עברית
His Work · Historiography · A Sample

A Chapter of History: From Yavneh to the Talmud

A sample of AZR's historiography: and the motifs that recur throughout his work
To see AZR the historian at work, here is a sample from chapter 1 of "History of the Jews in the Land of Israel" (5680/1920), from the Destruction to the sealing of the Talmud. Beyond its content, what stands out are the motifs that recur throughout his teaching: the continuity of the Yishuv, the sanctity of working the land, the centrality of the Land of Israel, and the struggle over the name. "History of the Jews in the Land of Israel," ch. 1 · Project Ben-Yehuda · public domain

A The Remnant That Remained

AZR opens with continuity, even after the destruction of the Temple, the Yishuv did not cease:

"In the year 3830 of Creation the Second Temple was destroyed… Very many were killed in that war, many were taken captive… but a remnant remained, which continued its existence in the Land of Israel… R. Yohanan ben Zakkai founded his academy and the seat of the Sanhedrin at Yavneh." AZR, "History of the Jews in the Land of Israel," ch. 1; Project Ben-Yehuda.

B Working the Land: The Source of Life

True to his teaching on the sanctity of labor (see "Gordon" and "The Labor Movement"), AZR stresses that working the land was the heart of existence:

"The Mishnah's Order of Seeds, the Tosefta, and the Jerusalem Talmud… are testimony that working the land was their principal source of livelihood and the one most beloved and precious in their eyes. 'And your life shall hang in doubt before you – this is he who buys grain for one year at a time,' the sages expounded." Ibid.

C Bar Kokhba, R. Akiva, and Hadrian's Decrees

AZR portrays R. Akiva as a "pioneer," the "armor-bearer" of Bar Kokhba. And after the failure came Hadrian's decrees, among them the struggle over the name itself, a motif that returns in his article "The Land of Israel" (see "Zionism and Building the Land"):

"In place of the name 'Land of Israel,' which is found already in the Holy Scriptures, came the name 'Palestine,' as though the land were the inheritance of the Philistines, whose memory had long since perished… They decreed against the public study of Torah, against the observance of the commandments, against the ordination of disciples." Ibid.

The Self-Sacrifice of R. Judah ben Bava

"R. Judah ben Bava went and sat between Usha and Shefar'am and there ordained five elders… He said to them: My sons, run!… Behold, I lie before them like a stone that none can turn… He did not move from there until they had driven three hundred iron lances into him and made him like a sieve." Ibid. "Thus did our masters give their lives for their land and their Torah."

D Rabbi, the Mishnah, and the Sanctity of the Land of Israel

In the days of R. Judah the Prince ("our holy Rabbi") the book of the Mishnah was composed, "a second law to the written Torah." And AZR stresses the centrality of the Land of Israel, only its sages are empowered to fix the calendar and to ordain:

"Only to those who dwell in the Land of Israel… did the Torah grant the authority to fix the months and the festivals; and if there is no Yishuv in the Land of Israel, then, God forbid, Judaism has no existence outside the Land." Ibid. (And "descent" from the Land was accounted "a grave sin, a betrayal indeed": "one precious sapling… you allowed to leave for outside the Land.")

Of the Jerusalem Talmud, redacted in the shadow of the persecutions, AZR writes with sympathy: "Upon this book lies the seal of the panic of its time. Their hour was thrown into turmoil," and yet "it is sevenfold precious to us."

The recurring motifs: This historical chapter is a mirror of AZR's entire teaching, the continuity of the Yishuv (see "AZR the Historian"), the sanctity of working the land (see "Gordon," "The Labor Movement"), the centrality of the Land of Israel and the struggle over its name (see "Zionism and Building the Land," "The Name Palestine Shall Be Erased"). History, in his hands, is not neutral: it tells the same story of stubborn loyalty to the Land.