Today's homework assignment. See why this date is so important in the history of Israel (both in the New World and in the Old World). What events have occurred on this date in our modern narrative?:
Titus attacks just after Passover in the
year 70 CE, battering the city with his catapults which propel a rain
of stone, iron and fire onto the population. By then, the city defenders
are weakened from hunger and perhaps even more so from internal strife.
Even so, it takes Titus two months of intense fighting before he is
able to breach the outer city walls reach the Temple Mount.
The date for this event is 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz(1) . To
this day, religious Jews fast on the 17th of Tammuz in commemoration of
this event.
Roman historian, Deo Cassius, reports:
Though a breach was made in the wall by means of engines,
nevertheless the capture of the place did not immediately follow even
then. On the contrary, the defenders killed great numbers [of Romans]
who tried to crowd through the opening and they also set fire to some of
the buildings nearby, hoping thus to check the further progress of the
Romans. Nevertheless, the soldiers, because of their superstition, did
not immediately rush in but at last, under compulsion from Titus, they
made their way inside. Then the Jews defended themselves much more
vigorously than before, as if they had discovered a piece of rare good
fortune in being able to fight near the Temple and fall in its defense.
A horrific slaughter ensues with the Romans taking the city,
literally house-by-house. One of the excavations that gives testimony to
the destruction is the famous "Burnt House" which is open to visitors
in Old City Jerusalem today. Here the skeletal remains of a woman's arm
were found where she died on the doorstep of her house, with a spear
still lying nearby.
Despite the determined resistance of the Jewish defenders Titus
slowly works his way to the Temple Mount. Now a duel to the death
ensues, and finally, five months after the Romans had begun this attack
Titus orders the Second Temple razed to the ground. The day is the 9th
of Av, the very same day on which the First Temple was destroyed.
Deo Cassius again:
The populace was stationed below in the court and the
elders on the steps and the priests in the Sanctuary itself. And though
they were but a handful fighting against a far superior force, they were
not conquered until part of the Temple was set on fire. Then they met
their death willingly, some throwing themselves on the swords of the
Romans, some slaying one another, others taking their own lives and
still others leaping into the flames. And it seemed to everybody and
especially to them that so far from being destruction, it was victory
and salvation and happiness to them that they perished along with the
Temple.
All of the neighboring countryside is denuded of whatever trees
remained from the siege to create the giant bonfire to burn the
buildings of the Temple to the ground. The intense heat from the fire
causes the moisture in the limestone to expand and it explodes like
popcorn, producing a chain reaction of destruction. In a day's time, the
magnificent Temple is nothing but rubble.
Josephus describes the destruction of the Temple:
While the holy house (The Temple) was on fire, everything
was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were
caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age...but
children and old men...and priests, were all slain in the same manner...
The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with
the groans of those who were slain... one would have thought the whole
city would have been on fire. Nor can one imagine anything greater and
more terrible than this noise. (2)
History as Destiny
The destruction of the Second Temple is one of the most important
events in the history of the Jewish people, and certainly one of the
most depressing.
It is a sign that God has withdrawn from (though certainly not
abandoned) the Jews. Although the Jews will survive ― in accordance with
the promise that they will be an "eternal nation" ― the special
relationship with God they enjoyed while the Temple stood is gone.
Sadly, this period of time, perhaps more than any other reflects the
maxim that Jewish past is Jewish future, that Jewish history is Jewish
destiny.
There's no period of time that more closely reflects what is going on
today in Israel and among the Jewish people worldwide. We are still
living in the consequences of the destruction of the Second Temple,
spiritually and physically. And the same problems we had then are the
same problems we have now.
States the Talmud (Yoma 9b): "Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because of sinat chinam, senseless hatred of one Jew for another."
What is the antidote to this problem which is so rampant in the Jewish world today? The answer is ahavat chinam, the Jews have to learn to love their fellow Jews.
There's no hope for the Jewish people until all learn how to
communicate with each other, and respect each other, regardless of
differences.
God has no patience for Jews fighting each other. It's extremely
important to study this period of time carefully because there are many
valuable lessons that we can learn about the pitfalls that need to be
avoided.
"Judea Captured"
Before setting fire to the Temple, the Romans removed anything of
value. Then they harnessed a group of Jewish slaves to take these
priceless artifacts to Rome. Their arrival in Rome is memorialized in
engravings of the Arch of Titus, still standing there today near the
Forum which depicts the Triumph or victory parade held by victorious legions to celebrate their victory and display the spoils of war.
It was the tradition in the Roman Jewish community that Jews would
never walk under that arch. On the night of May 14, 1948, when Israel
was declared a state, the Jews of Rome had a triumphant parade and
marched under the arch. Their message: "Rome is gone, we're still
around. Victory is ours."
But at the time it was a horrible disaster. Hundreds of thousands of
people died, many more were enslaved. There were so many Jews flooding
the slave market after the Great Revolt that you could buy a Jewish
slave for less than the price of a horse. Israel was in despair.(3)
Here is a link showing the date of the 9th of Av during the next couple of critical years:
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/671903/jewish/When-is-the-Ninth-of-Av-in-2013-2014-2015-2016-and-2017.htm
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