18
votes
Accepted
Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
The following is a list of Talmudic and Midrashic sources I've compiled, which address the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash and suggested catalysts for this tragedy. I've included a brief ...
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11
votes
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What sad/terrible events actually took place on the 9th of Av?
Several events are listed in chapter 13 of Megilat Ta'anit:
The Jews in the wilderness were decreed to die in the wilderness and not enter Israel.
The First Temple was destroyed.
The Second Temple ...
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10
votes
Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai, or Josephus?
I would argue that both stories are true, and that this is not even particularly surprising.
The Roman historian, Suetonius, mentions the incident with Josephus fairly early in his biography of ...
- 5,645
10
votes
What sad/terrible events actually took place on the 9th of Av?
Here are additional events to the ones already noted in other answers
Expulsion from England (1290): The Jews of England were expelled by King Edward I (chabad.org)
French expulsion (1306): The Jews ...
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8
votes
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When did the daily sacrifices cease being offered in temple?
The Mishnah in Taanit 4:6 reports that the Jews had five calamities on the 17th of Tammuz, the second was that the tamid offering was not brought anymore, and the Temple was eventually destroyed on ...
- 8,117
8
votes
Why didn't Titus consort with someone worse than a harlot?
While I don't think that the premise for the question is very strong, as Titus may or many not have known about the technical severity of different relationships, and may or may not have cared, as ...
- 36k
7
votes
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What is the explanation for the discrepancy between Seder Olam's chronology and that of historical scholarship?
This excellent source sheet produced by R. Anthony Manning, lists a number of different approaches to resolving the discrepancy:
1. Seder Olam is correct and the conventional chronology is incorrect.
...
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7
votes
What sad/terrible events actually took place on the 9th of Av?
Heinrich Himmler received the formal command from the Nazi Party to initiate the Final Solution, an order which resulted in millions of Jewish deaths. This happened on Tisha B'Av in 5701, which ...
- 19.2k
6
votes
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Is it true the book of Daniel says that the Messiah will arrive before the destruction of the second temple?
Many Christian attempts to read about their Messiah in the Jewish Bible are based on incorrect translations and misunderstandings of the Jewish way of reading the Bible (Tanakh) through its ...
- 54.1k
5
votes
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Who else says the Jews violated the Ten Commandments during the first Temple
Someone pointed out to me the source is Eicha Rabbah 1:1:
אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה. שָׁאֲלוּ אֶת בֶּן עַזַּאי אָמְרוּ לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ דְּרשׁ לָנוּ דָּבָר אֶחָד מִמְגִלַּת קִינוֹת, אָמַר לָהֶם לֹא גָּלוּ ...
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5
votes
Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai, or Josephus?
The questioner's objection to both accounts being true is that Vespasian would not have been indebted to Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai if Josephus had already predicted his rise to power.
Of course, it ...
- 652
5
votes
Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
The main reason that most people give for the destruction of the second Bais Hamikdash is sinas chinam (purposeless or free hate), however, this is not completely the case nor is it as simplistic as ...
- 43.5k
4
votes
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How do we have s'micha today if the Romans broke the chain?
Perhaps the reason you heard that rabbis began after the Second Temple, is that that is when the term 'rabbi' is introduced. For example, earlier Sages listed chronologically in Avot (1:2-12) are not ...
- 36k
4
votes
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(How) did Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Yehoshua survive the destruction of Jerusalem?
I agree with @mbloch that it seems logical that Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua simply did not return to Yerushalayim after they assisted Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's escape. I think the story's main ...
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3
votes
Do we, today, cause the Churban?
The potential of rebuilding the Temple is constantly present:
סנהדרין צח ע"א
ר' יהושע בן לוי אשכח לאליהו ... אמר ליה אימת אתי משיח אמר ליה זיל
שייליה לדידיה ... א"ל לאימת אתי מר א"ל היום אתא ...
3
votes
What does "Britain" have to do with "the destruction of the second Beis HaMikdosh"?
The "he" refers to the speaker, in this case Moses. Abarbanel quotes the book of Yosiphon as saying that some of the troops used by Rome in the destruction of the second Temple came from ...
- 9,584
3
votes
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The destruction of the Second Temple in the Mishnah?
A Sefaria search shows that the phrase "משחרב בית המקדש" - "From when the Temple was destroyed..." appears in seven Mishnayot:
Mishnah Maaser Sheni 5:2
רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, ...
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3
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"The markets of Jerusalem were destroyed three years prior" - people justified their evil actions with Halacha
The relevant piece of Talmud is from Bava Metzia 88a:
מִפְּנֵי מָה חָרְבוּ חֲנוּיוֹת שֶׁל בֵּית הִינוֹ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים קוֹדֶם יְרוּשָׁלַיִם – מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהֶעֱמִידוּ דִּבְרֵיהֶם עַל דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה.
...
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2
votes
Why does Nero convert to Judaism in folio 56a in tractate Gittin in the Babylon Talmud?
Flavius Josephus reports in the Wars of the Jews that Nero reigned "thirteen years and eight days" (contrary to Jerome's report). "Thirteen years" and "eight days" only ...
2
votes
Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
The Talmud says in Yoma 9b that the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred.
- 19.2k
2
votes
How do we have s'micha today if the Romans broke the chain?
The correct record of how the Romans attempted to break the chain of rabbinic ordination and how the rabbis had it reinstituted is brought in BT (A.Z. 8b). Soncino trans.:
Forty years before the ...
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2
votes
Who would convert Nebuzardan?
Even if someone has a bad past, the Torah almost always allowed the, to convert. (Unless you”re an amelakei). Anyways, this just comes to show Hashem’s infinite kindness and pity for sincere teshuvah
- 47
2
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Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai, or Josephus?
Versions of Ben Zakkai stories appear in Avot d'Rabbi Natan (in both the A and B versions), BT Gittin 56a and Lamentations Rabbah 1:5. The stories recount inter alia Vespasian's siege of Jerusalem, ...
- 4,007
2
votes
"The markets of Jerusalem were destroyed three years prior" - people justified their evil actions with Halacha
I haven't learned your sources inside, but from the eloquent way you've explained the question, I can take an educated guess at what the Rebbe means, if I may:
Ramban brings a concept called נבל ברשות ...
- 14.1k
2
votes
In the first century, what was the impetus for the rebellion of Jerusalem against Rome?
The Talmud and the Midrash say that the catastrophic war against Roman occupation, the death of more than a million Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple happened because of a ...
- 23.6k
1
vote
Prophecy about the destruction of the second temple?
Daniel 9 describes a prophecy of 70 sevens. This is a period of 490 years. The first 70 years of this prophecy are the 70 years of exile starting after the destruction of the First Temple by the ...
- 57
1
vote
What is the explanation for the discrepancy between Seder Olam's chronology and that of historical scholarship?
A full discussion of this complex historical problem is found in the article 'Missing Years' in Religion-wiki: religion.wikia.com/wiki/Missing_years. It mentions that the following sources have been ...
- 1,834
1
vote
Accepted
What is the difference between Hashlucha and Shenishtalcha?
As mentioned in the comments, shenishtalcha is in the past tense -- "it was sent a long time ago"; hashlucha is in the present -- "sent." In Hebrew today, if you walk into a room and smell smoke, you ...
- 136k
1
vote
Accepted
What prompted the absent-Sanhedrin-head decree in Rosh Hashana 4:4?
Doros Harishonim (vol. 3, pp. 62ff) explains that R' Yochanan ben Zakkai moved to a town called Bror Chail (mentioned in Sanhedrin 32b and other places) so as not to overshadow R' Gamliel's nesius. So ...
- 10.4k
1
vote
Movie picturing the destruction of the holy temple?
Although this video doesn't show the destruction of the mikdash, it would probably give your child more of an appreciation of what we lost on Tisha B'Av.
Similar videos can be seen here, here, and ...
- 14.8k
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