Throughout Time & Space - The Bar Kokhba Revolt - 28 Sivan
In this week’s parsha, Korach, an influential member of the tribe of Levi, attempts to stage a rebellion against Moshe and the Kohanim, asserting that the Jewish people should not have a leader in the first place since Hashem is with all of them, which makes him believe that they are all equally holy, and as a result, they deserve to depose Moshe and the Kohanim from their positions of power! Although there has never been another Jewish revolt quite like this one, Jewish history is filled with a lot of interesting revolutions, including the one we will focus on today: the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
The Bar Kokhba Revolt occurred as the third of 3 major conflicts between the Jews and the Romans. The first of these was aptly named the First Jewish Roman War, in which Jews rose up against the Roman empire in response to religious persecution and oppressive Roman governance. This is the war in which the second Beis HaMikdash was destroyed on Tisha b’Av. The second of these conflicts was the Kitos War, in which there was a second Roman victory, which was also extremely devastating for the Jews. All of this only served to cause more unrest in the region, which set the stage for the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
The Bar Kokhba revolt was led by none other than the eponymous Bar Kokhba, a charismatic leader who, in a parallel to Korach, was mistakenly believed by many Jews to have an impossibly high level of holiness. Bar Kokhba was believed by many Jews, including the famous Rabbi Akiva, to be the mashiach (although there were certainly also plenty of Jews who did not believe this, such as Yohanan ben Torta, who famously told Rabbi Akiva “Grass will grow on your cheeks, and the Mashiach will not yet have come!” implying there would be no mashiach even long after Rabbi Akiva’s death). Bar Kokhba was not only a brilliant military strategist, making use of guerilla warfare tactics that were far ahead of his time, but he was also a devoutly religious Jew. He ensured that his army properly observed Shabbat and Jewish holidays, and always kept Hashem in mind.
However, the revolt did not last. Just like Korach flew too close to the sun by making an offering to Hashem when he wasn’t permitted, Bar Kokhba also made a grave mistake that cost him the war. Bar Kokhba, due to a misunderstanding caused by a personal dispute, killed one of the sages at the time, Rabbi Elazar of Modi’in, with a single kick. This action stripped him and his army of the divine protection that was allowing their small and inexperienced army to hold out against Rome, the global superpower of the time. Not long after, on Tisha b’Av, the war ended in Roman victory.
So, what can we learn from this revolt? Unless we forfeit it, the Jews will always have divine protection from Hashem, even from the most powerful armies on Earth. However, we must always make sure we remain deserving of that protection, as it can be taken away from us at any moment. We should always live our lives with Hashem in mind, because through Him, we are capable of anything, even taking out Rome. Without Him, however, our exceedingly powerful enemies can defeat us in an instant.
Tell me in the tags: What are your thoughts on the Bar Kokhba Revolt? Why do you think it had to fail? Why wasn’t Bar Kokhba worthy of being the Mashiach?
Jew joke: Bar Kokhba was convinced he was the Mashiach, that was, until 60 roman legions convinced him with their “constructive criticism”