THE DE-EVOLUTION OF THE JEWISH WARRIOR: SELF-IDENTITY AS ‘WARRIOR’ THROUGH JEWISH LITERATURE FROM 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. NICHOLASHOLTZ ANDERSON ThesisSubmittedinPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsforOrdination HebrewUnionCollege-JewishInstituteofReligion, GraduateRabbinicalProgram NewYork,NewYork February1,2008 RabbiAaronPanken,Ph.D “You who from the moment Pompey’s forces crushed you have never stopped rebelling.” -Titus accordingtoJosephus (Josephus, The Jewish War ,VI:25.) Overview: NicholasAnderson’s thesistitled,‘TheDe-evolutionoftheJewishWarrior,’ is adiachronic studyofthe Jewishself-viewas‘warrior,’coveringselectedJewishliteraturefromabout200 B.C.Eto200C.E.The premiseofthisthesis is thatsuchastudyofJewishliterature inits historicalcontextmightenable thehistoriantobetterunderstandtheJewishself-identityas ‘warrior’ inthosefourcenturies,as wellas the paradigmatic changefrom‘warrior’ to ‘accomodationist’ inthe wakeoftheBarKochbarevolt. Insevenchapters,this thesisconsistsofliteraryanalysis,historicalanalysis,andpartial translations ofIMaccabees,TheBookofJudith,‘TheScroll OfThe War OfTheSonsOf LightAgainstTheSons ofDarkness’from Qumran,Josephus’accountofMassada,the available literaturethattalksabouttheDiaspora revoltandtheBarKochbarevolt,and Megillat Ta’anit . 2 For my son, Maccabee 3 Acknowledgments: Thisthesiscouldnothavehappenedwithoutthe editing,guidance,supportandfriendshipof mythesisadvisor,RabbiAaronPanken.Forallthedrafts,meetings,andgoodideas,thank you,Dr.Panken. Ialsowouldlike tothankDr.LawrenceSchiffmanforhisideasandinsightsabout thefolks atQumran;andTuviaBookforhelpingmegetstartedlastMayoverchilledwineandheated conversation. Mostofall Iwouldlike tothankmywife,Marita,forherunwaveringsupportthroughout. Youarethe best,Marita,thankyou. 4 Table of Contents: Introduction...........................................................................................................6 The Bible................................................................................................................18 I Maccabees...........................................................................................................37 The Book of Judith................................................................................................67 The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness......75 Josephus’ Account of Massada............................................................................93 The Diaspora and Bar Kochba Revolts..............................................................107 MegillatTa’anit .....................................................................................................136 Conclusion.............................................................................................................147 Works Cited...........................................................................................................150 5 Introduction: ThisthesisisadiachronicstudyoftheJewishself-viewas‘warrior,’coveringselected Jewishliteraturefromabout200B.C.Eto200C.E.The premiseofthisthesis isthatsucha studyofJewishliteratureinitshistoricalcontext mightenablethehistoriantounderstand betterthe Jewishself-identityas‘warrior’inthosefourcenturies.This is nottosaythatany singular pieceofJewishliteraturefromthis periodwouldinformuswithanydegreeof certaintythedegree towhichthe Jewsofanageviewedthemselvesas ‘warrior;’ tothe contrary,itcannot.Afterall,theonlythingthatthehistoriancanminimallybesureofis thateachoftheselectedpiecesofJewishliteratureisa ‘literaryartifact,’ meaningthatit can givethehistorianasenseofwhattheauthorsmighthavethought,but byitselfitcannotsay whatanygivensocietythoughtorevenifitwas mainstream.Ineachsource,thisuncertainty oftenextendstoquestionsofauthorshipandaudience. Althoughthehistoriancanspeculate,thereoftenisreallynowayofknowingwhowrote a particulartext,andwhoreadthattext,withcompletecertainty.That beingsaid,a conglomerationofeachindividual pieceofliteraturestudiedilluminatestrendsthatotherwise might be missed;andinadiachronicstudysuchastakenoninthisthesis,there isa proverbialgraphingofindividualdata-points throughwhichcertainpatternsemergethat supportclaimsofsocietalnormsandpsyche-permeation.Thus,althougheachsingle pieceof literaturefromanagecannotassure usof much,the patterns thatemerge whenviewing severalsuch piecesofliteratureare moreinformative. 6 Inthis spirit,theliteratureexaminedinthisthesis,regardlessofhistoricalveracity,isin itselfusefulasliterature fordetermininghowJewsofanagemighthavethoughtof themselves,orwantedtothinkofthemselves,aswarriors.Inotherwords,regardlessof whetherornotthe literatureaccuratelyrecounts historicalfact,itisafactthatthe literature didexist;andtherefore theliterature canbeminedforwhatit mighttellusabouttheagein whichitwascreated.Allofthishelps‘shedlight’onhowJews mighthaveviewed themselves,andbeenviewedaswarriors,ina particulartime. Insomeways,thedesire toexplorethisideaofJewishself-identityaswarriorhas been mullingaroundmymindfor manyyears.Growingupinasecularfamilywhoflirtedwith ReformJewisheducation,Iwasraisedwiththe Holocaustasthecentral Jewishevent,and subsequent reasonformaintainingJewishidentity.This premise,alongwithothercultural factors,ledmetoconclude beforeI wasateenthatJewswereweakandvictims.Afterall, unlikemanyotherculturesamalgamatedwithintheAmericanmeltingpot,Jewswerenotin professionalsports 1 andJewishstereotypesmadeJewsintopeoplewithbrains butwithout brawn.More poignantly,asschoolchildrenweweretaught that, en massetheJews,eventhe men,hadpassivelybeenherdedintothe Nazigaschamberswithout everattemptingtofight. Thedeathof6million,including1.5 millionchildrenwas protested,but rarelyphysically. TheJewsdidnotlose a war,fortherewasnever evena battle.Therewasnomassuprising, fortherewas barelyevenarmedresistance. 2 Forvarious reasonsthat are retrospectively understandableevenastheyremaininexcusable,theJewsofEurope 3 allowedthemselvesto bemurdered.StudiesofJewishhistory,includingtheconclusionsofthisthesis,suggestthat 1 With rare and noted, exception. 2 The fact that Jews hold up the ‘Warsaw uprising’ (1944) as our most cited modern example of organized armed resistance, an effort which was limited, contained, and easily suppressed by the local Nazi authority, only further demonstrates the point. 3 And by proxy, the world. 7 bythetimethe Nazis beganthe‘finalsolution,’ theJewishcommunitywasunable toeven conceiveof physicalresistance,evenwhentheir lives(andthoseoftheir children)depended onit. Afewyearslaterat agethirteen,that imagethatI hadoftheJewasvictim wassharply jolteduponmyfirstvisittothestate ofIsrael.A countryfull ofJewswhowerenot justthe accountants andbankers ofthefamiliarstereotype,butalsowerethe busdrivers,farmers, policemenandsoldiers.Menandwomen,ofallages,wentabouttheirlivesinmilitary uniforms,withmuscles,guns,andmostimportantly,pride.InstantlyIunderstoodthatthese Israeliswereatypeof‘newJew,’whowouldneverhave let theirfamilies beledtothe slaughter,andwouldshedbloodtomakesure that‘never again’wasmorethanjustwords. Intheyears thatfollowed,myexperiencesandstudiesenlightenedmetothefactthat therewere manyJews outsideofIsraelwhosharedthemachismooftheirIsraeli-‘cousins,’ butthequestionsof‘why’and‘how’ stillcontinuedtonagme.Whydidittakethe Holocaust toguilt theworldintoallowingtheJewsa placeoftheirown? Howdidwe,asa people,evergettothecollective stateof mindthatweneededthegiftsofothers inorderto have permissiontodefendourlives againstthosewhowouldtakethem? Werewealways like this?Wasthesituationalwaysthus...orhadsomethinghappenedtomakeuslike this...toput usinsucha compromisingsituation? OnceI beganstudyingTorahthesequestions becameevenmore pronounced.Itdoes not takeascholartorealize that theIsraelitesofthe Biblearealmostconstantlyengagedinwar, andeventhe mostreveredbiblicalfiguresledthe Israelitearmiesintobattle.Addtothis confusionthemythicalloreoftheMaccabees,afterwhicharedubbedthe IsraeliOlympics andIsraeliInternational sports teams,thesemodernexamplesof physicalJewswhocan 8 physicallycompeteina physicalworld.IoftenwonderedhowtheJewswentfromthe conqueringandvictorious peopleoftheBibleortheheroesofJudahMaccabeetoa people whocouldnot,orwouldnot,defendthemselvesagainst the Nazideathmachine.Itis the frictionofcontemporaryJewishself-identity,the conflationof‘victim’and‘warrior,’ which gaverisetothisthesis,whichisaptlytitled‘the de-evolutionoftheJewishwarrior.’ InmyresearchIhopedtoaccomplishfourthings.First,althoughthroughacasual perusaloftheBibleI suspectedthat thecharactersreveredinJudaism possessedawarrior- identityandwarriorqualities; Iwantedtolookmorecloselyatspecifics.Second,althoughI hadheardabouttheMaccabees,my‘knowledge’ was butcursoryandat best,second-hand.I wantedtoreadthesourcesmyself,andreachmyownconclusions.Third,Isuspectedthat theliterarygenreknownasSecondTempleLiterature,someofwhichoverlapsandextends pasttheHasmoneandynasty,might provideotherexamplesofliteratureinwhichJewswere strong,suitablyable todefendthemselvesagainstconquerors,andinsomecases,ableto claimthetitleof‘conqueror.’Becausemostoftheliterature thatcanbe categorizedas ‘SecondTemple’isoutsideoftheJewishcanon,Ialsowas eager todelveintomaterialthatis muchlessstudiedthanthatliteraturethat isheldsacredtoJudaism.Ithoughtthatifsuch texts couldbefound,theymightinformastospecificallyhowJewsofaneraviewed themselvesaswarriorsandwhat‘warrior’qualitieswerevalued.Ofcourse,the privilegeof takingnew(for me)SecondTemple texts andreallystudyingthemwasinterestingand worthwhile initself.Additionally,thelaterthecompositionofthosetextswhichlionizedthe Jewishwarrior,thecloser(perhaps)