Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kochva, and Lag Ba'omer
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Rabbi Akiva, Bar Kochva, And Lag Ba’Omer Yevamot 62b: It was said that R. Akiba had twelve thousand pairs of disciples, from Gabbatha to Antipatris; and all of them died at the same time because they did not treat each other with respect. The world remained desolate until R. Akiba came to our Masters in the South and taught the Torah to them. These were R. Meir, R. Judah, R. Jose, R. Simeon and R. Eleazar b. Shammua; and it was they who revived the Torah at that time. Cont’d תנא כולם מתו מפסח ועד עצרת אמר רב חמא בר אבא ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבין כולם מתו מיתה רעה מאי היא א"ר נחמן אסכרה With regard to the twelve thousand pairs of Rabbi Akiva’s students, the Gemara adds: It is taught that all of them died in the period from Passover until Shavuot. Rav Ḥama bar Abba said, and some say it was Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin: They all died a bad death. The Gemara inquires: What is it that is called a bad death? Rav Naḥman said: Diphtheria. Sefer Hamanhig, until half of Shavuot=Lag Ba’omer ושמעתי בשם ר' זרחיה הלוי ז"ל מגירונדא שמצא כתוב בספר ישן הבא מספרד שמתו מפסח ועד פרוס העצרת מקור: ספר המנהיג לר' אברהם בן נתן הירחי, הלכות אירוסין ונישואין, ס' ק"ו — Could that be related to this? Support of Bar Kochba Rabbi Akiva (Jerusalem Talmud: Ta'anit 4:15) gave Bar Kosiba a new name, "Bar Kochba" - Son of the Star - in fulfillment of the prophecy -- "a star will go forth from Jacob." According to the Talmud, Akiva said: “This is the king messiah” whereupon Johanan b. Torta answered him derisively: “Akiva, grass will grow in your cheeks and the son of David will still not have come” (TJ, Ta’an. 4:8; Lam. R. 2:2, no. 4). A Debate A historian, Shmuel Safrai: Yes, it is the same event Rabbi Isaac Herzog: No, this plague was earlier. 180,000 deaths by Jews alone Rambam: and a great city named Betar was captured. It was inhabited by tens of thousands of Jews. What was the Bar Kochva Revolt? Hadrian 117-138 Bar Kochva Rebellion: 132-135 When the Roman Emperor Hadrian vowed to rebuild Jerusalem from the wreckage in 130 AD, he considered reconstructing Jerusalem as a gift to the Jewish people. The Jews awaited with hope, but after Hadrian visited Jerusalem, he was discouraged from doing so by a Samaritan (according to rabbinic sources).[7] He then decided to rebuild the city as a Roman colony, which would be inhabited by his legionaries.[8] Hadrian's new city was to be dedicated to himself and certain Roman gods, in particular Jupiter.[9] The Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt, which took the Romans three years to suppress, enraged Hadrian, and he became determined to erase Judaism from the province. Circumcision was forbidden and Jews were expelled from the city. Hadrian renamed Iudaea Province to Syria Palaestina, dispensing with the name of Judea.[10] There is controversy as to whether the anti-Jewish decrees followed the Bar Kokhba revolt or preceded it and were the cause of the revolt.[7 Who is Bar Kochva? Shim’on Bar Koseba. He was known as Bar Kochba, meaning “Son of the Star,” in reference to messianic expectations of the verse: “There shall step forth a star (kochab) out of Jacob” (Numbers 24:17). Indeed, one of the greatest sages of the time - Rabbi Akiva - had proclaimed Bar Kochba as the messiah. A very important source is Cassius Dio (164-c.235), a Roman senator who wrote a Roman History that may be considered as the best ancient book on the subject. At Jerusalem, Hadrian founded a city in place of the one which had been razed to the ground, naming it Aelia Capitolina, and on the site of the temple of the [Jewish] god, he raised a new temple to Jupiter. This brought on a war of no slight importance nor of brief duration, [69.12.2] for the Jews deemed it intolerable that foreign races should be settled in their city and foreign religious rites planted there. So long, indeed, as Hadrian was close by in Egypt and again in Syria, they remained quiet, save in so far as they purposedly made of poor quality such weapons as they were called upon to furnish, in order that the Romans might reject them and they themselves might thus have the use of them. But when Hadrian went farther away, they openly revolted. Fifty of their most important outposts and nine hundred and eighty-five of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. Five hundred and eighty thousand men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. [69.14.2] Thus nearly the whole of Judaea was made desolate, a result of which the people had had forewarning before the war. For the tomb of Solomon, which the Jews regard as an object of veneration, fell to pieces of itself and collapsed, and many wolves and hyenas rushed howling into their cities. Was Bar Kochba Religious? Letters written by Simon Bar Kokhba, leader of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, were found in a cave near the Dead Sea in 1960. Third line, “Send wooden beams (lulavs) and citrons (Etrogs) for the celebration of Sukkot.” Did he capture Jerusalem? What was that image? Out of 22,000 ancient coins found in the Old City, only four can be traced back to Bar Kochba rebellion. Sanhedrin 93b: The end of Bar Kochba The Gemara relates: Bar Koziva, i.e., bar Kokheva, ruled for two and a half years. He said to the Sages: I am the Messiah. They said to him: With regard to the Messiah it is written that he is able to smell and judge, so let us see ourselves whether he, bar Kokheva, is able to smell and judge. Once they saw that he was not able to smell and judge, the gentiles killed him. Rambam Taaniyot 5,2 The ninth of Av, on which five things happened: it was decreed in the wilderness that the people of Israel were not to enter the promised land; the Temple was destroyed both the first time and the second time, and a great city named Betar was captured. It was inhabited by tens of thousands of Jews. They had a great ruler, thought by all of them, including great scholars, to be King Messiah. But he fell into the hands of [the Roman] pagans, who killed them all, a calamity as great as the destruction of the Temple. On that day, the ninth of Av, predestined for Israel's reverses, the wicked Turnus Rufus plowed up the Temple site and its surroundings, in fulfillment of the prophetic utterance: "Zion shall be plowed up like a field" (Jeremiah 26:18). Out of 22,000 ancient coins found in the Old City, only four can be traced back to Bar Kochba rebellion. How we remember Beitar today; Brachot 48b ״הַטּוֹב וְהַ . ִֵּטְיב״ בּיְַבנִֶה תְּקָּנוּהְכּנֶֶגֲד הֵרוּגֵי בָּיתְר. דַּאָמַר רַב מְתנַָא: אוֹתוֹ הֶיּוֹם שׁנְִּיתֲּנוּ הֵרוּגֵי בָּיתִר לְקָבוּרִה תְּקְנוּ בּיְַבנֶַה ״הטּוֹב וְַהֵמִּטַיב״. ״הֶטּוֹב״ — שִׁא הְסִריחוּ, ״וְַהֵמִּטֶיב״ — שׁנְִּיתִּנוּ לְקָבוּרהמ With regard to the origins of the four blessings of Grace after Meals, Rav Naḥman said: Moses instituted for Israel the first blessing of: Who feeds all, when the manna descended for them and they needed to thank God. Joshua instituted the blessing of the land when they entered Eretz Yisrael. David and Solomon instituted the third blessing: Who builds Jerusalem, in the following manner: The fourth bracha of benching He did good, he does good he will do good. He does good, that they did not putrify. He did good, that they were buried How is Bar Kochva remembered in Israel? Bar kochba forest Why was Rabbi Akiva attracted to Bar Kochva? What do- His marriage, his death, his sayings, have in common? Rabbi Akiva was wont to say: “Love your fellow man as yourself – this is the great rule in the Torah.” Makkot 24a Again it happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. The others started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed "Rabbi Akiva, why are you laughing?" "Why are you weeping?" responded Rabbi Akiva. What quality did he show? Rabbi Akiva says, “Happy are you Israel! Before Whom do you purify yourselves and Who purifies you? Your- Father in Heaven! As it says, “The Mikvah of Israel is HASHEM!” (Jeremiah 17) Just as a Mikvah purifies from sins so The Holy One Blessed Be He purifies Israel.” (Talmud Yuma 85 B) .