The Destruction of the Second Bet Hamikdash - Page 2

The Emperor Vespasian came up against them. [Nero's successor appointed Vespasian as the new commander of the forces sent to quash the rebellion.] He came and besieged Jerusalem for three years. There were three wealthy men there: Nakdimon ben Gurion, and Ben Kalba Savua, and Ben Tzitzis Hakeses...

One of them said: "I will provide wheat and barley for the entire city." And one said: "I will provide wine, salt, and oil." And one said: "I will provide wood [for cooking and heating]."

The Rabbis especially praised the provision of wood. Rav Chisda said: "A warehouse of wheat requires sixty warehouses of wood [to provide fuel to bake it into bread]." They opened their storehouses and it was found that they contained sufficient provisions for twenty-one years.

There was among them a group of biryonim [rebellious thugs]. The Sages said to them: "Let us go out and make peace with the Romans." They did not allow the Sages to do so. They said to the

Rabbis: "Let us go out and do battle with them."

The Sages said to them: "We will gain nothing by it." The biryonim arose and burned the warehouses of wheat and barley, and famine resulted.

R. Yochanan ben Zakkai went out to walk in the marketplace and saw the residents of Jerusalem boiling straw and drinking the water. He said: "Can people who boil straw and drink its water withstand the legions of Vespasian? I have no choice but to leave the city [and try to negotiate an end to the siege]."

Abba Sikra ben Batiach was the leader of the biryonim of Jerusalem and he was the son of R. Yochanan ben Zakkai's sister. R. Yochanan ben Zakkai sent him a message: Come to me in secret. He came.

R. Yochanan said to him: "Until when will you act in this manner [how long do you intend to prevent the Rabbis from negotiating with the Romans to lift the siege], and cause everyone to die from hunger?" Abba Sikra replied: "What can I do? If I tell them anything, they will kill me."

R. Yochanan said to him: "Devise a plan that will enable me to leave. Perhaps something can still be saved."

Abba Sikra said: "Pretend that you are ill, and everyone will come to visit you. Then bring some foul-smelling object and place it next to you and they will say that you have died. Have your disciples carry you, but do not allow others to carry you so that they do not notice that you are light, for people know that the living are lighter than the dead."

R. Yochanan did so. R. Eliezer took hold of one side and R. Yehoshua took hold of one side [of the bier that R. Yochanan was lying on]. When they reached the gate leading out of the city, those guarding the gate wanted to stab him [to make sure that the body being transported was really a corpse]. Abba Sikra [who was accompanying the bier of his uncle] said: "They [the Romans watching the funeral procession] will say, 'They are stabbing their great Rabbi' [that is, they will see your actions as being demeaning]." The guards wanted to push him [to ascertain whether R. Yochanan was indeed dead, for if he were still alive, the pain would make him shout]. Abba Sikra said: "The Romans will say, 'They are pushing their great Rabbi."' They opened the gates and R. Yochanan went out of the city.

They carried him until they reached Vespasian in the Roman camp. R. Yochanan said: "Peace be unto you, king! Peace be unto you, king!" Vespasian replied: "You are liable for two death penalties: One, I am not a king and you have called me king. And the other - if I am a king, why have you not come to me until now?"

R. Yochanan answered: "With regard to your saying, 'I am not a king,' the truth is that you are a king. Were you not a king, Jerusalem would not be given into your hands, for the verse (Isaiah 10:34) states: And the Levanon shall fall to the great. The term 'great' applies only to a king, as the verse (Jeremiah 30:21) states: And his [the king's] greatness shall stem from him. And the term 'Levanon' refers only to the Bet Hamikdash, as the Torah (Deuteronomy 3:25) states: This good mountain, the Levanon.

"With regard to your saying -'If I am a king why have you not come to me until now?' - the biryonim among us did not allow us to leave the city."

Vespasian answered: "If there were a barrel of honey with a snake wrapped around it, would they not break the barrel because of the snake [i.e., you should have fought with the biryonim so that at least a part of the populace - the honey in the barrel - would be saved]?!" R. Yochanan was silent.

R. Yosef cited the following verse (Isaiah 44:25) [regarding R. Yochanan's silence], and some say that it was R. Akiva [who cited the verse}: For the wise are turned back and their thoughts are made foolish. R. Yochanan should have told Vespasian, "I would take tongs and remove the snake and kill it, and the barrel would remain intact."

Some maintain that there were four dukes present: an Arab named Pangar, the duke from Africa, the duke from Alexandria, and the duke from Palestine. They began to pose riddles to R. Yochanan, asking him: "If a snake is found in a pitcher, what is done with it?"

R. Yochanan replied: "A snake charmer is brought to draw the snake out and the pitcher remains intact." Pangar said: "The snake is killed and the pitcher is broken."

[They then asked him:] "If a snake is found in a tower, what is done?" R. Yochanan replied: "A snake charmer is brought to draw the snake out and the tower remains intact." Pangar said: "The snake is killed and the tower is burned."

R. Yochanan said to Pangar: "All our neighbors who act wickedly do harm to themselves. Is it not sufficient that you do not try to defend us? Must you prosecute us?"

Pangar replied: "I seek your welfare, for as long as the House [the Bet Hamikdash] remains standing, the nations will quarrel with you. When this House shall be destroyed, they shall cease their quarrels."

R. Yochanan replied: "The heart knows whether your words are twisted or sincere."

In the meantime [while R. Yochanan and Vespasian were talking], a messenger arrived from Rome and said to Vespasian: "Arise, for Caesar has died, and the great men of Rome [i.e., the Roman Senate] have decided to appoint you at the head."

Vespasian had one shoe on then, and when he tried to put on the other, it would not go on. He said: "What is this [i.e., why has my foot swollen suddenly so that the shoe no longer fits]?" R. Yochanan told him: "Do not be troubled, for you have received good news [and that is why your foot is swollen], as the verse (Mishlei 15:30) states: Good news swells the bones. How can this be remedied [i.e., what can you do so that the shoe will fit]? Let a person whom you dislike come, and let him pass in front of you, as the verse (ibid. 17:22) states: And an evil spirit dries out the bones." He did so and the shoe went on.

Vespasian said to him: "Since you are so wise, why did you not come to me until now?" R. Yochanan replied: "Have I not told you [that the biryonim would not allow anyone to leave the city]?" Vespasian responded: "I also told you that you should have done battle with the biryonim."

He then said to R. Yochanan: "I am leaving and another person will be sent [to head the legions]. Ask me for something which I can give you [as a reward for having brought me the news that I was destined to become Emperor]."

He said to Vespasian: "Give me Yavne and her wise men, the descendants of Rabban Gamliel, and a cure to heal R. Tzadok."

R. Yosef cited the following verse (Isaiah 44:25) [regarding R. Yochanan's requests], and some say that it was R. Akiva [who cited the verse]: For the wise are turned back and their thoughts are made foolish. R. Yochanan should have told him: "Leave it this one time [i.e., end the siege of Jerusalem as a gesture of your good will]." But R. Yochanan thought, perhaps he [Vespasian] would not do this much and even a partial salvation would result.

Others maintain that R. Yochanan answered Vespasian in the following manner: "I ask that you spare this country." Vespasian said: "Did Rome appoint me for this, that I spare the country? Make a different request and I shall fulfill it."

R. Yochanan then requested: "Spare the western gate that leads to Lod so that anyone who leaves through it during a period of four hours will be saved."

When the city was conquered, Vespasian sent a message to R. Yochanan. "If there is someone you love or who is related to you in the city, send him out before my legions arrive."

R. Yochanan sent R. Eliezer and R. Yehoshua to bring out R. Tzadok. They went and found him sitting at the gate of the city. When he [R. Tzadok] came [to the Roman encampment], R. Yochanan stood up.

Vespasian said: "Before a feeble old man you stand?"

R. Yochanan replied: "Believe me, had there been another one like him, you would have been unable to capture the city even with twice as many soldiers."

Vespasian asked: "What is his strength?"

R. Yochanan answered: "He eats a single gamuz [a small measure] and it suffices for one hundred chapters [i.e., it gives him sufficient nourishment to learn one hundred chapters of Torah]."

Vespasian then asked: "Why is he so emaciated?"

R. Yochanan explained: "Because of his fasts." They brought physicians who fed him slowly until his body was restored.

When Vespasian conquered the city, he divided its four walls among the four dukes. The western gate fell into the hands of Pangar and it was decreed in Heaven that it should never be destroyed because the resting place of the Shechinah is in the west.

Vespasian summoned him [Pangar] and asked: "Why have you failed to destroy what was given to you?" He replied: "I did it to bring glory to the empire, for had I destroyed it no one would have ever known what you destroyed. Now people will see and will comment: 'See the greatness of Vespasian and what he has destroyed!"'

Vespasian told him: "You did well. However, since you violated my command, go up onto the roof and jump off. If you remain alive then I shall let you live. And if you die, you die." Pangar went onto the roof, jumped off, and died - and the words of R. Yochanan ben Zakkai were fulfilled.

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