The party invitation that destroyed the Second Temple

1,173 Views | 6 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by Vox Clamantis
BonfireNerd04
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Back in the 60's (no, not the 1960's) a rich man in Jerusalem wanted to invite his friend Kamtza to a banquet. So his servant went out and fetched a man named Bar Kamtza who happened to live nearby. Honest mistake. But Bar Kamtza happened to be the host's worst enemy.

When the host realized the mistake, he ordered Bar Kamtza to leave. One thing led to another, and ultimately Bar Kamtza got the Roman Emperor to send Vespasian to siege Jerusalem.

Obviously, this inhospitality incident wasn't the only thing straining Jewish-Roman relations, but it's an interesting story that I just recently learned about.

FTACo88-FDT24dad
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AG
It also played a role in the building of the Colosseum in Rome didn't it?
CrackerJackAg
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AG
BonfireNerd04 said:

Back in the 60's (no, not the 1960's) a rich man in Jerusalem wanted to invite his friend Kamtza to a banquet. So his servant went out and fetched a man named Bar Kamtza who happened to live nearby. Honest mistake. But Bar Kamtza happened to be the host's worst enemy.

When the host realized the mistake, he ordered Bar Kamtza to leave. One thing led to another, and ultimately Bar Kamtza got the Roman Emperor to send Vespasian to siege Jerusalem.

Obviously, this inhospitality incident wasn't the only thing straining Jewish-Roman relations, but it's an interesting story that I just recently learned about.




I didn't know this story. Thanks for pointing it out.

This story most likely didn't actually occur as it's written. It's a moral allegory from my understanding. Traditional story to teach a lesson about baseless hatred. This was a common writing method in the classical era. Much like Senecas writings "On Crowds" or on "Friendships".

Even though it was written as a letter he didn't actually drop a letter to his buddy Lucilius. It was meant for public distribution.

I understand the history really well. No so much from the Jewish prospective, but the actual historical perspective, and that little revolt and killing of the Roman garrison might have had a bit more to do with it than a seating snafu.

In fact they don't learn lessons very well. They revolted in the early second century a few decades later killing a half million Roman's in a campaign of genocide that led to Roman reprisals under Trajan and the elimination of several ancient Jewish communities and the total expulsion from Africa for centuries.
BonfireNerd04
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FTACo88-FDT24dad said:

It also played a role in the building of the Colosseum in Rome didn't it?

Yes, it did, in the sense that the gold looted from the Temple was used to finance its construction. And perhaps some of the slave labor captured in the war.
mbrooking
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AG
That story sounds so much like Jesus' story in Matthew 22 about the guest not in the proper wedding clothes! Perhaps that was more than a parable.
CrackerJackAg
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AG
mbrooking said:

That story sounds so much like Jesus' story in Matthew 22 about the guest not in the proper wedding clothes! Perhaps that was more than a parable.


I think they are both parables. I don't think the aforementioned sitting snafu caused the destruction of the Second Temple.
Vox Clamantis
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……..and that's exactly what we're going to do to them Aggies
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