DE MAL EN PEOR
After the death of Agrippa, the governor of Judea (Yehuda, Israel) between the years 41 and 44 of the common era, a very difficult period for Am Israel began, which culminated with the destruction of Bet haMiqdash in the year 68.The Romans promoted the immigration of pagan heathen to Israel, exempted them from taxes and favored them with their laws. If a Jew, for example, did not pay the exorbitant taxes to the emperor, his lands were confiscated and handed over to the pagans for free. The Jewish population felt increasingly displaced and deprived of their lands. On the religious level the situation was no better: The provocations and humiliations against the Jews continued to grow more and more. Maimonides indicates that the offense of Apostomus, where for the first time the Romans publicly burned a Sefer Tora, took place in the time of Governor Cumanus (48-52). After Cumanus came Felix, who ruled Judea for 8 terrible years (52-60). Felix was a slave in his youth. And as governor, although he responded to the directives of the Roman emperor, he had a free hand to do everything he wanted in his province. Felix abused his power against the Jews. The Roman historian Tacitus denounced this attitude by saying that Felix: “… practiced all sorts of cruelty and abuses, using his power as a king [of the Jews] to unleash his slave’s instincts.”All this was part of a deliberate and orchestrated campaign by the Romans for Judea to cease to exist as Jewish territory, and for Jews to emigrate or become “normal” citizens of the empire. The situation was hopeless. The Jews did not have the power to change what was happening. And faced with this desperate situation the Jews, unfortunately, were more divided than ever.
JUDEA DIVIDED
Although the great majority of Jews followed the tradition of their parents, observing the written and oral Tora (Parushim) there was also an important group, related to the aristocracy and the priesthood, called Sadducees (Tsadoquim), who did not accept the traditional rabbinical leadership and traditions and were not very unhappy to live under the Roman Empire. There was another group called the Essenes, who were ascetics who retired to live in very closed communities in the desert and were separated from the rest of the people. There were also Jews influenced by Greco-Roman culture and philosophy, who were less strict in the observance of the Tora. In addition, the desperate situation of living under the Romans encouraged many Yehudim to harbor messianic hopes (as was also the case with Ribbi Aqiba in the times of Bar Kokhba, etc., in the 135). Between 40-60 of the common era, several messianic groups were formed, and some ended up becoming antagonistic to Judaism (Christianity, for example).
FREEDOM!!!
Divisions were not limited to the religious sphere. Many Jews thought that the only possible way to survive as a people was to revolt against Rome, and they decided to take up arms, to entrench themselves in Jerusalem, to resist and fight against the Roman Empire, to restore an independent Jewish state. And while it is true that no people in antiquity had been able to resist, let alone defeat, the Roman Army, Jews had the fresh memory of the Hashmonayim, under the leadership of Matitiyahu and his sons, we fought and defeated the Greek army! The memory of this epic triumph, which occurred only 200 years before, was very fresh in the minds of the people.
This idea gave rise to what was called: HAMERED HAGADOL, the “great rebellion” of the Jews against the Roman Empire. But this rebellion was unsuccessful, and culminated in the destruction of our Beth-haMiqdash. Why did we fail? Our Sages attributed this failure to a single factor sinat hinam, we were divided. Even those Jews who rebelled and were actively fighting against Rome did not agree on having a united leadership, and in fact the different militias fought against each other.… Our Sages explain that when we are divided, the Divine Presence stays away from us.
(To be continued….)
