intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabban Gamliel at Yavneh
Hillel's maxim, "In the place where there are no men, be thou the man!" (Avot 2:6) is an apt encapsulation of the philosophy of positive action which characterized, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabban Gamliel, the two towering personalities who guided the destinies of Am Yisrael after the trauma of defeat. We all know the familiar Talmudic story of how R. Yochanan was smuggled out of doomed Jerusalem. Foreseeing the imminent destruction of Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdash, he was determined to salvage what he could. "Devise a plan for me to escape", R. Yochanan told Abba Sikra, the Sicarri leader who conducted the defense of Jerusalem, "Perhaps I shall be able to save a little". Abba Sikra advised R. Yochanan to "play dead" and have his disciples carry him out of the beleaguered city. R. Yochanan accepted his advice. Wrapped in tachrichim (shrouds), lying in a coffin, R. Yochanan, no doubt rehearsed in his mind what he would say to the Roman commander Vespasian if and when he managed to meet with him. How would he be able attract the Roman's attention so he would even listen to him? How would he manage to wheedle concessions from him?

In the end R. Yochanan, by prophesying imperial honors for Vespasian, managed to put himself in the Roman general's good graces. After a messenger arrived from Rome confirming R. Yochanan's prediction, Vespasian said, "I am now going (to assume my new position)… make a request of me and I shall grant it." Today we see that R. Yochanan's seemingly modest petition to be permitted "to teach his disciples and observe the Mitzvot of the Torah" (Avot D'Rabbi Natan 20a) or "Yavneh and its Sages, the dynasty of R. Gamliel (the family of the Nasi - the Patriarch - descended from Hillel) and physicians to heal R. Tzadok" (Gittin 56b) as a turning point in Jewish history. Today we realize that R. Yochanan was instrumental in the creation of a Judaism, which while perhaps "incomplete", could develop and flourish without the Beit Hamikdash and even without Eretz Yisrael. R. Yochanan has been referred to as "this redeeming angel sent to us from the heavens in the form of a man..." (Toldot Hatana'im)

It was said of R Yochanan that he "never spoke an idle word; he never walked four Amot without Torah and without Tefillin, no one ever proceeded him in entering the Beit Midrash, he never dozed in the Beit Midrash, …and he was always the last to leave it, nor did anyone ever find him sitting in silence, but only sitting and learning…" (Sukka 28a) Before the Churban, he used to give public lectures in the very shadow of the Beit Hamikdash. His lecture hall was simple, unable to accommodate the vast crowds who wanted to hear him (Pesachim 26b). According to the Mishna (Sota 9:9), in the last days of the Mikdash, he was held in such respect, that he had the authority to "bring to an end" such an ancient Torah rite as the "Bitter Waters" (Bamidbar 5:11-31). Before the Churban, the Hillelite Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel was the Nasi and R. Yochanan acted as his assistant. Documents and letters to various communities have come to light bearing the signatures of both men.. Since, according to some sources, the Romans killed the Nasi Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel during the war, was it not natural in this transitional period, so beset with dangers, that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai realizing his responsibility should step into the breach and take the helm? However many of the Sages of R. Yochanan's generation did not see it that way and they rejected his leadership.

No doubt the very origin of R. Yochanan's school in Yavneh irked many people; they saw it as a crumb thrown from the table of the hated Roman commander Vespasian. That R. Yochanan managed to sneak out of beleaguered Jerusalem just before the city fell somehow didn't "smell" right. And of course there was the "sterling" example of the traitor Josephus who received an estate "in the plain" for "services rendered" to the Roman conquerors.

Many Chachamim who were colleagues of R. Yochanan before the Destruction, and later on would be closely associated with Rabban Gamliel after he became Nasi, were conspicuous by their absence in R. Yochanan's Yavneh. Those missing included some of the leading Kohanim, great Sages in their own right, who were survived the debacle, such as R.Tzadok, his son R. Eleazar, R. Shimon son of the deputy Kohein Gadol, R. Tarfon, and R. Yosi HaKohein. Perhaps these Kohanim thought that they should have been given the reins of leadership. Our sources make no mention of Chachamim such as R. Nechunya ben Hakana, a disciple of R. Yochanan, R. Dosa Ben Hyrcanus, R. Nahum Hamadi, and Rabbi Yehudah ben Baba later celebrated for giving Smicha to five students of R. Akiva and sacrificing his life in the process, as being active in the Yavneh of Yochanan ben Zakkai. After helping carry R. Yochanan out of Jerusalem, even R. Eleazar ben Arach, his favorite student (note Avot 2:11,14), did not follow his master to Yavneh, "I will go to Dimsith, a delectable spot with excellent and refreshing water…" (Avot d'Rabbi Natan 24a). Is it possible that these renown Kohanim and Sages refused to place themselves under R.Yochanan ben Zakkai's leadership because they saw him as a Roman collaborator and unworthy of their trust?

However, despite the reluctance of many Sages to cooperate with R.Yochanan, the positive verdict of history on his contribution to the survival of Yahadut cannot be disputed. By permitting R.Yochanan to organize, albeit at first in a modest scale, a new Torah center for the disheartened defeated people, the Romans in effect threw away the fruits of their victory. Defeated Am Yisrael survived and the mighty Roman Empire, "eternal and divine", vanished from history. Later, when conditions improved, though we do not know the exact circumstances, Rabban Gamliel was able to assume the office of Nasi, which was his by hereditary right. Most of the Sages who eschewed R.Yochanan's leadership came to Yavneh and put their talents and learning at Rabban Gamliel's deposal. R.Yochanan spent the last years of his life in Bror Chayil, a small town not far from Yavneh. He "laid the foundations for what was to become the structure of central leadership for the entire Jewish people."

"He who sees the cities of Jerusalem in its desolation should say with the prophet Yeshayahu; 'Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.' and rend his garments."

He who sees the Beit Hamikdash in its desolation should say with Yeshayahu: "Out holy and beautiful house where our fathers praised Thee is burnt with fire and all our pleasant things are laid waste." and rend his garments."

Catriel Sugarman (acatriel@netvision.net.il, 02-652-7531) gives illustrated lectures on the Beit Hamikdash and related topics. Catriel is in the process of writing a book: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim's Perspective: A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service.

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