Tag Archives: Megillat Ta’anit

Understanding Edom #2: Trump & Herod

What might we expect from Donald Trump in his second presidency and does he have anything to do with Esau and Edom in Biblical prophecies? How did Edom become associated with the Roman Empire to begin with? What does King Herod have to do with it? And why does Isaiah call King Cyrus of Persia “the messiah”? Find out in this second part of the series where we also explore antisemitic conspiracy theories, the mysterious figure Obed-Edom the Gittite, and the secret behind the Western Wall.

For more information, see ‘How Esau Became Rome‘.
For the series of short essays on the Rothschilds, see here.

The Jews Who Destroyed the Temple

‘Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem’ by Francesco Hayez (1867)

On Tisha b’Av we commemorate numerous tragedies in Jewish history, most notably the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. The Tanakh outlines quite clearly the events that led to the destruction of the First Temple. When it comes to the Second Temple, however, little is generally spoken of even though we have a lot more historical information about what was going on at the time. We tend to greatly simplify things by reducing it to the same old adage that “the Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam”, baseless hatred. How did the destruction of the Temple really come about? What were the events that led to the Great Revolt and the first Jewish-Roman War? And who, exactly, were those Jews that harboured such immense hatred for each other?

Continue reading

Yosef haTzadik and Shimon haTzadik—What’s the Connection?

This week we read Miketz, which continues to narrate the rise of Joseph. Of all the Biblical figures, Joseph alone carries the unique title haTzadik, “the righteous one”. We refer to the Patriarchs with the title Avinu, “our father”; to Moses as Rabbeinu, “our teacher”, and to his successors as haNavi, “the prophet”. Joseph stands apart as being Yosef HaTzadik. Certainly, all of the great Biblical figures were righteous, yet only Joseph carries the title.

At the same time, of all the Rabbinic figures, one is typically referred to as HaTzadik, and that would be Shimon HaTzadik, “the last of the Men of the Great Assembly” (Avot 1:2). Shimon might be considered the first or earliest Talmudic sage. The era of Zugot, “pairs” begins with him (and his student, Antigonus of Socho). His generation represented the transition from the era of Prophets to the era of Sages. So, we have two figures called “HaTzadik”, one Biblical and one Rabbinical. We know that in Judaism there are no coincidences. So, what’s the connection? Continue reading