The Bar Kochva Revolt

Today we traveled across Israeli scrub to a network of caves used during the Bar Kochva Revolt between 132-35 CE, where we learned about the last attempted revolution against foreign powers until the end of the 19^th century. Located in Chirbat Midras, or the Ruins of Midras, we walked around stone ruins of public buildings and also saw the nuf of new villages cropping around the landscape.

The reasons for the Bar Kochva Revolt are disputed, but there are a few central theories. Christian sources (Eusebius of Caesarea) point to the idea that the Jews had a false messianic fervor for Simon Bar Kochva, who led the Jewish people at the time. Meanwhile, Roman sources (Dio Cassius and Spartianus) instead propose that it was the result of Caesar Hadrian building a temple to Jupiter on the ruins of Beit Hamikdash, or because of a ban on circumcision, respectively. Last, Jewish texts assert that Hadrian allowed the building of a third Beit Hamikdash, but only allowed treif measurements for the building, generating anger from the Jewish community. Dio Cassius’ claim is most widely believed today due to archaeological evidence and greater inconsistencies in other theories.

A tomb for someone of importance in Midras. Notice the small rocks placed on top of the structure, a Jewish custom of treating everyone in death equal. Instead of placing flowers or tokens, we place rocks.

There are a few major differences between the Bar Kochva Revolt and the Great Revolt of 66 CE. The clearest is in the unified leadership of the Bar Kochva Revolt, as opposed to the factions that led the Great Revolt. Simon Bar Kochva was spearheaded by Reb Akiva and widely accepted in Judea as the Messiah. Caves and supplies were prepared years beforehand, showing the level of planning that went into the attempted revolt. Jews even sabotaged Roman efforts by building subpar weaponry for them in the years before and then using them themselves during the revolt.

Despite the better organization and planning of the Bar Kochva Revolt, its aftermath was the final nail in the coffin for Judea as a Jewish state until 1948. Roman legions destroyed 985 villages, killed roughly 580,000 Jews according to their records and banned the practice of Judaism within the empire. Until Bar Kochva’s stronghold at Bitar was destroyed on Tesha B’Av in 135 CE, he was seen as the Messiah, heralded by Reb Akiva. After his defeat, for hundreds of years he was viewed as a false messiah that led Judea to ruin. It wasn’t until Zionism developed that this idea changed and the public opinion Bar Kochva changed, from someone who brought ruin on the Jewish people to a defender (albeit failed one) against foreign powers.

What I found most interesting about this tiyul was the parallels between the Bar Kochva Revolt and insurgencies in the ghettoes during the Shoah. The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto, for instance, utilized many of the same strategies as the Bar Kochva Jews, such as connecting buildings together and blocking entrances, guerilla warfare and weapons sabotage. It seems we’ve always been a hardy people. What do you think would have been a better strategy, either diplomatically or defensively, against the Romans? What would be your ultimate goal as a leader during the Revolt? Do you see any other similarities between the Bar Kochva Revolt and other skirmishes and wars of today?

Evan was right. The nuf is never enough

Christianity at Ein Karem

Ein Karem -- Church of Visitation

As everyone knows we had an interesting and fun tiul to the familiar neighborhood of Ein Karem. Aside from it's super awesome ice cream and pretty views, there's a rich history that comes aong with it. A large part of that is the fact that in the second temple period Ein Karem was a successful farming village. Before we went to see The Church of Visitation it was nice to sit outside near the garden we worked on just a few weeks before and learn about Jesus's early life. We learned about how he was born in Bethlehem although his family lived in Nazareth, his parents were Miriam and Joseph and whether he was immaculately or normally concieved was an argument between Matthew and Luke in the biblical period and is still an exisiting argument. We also learned that he went missing for three whole days and when he was found, he was found right here in Jerusalem arguing with Rabbis and asking questions, showing that he was already ahead of his time.

At the church that we visited, one of the first things we saw were the statues of the two pregnant woman. We learned that the two women were Elizabeth and Miriam. The baby that Elizabeth was pregnant with sensed that the messiah was near and it's told that it went a little crazy in her stomach. Its's said that Elizabeth's baby was kicking and moving around during the visit because of it's knowledge about how close it was to such an important figure before that figure was even born.  (That figure being Yeshua Ben Yoseph, later known as Jesus) It was really cool seeing the statue of what we had just learned about and taken notes on because of how real it suddenly makes it.

With this, we learned about John the Baptists and all that he had to do with Jesus's teachings. He was a strong inspiration for Jesus and introduced Baptisism to him and was the one who baptised Jesus in Yam Hamelach. This went on to Jesus's teachings, which was the main event in the tiul. Jesus was a dedicted Jew and took his knowledg, his beliefs, and his specific take on Judaism and spread it all over. He believed in healing people, social justice, and made Judaism a lot more individualized. This eventually became a seperate religion after Jesus died because of the belief of life after death or not.

A Christianity became it's own religion, dropping many Jewish priotities like mitzvot and circumcision, it took off and became appealing to people world wide. We learned about Paul and Peter and their missionary work, and we saw the olive branch stump as we walked down the hill back to the town that symbolizes the Withered Stump Theory, which is that Judaism is an old and out of date religion while Christianity is a new and represents the "truth".

It eventually became that Jews were seen as below christians. This was especially when the Romans all converted to christianity and Father Oregon gave Jews the responsibility for "killing God", accusing us of Dioside. Some Christians like Father Oregon wanted Jews to be gone while there were also people like St. Augustine who wanted Jews to be alive to witness the success of Christianity.

Going to the Chruch of Visitation was an interesting and enlightening experience. Like we talked about when we sat outside after that quick little rain storm, it's sometimes uncomfortable to be in a place of worship that's so different than you're own. Even though temples can be beautiful and breathtaking, churches have a very different feel. There's no religious connection so all you can do is observe and learn, and it was a good experience to do that at Ein Karem. What do you guys think about Withered Stump Theory; do you think it's still true today or not? Also how does being in a place of worship that's not exactly your own religion make you feel?

Current Events assignment

Shavua tov kitat Arava. Hope you all had a pleasant and restful Shabbat.
Here is an assignment about current events, due tomorrow (Sunday) night:
1. Please check out the website: http://www.timesofisrael.com and get an update of the news of the weekend.
2. Please read the following two articles and write a comment taking a stand. (Which approach did you prefer? Why? Do you agree/ disagree?)


Moving the match away from the powder keg


For Netanyahu, the word is mightier than the deed

ים לים

From September 29 through October 2, EIE embarked on an Amazing journey across Israel. We hiked 30 of the 55 kilometers across Israel in the Galilee. On this trip we didn't learn much about Jewish history, but we learned a lot about ourselves, each other, and our connection to Israel.

We began our journey at the Kineret and ended at the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.

Each day was filled with a new challenge. My favorite day was the last day. We started out the morning with a short hike, and before noon we were relaxing in a shaded spring. We stayed there for a while hanging out and making lunch. Then we walked for a short five minutes to a parking lot where bikes were waiting. For the next 45 minutes or so we biked through greenhouses full of bananas ending up at the Mediterranean Sea. Covered in dirt from the past four days we all ran to the beach to relax. The day came to an end with a delicious dinner and services on the beach.

Although the last day was my favorite, my favorite moment on yam l'yam was the night before. Once it was dark, our guide, Nemo, took us to a nearby trail and dropped us off one by one, giving us our own space. We got to sit by ourselves for about a half hour. This time was very meaningful to me. I felt very calm and connected to Israel. It gave me time to think about why I decided to come back, and what part I want Israel to have in my future.

I really enjoyed yam l'yam. It helped me become closer with the group, Israel, and even myself. What was your favorite moment on the trip? How did yam l'yam impact your connection with Israel?

Operation Israel Museum

Room With No Ceiling

Day: Monday, the 21st of September. יום שני, ח׳ תשרי 

Year: 2015 התשע״ו

Base: Kibbutz Tzuba

Code Name:   Kids Next Door

Group Leader: Ariella

Mission: Gather intel on how the Romans keep control of Israel. Find out who the leader is. Why he has been chosen. How he rules.  Discover what happened to the Jews.

Mission Report: After traveling "long" distances, Kids Next Door reached the Israel Museum. Immediately, Ariella brings us (Kids Next Door) through the treacherous path of the sculpture garden and into a room with no ceiling. Walls of of pure white tilted from the floor of the room at about a 70 degree angle. It felt as if every thing had suddenly became open- including the information needed.

בית המקדש

We sat there in the open room as we listened to our leader speak. Through years of study, She Learned of how the Romans gained control and how they got their footing into the land of ישראל. They placed הורדוס, a half-breed (part Jew, part Roman), as the King of ישראל. For he, and he alone, had the ability to rule over the Romans and the Jews; due to his holding in both cultures. She informed us of the system of "carrot and stick "- the system King הורדוס ruled the Jews by.

The "carrot" of this system is anything good the ruler can give or do for his subjects while the "stick" is what the ruler needed to do to keep his subjects (the Jews) in line. So the בית המקדש obviously being the carrot and Anthony's Fortress ( overlooking the temple) being the stick. This is an example of what kept the people loving King הורדוס and not overstepping their boundaries.

צדוקים Zoe of the

Soon we got word of four Jews who escaped from their time zone to tell us of the unfortunate splitting of the Jews. As fast as we could will ourselves, we rushed through the sculpture garden and to the model of ancient ירושלים where we met four Jews of the Second Temple time period, each from a different sect.

One of the Jews we met told us of her sect, the צדוקים. They were the כהנים; unlike any of the other sects, They were part of the upper class of the society, became Hellenistic, and did not believe in the afterlife.

פרושים Rachel of the

Of the four another was of the פרושים. She told us of her home in the south of ירושלים in the lower class village. A place where people prayed in synagogues Rather than at the בית המקדש. A place filled with non-materialistic people.

קנאים Celia of the

The third sect were the the קנאים. They were a division of the פרושים but; unlike the peaceful פרושים, they were out for blood. They hated Romans and any other kind of Foreigners. (For more intel on the קנאים, see Agent J. Friedman's report).

 

איסיים Lexi of the

The last sect was the the איסיים. They were Jews who did not believe in any kind of life Influenced by the Romans and therefore lived outside of the ancient city. They were pacifists, celibate, and most of all: a cult.

The Essenes are also thought to have later developed into the Dead Sea Cult (the cult which wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls).

After we spoke with all four Jews, we made our journey back to the entrance and took the perilous task of passing the guards to get to the elongated mechanical transporter so as we may get back to base.

In Need of Objective Clarification: Why did King Herod rule by "carrot and stick"? There were probably better ways of ruling.

Why are the Dead Sea scrolls so important and if they were written by a cult, how can one possibly be sure they are reliable?

Lastly, how can the כהנים lead the Jews in religion when they themselves became Hellenistic?

The Guards 

MOUNTAINS AND NINJAS AND ROMANS OH MY

Above is what was a probably a common sight on the top of Masada; the sun just about to rise, signifying the beginning of the day, which in the time of King Herod, was sure to be marvelous. We got to enjoy the same view after hiking to the top of the mountain. To stand at the top at the crack of dawn having already accomplished so much made the sunrise that much more amazing.

A mighty falcon perches atop Masada

 King Herod made Masada great, taking an already amazing spot for defense and turning it into a nearly impregnable fortress, complete with a palace, bathhouse, an excess of dried fruits and trade route connections all along the Dead Sea. Being an easily defensible area, it was a highly desired outpost during the Great Revolt. The Great Revolt happened after Herod's rule, but the state of the fortress had remained largely unchanged, despite being held by the Romans in 66 CE. This gave a division of the קנאיםת, the סיקארים, a great reason to take over Masada. These Zealots were, for all intents and purposes, ridiculous ninjas who took over the fortress swiftly and silently.

Sicari throwing star

The Zealots, being observant Jews, attempted to live Jewish lives atop the mountain, building a בית כנסת and מקוות. These institutions lend themselves to the idea that the Zealots were attempting to make Masada a permanent residence, as the מקוות were likely used after the women gave birth, showing the growth of families. However, the goals of the Zealots were cut short after a mere seven years. The Roman Legion placed Masada under siege and on פסח of the year 73, the Romans were ready to break down the walls of Masada. The Sicari were left with a dilemma. They had taken Masada as a last ditch effort to save Judaism and here they were faced with their own inevitable demise. On the top of Masada in the year 73, the Zealots made the decision to end their own lives rather than be slaughtered by the Romans. In this way they could be sure they were going out on their own terms. 

The rabbis of the time did not talk about this decision and this can be interpreted in many ways. One explanation could be that suicide is shameful in the eyes of Judaism and not supported in any way by the Torah. Yet, the rabbi's decision can be viewed differently. To acknowledge the events of Masada would mean that the rabbis would have to admonish the decisions of the Zealots. Yet by silently recognizing their actions, it can almost be viewed as a sign of respect for refusing to be extinguished by foreign powers and making Judaism theirs to lose. The rabbis however do use the phrase שנית מצדה לא תיפול. This means "Masada will not fall a second time", and acknowledges the collective memory of the events that took place on the mountain as well as the refusal to submit to those who wish to snuff out Judaism. 

Studying these events to me was a very powerful experience and in response, the questions can be posed: Were the Zealots right in their actions? And is there anything in the world today you could bring yourself to die for? 

How the Amidah Began

Please read the article by Lawrence A. Hoffman about the Amidah and respond to the following question:
Why did Raban Gamliel II of Yavne set and organize the Amidah? What purpose did it serve and why was it necessary at this time?