A
certain man had a friend named Kamza and an enemy named Bar-Kamza.
Once,
having arranged a feast, this man ordered his servant to invite Kamza
on the event, but that servant mistakenly invited Bar-Kamza. That
mistake was later followed by a rather humiliating scene of the
expulsion of Bar-Kamtsa from the feast. Moreover, Bar-Kamtsa, who was
specifically disgraced by such action in public, felt being offended
even not specifically by the owner of the house, but rather by all
Jews:
“When
I was offended,” Bar-Kamtsa told himself, “the most enlightened
people of the city were present, but they did nothing for interceding
for me — they were therefore very glad with my humiliation. "
In
other words, Bar-Kamtsa considered the main offenders to be the sages
who were present at the banquet. In his opinion, if the sages had
intervened and tried to explain to the owner the incompetence of his
actions, then, perhaps, in the end everything would have turned out
differently. However, the sages then preferred to remain silent. And
that was a sign of their approval of his definitely undeserved
punishment. This was because, Bar-Kamts decided, that they did not
see anything terrible in what was happening just before their eyes.
So, it wasn't not surprising that Bar-Kamza decided to take revenge
on all Jews for his insult. And he did that!
Bar-Kamza
informed Caesar about a different case of violation by the Jews of a
certain law of sacrifice, the meaning of which for a Jew and a Roman
differed significantly. The problem was that a literal observance of
the law in that case would trigger a war with the powerful Roman
Empire - a war fraught with many disasters, and threats of a national
catastrophe. Therefore, deciding what to do, related Rabbi Zkharya
actually had to decide what was more important for him - concern for
the letter of the Law or the future of all his people. And Rabbi
Zharya chose the first.
The
Talmud does not say how the sages of that generation reacted to that
choice. However, judging by what followed, Rabbi Zkharya managed to
convince his colleagues. But in the Talmud it is clearly stated what
the wise men who lived after the destruction of the Temple thought
about it: “Regarding this, Rabbi Yochanan said: the humility of
Rabbi Zharya ben Evkolos led to the destruction of our Temple, the
burning of the Sanctuary and the expulsion of the people from their
native land.”
That
is, according to Rabbi Yochanan, the reason for the destruction of
the Temple was the inability of Rabbi Zkharya (and other respected
sages of that generation) to correctly assess priorities, determine
the main and secondary.
As
we have seen, Bar-Kamza was offended by the sages for pretending to
see nothing and refused to stand up for an innocently offended
person, - and he had the point. That charges the sages of the time.
And then it appeared simply impossible to brush aside this serious
accusation.
Clever will understand them correctly!
Hint:
Top British and Swiss authorities, CEOs of Barclays Plc, Bank Of England, FCA, Bank For Internatinal Settlements, BlackRock, Her Majesty The Queen and Royal Family keep not responding to my numerous letters.
Hmm, ....
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