Eleh Ezkerah, Class 4: The Seeds of Revolt

(10) ... In the days of R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah the evil kingdom (Rome) decreed to rebuild the Temple. Papos and Lulianos (two brothers who were later martyred in Lod) set up tables from Akko to Antioch and supplied the pilgrims from the diaspora with silver, gold and all of their needs. Some Kuthites went [to the emperor] and said, "The king should know that if this rebellious city is built and its walls fortified, 'they will not pay tribute, poll-tax, or land-tax.'" He said to them, "What should I do, I have already made the decree?" They said to him, "Send to say to them [that] they either change the place of the Temple or add or remove five cubits from it and they will recant on their own."

And all of the [Jewish] people was gathered in Beit Rimon. When the king's edict arrived, they began to cry. They sought to rebel against the king. [The sages] said, "Let a wise man go up to quiet the assembled." They said, "Let R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah go up, as he is learned in the Torah." R. Yehoshua ben Chananiah went up and expounded, "A lion was devouring prey [and] a bone got stuck in its throat. It said, 'I will give a reward to anyone who comes and removes it.' An Egyptian heron with a long beak put his beak into the mouth of the lion and extracted the bone. It said to the lion, 'Give me my reward.' The lion said to it, 'Go and praise yourself, "I went into the mouth of the lion in peace and I came out in peace" - and there is no greater reward than that.' So too, it is enough for us that we entered into this nation in peace and came out in peace"...

§The Sages taught in a baraita (Tosefta, Sota 15:11): When the Temple was destroyed a second time, there was an increase in the number of ascetics among the Jews, whose practice was to not eat meat and to not drink wine. Rabbi Yehoshua joined them to discuss their practice. He said to them: My children, for what reason do you not eat meat and do you not drink wine? They said to him: Shall we eat meat, from which offerings are sacrificed upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist? Shall we drink wine, which is poured as a libation upon the altar, and now the altar has ceased to exist? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: If so, we will not eat bread either, since the meal-offerings that were offered upon the altar have ceased. They replied: You are correct. It is possible to subsist with produce. He said to them: We will not eat produce either, since the bringing of the first fruits have ceased. They replied: You are correct. We will no longer eat the produce of the seven species from which the first fruits were brought, as it is possible to subsist with other produce. He said to them: If so, we will not drink water, since the water libation has ceased. They were silent, as they realized that they could not survive without water. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: My children, come, and I will tell you how we should act. To not mourn at all is impossible, as the decree was already issued and the Temple has been destroyed. But to mourn excessively as you are doing is also impossible, as the Sages do not issue a decree upon the public unless a majority of the public is able to abide by it, as it is written: “You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, even this whole nation” (Malachi 3:9)

It is taught in a baraita (Tosefta, Sota 15:10) that Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, by right, we should decree upon ourselves not to eat meat and not to drink wine, but the Sages do not issue a decree upon the public unless a majority of the public is able to abide by it. And from the day that the wicked kingdom, i.e., Rome, spread, who decree evil and harsh decrees upon us, and nullify Torah study and the performance of mitzvot for us, and do not allow us to enter the celebration of the first week of a son, i.e., circumcision, and some say: To enter the celebration of the salvation of a firstborn son; by right we should each decree upon ourselves not to marry a woman and not to produce offspring, and it will turn out that the descendants of Abraham our forefather will cease to exist on their own, rather than being forced into a situation where there are sons who are not circumcised. But concerning a situation such as this, the following principle is applied: Leave the Jews alone and do not impose decrees by which they cannot abide. It is better that they be unwitting sinners and not be intentional wrongdoers.

The Sages taught: If one produces the sound of a millstone in the city called Burni, this is tantamount to announcing: Week of the son, week of the son, i.e., there will be a circumcision. If one displays the light of a lamp in the city called Beror Ḥayil, this is tantamount to announcing: There is a wedding feast there, there is a wedding feast there.

This was a sign that there was a circumcision, like one who announced: The week of the son is here! The millstone was a sign of the medicinal herbs that had been ground, to be applied to the circumcision wound. This was during a time of persecution in which a decree had forbidden circumcision, and they were afraid to cry out such a message, so they made up this sign.

Hadrian, may his bones crumble to dust, asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hanania: The Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed a great privilege upon the nations of the world when He gave five commandments to Israel and offered five to the nation of the world. In the first five commandments which the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Israel, His name is bound up with the commandments, so that if Israel sins, God rebukes them. But in the second five commandments which He offered to the nations of the world, His name is not bound up with the commandments, so that if they sin, He does not rebuke them.

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Come and walk about the city's squares with me. In each and every place where Rabbi Yehoshua led him, Hadrian saw a statue of himself standing there. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: This object- what is it? The emperor replied: It is a statue of me. He said: And this one here- what is it? The emperor said: It is a statue of me.

Finally Rabbi Yehoshua drew him along and led him to a garbage alley, where he said to him, My lord king, I see that you are a ruler everywhere in this city, but you are not a ruler in this place. The emperor asked: Why not? Rabbi Yehoshua replied: Because in each and every place I saw a statue of you, but there is no statue of you in this place. Hadrian replied: And you are a sage among the Jews!? Does it befit the honor of a king to have his statue set up in a place that is loathsome, in a place that is repulsive, in a place that is filthy? Rabbi Yehoshua said: Your ears have not heard what your mouth says. Would it befit the honor of the Holy One, blessed be He, to have His name mentioned with murderers, adulterers and thieves? He dismissed Rabbi Yehoshua, who went on his way.

(14) Further [R. ‘Aḳiba] sat on the bench [and taught]: Good things are brought about through the agency of good men.⁶⁷Cf. Shab. 32a. Even if Moses and Aaron had not arisen, Israel would still have been worthy to be redeemed from Egypt. Had not Moses and Aaron and the Generation of the Wilderness arisen, Israel would still have been worthy to receive the Torah...
Israel were destined to be enslaved even if Pharaoh had not arisen in Egypt...Israel would have deserved to be destroyed even if Nebuchadnezzar and his companions had not arisen, as it is stated...

(15) And further [he expounded]: Reward is brought about through persons of merit and punishment through persons of guilt, and then proceeded to tell the story of Pappus and Lulianus.

What is the origin of Trajan’s Day? They said in explanation: When Trajan sought to kill the important leaders Luleyanus and his brother Pappas in Laodicea, he said to them: If you are from the nation of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, let your God come and save you from my hand, just as He saved Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Luleyanus and Pappas said to him: Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were full-fledged righteous people, and they were worthy that a miracle should be performed for them, and Nebuchadnezzar was a legitimate king who rose to power through his merit, and it is fitting that a miracle be performed through him. But this wicked man, Trajan, is a commoner, not a real king, and it is not fitting that a miracle be performed through him. Luleyanus and Pappas continued: And we are not wholly righteous, and have been condemned to destruction by the Omnipresent for our sins. And if you do not kill us, the Omnipresent has many other executioners. And if men do not kill us, the Omnipresent has many bears and lions in His world that can hurt us and kill us. Instead, the Holy One, Blessed be He, placed us into your hands only so that He will avenge our blood in the future. Even so, Trajan remained unmoved by their response and killed them immediately. It is said that they had not moved from the place of execution when two officials [diyoflei] arrived from Rome with permission to remove Trajan from power, and they split his skull with clubs. This was viewed as an act of divine retribution and was established as a commemorative day.

The Gemara illustrates this idea through a relevant story. An incident occurred involving several students of Rabbi Akiva who were traveling to Keziv. Along the way, bandits encountered them and said to them: Where are you going? Rabbi Akiva’s students said to them: To Akko. Once they reached Keziv, Rabbi Akiva’s students separated from the bandits. At this point the bandits said to them: Whose students are you? The students said to the bandits: We are students of Rabbi Akiva. The bandits said to them: Fortunate are Rabbi Akiva and his students, as they were never harmed by an evil person. The bandits were impressed with the wisdom that the students demonstrated in evading harm.

"He has broken my teeth on gravel (Lamentations 3:16)": There is a story about the son of Rabbi Chananyah son of Teradyon who was joined with the bandits and revealed their recret and they killed him and filled his mouth with dust and pebbles. Three days later they placed him in the casket and they sought to honor him because of the glory of his father and he did not allow them. He said to them: "Allow it and I will speak over my son, and he began his sermon and said: "I did not pay heed to my teachers, Or incline my ear to my instructors. Soon I was in dire trouble amidst the assembled congregation (Proverbs 5:13-14)". And his mother called out over him: "A stupid son is vexation for his father And a heartache for the woman who bore him (Proverbs 17:25)". His sister called out over him: "Bread gained by fraud may be tasty to a man, But later his mouth will be filled with gravel (Proverbs 20:17)".