Kamtza and Bar Kamtza
Humiliated, Bar Kamtza ran to the Romans and claimed that the Jews were rebelling, beginning a series of events which ended with the destruction of the Holy Temple...
The Talmud says:
“Come and see how great the strength of embarrassment is, that The Holy One, Blessed is He, helped Bar Kamtza, and destroyed His house and burned His courtyard.” (Gittin 57a).
The story of Bar Kamtza is a bizarre one. Just before the destruction of the Second Temple, a certain man in Jerusalem made a feast and invited all of his friends, which included Kamtza. However, he happened to have an enemy whose name was Bar Kamtza, whom he did not want to invite at all. However, as Divine Providence would have it, the messenger in charge of inviting people erred, and invited Bar Kamtza instead.
To Bar Kamtza it appeared that the invitation was a peace-offering, a way to end the quarrel. However, at the feast itself, the host, upon noticing his enemy, came to promptly eject him from his simcha. Bar Kamtza, realizing that an error had been made and that peace was not at the top of the man’s priorities, offered to pay for his meal to avoid being thrown out. However, the host would hear nothing of it. Fearing humiliation, Bar Kamtza offered to pay for half the feast. “NO!” came the reply. “How about the WHOLE feast!” offered Bar Kamtza, to which the host responded by throwing him out in humiliation.
Angry and humiliated, Bar Kamtza ran to the Roman authorities and claimed the Jews were rebelling. The Romans investigated the situation, and became convinced that indeed, the Jews had not subordinated themselves to the Roman will. This marked the beginning of the end of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the Second Jewish Commonwealth.
And all because Bar Kamtza was humiliated?
How is it possible that G-d could punish the whole nation because of one person, and a person who could instigate the Romans at that!
The Talmud hints at the answer. On the way out, while Bar Kamtza was suffering terrible embarrassment, no one at the feast got up to defend him. Even the wise men who had been present at the feast didn’t reprimand the host for doing what the Talmud teaches one ought to jump into a fire for rather than commit. How could they have become so insensitive to the plight of a fellow Jew?
However it happened, the Talmud warns, such insensitivity leads to tremendous destruction. The incident of Bar Kamtza may have been an isolated one, and a small one (Kamtza means “small,” Bar Kamtza means the “son of small thing,” which is even smaller) but it revealed an insensitivity that was bound to grow and show up in other area of spiritual importance. When spiritual insensitivity festers it poisons the entire mind, until one’s belief in G-d becomes terribly distorted. It is THIS that leads to Temples being destroyed and the destruction of the Jewish people.
Tisha B’Av is a day that comes to wake us up to reality, and to re-sensitize us. All of the mourning and “activities” of the day are meant to refocus us so that we can reverse the trend of insensitivity. And to do this is to begin, and to complete the process of building the third and final Temple, hopefully in our lifetimes.
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Pinchas Winston is the author of over 95 books on various topics that deal with current issues from a traditional Jewish perspective. He has also written on the weekly Torah reading since 1993, called “Perceptions”, as well as on current topics and trends affecting Jewish history, past and present. One of his missions is to make the depth and beauty of the more mystical teachings of Torah understandable and accessible to those who can really benefit from them. Visit his website at thirtysix.org.
8/11/2024
Something that always bothers me — the role of Bar Kamtza, who is also blamed. I think there’s room to say that his desire for peace left much to be desired…what does he offer his host when he sees he’s not wanted? Money…He doesn’t apologize, doesn’t acknowledge that a mistake was made, doesn’t try to correct whatever rendered him the host’s “enemy”…no, “I’ll pay you to pretend everything is good”. The host doesn’t want his money? He must be crazy, nay, they all are…
7/12/2021
M7 – your comments are spot on!!
7/25/2012
Reading the story of Bar Kamtza and thinking about humiliation.
We all have character defects that we would rather not be advertised. Some people even have very strong ones that harm others. While that person should definitely be stopped form harmful behavior and seek to help himself or pray for Divine help, it is NEVER the job of another person to render the judgment or humiliate them in any way.
How do we know that the person with the less than desirable defect wants desperately to get better him/herself and doesn't yet have the answers?
How can we NOT know that the person is a child of G-d and has many positive traits that, once the negative has been removed, can shine with great intensity?
How can we think that person has so little to offer the world that they deserve to walk around in shame? Also, humiliation doesn't help a person improve.
I think it's best to instead build a person up by focusing on the 99 good qualities they have, and those qualities will magnify.
Eventually they will grow so big that the person is able to face the bad qualities successfully, and/or the person's good traits will outshine the bad to the point of the bad not mattering anymore. Praise and look with favor always.