[Avodah] bavel leadership

[Arie Folger]

RMB wrote:

> In any case, my reconstruction appears to be peshat in Sukkah 20a.
> Reish Laqish says "hareini kaparas R' Chiya uvanav" and then
> explains why he accords R' Chiya (or as the Y-mi and Medrash
> Rabba call him, "R' Chiya Raba") such respect. The first time the
> Torah was forgotten from Israel, Ezra came up from Bavel and
> reestablished it, when it was forgotten again, Hillel haBavli came
> up and reestablished it, and when it was forgotten, R' Chiya and
> his sons came up [also from Bavel] and established it.

There is another way to understand the specific circumstances under
which Hillel was needed, which teaches about the Benei Beteirah
interregnum, as you term it, too. This is too beautiful for a brief
post, so I suggest you all click on the following link to listen to a
fascniating leture by R'Shneier Zalman Leiman on the Dead Sea Scrolls:
http://tinyurl.com/leiman-dead-sea-1 or
http://tinyurl.com/leiman-dead-sea-2 (I am not quite sure in which of
the two lecture my point is found).

In short, and doing a tremendous injustice to his talk, there was a
period, which probably lasted decades, during which the Boethitians
were in charge of the Beit haMiqdash. They used the Dead Sea sect
calendar, which is a solar calendar, based on 364 days a year, so that
every holiday always begins on the same day of the year. Such a change
would mean that certain issues wouldn't come up (for example, 'erev
Pessach would never fall on Shabbat), or, alternatively, mean that
certain things couldn't be observed at all (how can you bring a korban
Pessach, when they hold it should be brought ten days later, for
example, and won't allow it on the right date?). Whether something was
observed the wrong way or not observed at all probably depended on how
knowledgeable one was, though Leiman does not discuss this; that is my
speculative addition.

Anyway, the net result of this galut-in-Israel was that parts of Torah
relating to the Miqdash was forgotten, and it is that which Hillel
brought back, after an exile that lasted for the duration of the
Boethitian rule. It is conceivable that the Benei Beteira coincide
with  this Boethitian rule, though Leiman does not discuss this,
either; this, too, is my speculative addition.

Before attacking this theory, I urge you to listen to the recordings,
so you will see his wonderful pshetl, which convinces very much as
straight peshat.

-- 
Arie Folger,
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