Destruction of Jerusalem

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Jerusalem's Final Days

TANAKH

The biblical book of Kings II offers a chronological and logistical narrative of the siege, destruction, and aftermath of Jerusalem's fall to Nebuchadnezzar's forces.

And in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar moved against Jerusalem with his whole army. He besieged it; and they built towers against it all around. The city continued in a state of siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day [of the fourth month] the famine had become acute in the city; there was no food left for the common people. Then [the wall of] the city was breached. All the soldiers [left the city] by night through the gate between the double walls, which is near the king’s garden—the Chaldeans were all around the city…

II Kings 25:1-21

The Fall of Jerusalem

TANAKH

The Book of Jeremiah provides a comprehensive narrative of the Babylonian siege, the fall of Jerusalem, and the subsequent exile, highlighting the actions of King Zedekiah and the fate of the Temple and its treasures.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did what was displeasing to GOD, just as Jehoiakim had done. Indeed, Jerusalem and Judah were a cause of anger for GOD, so that they were cast out of the divine presence.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadrezzar moved against Jerusalem with his whole army…

Jeremiah 52:1-30

The Grieving Widow of Jerusalem

TANAKH

The Book of Lamentations personifies Jerusalem as a grieving widow, capturing the profound emotional and spiritual anguish of the city's destruction. This biblical text poetically laments the desolation of Jerusalem and the suffering of its people, reflecting on their sins and divine retribution.

Alas!
Lonely sits the city
Once great with people!
She that was great among nations
Is become like a widow;
The princess among states
Is become a thrall. Bitterly she weeps in the night,
Her cheek wet with tears.
There is none to comfort her
Of all her friends.
All her allies have betrayed her;
They have become her foes. Judah has gone into exile
Because of misery and harsh oppression;
When she settled among the nations,
She found no rest;
All her pursuers overtook her
In the narrow places…

Lamentations 1:1-22

Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza

TALMUD

The story of Kamtza and bar Kamtza illustrates how interpersonal conflict and poor leadership led to the destruction of Jerusalem. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Gittin recounts this tale, emphasizing the dire consequences of internal strife and excessive humility.

§ Apropos the war that led to the destruction of the Second Temple, the Gemara examines several aspects of the destruction of that Temple in greater detail: Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Happy is the man who fears always, but he who hardens his heart shall fall into mischief” (Proverbs 28:14)? Jerusalem was destroyed on account of Kamtza and bar Kamtza. The place known as the King’s Mountain was destroyed on account of a rooster and a hen. The city of Beitar was destroyed on account of a shaft from a chariot [rispak]…

Gittin 55b:16-56a:5

Devotion Amidst the Siege

SECOND TEMPLE

The priests' unwavering commitment to their religious duties, even in the face of death, underscores the profound devotion and internal conflict among the Jews during the siege. Josephus, a 1st-century Jewish historian, provides a detailed account of the Jewish-Roman War, particularly the siege of Jerusalem, highlighting the dedication of Jewish priests.

5. And now did many of the priests, even when they saw their enemies assailing them with swords in their hands, without any disturbance, go on with their Divine worship, and were slain while they were offering their drink-offerings, and burning their incense, as preferring the duties about their worship to God before their own preservation. The greatest part of them were slain by their own countrymen, of the adverse faction, and an innumerable multitude threw themselves down precipices; nay, some there were who were so distracted among the insuperable difficulties they were under…

The War of the Jews 1:7:5

Rebuilding Jewish Learning After the Fall

REFERENCE

The survival and resettlement of prominent scholars, including Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai, ensured the continuity of Jewish learning and tradition after the fall of Jerusalem. This text recounts the efforts of Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai and other scholars to establish a new center of Jewish learning in Yavneh following the fall of the Second Temple.

NUMEROUS PROMINENT SCHOLARS survived the suffering of the destruction in Jerusalem together with Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai. Some of them escaped the city at an earlier or later date and together they settled in Jabneh.

The Jewish Spiritual Heroes, Volume I; The Creators of the Mishna, The Colleagues of R' Jochanan ben Zakkai 1

The King's Denial

TALMUD

King Jehoiakim's reaction to the prophetic verses of Lamentations reveals a profound denial of the impending calamities. In the Talmudic tractate Moed Katan, the narrative highlights Jehoiakim's repeated dismissal of Jeremiah's prophecies, asserting his kingship as a shield against the foretold disasters.

The Gemara explains: They said to Jehoiakim: Jeremiah has written a book of Lamentations over the future downfall and destruction of Jerusalem. He said to them: What is written in it? They read him the first verse: “How does the city sit solitary” (Lamentations 1:1). He said to them: I am king, and this does not apply to me. They read him the second verse: “She weeps sore in the night” (Lamentations 1:2). He said to them: I am king, and this does not apply to me…

Moed Katan 26a:16

Commemorating Tragedy in Wedding Customs

HALAKHAH

Jewish wedding customs, such as placing ashes on the groom's head, serve as a poignant reminder of historical tragedies. Rabbi Sharon Shalom explores these customs, which have evolved to integrate mourning practices into joyous occasions, reflecting the enduring memory of past sorrows.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sages forbade the use of the groom’s crown, both in memory of the destruction and as a reaction against the Roman’s custom of placing wreaths on the heads of victors. In Amoraic times, it was customary for the groom to place ashes on his head, and the Amoraim considered this as a commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem. In the medieval period, other customs developed: some placed a black cloth on the heads of the bride and the groom, while others placed a white cloth over a black cloth on their heads…

From Sinai to Ethiopia, Shulhan haOrit; The Halakhah of Ethiopian Jewry, Then and Now, 5 Bride, Groom, and Family 2:10

Jeremiah's Lament

TANAKH

The prophet Jeremiah's personal suffering and confinement during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem offer a poignant and intimate perspective on this catastrophic event. The Book of Jeremiah, a prophetic text from the period leading up to the First Temple’s destruction, captures the prophet's lamentations against idolatry and corruption, as well as his own tormented existence.

The word that came to Jeremiah from GOD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the prison compound attached to the palace of the king of Judah. For King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him, saying, “How dare you prophesy: ‘Thus said GOD: I am delivering this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.

Jeremiah 32:1-3

Hope for Jerusalem's Restoration

LITURGY

The rebuilding of Jerusalem on earth is envisioned to mirror its heavenly counterpart, emphasizing divine remembrance of the actions of the nations, particularly Edom. This Ashkenazi Selichot prayer, recited during the Ten Days of Penitence, reflects themes of repentance and hope for Jerusalem's restoration.

Let Jerusalem [on earth] be rebuilt in the form of its twin [in heaven], this one and that one was born there and He will establish its supremacy. He will count and inscribe the [sins of] nations the awesome One. Remember Adonoy, the people Edom, the day they destroyed Jerusalem.

Selichot Nusach Ashkenaz Lita, Third Day of the Ten Days of Penitence 7:4

Rituals of Mourning

TALMUD

The specific practices and detailed laws of mourning, particularly the tearing of garments, reflect the deep sorrow and ritualized grief that Jews have historically felt over catastrophic events. The Jerusalem Talmud, an ancient corpus of law, ethics, and stories from the land of Israel, in its tractate Moed Katan, discusses these mourning practices, providing a window into the historical and emotional responses to these tragedies.

“And for Jerusalem, and for the Temple.” There came men from Sichem and from Shilo and from Samaria, eight men with shaved beards and torn garments, the first tear is one hand-breadth, the addition anything. One who was informed that Jerusalem was destroyed like one who sees Jerusalem in its destruction has to tear. He who sees Jerusalem from Mount Scopus has to tear. There are Tannaim who state, he adds to the tear. There are Tannaim who state, the first tear is one hand-breadth, the addition anything…

Jerusalem Talmud Moed Katan 3:7:13

The Suffering of the Babylonian Conquest

TARGUM

The personal and physical suffering during the Babylonian conquest is vividly depicted, highlighting the brutal actions of the Chaldeans and Babylonians. The Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs 5:7 offers a historical reflection on the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people.

The Chaldeans, who guard the roads, overtook me and battered me all around the city of Jerusalem. Part of me they killed with the sword and part of me they carried into captivity. The people of Babylon, who battered the city and watched the walls–they took the royal crown off the neck of Zedekiah, the King of Judah, and they brought him to Rivlah and put out his eyes.

Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs 5:7

The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Calmet Augustin Antoine. An historical, critical, geographical, chronological, and etymological dictionary of the Holy Bible, London, 1732, Vol. I, p. 766. The Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, National Library of Israel.

Relatedראו גם

Destruction of the Temple

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