The Talmud records that the following incident to be one of the causes of the Destruction. (Gittin 56a) It was this incident that convinced Nero that the Jews were rebelling against him, rather than against the evil Florus. Kamsa and Bar Kamsa lived in Jerusalem. Kamsa’s friend was making a feast and told his messenger to invite Kamsa. The messenger inadvertently invited Bar Kamsa, the host’s enemy.

Bar Kamsa was surprised at the invitation, but thinking that the host was making an effort toward reconciliation, he arrived at the feast. As the host was circulating among the guests at the feast, he saw Bar Kamsa and was filled with rage. Before the host could order him out, Bar Kamsa pleaded, “Please do not embarrass me by ordering me to leave. Let me remain and I will pay for everything I eat and drink.” 

“Nothing of the sort,” screamed the host.

“I will pay for half the feast,” begged Bar Kamsa.

“No, leave now!” shouted the host, his voice rising to a crescendo.

“I’ll pay for the entire feast,” pleaded Bar Kamsa.

“Absolutely not! I will not have my enemy attend my feast,” and Bar Kamsa was bodily removed from the banquet hall.

Bar Kamsa was utterly shamed. Why did the Torah sages present not protest against the host’s reprehensible behavior? he wondered. I will not rest until I have my revenge, he resolved. 

He quickly sent a message to the Roman Emperor that the Jews were planning a rebellion against him.

“How do I know you are telling the truth?” asked the Roman Emperor.

“Let’s test it,” said Bar Kamsa. “Send a sacrifice to the Temple. According to the Jewish law, they may accept a sacrifice from a non-Jew.”

The Emperor did as Bar Kamsa suggested, and sent his animal to the Temple along with Bar Kamsa. En route, Bar Kamsa made a small nick to either the animal’s upper lip, or its eye-lid. Although virtually unnoticeable, this small cut was sufficient to disqualify the animal from being sacrificed.

When the Sages saw the animal with its blemish they were in a quandary. Most Sages were of the opinion that the animal should be sacrificed for the sake of peace with the Roman Empire, although it was blemished. However, Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkilus felt that if they would offer the sacrifice, people would think that it is acceptable to offer a blemished sacrifice in the Temple. People would not realize that this sacrifice was offered only for the sake of peace.

The Sages countered with another plan. “Let’s arrange for Bar Kamsa to be killed so he can not inform the Emperor that his sacrifice was refused,” they said. “After all, it can not be that the Emperor sent a blemished sacrifice. Most likely, it was Bar Kamsa who injured the animal en route, to create this problem for us.”

Once again Rabbi Zechariah refused. “If you kill him,” he reasoned, “people will say that one deserves to die for blemishing a sacrifice.” 

Many years later, Rabbi Yohanan blamed Rabbi Zechariah for his zealousness. The Talmud states, “Because of the zealousness of Rabbi Zechariah ben Avkilus, our Temple was destroyed, our Sanctuary burned, and we were exiled from our land.”

Bar Kamsa reported to the Emperor that the Sages had refused to offer his sacrifice. “It is as I told you,” Bar Kamsa gloated, “the Jews are planning a rebellion against you.” 

Immediately, General Nero was dispatched to Judea to quell the rebellion. He confidently marched to Jerusalem with four huge battalions of soldiers from Arabia, Philistia, Egypt, and Africa. He laid siege to Jerusalem, surrounding it on all four sides. In this way he hoped to starve the Jews into surrendering to him.

Nero wondered about the campaign in Judea, and sought an omen regarding its outcome. He shot an arrow eastward, and it landed facing Jerusalem. He then shot another arrow westward, and it too, landed toward Jerusalem. Whichever direction he shot an arrow, it would land pointing toward Jerusalem.

Then he met a young child on the street. “What did you learn in school today?” he asked.

“We learned a verse in Ezekiel: I will give My revenge against Edom through My people Israel (Ezekiel 25:14)” replied the child.

Nero shuddered. “The Jewish G-d wishes to destroy His Temple,” he said. “But not without punishing the one who oversees the destruction.” 

I will have no part of this, he decided. With that, he fled and converted to Judaism. One of his descendants was the famous Rabbi Meir.

General Vespasian was then dispatched to continue the siege.

At that time there were three wealthy people in Jerusalem who had the resources to support the entire city for twenty-one years! These wealthy people were Nakdimon ben Gurion, Ben Kalba Savua and Ben Sisit Hakesat. Nakdimon was called so because the sun shone (Nakdah hashemesh) in his merit. Ben Kalba Savua was so called because anybody who visited him left fully satisfied. (Kalba Savua means a satisfied dog.) Ben Sisit Haksat was called so because wherever he went his servants would spread carpets before him, so his feet would never have to touch the ground. (Sisit Hakesat means that his sisit always dragged on mats.) Others document the meaning of his name to be derived from Hakesat, the throne. When he went to Rome to meet the Emperor, he was seated among the leaders of Rome.

One of them agreed to supply the city with wheat and barley, the second agreed to give wine, salt and oil, and the third said he would supply the wood for the city. The Sages point out that the latter wealthy man who offered the wood was most generous, as it takes sixty measures of wood to cook one measure of wheat.

Life in Jerusalem could have been bearable during the Roman siege. The Sages attempted to prevail upon the Zealots (those who wished to fight the Romans) to make peace with the Romans, but they would not hear of it. The Sages argued: “This is not a propitious time to regain our independence.” Instead, the Zealots burned the storehouses of grain, plunging the city into a famine. 

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The information in this chapter was drawn primarily from Gittin 56a.