The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-22
THE MESSIAH OF THE JEWS.
Bar Kochba, the Last Hebrew Hero Who De-
fed the Roman Power.

fed the Roman Power.
Boston Globe.
The Jewish nation (said Rabbi SCHNEIDER, of
Boston, has been and is still blamed for reject
| ing Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. 1t has been
called a stubborn people, which would always
maltreat its benefact0rs and best friends False,
thrice false The Jews were, as they are still.
wide awake. and knew we'll how to distinguish
chimera from reality. While they remained
Indifferent to idealistic dreamers. as Jesus and
Theudas may have been they arose as one man
when the person appeared who had all the quail
fcations of Messiah. They placed at Bar
Kochbas disposal an army of not less than 500,-
| 600 of well-equipped soldiers; they needed
strictly his orders; there was not the least dis
cord in their ranks and during five years more
| than two million of Jews sacrificed their lives
| for him and his cause. Does such devotion indi-
| cate blindness or stubborness2 Alas! Bar
| Kochba was not successful The hero was
therefore. degraded to a rebel and the glorious
last struggle of our nation was stigmatized as
rebellion.
Jerusalem had fallen in the year 20 of the new
era and Judea had been made Roman prov
ince. Years of misery followed, and the hope
that finally a Messiah must appear to restore
| their former independence grew stronger every
| day. Even the early Christians believed that
! the time was near when their Messiah would
| return. Sixty years had passed since, and as
the first exile had lasted only seventy years, the
conclusion was near at hand that again after
seventy years a restoration would take place.
An excellent proof that the hope in the advent of
a Messiah was rooted in political and not in re-
| ligious ground that the Jews did not expect a
| supernatural Messiah, but simply a man, who
would be their leader in the struggle for liberty,
is, that they prepared for the emergency They
were practical enough to observe that arms, am
lnunition, drilled men. and especially money,
must be prepared and in readiness, so that the
| Messiah should have the sinews Of war at his
| command They did by no means believe that
he was to work wonders that he to furnish
all and do the fighting all by himself. They ex-
! pected in him leader and nothing else
| The acknowledged head of the Jewish COM
munity at that time was Rabbi Akiba. whom l
cannot help mentioning, as he has played a prin-
| cipal part in the tragedy of the Bar Kochbean
war His history is wonderful and reads like
novel. Up to his fortieth year he is said to have
been ignorant of letters, unable to read or write
| his occupation was that of porter in the house
of Calba Sabua the Vanderbilt of his time At
| this advanced age he fell in love with Rachel,
his masters daughter His affection
turned; but as Rachel knew we'll that her proud
kfather would never consent to her marriage with
porter, and Opponents were not fashionable
| at that time she advised him. strange to say, to
study law. Akiba needed her ADVICE and began
at the bottom of the ladder. He entered a pri-
mary school. During the many years of
| his studies Rachel is said to have faith
| fully preserved her love for him, although
her father, hearing of it. disowned her. She is
| said to have lived In such misery that once she
| was compelled to cut off and sell the brads
| of her hair in order to obtain money for food.
| Finally Akiba, who had risen step by step,
| gained renown and when he returned to Jerusa-
lem, accompanied by host of disciples and the
| acknowledged head of the Jewish community.
Calba Sabua laid aside his prejudice and gave
him his daughter for wife, bestowing on her
rich dowry, so that from that time they could
| live in abundance This very Akiba, a second
! Samuel, pointed out Bar Kochba ard introduced
| him to the people as the long expected Messiah.
| This very Akiba travelled for years, visiting
| all Jewish colonies, levying money and men
| for the Messiah. From one of his trips he is
| said to have returned with 80, 600 disciples,
| probably young men whom he had enlisted for
| his cause.
| Bar Kochba. or Bar Kosba, which name he de-
rived from the small town Of Kosiba or Kesib,
was the embodiment of all the qualities expected
| to appertain to Messiah He of powerful,
herculean build, tall, muscular, strong. He was
| the model of soldier. He would sleep the
bare ground and share the coarse food of his sol
| diers. In battle he would be seen at the most
dangerous points, whirling his battle-ax with I'M
| daunted courage. He was a skillful leader, who
| outgeneraled the most experienced soldiers of
| Rome His followers worshped him. How he
| had passed his youth, where he had obtained his
military knowledge nobody knew. There he
| was at the time, when all was prepared and the
people were only waiting for the leader and the
| impression which he must have made upon the
| people was such, that without examining his
| past record, all the rich and the poor, the
| learned and the simple, focked to his banner and
! obeyed implicitly his commands Within the
| space of year he stormed fifty fortified
places and freed 985 towns held by the Romans;
and when the year 1873 dawned not single Ro
! man was to be seen in Palestine
| The Emperor Hadrian ordered his best gen.
eral Julius Severus, the Moltke OF his time, from
| England where his presence had been needed,
| to proceed at once to Palestine. He gave him a
| large army of picked soldiers and all the sup
plies he wanted. Bar Kochba on his part, re-
manned not idle during the two years which
| Severus needed to organize his forces. He made
an attempt to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.
| He made use of the perogatves of king, and
| issued coins stamped with the inscription
"CherIth Jerusalem" Freedom of Jerusalem"
| few of which are still to be seen. Severus
drew large circle of fortified camps around the
| whole of Palestine, from which he sent his cav
airy to tire the enemy in small encounters and
| to cut off supplies. Bar kOchbar had no horse
| men to check the ravages of the Romans
and, in spite of all herosm, was not able to
break this circle, which Severus contracted inch
| by inch. One Jewish fort after another had to
surrender for want of supplies, and soon the iron
| band closed around the fortress of Betar into
which Bar Kochba had been forced with the
| flower of his army. Betar must have been a
city of the size of Metz and the siege and defense
of that city must have been wonder of military
| skill The two greatest generals of their time
| exhausted their genius in moves and counter
| moves; every inch of land was contested with
messed before The Roman general finally
despaired of capturing the city, epidem
les decimated his legions, and though he had
fought for whole year before Betar
he had not gained the least advantage
over his foe. He was about to raise the siege
when two Samaritan traitors showed Linn Sc
creted aqueduct which supplied the city with
water. He shut the water off at once but even
the most excruciating pains of thirst could not
make the noble garrison of Betar surrender the
place. Not before the Romans had found a way
into the city by enlarging the same aqueduct
was the fate OF Betar and that of Judea sealed
On Sabbath day Severus stormed the city
Bar Kochba, second Leondas, fell sword in
hand, covered with honorable wounds He
would not survive the final doom of his nation.
A legend says that when a brought the
head of Bar Kochba to Severus and claimed that
he had slain. him, the latter said: "If this man
has not been killed by Coo himself, the power
of mortal could never have harmed him.