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 ...
- 4,313
11
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 49.1k
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 ...
- 47.8k
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 ...
- 5,565
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 ...
- 35.4k
8
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 7,434
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 ...
- 18.5k
6
votes
Accepted
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.
...
- 41.7k
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 ...
- 593
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 ...
- 42.9k
5
votes
Accepted
Who else says the Jews violate 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 ...
- 19.6k
4
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 47.8k
4
votes
Accepted
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 ...
- 35.4k
3
votes
Accepted
What are these objects?
They're Tabula Ansatas.
After doing some research I found out they're actually Roman Tabula Ansatas, a favorite form of votive tablets in Imperial Rome. They were ornamental tablets used in sacred ...
- 4,576
3
votes
What are these objects?
Wikipedia claims to be able to identify them as
Other sacred objects being carried in the triumphal procession are the
Gold Trumpets and the Table of Shew bread.[7]
Art and Architecture of ...
- 42.9k
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 ...
- 8,045
3
votes
Accepted
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, ...
- 17.7k
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
votes
Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
The Talmud says in Yoma 9b that the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred.
- 18.5k
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 ...
- 11.9k
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 ...
- 131k
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 ...
- 7,781
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 ...
- 13.8k
1
vote
Rabi Yochanan Ben Zakai, or Josephus?
This is entirely opinion, but perhaps Josephus bent the truth in order to protect the identity of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai so people would not know that he escaped Jerusalem.
- 18.5k
1
vote
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, ...
- 3,546
1
vote
Why did R' Yochanan ben Zakkai ask for multiple things?
Just to elaborate and add on to the above answers:
we see in the gemara (gittin 56b) that some chachamim said said about this "Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish" as he ...
- 283
1
vote
The silence of the Rabbis -- Should they have defended Bar Kamtza?
1) The Chasam Sofer (Chidushei Chasam Sofer Gittin 55b) cites an explanation for the Rabbis' conduct (this is an abbreviated version of what he says): They thought the host must have witnessed Bar ...
- 6,477
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible