17
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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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11
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Charbonah related to destruction?
Medrash Esther Raba 3 says Charvona was called Charvona as he was responsible for the Churban Bais Hamikdash.
חרבונא מופיע פעמיים במגילה - בתחילת המגילה הוא מופיע כאחד משבעת
הסריסים המשרתים את ...
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10
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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 ...
- 5,465
10
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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
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 ...
- 34.8k
7
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The silence of the Rabbis -- Should they have defended Bar Kamtza?
Maharsha writes on that story:
הואיל והוו יתבי רבנן ולא מיחו בו: איכא למימר מה שלא מיחו מפני שלא היה בידם למחות אפשר שעשו כן כי החנופה היא שגברה באותו הדור כמ"ש בסוטה
גבי אגריפס המלך
One ...
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7
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Is it heresy to follow secular dating on the destruction of the first Temple?
R. H. Shachter notes in a shiur here (beginning at minute 66)1 that the Baal HaMeor seems to have embraced the secular chronology (to the ire of the Raavad) and added that Chazal's fallibility is ...
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7
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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 ...
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7
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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 ...
- 6,995
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How did the Jewish people understand and make sense of the destruction of the Second Temple?
Judaism was able to survive the destruction of the Second Temple because Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai set up an academy in Yavne where Torah could be taught and a generation of sages figured out how to ...
- 4,999
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No day without its curse
The Ramchal in Da'as Tevunos (Simanim 40 and 142) understands this to be a symptom of the hester panim, the hiding of Hashem's presence, that coincided (resulted?) from the destruction of the Beis ...
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6
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What is the modern Jewish attitude towards the Zealots and Sicarii?
The Talmud (Gittin 56a) relates the following about the Zealot-Pharisee relationship:
The biryoni [presumed to be Zealots] were then in the city. The Rabbis said to them: Let us go out and make ...
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6
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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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 ...
- 41.8k
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 ...
- 492
5
votes
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Did Nehemia know the second temple wouldn't last?
Exodus Rabah 51:3, (third paragraph in your link)
מהו משכן שני פעמים א"ר שמואל בר מרתא שנתמשכן שני פעמים על ידיהם זהו
שאנשי כנסת הגדולה אומרים (נחמיה א) חבול חבלנו לך ולא שמרנו את המצות
ואת ...
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4
votes
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Were there any sages who supported the Zealots during the siege of Jerusalem?
Rabbi Eleazar Ben Hanania Ben Hizkiya.
The evidence for this one is not 100% proof, but:
1) In Shabbat 13b it says that חנניה בן חזקיה וסעתו compiled Megillat Taanit. He is also identified as one ...
- 3,626
4
votes
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Shouldn't we laugh as Rabbi Akiva?
Interesting question. However I think before asking that we must ask ouselves if we cry that there is a question whether we should laugh instead? We are so deep into this galus that the few things we ...
- 178
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 ...
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4
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 ...
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3
votes
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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 ...
- 4,486
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 ...
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3
votes
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How did the Jewish people understand and make sense of the destruction of the Second Temple?
As mentioned by Mike, the destruction of the Second Temple was like the climax of a slowly moving glacier that eventually splashes into the ocean. Even after the rebellion finally started, it took ...
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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
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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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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 ...
- 5,601
2
votes
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Jerusalem was only destroyed because of these 8 things - how?
The eight statements are from eight different sages. Presumably, as in other places where the g'mara says "A says X, B says Y, etc", they are disagreeing with each other. Sometimes when there are ...
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2
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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.
- 17.5k
2
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Why was the second Beit HaMikdash destroyed?
The Talmud says in Yoma 9b that the Second Temple was destroyed because of baseless hatred.
- 17.5k
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