Who is bar kochba

To be sure, other social, economic, and political causes were at work, especially a general decline in relations between Jews and their neighbors in the Hellenistic world, but when these finally led to the of a rebellion, it was the belief in a messianic future that made possible the leap of faith to the belief that the revolt might succeed.

The failure of this effort was another great disappointment for the Jewish community of Palestine. Soon after, Hadrian founded a city of his own in Jerusalem called Aelia Capitolina, where he erected a temple to the Greek god Zeus.

The revolt did not begin until it had found its leader. From letters and documents unearthed in the Judean Desert we know the real name of the leader to have been Simeon bar Kosiba.

The tannaim were divided, some supporting his rebellion, others not. Those who supported him saw him as a messianic figure. The war began as a guerrilla struggle against Rome in C. Within a short time it had spread throughout the country, and the rebels took Jerusalem, which had not been heavily fortified by the Romans. His name was Shimon or Simon bar Kosiba. What we do know about him is that he was a person of tremendous physical strength.

He was able to uproot a tree while riding a horse. He was able to hold back a Roman catapult. His feats of personal valor were legendary, which all lent to a superhuman aura about him. The Talmud says that anyone who wanted to join his army had to be willing to cut off their little finger.

In the writings of Dio Cassius it says that he had an army of ,, each of whom was strong enough to uproot a tree. He had a great and sincere faith. This in combination with his charismatic personality produced a natural leader that captured the heart and soul of the Jewish people. He said that the only way that the Jews would get anything from the Romans would be to take it by force.

He, therefore, organized this very large army and began the rebellion against Rome, which lasted almost six years. During four of those years there was an independent Jewish state. Bar Kochba followed the same strategy that the Jews had followed in the first rebellion against Rome. He first reconquered the Galilee to cut the Romans off from the sea.

Then he surrounded Jerusalem and forced them out. He had active support of most of the rabbis — in contradistinction to the first two revolts against Rome. In those instances the rabbis were at best neutral. In this war, the most influential rabbi lent his name to the cause, was Akiva ben Joseph. Rabbi Akiva was so widely respected among the people that if he saw in Shimon messianic qualities then the people immediately elevated him to the level of the Messiah. The helps us understand very well why the Christians would take no part in the war; it would have made one messiah too many.

They saw it as a real chance to bring down the Roman Empire. Many people were not very happy with the Romans and their ways. All told, Bar Kochba eventually mustered an army of almost , In the ancient world that was an enormous army, greater in number than the entire Roman army. He died in a massive battle at Bethar, in the Judean hills. He was succeeded as ruler by his son Rufus, who was followed by Rufus' son Romulus.

Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library. New Testament. Matthew Yom Kippur. Martin Luther. Deuteronomy After a fierce battle, every Jew in Bethar was killed. Six days passed before the Romans allowed the Jews to bury their dead. Following the battle of Bethar, there were a few small skirmishes in the Judean Desert Caves, but the war was essentially over and Judean independence was lost. The Romans plowed Jerusalem with a yoke of oxen.

Jews were sold into slavery and many were transported to Egypt. Judean settlements were not rebuilt. Jerusalem was turned into a pagan city called Aelia Capitolina and the Jews were forbidden to live there.

They were permitted to enter only on the 9th of Av to mourn their losses in the revolt. In the years following the revolt, Hadrian discriminated against all Judeo-Christian sects, but the worst persecution was directed against religious Jews. He made anti-religious decrees forbidding Torah study, Sabbath observance, circumcision , Jewish courts, meeting in synagogues and other ritual practices.

Many Jews assimilated and many sages and prominent men were martyred including Rabbi Akiva and the rest of the Asara Harugei Malchut ten martyrs.

Sources : Encyclopedia Judaica. Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem. Ben Sasson, Editor. A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, History Until Israel Pocket Library. Keter Publishing House Ltd. The Jewish Encyclopedia. London, Kantor, Morris. The Jewish Time Line Encyclopedia. Jason Aronson Inc.

Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library. Category » Ancient Jewish History. Academies in Babylonia and Erez Israel. Administration of Judaea. After Exile. Age of Patriarchs. Akkadian Language. Architecture and Architects.