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<i>Hadrian speant a lot of time suppressing us after the fall of<br>
Beitar. The plowing of the Har haBayis didn't happen at the same time<br>
as BK's Temple building project.</i></div>
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Beitar fell in the summer of 135 at the end of the BK revolt, historians seem unanimous on that. And the Hadrianic decrees ceased with the death of Hadrian in 138, only 3 years after Beitar fell. That also seems undisputed by historians. So whichever way you
look at it R Akiva, who certainly died between the later stages of the BK revolt and the death of of Hadrian had very little time to raise more talmidim if they died during the revolt. </div>
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And as I pointed out, the particular talmidim he is said to have raised afterwards were mature adults by the BK revolt, there seems next to no doubt about from what we know of their own biographies. So it's exceptionally unlikely to the point of impossible
that he took them as students at that time.</div>
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<i> Sherira Gaon in the She'iltos<br>
<</i><a href="http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14593&pgnum=89" target="_blank" id="OWA2c48bb6c-db4e-5159-3dce-e7786163e469" class="OWAAutoLink" title="http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14593&pgnum=89" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0" style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14593&pgnum=89</i></a><i>>
says "vehavei<br>
shamda al talmidei RA", which has been argued is about shemad,<br>
and thus Roman oppression. I know this is debated, but I don't recall<br>
the other interpretation.</i></div>
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I referred to that too. R Sherira does not say which shmad. There was a lesser discussed period of perscution from 115-117 just before the beginning of Hadrian's reign, milchemes kitos, I wonder if the reference is to that. Either way, it doesn't change the
multiple problems I identified with dating the death of R Akiva's students to the BK revolt. Again, I note that no one tries to date their death until the 20<sup>th</sup> century as far as I'm aware. <br>
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<b>From:</b> Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org><br>
<b>Sent:</b> 10 May 2026 17:14<br>
<b>To:</b> The Avodah Torah Discussion Group <avodah@lists.aishdas.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Ben Bradley <bdbradley70@hotmail.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Avodah] ALL 24000 died</div>
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<div class="elementToProof" style="font-size: 11pt;">On Sat, May 09, 2026 at 08:32:21PM +0000, Ben Bradley via Avodah wrote:<br>
> Next, we can be sure that R Akiva died around the end or slightly<br>
> after the end of the Bar kochba revolt based of Chazal's reporting of<br>
> the circumstances around his death.<br>
<br>
Hadrian speant a lot of time suppressing us after the fall of<br>
Beitar. The plowing of the Har haBayis didn't happen at the same time<br>
as BK's Temple building project.<br>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);"> </span><br>
So, maybe it was later. I don't see this argument compelling.<br>
<br>
> So, with all respect to R Henkin...<br>
has been argued is about shemad,<br>
and thus Roman oppression. I know this is debated, but I don't recall<br>
the other interpretation.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);">There are earlier sources:</span><br>
<br>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);">R Sherira Gaon in the She'iltos</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);"><</span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><a href="http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14593&pgnum=89" id="OWA8780b031-9e9c-9eb9-c526-c11b6199e017" class="OWAAutoLink" data-auth="NotApplicable">http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14593&pgnum=89</a></span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);">>
says "vehavei</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; color: rgb(66, 66, 66);">shamda al talmidei RA", which </span><br>
In the new Moznayim edition of Midrash Rabba, the Eitz Yoseif (on<br>
Bereishis 61) says they died between Pesach and Shavuos in Milchemes<br>
Beitar. That's early 19th cent, but most (not all) of EY is a<br>
liqut.<br>
<br>
Tir'u baTov!<br>
-Micha<br>
<br>
--<br>
Micha Berger Today is the 38th day, which is<br>
<a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp" id="OWA20d10304-8928-cadf-cec3-ebfe2f67eb20" class="OWAAutoLink" data-auth="NotApplicable">http://www.aishdas.org/asp</a> 5 weeks and 3 days in/toward the omer.<br>
Author: Widen Your Tent Tifferes sheb'Yesod: How does reliability<br>
- <a href="https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF" id="OWA3e521961-6c6d-281d-0ecc-c7e763619bf6" class="OWAAutoLink" data-auth="NotApplicable">
https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF</a> promote harmony in life and relationships?</div>
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