"Cease! O God of truth, with man Thou sendest falsehood to the earth."
Then all were silent, and out of the deep quietness the Divine words
came:--
"Thou, O Truth, shall go to earth with him, and yet remain a denizen of
heaven; 'twixt heaven and earth to float, connecting link between the
two."
* * * * *
It was customary in Bithar when a child was born for the parents to
plant a young cedar tree, to grow up with the infant. It happened upon
one occasion when the daughter of the emperor was riding through the
city, that her chariot broke down, and her attendants pulled up a young
cedar tree to use in repairing it. The man who had planted the tree,
seeing this, attacked the servants and beat them severely. This action
incensed the emperor, who immediately dispatched an army of eighty
thousand men against the city. These captured it and killed the
inhabitants, men, women, and children. The rivers ran red with blood,
and 'tis said that the ground was rich and prolific to the farmers for
seven years, from the bodies of those who perished, said to be four
hundred thousand Israelites.
* * * * *
When the guilt of the Israelites grew too great for the forbearance of
the Most High, and they refused to listen to the words and warnings of
Jeremiah, the prophet left Jerusalem and traveled to the land of
Benjamin. While he was in the holy city, and prayed for mercy on it, it
was spared; but while he sojourned in the land of Benjamin,
Nebuchadnezzar laid waste the land of Israel, plundered the holy Temple,
robbed it of its ornaments, and gave it a prey to the devouring flames.
By the hands of Nebuzaradan did Nebuchadnezzar send (while he himself
remained in Riblah) to destroy Jerusalem.
Before he ordered the expedition he endeavored by means of signs, in
accordance with the superstition of his age, to ascertain the result of
the attempt. He shot an arrow from his bow, pointing to the west, and
the arrow turned toward Jerusalem. Then he shot again, pointing toward
the east, and the arrow sped toward Jerusalem. Then he shot once more,
desiring to know in which direction lay the guilty city which should be
blotted from the world, and for the third time his arrow pointed toward
Jerusalem.
When the city had been captured, he marched with his princes and
officers into the Temple, and called out mockingly to the God of Israel,
"And art thou the great God before whom the world trembles, and we here
in thy city and thy Temple!"
On one of the walls he found the mark of an arrow's head, as though
somebody had been killed or hit near by, and he asked, "Who was killed
here?"
"Zachariah, the son of Yehoyadah, the high priest," answered the people;
"he rebuked us incessantly on account of our transgressions, and we
tired of his words, and put him to death."
The followers of Nebuchadnezzar massacred the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the priests and the people, old and young, women, and children who were
attending school, even babies in the cradle. The feast of blood at last
shocked even the leader of the hostile heathens, who ordered a stay of
this wholesale murder. He then removed all the vessels of gold and
silver from the Temple, and sent them by his ships, to Babel, after
which he set the Temple on fire.
The high priest donned his robe and ephod, and saying, "Now that the
Temple is destroyed, no priest is needed to officiate," threw himself
into the flames and was consumed. When the other priests who were still
alive witnessed this action, they took their harps and musical
instruments and followed the example of the high priest. Those of the
people whom the soldiers had not killed were bound in iron chains,
burdened with the spoils of the victors, and carried into captivity.
Jeremiah the prophet returned to Jerusalem and accompanied his
unfortunate brethren, who went out almost naked. When they reached a
place called Bet Kuro, Jeremiah obtained better clothing for them. And
he spoke to Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, and said, "Think not that
of your own strength you were able to overcome the people chosen of the
Lord; 'tis their iniquities which have condemned them to this sorrow."
Thus the people journeyed on with crying and moaning until they reached
the rivers of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Sing, ye
people,--play for me,--sing the songs ye were wont to sing before your
great Lord in Jerusalem."
In answer to this command, the Levites hung their harps upon the willow
trees near the banks of the river, as it is written, "Upon the willows
in her midst had we hung up our harps." Then they said, "If we had but
performed the will of God and sung His praises devoutly, we should not
have been delivered into thy hands. Now, how can we sing before thee the
prayers and hymns that belong only to the One Eternal God?" as it is
said, "How should we sing the song of the Lord on the soil of the
stranger?"
Then said the officers of the captors, "These men are men of death; they
refuse to obey the order of the king; let them die."
But forth stepped Pelatya, the son of Yehoyadah, and thus he addressed
Nebuchadnezzar:--
"Behold, if a flock is delivered into the hands of a shepherd, and a
wolf steals a lamb from the flock, tell me, who is responsible to the
owner of the lost animal?"
"Surely the shepherd," replied Nebuchadnezzar.
"Then listen to thine own words," replied Pelatya. "God has given Israel
into thy hands; to Him art thou responsible for those who are slain."
The king ordered the chains to be removed from the captives, and they
were not put to death.
* * * * *
Through Kamtzah and Bar Kamtzah was Jerusalem destroyed; and thus it
happened.
A certain man made a feast; he was a friend of Kamtzah, but Bar Kamtzah
he hated. He sent a messenger to Kamtzah with an invitation to his
banquet, but this messenger making a mistake, delivered the invitation
to his master's enemy, Bar Kamtzah.
Bar Kamtzah accepted the invitation, and was on hand at the appointed
time, but when the host saw his enemy enter his house, he ordered him to
leave at once.
"Nay," said Bar Kamtzah, "now that I am here, do not so insult me as to
send me forth. I will pay thee for all that I may eat and drink."
"I want not thy money," returned the other, "neither do I desire thy
presence; get thee gone at once."
But Bar Kamtzah persisted.
"I will pay the entire expense of thy feast," he said; "do not let me be
degraded in the eyes of thy guests."
The host was determined, and Bar Kamtzah withdrew from the banquet-room
in anger.
"Many Rabbis were present," said he in his heart, "and not one of them
interfered in my behalf, therefore this insult which they saw put upon
me must have pleased them."
So Bar Kamtzah spoke treacherously of the Jews unto the king, saying,
"The Jews have rebelled against thee."
"How can I know this?" inquired the king.
"Send a sacrifice to their Temple and it will be rejected," replied Bar
Kamtzah.
The ruler then sent a well-conditioned calf to be sacrificed for him in
the Temple, but through the machinations of Bar Kamtzah the messenger
inflicted a blemish upon it, and, of course, not being fit for the
sacrifice it was not accepted.
Through this cause was Cæsar sent to capture Jerusalem, and for two
years he besieged the city. Four wealthy citizens of Jerusalem had
stored up enough food to last the inhabitants a much longer time than
this, but the people being anxious to fight with the Romans, destroyed
the storehouses and brought dire famine upon the city.
A certain noble lady, Miriam, the daughter of Baythus, sent her servant
to purchase some flour for household use. The servant found that all the
flour had been sold, but there was still some meal which he might have
purchased. Hurrying home, however, to learn his mistress's wishes in
regard to this, he discovered on his return that this too had been sold,
and he could obtain nothing save some coarse barley meal. Not wishing to
purchase this without orders he returned home again, but when he
returned to the storehouse to secure the barley meal, that was gone
also. Then his mistress started out herself to purchase food, but she
could find nothing. Suffering from the pangs of hunger she picked from
the street the skin of a fig and ate it; this sickened her and she died.
But previous to her death she cast all her gold and silver into the
street, saying, "What use is this wealth to me when I can obtain no food
for it?" Thus were the words of Ezekiel fulfilled:--
"Their silver shall they cast into the streets."
After the destruction of the storehouses, Rabbi Jochanan in walking
through the city saw the populace boiling straw in water and drinking of
the same for sustenance. "Ah, woe is me for this calamity!" he
exclaimed; "how can such a people strive against a mighty host?" He
applied to Ben Batiach, his nephew, one of the chiefs of the city, for
permission to leave Jerusalem. But Ben Batiach replied, "It may not be;
no living body may leave the city." "Take me out then as a corpse,"
entreated Jochanan. Ben Batiach assented to this, and Jochanan was
placed in a coffin and carried through the gates of the city; Rabbi
Eleazer, Rabbi Joshua, and Ben Batiach acting as pall-bearers. The
coffin was placed in a cave, and after they had all returned to their
homes Jochanan arose from the coffin and made his way to the enemy's
camp. He obtained from the commander permission to establish an academy
in Jabna with Rabbon Gamliel as the principal.
Titus soon captured the city, killed many of the people, and sent the
others into exile. He entered the Temple, even in the Most Holy, and cut
down the veil which separated it from the less sacred precincts. He
seized the holy vessels, and sent them to Rome.
From this history of Kamtzah and Bar Kamtzah we should learn to be
careful of offending our neighbors, when in so slight a cause such great
results may originate. Our Rabbis have said that he who causes his
neighbor to blush through an insult, should be compared to the one who
sheds blood.
* * * * *
During the terrible times which followed the fall of the Holy City,
Hannah and her seven sons were cast into prison.
According to their ages they were brought before the tyrant conqueror,
and commanded to pay homage to him and his gods.
"God forbid," exclaimed the eldest lad, "that I should bow to thy image.
Our commandments say to us, 'I am the Lord thy God;' to no other will I
bow."
He was immediately led out to execution, and the same demand made of his
brother, the second son.
"My brother bowed not," he answered, "and no more will I."
"Wherefore not?" asked the tyrant.
"Because," replied the lad, "the second commandment of the Decalogue
tells us, 'Thou shalt have no other God but me.'"
His death followed immediately his brave words.
"My religion teaches me, 'Thou shalt worship no other God,'" said the
third son, "and I welcome the fate accorded to my brothers rather than
bow to thee or thy images."
The same homage was demanded of the fourth son, but brave and faithful
as his brethren, he replied, "'He that sacrificeth unto any God save
unto the Lord only,'" and was slain pitilessly.
"'Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God, the Lord is One,'" exclaimed the
fifth lad, yielding up his young life with the watchword of Israel's
hosts.
"Why art thou so obstinate?" was asked of the sixth brother, when he,
too, was brought before the tyrant and scorned the propositions made
him.
"'The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty and terrible God,'"
he said; and died for the principles he proclaimed.
Then the seventh and youngest boy was brought before the murderer of his
relatives, who addressed him kindly, saying:--
"My son, come bow before my gods."