[Avodah] Ploughing HHB

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, July 20, 2007 6:11 pm, Richard Wolpoe wrote:
: Could be.  There is a source somewhere that Hadrian was originally
: friendly to the Jews and considered re-buidling the Temple at  first
: but turned on the Jews.

You are probably referring to Bereishis Rabba 64:10.

Hadrian gave permission to rebuild the BHMQ, and R' Yeshoshua ben
Chananiah made a party in Akko to celebrate the event.

According to BR, Kussim convinced the emperor that we were planning on
using the BHMQ as a fortress from which to rebel against Rome. This is
much like their accusations in back in seifer Ezra, which delayed
binyan bayis sheini, and eventually led to the Persian-Median law that
bayis sheini be built on a flammable wooden foundation. The Kussim
suggested that rather than do a blatant about-face, Hadrian order it
built to different dimensions or at a different location.

Another version of the story has Hadrian changing his mind when he
learned that becoming a Jew would mean giving up his relationship with
one of the boys on his staff.

When messengers reached the party in Akko with the news of the new
decree, everyone was understandably bereaved. RYbC gave nechamah with
a mashal:

A lion was eating an animal, and got a bone caught in his throat. He
couldn't get it out himself, so the lion proclaimed a great reward for
whomever would remove it. A crane flew over to the lion, and with its
long beak was able to reach down the lion's throat and pull out the
bone. The heron asked for his reward. The lion replied -- how many
others could put their head down a lion's mouth and live to tell the
story? That is your reward.

I can not tell if this story is intended to be historical, or a
commentary about another religion later adopted by Rome and thereby
modified beyond recognition. That there is an advantage that Yahadus
was not the religion that won over the west.

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org        your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
http://www.aishdas.org   and it flies away.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter