Yesterday, we wrote about the process that led Judea (Israel) from being an independent and sovereign Jewish state to being a vassal state of the Roman Empire. In this new situation the Roman emperor appointed a Jewish king, who ruled Judea. The loyalty of these vassal kings was mainly with Rome, and not with his brothers. The best known of these kings was without doubt Herod (years 37 to 4, before the common era).
Herod’s family was originally Edomite. The history of the Edomites and their relationship with Am Israel is quite complex. As we know, Edom descended from Esav, the brother of Ya'aqob. This would normally mean a tendency to be at least allies. However, for a long time, especially in the days of King David (year 1,000 BCE) the opposite happened: Israel and Edom were enemies. The same happened at the time of the destruction of the first Bet haMiqdash (Temple of Jerusalem, 586 BCE), the Edomites joined our enemies, the Babylonians. The wickedness and cruelty of the Edomites to the Yehudim is explicitly recorded in Tehilim, the Psalm 'al neharot Babel (137: 7).
At the time of the Hashmonayim (150 BCE) the Edomites were converted to Judaism, and many of them fully integrated to the Jewish people, fought in their ranks and shared their fate. In Herod's case, his fidelity to the Romans was of the same intensity as his hatred towards the Jews. Herod not only collaborated fully with Romans the collecting have taxes from the jews, but he also established pagan temples in several cities of Israel, like Caesarea and others. His greatest provocation was to place a golden eagle, the religious and military symbol of Rome, at the entrance gate of the Bet-haMiqdash. The rabbis encouraged the young Jews to overthrow the Roman Idol. The young men were trapped and taken to Herod. Flavius Josephus records the dialogue that took place at that time. Herod said to them, "Who commanded you to destroy the eagle?" The young people responded: "The laws of our fathers". Herod asked them, "And why do you seem to be so excited and fearless? Don’t you know that I will execute you?”. The jews responded:"We know it, but we also know that the eternal life awaits us in the world to come "('olam haba). Herod ordered them and their accomplices, 40 young Jews, to be executed along with two great rabbis of Israel, burning them alive in a bonfire.
In the year 6 of the common era, 10 years after the death of Herod, Augustus, the first Roman emperor, abolished the Jewish monarchy and converted Judea into a Roman province. That is to say, that from that moment, there would be no more Jewish kings vassals, but that Judea would be under the direct orders of the Emperor of Rome. This also meant that the official religion of Rome would become increasingly more prevalent in Judea. The Romans, like the Greeks 200 years earlier, expected now that the Jews would abandon their religion and adopt Roman customs, "as the rest of the empire does." One of the greatest difficulties was that many Jews of the higher economic classes betrayed their brothers. These wealthy aristocrats were exempt from taxes and enjoyed many benefits if they collaborated with the Romans. The Romans even went as far as to assign the High Priests of the Bet haMiqdash themselves to their whim. And of course this meant that the Romans also had a free hand to strip the Bet haMiqdash of its valuable vessels (kele haqodesh). The well-known Roman prefect Pontius Pilate (26-36 of the common age), for example, stole the vessels of the Beth-haMiqdash to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem.
This new situation, which was becoming increasingly more difficult, provoked the uneasiness of many Yehudim and an idea (almost suicidal) began to ferment: we must rebel against the Roman Empire and regain our political and religious autonomy, before Judaism disappears. The echoes of a rebellion were felt in the air of Yerushalayim ....
(To be continued)
