Masada (Masada) and suddenly captured it and slaughtered all the Romans from the garrison stationed there and put in their place the men of their peace While they were doing this, a bold-faced guy named Eleazar, son of Hananiah the high priest, came out, and he was an official in the house. The temple at that time, and incited the serving priests, lest they should receive sacrifices from the Gentiles, and this was the beginning of the war (rebellion) with the Romans, because in these acts the Jews canceled the sacrifice of the emperor Sacrifices for the peace of the governors, the people did not listen to their voices, in their confidence in the size of the population, because the heroes of the force are from the crowd of objects The rebellion strengthened their hands and their eyes were fixed on Eleazar who stands at their head." (Wars of the Jews 2:17 2).

What comes before our eyes?

First - the rebellion is initiated by a member of the high priestly family and even puts himself at the head of the uprising, although his actions were only in the area of ​​the temple. It seems on his face that the atmosphere of fanaticism that began to gather supporters struck a part of the priesthood, and perhaps Eleazar even saw himself as an ideological scion of the ancient Hebrew fanaticism, the one that began with the biblical Pinchas, continued with Elijah and Matthew who called for rebellion in the Greeks and the Greeks, and he is from the family of the priesthood, from the Yehoirib guard. And perhaps the name Eleazar is mythologically linked to Eleazar the Elder who, together with the mother and her seven sons, were sanctified during the pre-revolt in Hellenism.
In the Babylonian Talmud in tractate Gitin it is stated that the initiator of the cessation of the sacrifice for the peace of the emperor was Zacharias ben Abaculos, also from the priestly family, and in Josephus ben Mattathias, Zacharias ben Amphiklos from the priestly family is remembered later who was zealous in his views and even initiated a bloodbath in Jerusalem by the Reds.

Second - the prohibition of accepting sacrifices from foreigners, as instigated by Elazar ben Hananiah, is connected to writing in the Sage sources that the students of Beit Shammai the Zealots announced on the eve of the rebellion a "Decree of 1983 Devar" which refers to a complete and total severance of contact between Jews and non-Jews and purification The land and the people from all idolatry. A group of sages gathered at the entrance of Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Geron (or Gurion) to deal with the laws of Shabbat and then "the Rabbi of Beit Shammai was enumerated over Beit Hillel and eighteen things were decreed in it by day" (from Shabbat 86:XNUMX). This move cements a significant link in the bridge and the connection between the revolt against the Romans and the revolt of the Maccabees, the latter of whom saw war with foreign labor as a superior reason for rebellion. It will be further noted, and this was first suggested by my teacher and Rabbi Prof. Aryeh Kosher in his book "The Great Revolt. The Causes and Circumstances of Its Outbreak", XNUMX (p. XNUMX), that the faction of Hananiah ben Hezekiah was associated with the formulation of the "Fasting Scroll", and it is likely that his writing and distribution of a composition This, in which the victories of the Hasmoneans stand out in particular, were intended to embrace the hearts of the rebels and to deceive them into the feeling that they The faithful successors of the Hasmonean tradition.
Furthermore, we learned throughout the days of the Second Temple that rulers, especially Romans, acted as a gesture of goodwill to offer sacrifices on their behalf in the Temple. This practice, which was stopped by Eleazar ben Hananiah, symbolizes the separation between Judah and Rome and from it - the beginning of the outbreak of the rebellion. It was also a step to encourage the rebels because God is with them.

Thirdly - the verb that emerges from the aforementioned decree is the cancellation of the ancient, mythological practice of offering sacrifices for the peace of the emperor and the empress. It sounds like idolatry, and indeed it was. Hellenistic and Roman. In the latter, a double daily sacrifice was offered in the temple, as Sage sources also confirm. to the dea Roma (those of Rome) and to Caesar. paganism? Indeed indeed. For many years the Jews put up with this practice and as evidence - its official cessation served as a signal and model for the outbreak of the rebellion against the Romans.

Fourth - the revolt against the Romans receives religious-ritual support and is led by a representative of the High Priesthood.

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

Comments

  1. Avi:
    I don't underestimate Hope either, but from Yitzhak's words it turns out that at least mentally he is exactly at the ages you were talking about.
    That's why I was a little surprised that Yitzchak was active on this site and not on a site that (because of his age) seemed to him to be deeper.

  2. Avi:
    There is a kind of "apology" in your words that is completely unnecessary.
    The eradication of ignorance and superstitions is a necessary part of the process of imparting science to the masses, a part whose value does not fall short of that of the publication of news from the forefront of science and technology.
    Therefore, the activities that you defend in your response are part of the process of promoting the goals that the site declares, and if Yitzhak meant them, then he was simply wrong.

  3. What am I doing wrong that in order to protect science I fight ignorance and postmodernism, isn't this the same as what Carl Sagan did at the time? Is taking a position in favor of rationalism even without declaring that this is the purpose of the site, an improper purpose?
    Another editor would have simply deleted your comment or at least the first line of it.

  4. First - funny
    Second - any site that operates in the field of goals that it declares in faith without promoting goals that it does not openly declare is considered less shallow in my opinion, even this one - http://www.hop.co.il

  5. Dr. Yachiam.
    First - thank you.
    It is not easy to find comprehensive and educated articles like yours on this shallow site.
    Second - I find it strange the weight you attach to the XNUMXth meeting at Beit Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Goron.
    Shekela and Teriya in Halacha matters took place continuously, and the meeting in question was not unusual except for the fact
    that unusually the number of sages from the Beit Shamai school was slightly more than the sages of the Beit Hillel school.
    The majority of the laws established on that day (32 - and another 18 in which the division remained the same) are not related at all to severing ties between Jews and non-Jews except for three - 1. Prohibition of a Gentile to dedicate a donation to the Temple (for fear of Nida), 2. Prohibition of eating prepared food Absolutely by a Gentile (for fear that her name was devoted to foreign work)
    3. A decree for a Gentile child to be falsely defiled (for fear of the children of Israel "going to a bad culture" among the Gentiles).
    It is not about preventing gentile sacrifices in the Temple at all and most of all. The implications you draw from this story are far-reaching, and if there is any point in it, then the point is in the manner of the procedural discussion and the manner in which the canon of the books is established (Hanania ben Hezekiah ben Geron was closed to Alia by "refining" the book of Ezekiel.)
    In light of everything described before the above passage, it is clear that the Sauv and the foreign intervention in the conduct of the work of the Temple
    brought the slogan "the corrupt are fed up" to the doorstep of the younger generation of the priesthood, idealistic people who were fed up with the low stature of their parents and wanted to raise their heads. And the young people then as well as today, first do and only later face the consequences. But the actions are done out of innocence and complete faith in the righteousness of the path
    And it was true that the daughter of the voice said to the tormentor that "a burnt house has burned", and if not for this spirit where would it be today?
    Happy New Year.
    Itzhak
    DAG - Cohen

  6. Nahum:
    It's not under my control, but I think this is a very serious project. As far as I know, my father considered the matter and rejected it.
    Beyond that, it seems to me that this site will be subject to serious attacks from various people who are already trying to damage it through the comments.
    The need for constant inspection to detect intentional sabotage also requires a considerable amount of manpower.
    In short, as they say "it is what it is and we will win with it"

  7. In addition to the above:
    There is no law of a news article like a law of a scientific article. From the latter, as I wrote, I expect more precision.

  8. Michael,
    If the site is voluntary, it may be possible to transfer it to a wiki format. In this way, anyone who finds an error will be able to proofread it themselves, and the website operators will be able to roll back any vandalistic changes, as is done in the various wiki projects. I'd love to proofread myself whenever I have time, but I can't commit to it on a regular basis.

  9. For Eran, there are many who prefer the current Temple, that is, the State of Israel, for all its shortcomings, over a Halacha State with a Temple in the style of the previous two, after all, about 1940 years have passed since then, the world has developed since then. Even the concept of secular did not exist yet, therefore Jesus was a logical alternative, if secularism had existed then perhaps Christianity would not have arisen.

  10. I saw an article on television about the Christian Jesus that many Jewish believers were fed up with the priests in the Second Temple and because they were looking for an alternative to them and found faith in Jesus. The conclusion from all this is that the Second Temple was not destroyed only because of free sleeping but also because the sacred service was not performed by a priest who was worthy and chosen by the Holy One, blessed be He.

    With God's help in the future when the third temple is built, the priests they choose will be chosen by God.
    There is a sentence from the Bible that says God and that he will take priests for him from Israel and also from other nations who are indeed worthy to be priests in the temple that will be built... Amen in our days.

  11. Nahum:
    All work on the site is voluntary.
    If you volunteer to proofread the news I am sure it can be arranged.

  12. Dr. Sorek, you should hire a professional proofreader for your quotes from Flavius, the spelling errors in them are appalling. Really, from a scientific article I expect extreme accuracy.

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