Midrash of Hadrian

"May His Bones Be Crushed"

When the imperial entourage arrived in Jerusalem in March of the year 130, perhaps in time for the festival of the Passover, the Emperor displayed an unusual interest in the wisdom of the Rabbis. Only a few Roman Emperors visited Israel, and Hadrian was possibly the only one to come as a peaceful visitor.

Always very deeply interested in philosophy and theology, Hadrian displayed an unusual interest in the Jewish faith. He called upon the most learned teachers of Israel to discuss their religion and to teach him the wisdom of their ancient books. His aim was to understand why they so adamantly distanced themselves from the rest of the world, claiming superiority over the whole of mankind. They were indeed unique among all the nations over whom Rome ruled. Though bearing much in common with Egypt, they maintained a fierce allegiance to their one god that made them far more formidable than the many-god worshipping Egyptians.

A generation before the reign of Hadrian, the Jews had rebelled against Rome with disastrous consequences. The Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus had systematically destroyed Israel and laid the city of Jerusalem to waste. The Ancient Temple on Mount Zion had been destroyed, and had been left for so many decades in ruin.

As part of his general policy of Hellenizing the world, Hadrian desired to rebuild the crumbled city of Jerusalem and its great Temple. His plan was to reconcile the Jewish faith with the Unity of Rome. The Temple on Mount Zion was to be rebuilt in the same philosophy as the great Pantheon of Rome, that all gods were one god.

With this in mind Hadrian undertook an official inquiry into controversies that divided Israel and Rome. This task proved futile because Hadrian and the Rabbis were fundamentally opposed on several very basic tenets. For example Hadrian viewed circumcision as a useless, and barbarically cruel practice that he hoped to eradicate, but he did not recognize that it was of extreme importance as the very symbol of the covenant. He tried to understand the practice through investigation but seems to have emerged unconvinced and proceeded to make it illegal. He also refuse to recognize the superiority of the Jewish people as the chosen race, and was therefore blind to their total rejection of foreign gods. The synthesis of Jehovah and Jupiter was to remain an impossibility despite the persuasion of his arguments.

The result of his attempt at reform was that later, after he had left for Egypt, the Jewish people against rebelled against Rome. Their leader, Bar Kochba, whose name means The Star, was proclaimed by the Rabbis to be the long awaited Messiah who would free the Jews from Roman domination. A long war ensued, that very soon into a very cruel and violent struggle when an entire Roman legion was wiped out by the rebels. The disbelief that this defeat caused in Rome is what finally made the once patience and curious Hadrian turn completely against the Jews. Having made his offer to peacefully reconcile Israel and Rome, Hadrian had no other choice now but to force the will of Rome upon the Jews. Thus began the bloodiest war of his reign, indeed the only war.

The death of Antinous is often attributed to the show of cruel resolve that Hadrian displayed in his Jewish war. He was deep in mourning, and his health was failing fast. Some have even suggested that his mind was even deteriorating. The splendor and the grace with which Hadrian endowed the new religion of Antinous, with its cosmic message of peace and reconciliation was very starkly contrasted by the Jewish war. The religion of Antinous contained the hopes and dreams that Hadrian was discovering to be illusions in this world.

When Bar-Kochba was defeated, the Jewish nation was expelled from Israel, and the province was renamed Palestine. The Holy city of Jerusalem was renamed Aelius Capitolina, after the family name of Hadrian, and the Jupiter Capitolinus, whose temple was triumphantly built upon the ruins of Mt. Zion. The Jews were dispersed throughout the world, many thousands were sold as slaves. This is known as the Diaspora and is the event that spread the Jewish nation across the globe. Except for one day a year, the Passover, the Jewish people were forbidden under pain of death from even laying eyes upon the city of Aelius Capitolinus.

Long after the event, an oral tradition was begun called the Midrash that served to explain and comment on the Talmud. Among these stories the conversations that Hadrian had with the Rabbis were also preserved. Hadrian is portrayed in these stories as an arrogant fool always humiliated by the Rabbis because of his ignorance. What the Midrash does not convey to us is the wisdom that Hadrian must have displayed in his responses. We are only given the version of a people deeply pained by the atrocities of a very cruel war.

Hadrian is often compared to anti-Semites such as Hitler, and the number of dead from his war is likewise said to be in the millions, which is of course an unlikely number given the population of the time. But these comparisons ignore the fact that Hadrian unlike all other Roman rulers before him, and long after him, through to our own time, is the only ruler, Pagan or Christian to have taken any interest in the Jewish faith and to have devoted months to learning about their ways from their religious teachers. He began by wanting to improve the lives of all his subjects including the Jewish people. He wanted to bring peaceful accord between the Roman religion and the Jewish faith. He wanted to rebuilt the fallen Jerusalem, and he wanted to bring an end to what many still regard as the barbaric and useless practice of circumcision. Unlike Hitler, and all world rulers in all ages, with the exception of our modern Pope John Paul II, Hadrian wanted to understand Judaism and to assist it, and help its people to benefit from the peace and prosperity that the rest of the world was enjoying. He was not an anti-Semite until after the Jewish rebellion, and even then, it was not until a Roman legion had been massacred that he turned to all out war.

He remains however a symbol of evil in the Jewish faith. All his accomplishments are ignored, and the fact that his total war against the Jews was only perpetuated within the confines of Israel and only against the combatants does not lessen his image as Jew killer. The exile of the Jewish nation was not done out of hatred but as a punishment.

Hadrian meant for his war to be the last rebellion of the Jews. His cruelty was meant to bring a long lasting peace, and history shows that he accomplished his goal.

But knowing the mind of Hadrian, if it is at all possible to understand his ways, it seems unlikely that Hadrian would have shamefully concealed his most beloved Antinous from the scorn of the Rabbis. Why then did they refrain from mentioning him?

"The Emperor Hadrian asked Rabbi Yehoshua, 'Does the world have a master?' 'Certainly,' replied Rabbi Yehoshua. 'Did you think the world exists without an owner?' " 'Who then is the master?' asked Hadrian. "The Almighty is the Creator of heaven and earth,' responded Rabbi Yehoshua. Hadrian persisted, 'If this is true, why doesn't He reveal Himself a few times a year so that people should fear Him?' " 'That would be impossible,' replied Rabbi Yehoshua, 'for it says (Exodus 33:20), 'No man can see Me and live.' 'I don't believe that!' responded Hadrian angrily. 'No one can be so great that it is impossible even to look at him.' Rabbi Yehoshua left. "Later, at noontime, Rabbi Yehoshua returned and asked the Emperor to step outside. 'I am ready to show you the Almighty!' he announced. Curious, Hadrian followed him to the palace garden. " 'Look straight up into the sun. There you will discover God!' exclaimed Rabbi Yehoshua. 'What?' retorted Hadrian, bewildered. 'Do you know what you are saying? Everyone knows that it is impossible to look directly into the sun at noon!' "Rabbi Yehoshua smiled. 'Note your own statement! You admit that no one can gaze at the sun's full strength when it is at its zenith. The sun is only one of the Almighty's servants, and its glory is only one millionth of a fraction of God's splendor. How then do you expect people to be able to look at Him? Yet, He promised that the day will come when He alone will be exalted and His greatness be accepted by all!' "

Hadrian King of Rome (Edom), having made great conquests, requested his court in Rome to proclaim him God. In answer to this modest request, one of his ministers said, "If your Majesty desires to become God, it will be necessary to quit God's property first, to show your independence of him. He created heaven and earth; get out of these and you can proclaim yourself God." Another counselor replied by asking Hadrian to help him out of a sad position in which he was placed. "I have sent a ship to sea," he said, "with all my possessions on board of her, and she is but a short distance - about three miles from shore - but is struggling against the watery elements, which threaten her total destruction." "Do not trouble," replied the King, "I will send some of my ships well manned, and your craft shall be brought to the haven where she would be." "There is no need for all that," said the counselor satirically; "order but a little favorable wind, and her own crew will manage to bring her safely into port." "And where shall I order the wind from? How have I the power to order the wind?"answered Hadrian angrily. Has your Majesty not even a little wind at your command?" said the King's adviser mockingly, "and yet you wish to be proclaimed God!" Hadrian then retired to his own rooms angry and disappointed, and when he told his wife of the controversy he had had with his ministers she remarked that his advisers did not strike on the proper thing which would bring his wish to a happy consummation. "It seems to me," she said mockingly, "that the first thing you must do is to give God back what he has given you and be under no obligation to him." "And what may that be?" inquired the heathen. "The soul, of course," answered his wife. "But," argued the King, "if I give back my soul, I shall not live." "Then," said his wife triumphantly, "that shows that you are but mortal, and can not be God."

Hadrian, discussing with Rabbi Joshua the innumerable adversaries that the Israelites had to encounter, said, "Great is the sheep that can withstand seventy wolves." Rabbi Joshua replied, "Greatest is the shepherd who enables the sheep to outlive the constant attacks of the wolves."

Onkeles, the nephew of Hadrian - his sister's son - being anxious to embrace Judaism, yet being afraid of his uncle, told him that he wished to embark on a certain enterprise. When Hadrian offered him some money he refused to accept it, but said he wanted his uncle's advice, as he was inexperienced in the ways of the world. "Purchase goods," replied his uncle, "which do not, at present, command a high price, and are not favorites in the market, but for which there is reason to believe a demand at higher prices will eventually arise." Onkeles betook himself to Palestine, and gave himself up to study. After a time Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua recognized in him the face of a student; they took him in hand, solved all the difficult problems he put before them, and generally befriended him. On his return home he again visited his uncle Hadrian, who, noticing that his nephew did not look as well as was his wont, inquired whether he had met with any monetary reverses in his new enterprise, or had been injured in any way. "I have met with no monetary losses," said Onkeles, " and as your nephew I am not likely to be hurt by any one." Being further pressed for the reason of his poor looks, Onkeles told his uncle they were due to his excessive studies and to the fact that he bad undergone circumcision. "And who told you to do such a thing as to undergo circumcision? " demanded Hadrian. "I acted on your advice," replied Onkeles. "I have acquired a thing that stands at a low price just now, but will eventually rise in value. I found no nation in such low esteem and so sure to rise in value as Israel. For thus said the Lord, We Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise and princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, he shall choose them 11 (Isa. xlix.). One of Hadrian's counselors advised his master to visit his nephew's misdeed with death, for which advice the adviser received such a sharp rebuke from Hadrian that he committed suicide. Hadrian, after the death of his minister, further discussed with his nephew the matter of his conversion, and again asked for the reason of circumcision. Onkeles, asked his uncle whether he had ever bestowed any distinction on any of his army who were not willing and ready to fight for his Majesty and for the country at the risk of life. " Neither could I be received into the fold of those to whom God has given his behests and statutes without having the seal of those great statutes put on me even at the risk of my life."

Hadrian-rot his bones! asked R. Joshua b. Hananiah: ' Do you maintain that the celestial company do not praise God and repeat their praises, but that every day the Holy One, blessed be He, creates a company of new angels and they utter song before Him and then depart?' 'Yes,' he replied. 'And whither do they go?' he pursued. 'To the source whence they were created,' was the answer. 'And whence are they created?' he went on. 'From Nehar Dinur,' he replied. 'And what is the nature of Nehar Dinur? ' he enquired. ' It is like the Jordan,' said he, 'which ceases not to flow by day or by night.' 'And whence is its source?' 'The perspiration of the Hayyoth, caused by their bearing God's Throne.' Said his adviser to him: 'But the Jordan flows by day but not by night?' 'Was I not watching at Beth Peor,' he replied, ' that it flows by night just as it flows by day?' R. Meir, R. Judah, and R. Simeon each made an observation. R. Meir said: Who is greater: the guardian or the guarded? Since it is written, For He will give His angels charge over thee, to guard thee in all thy ways, it follows that the guarded is greater than the guardian. R. Judah said: Who is greater, the bearer or the borne? Since it says, They shall bear thee upon their hands, it follows that the borne is greater than the bearer. R. Simeon said: Who is greater: the sender or the sent? From the verse, AND HE SAID: LET ME GO, it follows that the sender is greater than the sent.

Hadrian once asked R. Yehoshua ben Chananya: 'From what will G-d resurrect man in the future world?' R. Yehoshua replied, 'From the luz in the spine.' " Once God has softened this bone with the Dew of Resurrection, it will become as yeast is to the dough, and from it the body will be built. The same body that decomposed will be reconstructed. This is implied by the verse, "Your dead people shall live" (and not "shall be created"). As to identifying the luz, some say that it is the coccyx, a small bone at the base of the spine; others say that it is the bone at the back of the skull upon which the knot of the tefillin shel rosh is placed.

One day, a Jew passed the imperial train and saluted the Emperor Hadrian, who waxed furious: "You, a Jew, dare to greet the Emperor! You shall pay for this with your life!" Later that day, another Jew passed the Emperor and did not greet him. " A Jew dares to pass a Roman Emperor without saluting?" Hadrian exclaimed. "You shall be killed!" To this puzzled courtiers, Hadrian explained, "I hate Jews, so I use any excuse to destroy them."

'And the almond shall blossom' refers to the luz (nut) of the spinal column. Hadrian, (may his bones be crushed), asked R. Joshua b. Hananiah, saying: 'From which part of the body will the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Time to Come, cause man to sprout forth? ' He answered: ' From the nut of the spinal column.' Said he: 'How can you convince me?' He thereupon brought one before him; he put it in water, but it was not dissolved; he let it pass through millstones, but it was not ground; he put it in fire, but it was not burnt; he put it on an anvil and began beating it with a hammer, but the anvil was flattened out, and the hammer was split, but all this had no effect."

For three and a half years the emperor Hadrian surrounded Bethar. In the city was rabbi Eleazar of Modein, who continually wore sackcloth and fasted, and used to pray daily: 'Lord of the universe, sit not in judgment today!' so that Hadrian thought of returning home.

A Cuthean went [to the emperor] and found him and said: 'My lord, so long as that old cock wallows in ashes, you will not conquer the city. But wait for me, because I will do something that will enable you to subdue it to-day.'

He immediately entered the gate of the city, where he found rabbi Eleazar standing and praying. He pretended to whisper in the ear of rabbi Eleazar of Modein. People went and informed Bar Kozeba: 'Your friend, rabbi Eleazar, wishes to surrender the city to Hadrian.'

He sent and had the Cuthean brought to him and asked: 'What did you say to him?'

He replied: 'If I tell you, the emperor will kill me; and if I do not tell you, you will kill me. It is better that I should kill myself and the secrets of the government be not divulged.'

Bar Kozeba was convinced that rabbi Eleazar wanted to surrender the city, so when the latter finished his praying, he had him brought into his presence and asked him: 'What did the Cuthean tell you?'

He answered: 'I do not know what he whispered in my ear, nor did I hear anything, because I was standing in prayer and am unaware what he said.'

Bar Kozeba flew into a rage, kicked him with his foot and killed him. A heavenly voice issued forth and proclaimed: 'Woe to the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock! The sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right arm!'

It was intimated to him, 'Thou hast paralyzed the arm of Israel and blinded their right eye; therefore shall thy arm wither and thy right arm grow dim!'

Forthwith the sins of the people caused Bethar to be captured. Bar Kozeba was slain and his head taken to Hadrian. He asked: 'Who killed him?'

A Cuthean said to him: 'I killed him.'

'Bring his body to me,' he ordered.

He went and and found a snake encircling its neck. So Hadrian, when told of this, exclaimed: 'If his God had not slain him, who could have overcome him?'

They slew the inhabitants until the horses waded in blood up to the nostrils, and the blood rolled along stones (with the size of 284 liters) and flowed into the sea, staining it for a distance of six kilometers. (In case you think that Bethar is close to the sea: was it not in fact sixty kilometers distant from it?)

Now Hadrian possessed a large vineyard 46 kilometers square, as far as from Tiberias to Sepphoris, and they surrounded it with a fence consisting of the slain of Bethar. And it was decreed that they should not be buried, until a certain emperor arose and ordered their interment.

Rabbi Huna said: 'On the day when the slain of Bethar were allowed burial, the benediction Who art kind and dealest kindly was instituted - Who art kind because the bodies did not putrefy, and dealest kindly because they were allowed burial.'

Rabbi Johanan said: 'The brains of three hundred children were dashed upon one stone, and three hundred baskets of capsules of phylacteries were found in Bethar, each capsule having a capacity of 2130 liters.'

Rabbi Gamaliel said: 'There were five hundred schools in Bethar, and the smallest of them had no less than three hundred children. They used to say: "If the enemy comes against us, with these styluses we will go out and stab them." When, however, the people's sins did cause the enemy to come, they enwrapped each pupil in his book and burnt him, so that I alone was left.' He affected to himself the verse: Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

The Temple of Antinous