Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kochba Revolt
Summary: Rabbi Akiva provided the rabbinic stamp of approval for the Bar Kochba Revolt by calling its military leader the Messiah. This was the culmination of years of discussion with his rabbinic colleagues about a messianic redemption. This revolt could only have succeeded if it was messianic and this was not part of God’s plan for Jewish history. Instead, this revolt turned into preparations for 2,000 years of exile. Despite this, Rabbi Akiva’s messianic ideas have become embedded in Jewish tradition.
From the perspective of Jewish history, there are two Rabbi Akiva’s. One is the sage who systematized the Oral Law and framed the direction of Jewish law after the destruction of the Second Temple. In one midrash, he is placed on the same pedestal as Ezra the scribe, the sage credited with initiating Rabbinic Judaism when prophecy came to an end at the beginning of the Second Temple period.1 The other R’ Akiva is the messianic revolutionary who endorsed the Bar Kochba Revolt against Rome. The first R’ Akiva gave us the beginnings of the Mishna and a wealth of halachic and aggadic material. The second gave us the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews, the destruction of Judea, and its end as a Jewish country. Understandably, Jewish tradition has tended to separate these two roles and downplay the latter, although it is by no means clear that one can do this.
How did R’ Akiva err so badly? Did he persuade himself through his own messianic rhetoric that now was the time for God’s manifest intervention in Jewish history? Did he feel that his relationship with God was so intimate that he could prod God into saving the Jewish people, even if Bar Kochba’s victory plans defied logic? Did he imagine that whatever God planned for the Jewish people and for himself would always be for the good, even while he was directing the Jewish people towards disaster?
We will examine texts on these issues, although we will have to admit that there can be no definitive answer to any of these questions. Perhaps the bottom line to R’ Akiva’s misplaced enthusiasm for a messianic sovereignty is that one can never second-guess God. He has His own plans for Jewish redemption, and even someone like R’ Akiva cannot prod Him into action, particularly when messianism becomes a substitute for common sense.
R’ Akiva’s contribution to Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple
After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Pharisees found themselves the winners of the debate as to the direction of Judaism. The Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots were gone. They were either killed by the Romans or had become irrelevant after the destruction of the Temple. This now placed considerable onus on a small group of rabbis to determine the future direction of Judaism.
During the siege of Jerusalem, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakhai received permission from the Roman general Titus to leave the city and open a religious center in Yavne on the coastal plain. This probably seemed an innocuous request at the time, although much later the Romans would regret their agreement to this when it became apparent that this rabbinic center was functioning as an alternative source of leadership that had considerable influence on the people. In subsequent years it would be closed by the Romans and its rabbis hounded. Among ben Zakhai’s five main disciples were R’ Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Yehoshua ben Chananyah, and they will become major players in the development Judaism, as well as being influential in R’ Akiva’s Torah education.2
The challenges facing these sages were considerable. Judaism needed to be reinvented from a religion whose focus was the Temple to a religion whose emphasis was on Torah study and the practice of Jewish law. Prayer and vitalization of the synagogue would become a substitute for the sacrificial cult, although the rituals of the Temple were documented for future generations and the memory of the Temple kept alive by new decrees. People also had to buy into this program, which meant that the rabbis at Yavne had to disseminate a love of Judaism and its laws by outreach and by establishing additional centers of learning.
After two years, Rabban Gamaliel II was brought to Yavne as head of its Sanhedrin (supreme religious body). He was a descendent of the great sage Hillel and had the prestige necessary for making the Sanhedrin at Yavne the definitive voice for the direction of halacha. The path was not easy, and many were the halachic disputes verging on personal disputes (although all for the sake of heaven) recorded in the halachic and midrashic literature.
Akiva was born in about 50 CE, about 20 years or so before the destruction of Jerusalem.3 It is surmised from midrashic sources that his parents were poor and uneducated. He had received no traditional religious education. However, living in Lod and not far from Yavne, Akiva was exposed to the programs of these sages and he was attracted to them. His initiation into Torah learning is described in a midrashic source:
“What were Rabbi Akiva’s beginnings? It is said: When he was forty years old he had not yet studied a thing. One time he stood by the mouth of a well. Who hollowed out this stone? he wondered. He was told: it is the water which falls upon it every day continually. …. Thereupon Rabbi Akiva drew an inference with regard to himself: If that which is soft wears down that which is hard, then all the more so shall words of Torah which are as hard as iron hollow out my heart which is flesh and blood! Thereupon he turned to the study of Torah. He went with his son and they appeared before an elementary teacher. Rabbi Akiva said to him: Master, teach me Torah. Rabbi Akiva took hold of one end of the tablet and his son took the other end. The teacher wrote aleph bet [the beginning of the Hebrew alphabet] and he learnt it; aleph tav [further on in the alphabet] and he learned it; the book of Leviticus and he learnt it. He continued studying until he learnt the whole Torah.”4
Akiva’s teachers were the two famous disciples of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakhai, R’ Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and R’ Yehoshua ben Chananyah. The former was now the head of the Beis HaVaad in Yavne that formulated policy and halachic decisions.5 Akiva also studied under Rabban Gamaliel II when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakhai left Yavne and Rabban Gamaliel II became head of the Sanhedrin. Akiva remained especially close to R’ Yehoshua who ordained him and exposed him to mystical teachings.6 Following his ordination, R’ Akiva established his own yeshiva in Bnai Brak, not far from his home town.
R’ Akiva produced no written systematic theology. However, in his mind he undoubtedly had one and it is possible to piece this together from his sayings as reported in the Jerusalem and Babylonian talmuds and midrashim, recognizing that with the passage of time some of these stories may have become embellished with additional and not necessarily accurate layers of detail and interpretation. It will be recalled that the Babylonian Talmud was completed almost 400years after R’ Akiva’s death.
Important ideas which will influence his approach to interpretation of Torah and also his messianism include the following:
(i). The Torah is from heaven
The expression “Torah from heaven” (Torah min hashomayim) usually signifies the notion that the Torah is God-given. R’ Akiva took this a step further by suggesting that Moses actually reached into the heavens to receive the Torah, implying that the Torah already existed in heaven before it was given on Mount Sinai. This meant to R’ Akiva that not a word or letter of the Torah is extraneous and all have meaning. Not all his colleagues accepted this. R’ Ishmael, the author of the midrash Mechilta d’Rabbi Ishmael and with whom R’ Akiva had many debates, was of the opinion that the Torah speaks in the language of man and there has to be some leeway in interpreting its language. Jewish tradition recorded both views, although those of R’ Akiva would gain more traction in the halachic and aggadic literature, especially because he and his students were responsible for collecting much of the material that made its way into the Mishna and midrashim.
(ii). The importance of the oral law
An important position of these rabbis and the sages that followed them was that the oral Torah has equal standing with the written Torah. Because he was older than the other sages when he started learning Torah, R’ Akiva would have appreciated the challenges in assimilating all the material comprising the oral law and which then existed only as oral “bits”. He therefore spent a considerable amount of time collecting and systematically arranging this material:
“It is Rabbi Akiva who systemized the midrash, laws [midrash] and aggadot [non-legal material]. There are those who say this was done by the men of the Great Assembly. What Rabbi Akiva did was to institute general and specific rules.”7
His method of doing this is related in the following Talmudic passage:
“When Rabbi Akiva would systemize laws for his students, he would say: If anyone has heard some reasonable argument against his fellow student, let him come forth and tell it.”8
R’ Akiva’s principal disciples did much of the work of collecting and arranging, although the material was reviewed by R’ Akiva before being included in his volumes. Arranged by topic, this material constituted an early form of the Mishna and Tosefta (containing supplementary halachic and aggadic traditions) and they were used by R’ Yehuda Hanasi when he arranged the final form of the Mishna.9 Arranged according to the order of the Biblical text, they form the halachicmidrashim, the Sifra and Sifrei.
“For R’ Yochanan said: An anonymous Misha [generally reflects the view of] R’ Meir, and anonymous Tosefta R’ Nechemia, and anonymous Sifra R’ Yehuda, and anonymous Sifrei R’ Shimon, and all these [Tannaim stated their opinions] based on R’ Akiva” 10
(iii). Everything that God does is for the good
An aspect of R’ Akiva’s perception of the extreme immanence of God was his belief that everything that God does is for the best. This represents an extreme form of trust in God and in His individual providence. He learnt this from another of his teachers Nachum Ish Gamzu and it is illustrated in the Talmud in the following well-known story that is told within the context of the Talmud’s discussion about accepting misfortunes with blessing and believing in God’s justice:
“Rav Huna said in the name of Rav who said in the name of R’ Meir, and so has a Baraisa [material that was not put in the Mishna] taught in the name of R’ Akiva: A person should always be accustomed to say: Whatever the Merciful One does, He does for the best. Like that [incident] involving R’ Akiva: For he was travelling along [when] he reached a certain city. He requested lodgings but no one provided him any. He said: ‘Whatever the Merciful One is does for the best.’ He went and slept in the field. He had with him a rooster, a donkey and a lamp. The wind came and blew out the lamp; a cat came and ate the rooster; a lion came and ate the donkey. R’ Akiva said: ‘Whatever the Merciful One does is for the best.’ That very night an army came and captured the city. [R’ Akiva] said to them [probably people who were with him]. ‘Did I not tell you: Whatever the Holy One, blessed is He, does is all for the good.”11
If the lamp had been alight the soldiers would have discovered him; likewise had the donkey brayed or the rooster crowed they would have heard the noise and made efforts to capture him. This episode could well have happened when R’ Akiva was hiding from the Romans during the Bar Kochba Revolt. The reluctance of the city to host him could well be because of the consequences to them if he were captured by the Romans. Nevertheless, from the story at least, their not inviting him into their city did not help them.
All this relates to R’ Akiva’s belief in the extreme immanence of God, to the notion that God has a direct hand in all that transpires on earth, and his belief that Divine providence for him and the Jewish people can overcome all obstacles.
The mystic activities R’ Akiva and his colleagues
R’ Akiva and a number of his colleagues engaged in mystic activities. The mysticism of the Essenes used eschatological texts to explain the construct of the world and to foretell its future, whereas the mysticism of these rabbis was more akin to that of the prophets.
Two visions of God in the heavenly realms are described by the prophets. The first was that of the First Isaiah at the beginning of his mission. A second vision is described by Ezekiel in somewhat although not completely similar terms and was termed by the Rabbis “ma’ase Merkava.” This latter vision seems to have been studied more by the sages.
The Talmud tells us that R’ Yochanan ben Zakhai engaged in mystical teachings and passed this knowledge on to his disciples. R’ Yehoshua, who was his associate in Yavne, passed it on to R’ Akiva, who in turn conveyed it to some of his students.
The first stage in a mystical experience was for the teacher to expound to an individual student the details and exposition of Ezekiel’s vision. In an episode described by the Talmud, a student encourages Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai to teach him a chapter from ma’ase merkava. As he is doing this, fire descends from heaven, presumably the same fire as in Ezekiel’s vision, trees sing in praise of God, and angels from the fire confirm that these sages are truly experiencing a ma’ase merkava experience.12 Because of the seriousness of these attempts, discussions were never in groups and were limited to students possessing the necessary perception.
Much of R’ Akiva’s intellectual endeavors are about pushing concepts to their limits, and it is not surprising that R’ Akiva wished to approach God as much as humanly possible. In the following passage, R’ Akiva and his colleagues attempt to enter into the “pardes.” The Hebrew word “pardes” means orchard, but also has the meaning of “paradise” (which is where this word comes from). The following account is told in a number of places:
“The Rabbis taught in a Baraisa: There were four who entered the orchard and they are the following Ben Azai, Ben Zoma, Acher and Rabbi Akiva. [Before they entered] R’ Akiva said to them: ‘When you reach the pure marble stones, do not say [there is] water, [there is] water] [here]. [How can we proceed further]? Because it is said: [A practitioner of deceit shall not dwell within My house, a speaker of lies shall not abide before my eyes].’ Ben Azai glanced and died. Upon him the verse states: ‘Difficult in the eyes of God is the death of His devoted ones’. Ben Zoma glanced and became mentally unstable, and it is upon him the verse states: ‘When you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, lest you be satiated and vomit up’. Acher chopped down saplings. R’ Akiva emerged in peace.”13
There is no doubt that the sages attempted these practices. What is not so clear is why they did so, given its attendant risks. For the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, these visions served to establish their prophetic credentials, but there is no suggestion from the sources that R’ Akiva and others wished to achieve prophetic potential. Moses requested a vision of God and was granted this request, although he was only permitted to see a glimpse of the “back of God” (Exodus 33:23). The forefathers were also granted visions of aspects of God. An answer may relate to the immanence of God that was already felt by R’ Akiva and his colleagues. They perceived God’s presence through His Torah and oral laws and now wished for an even closer relationship with the Divine. With this connection, they perhaps felt assured that they were relating as closely as possible to the Divine will as individuals and as communal leaders.
Rabbi Akiva’s messianic beliefs
Messianism was a prominent aspect of R’ Akiva’s conversations with his colleagues. This is evident from the following passage found in the Talmud and in a midrash. At this stage, it all sounds extremely innocent:
On another occasion they [i.e. Rabban Gameliel, R’ Elazar ben Azariah, R’ Yehoshua and R’ Akiva] were coming up to Jerusalem. When they reached the Mount of Tzofim [and were able to see the city of Jerusalem in its destruction] they rent their garments. When they came to the Temple Mount they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies and they started to weep but R’ Akiva smiled. They said to him: ‘For what reason are you smiling?’ He replied to them: ‘For what reason are you weeping?’ They said to him: ‘a place about which it is written: ‘The non-Kohen who approaches shall die (Numbers 1:51). And now foxes prowl over it! Shall we not weep?’ He said to them: ‘For this very reason I am smiling. ………. In the prophecy of Uriah it is written: ‘Therefore, because of you Zion will be plowed over like a field [etc]; Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble and the Temple Mount will become like stone heaps in the forest (Micha 3:12?). In the prophecy of Zechariah it is written: ‘Old men and old women will once again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.’ As long as the prophecy of Uriah had not been fulfilled, I had feared that the prophecy of Zechariah would not be fulfilled. Now that the prophecy of Uriah has been fulfilled [and Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are totally desolate], it is certain that the prophecy of Zechariah will be fulfilled. They said to him these words: ‘Akiva, you have comforted us. Akiva, you have comforted us.”14
Further indication that R’ Akiva’s colleagues agreed with his messianic ideas is seen in the following Tosefta, the topic of which is the requirement to recite the Shema at night. The Shema contains the requirement to mention the Exodus from Egypt, and is one of the most important prayers in Judaism. The first part of this Tosefta is also found in the Passover Hagaddah, even though it is only marginally related to Passover, and it may have been included in the Hagaddah because of its messianic overtones. The two sages mentioned in this passage are ben Zoma, who had not yet received ordination, and R’ Elazar ben Azarya, who had been appointed head of the Sanhedrin as a replacement for Rabban Gameliel. Rabban Gameliel had been deposed because of his autocratic behavior in attempting to maintain the authority of the Sanhedrin (although he was later reinstated in a joint appointment). R’ Akiva would doubtless have participated in this discussion as one of the “sages”:
“We mention the Exodus from Egypt at night. R’ Elazar ben Azarya said: ‘Behold I am about seventy years old and I never merited that the Exodus from Egypt should be mentioned at night, until ben Zoma explained it from a verse: “In order that you may remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life (Deut 16:3). “The days of your life” refers to the days. “All the days of your life” refers to the nights. But the sages say: “The days of your life” refer to this world. “All the days of your life” refer to the messianic age.
Ben Zoma said to them: ‘But does one mention the Exodus from Egypt in the messianic age? For has it not already been said: “Assuredly the time is coming, declares the Lord, when it shall be no more said: As the Lord lives who brought out the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but rather As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites out of the northland” [Jeremiah 16:14-15).
They said to him: ‘It is not that the mention of the Exodus will be removed from its place [in the liturgy], but that the Exodus from Egypt will be [mentioned] in addition to sovereignty (malchi’ot). Sovereignty (malchi’ut) will be primary, and the Exodus from Egypt will be secondary.”15
The rabbis are treading a fine line here in discussing “sovereignty.” Do they mean Jewish “sovereignty” instead of Roman “sovereignty,” or the “sovereignty” of God versus that of the Romans? It is unclear from this passage, although in Roman eyes the difference may have been inconsequential.
In Temple times, the paschal lamb was slaughtered in the Temple during the day and roasted in groups during the evening at the Passover service. During the barbecue, there would have been some narrative and discussion as to the significance of this sacrifice. With the destruction of the Temple there was no longer a Paschal lamb and it was now up to the sages to formulate a ceremony and narrative in its stead. The following Tosefta, which did not make it into the Haggadah, explains how Rabban Gameliel, the head of the Sanhedrin, celebrated his Passover night and the topics he felt appropriate for discussion:
“Once Rabban Gameliel and the elders were reclining in the house of Boethus ben Zonin in Lod, and they were occupied in studying the laws of Passover all that night, until the cock crowed. They lifted the table, made themselves ready and went to the house of study [to pray].”16
R' Akiva’s yeshiva was in Bnei Brak where he was also the chief Rabbi. He also arranged a seder to which his colleagues were invited, and as can be seen from the following text the themes of the evening’s discussions were very different from those of Rabban Gameliel. It is also noticeable that Rabban Gameliel was not one of his guests. One can speculate that Rabban Gameliel may not have been enthusiastic about the topics he guessed would be discussed, and would have been concerned as to where the discussions would lead:
“It happened that R’ Eliezer, R’ Joshua, R’ Elazar the son of Azariah, R’ Akiva and R’ Tarfon sat all night in Bnei Brak telling the story of the going out from Egypt, until their students came to tell them that it was time for the recitation of the morning Shema.”17
But what exactly did these sages talk about? It would certainly have included the Biblical narrative about the Exodus and its midrashic-like explanations, examples of which are found in our present Haggadah.18 An explanation proposed is that they were discussing the Bar Kochba Revolt. However, this is too speculative an explanation. Plus, there is no evidence that this was even in the planning stage at the time of this seder. Nevertheless, R’ Akiva’s seder would have provided him a platform to build on the similarities and differences between the original redemption from Egypt and an anticipated messianic redemption and his notion that the Passover night is a particularly appropriate time to discuss these issues.
His ideas stuck, which is the reason that the end of the seder narrative (the Maggid) concludes with messianic hopes. A discussion regarding this addition is found in the following Mishna:
“And he concluded with the redemption. R’ Tarfon says: ‘Who has redeemed us and redeemed our ancestors from Egypt,’ and he would not go any further. R’ Akiva says ‘So may the Lord our God and the God of our ancestors bring us to future festivals and pilgrimages …”18
The final version found in the Haggadah incorporates the suggestion of R’ Tarfon and also the messianic hopes of R’ Akiva:
“Blessed are you God (YHVH) King of the universe who redeemed us and redeemed our fathers from Egypt and brought on us on this night to eat matzah and bitter herbs. So may the Lord our God and God of our fathers, bring us to future festivals and holidays that may come to us in peace, when we shall rejoice in the rebuilding of Your city and shall be joyful in your Temple service; and there we shall partake of the sacrifices and Pesach offerings ….”19
Through such passages as these the Haggadah narrative became a ceremony that not only celebrated an historic event, but also a ceremony about messianic hopes. This would have been exactly as R’ Akiva intended.
Rabbi Akiba and the Bar Kochba revolt
The Bar Kochba Revolt began in about 132 BCE. Vespasian’s son Titus finished the job begun by his father and conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. He became emperor of Rome after his father, but reigned for only two years before being assassinated, probably by his brother Domitian who succeeded him as emperor. Domitian was no lover of the Jews. Nevertheless, his reign led to a period of political stability in the empire, and Rabban Gameliel’s leadership was able to flourish in Yavne. Domitian’s rule was followed by that of the emperor Nerva who was far more sympathetic to the Jews. He relaxed decrees made against them, including the special “Jew tax,” and conversion to Judaism was no longer held to be a crime. He reigned for only two years and was followed by the warrior Trajan who reversed Nerva’s favorable policies towards the Jews and attempted to crush Jewish religious life. He fired Agrippa II, the great grandson of Herod and Miriam, from rule of the Galilee and placed this part of the country under direct Roman rule. Yavne was forcibly disbanded. Rabban Gameliel escaped to Lod and it is from here that he and Rabbis Tarfon, Elazar ben Azaryah, Yehoshua and Akiva led the Jewish people. Trajan also mercilessly put down Jewish uprisings in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Cyprus, leading to decimation of some of these communities and the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews.
Why such wrath against the Jewish people and their religion throughout the Roman empire? Historic records provide little indication. Nevertheless, a mutual hatred seems to have developed between Rome and the Jews. There were a number of reasons for this. The events of the Great Revolt did not leave good feelings on either side. In addition, the Jews of Babylon took the side of the Parthians when Trajan unsuccessfully raided Mesopotamia. The Jewish people refused to adopt to the Roman-Hellenistic culture of the Roman empire. There were numerous converts to Judaism within the empire and this was felt to be a threat by the Roman leadership. Antisemitism was not a feature of the pagan world, since their empires were able to tolerate multiple gods. But messianism was a different matter. It was goal oriented and Judaism’s messianic political goals were also regarded as a threat to Roman interests.
Trajan’s main general and adopted son Hadrian came to power in 117CE. He gave the initial impression that he was prepared to relax the campaign against Judaism and even rebuild the Temple and repair the walls of Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin was able to reconvene in Usha in the Galilee at this time under the leadership of R’ Akiva.
When Hadrian realized the enthusiasm he had generated for rebuilding the Temple, he reversed his position and became even tougher than Trajan in his persecution of Judaism. Hadrian spent two years in Israel and during this time he banned circumcision, Sabbath observance, public prayer, ritual purity and other rituals.20 The straw that may have broken the camel’s back was his decision to rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman city that would be called Alia Capitolina and to place a temple to Jupiter in the area of the Holy Temple. This may have been Hadrian’s attempt to rebuilt Jerusalem as part of an enlightened Roman kingdom, but the people of Judea did not perceive his decision in the same light.21 When Hadrian left the country, the Jews prepared for a gorilla type war and began digging extensive cave systems within their settlements for hiding, cave systems that still exist today.
R’ Akiva was now elderly. His former colleagues - R’ Yehoshua, R’ Elazar ben Azaryeh, R’ Tarfon, R’ Yishmael and Rabban Gameliel II - who might have opposed or at least tempered his decisions, were no longer alive, and there were no other sages of stature to counter R’ Akiva’s revolutionary zeal.
The commander of the Jewish forces was a fearless individual called Shimon ben Kosiba. R’ Akiva pronounced him to be the “King Messiah” of the Jewish people and he was renamed Bar Kochba (Son of the Star).
“R’ Shimon bar Yohai taught: Akiva, my master, would interpret the following verse” ‘A star has arisen from Jacob…” (Numbers 24:17). R’ Akiva, when he saw Bar Kochba would say: ‘This is the King Messiah.”22
R’ Akiva perceived Bar Kochba as God’s response to his hopes and teachings about a messianic redeemer. However, not only R’ Akiva was thinking in such terms, but much of the country was fired up with messianic fervor. Nevertheless, even at this early stage of the revolt, R’ Akiva should have had concerns about the type of messiah he had crowned:
“When he [Bar Kochba] would go to war he would say: ‘Master of the Universe, do not help and do not hinder us! ‘Is it not You, O God, who has forsaken us? Do not go forth, O God, with our legions’ (Psalm 60:12).”23
As during the early stages of the Great Revolt, the Roman army was unprepared and Bar Kochba’s forces were able to wipe out an entire Roman legion. For thirty months the country was completely independent. Then the might of the Roman empire was brought to bear on Judea and tens of thousands of reinforcements were brought into the country. Rome’s tactic was to destroy each town and village and its fighters one by one. As the Roman historian Dio Cassius writes:
“Fifty of their most important outposts and 985 of their most famous villages were razed to the ground. 580,000 men were slain in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease and fire was past finding out. Thus, nearly the whole of Judea was made desolate.”24
Belatedly, R’ Akiva and his colleagues realized that Bar Kochba was not the messiah they were awaiting. Bar Kochba and his forces were finally besieged in the fortified city of Beitar. The city fell on the 9th of Av in about 135 CE, and the hundreds of thousands of people inside the city were massacred.
R’ Akiva was imprisoned sometime during the revolt. The sources are unclear, but it was probably at an early stage of the revolt, and he could have been incarcerated for up to three years.25 The Romans would have found it difficult to execute him since he was not actively involved in the revolt, but they almost certainly would have been aware of his influence. 24,000 of his students, for example, died in the revolt.26 Despite being incarcerated he continued to teach Torah and was finally condemned to death. The time of his execution in the hippodrome in Caesarea was the time of saying the Shema prayer in which one accepts upon oneself the yoke of heaven. R’ Akiva drew out the word One that describes God and he died a martyr’s death while his skin was being flayed with iron combs.27
Conclusions
R’ Akiva’s messianic hopes were not for a miraculous salvation in which there would be an upending of the laws of nature or a change in normal human psychology. Like the Torah, R’ Akiva’s utopian message was firmly grounded in this world. This therefore resembles the messianic goals of Maimonides and many modern-day religious Zionists, but not the supernatural messianic era of Nachmanides.28
In retrospect, there was little chance that Bar Kochba’s revolt could have succeeded. The Romans would not allow Judea to become an independent state. Rome was internally stable and faced no external threats. All the might of its empire would now be applied to suppressing this revolt. Rome was always brutal with rebels it defeated in war and the Jews were certainly aware of this, but they no doubt felt they had no choice. They also knew they could only be victorious against Rome if God came to their assistance with the full manifestations of His glory, which meant that this had to be a messianic redemption. This is why R’ Akiva crowned Bar Kochba the Messiah. However, R’ Akiva’s plans for Jewish history did not accord with God’s, and his plans for redemption turned into preparations for exile. Judea was left in a state of desolation, and although some Jews escaped to the Galilee and Golan and were able to continue Jewish life there, this would be the beginning of two thousand years of exile.
Despite the tragedy of the Bar Kochba Revolt, the messianic ideas embraced by R’ Akiva became accepted as part of Jewish tradition, and because of his students such as R’ Meir they made their way into primary Jewish texts and are studied to this day. The Passover Haggadah has always been a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt, but because of the ideas of R’ Akiva and his colleagues it also became a celebration of the hope for a future messianic redemption. What precisely this means will require elucidation.
References
28.Maimonides, Mishna Torah, the Laws of Kings and their Wars, 11:3. Maimonides will write: “One should not presume that the Messianic King must work miracles and wonders, bring about new creations within the world, resurrect the dead, or perform similar deeds. This is [definitely] not true. [Proof may be brought from the fact] that Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest sages of the Mishna, was one of the supporters of King Bar Kozibah (named Bar Kochba by R’Akiva] and would describe him as the Messianic King … The Sages did not ask him for any signs or wonders.”
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