The BATTLE of The ROMAN EMPIRE Against The Jewish People

Hey friends! What's up Chevra?! Do you know the signs of a false messiah — and could you recognize one even if great people were fooled? In this shiur we dive into the third and final story of the Roman legions' war against the Jewish people, the destruction of Betar. We start in what feels like a peaceful, beautiful world — the Chevra gets to see the incredible minhag of Betar where every family would plant a cedar tree at the birth of a child, one species for a boy and another for a girl, then cut those trees down to build the chupa poles at the time of their wedding. It's one of the most touching customs we've ever learned together. Then everything changes. The daughter of Caesar passes through the hills of Betar, a cedar tree gets cut down to fix her broken carriage door, and the people of Betar respond. From that one incident, Caesar sends his legions — 80 armies — and the bloodshed that follows is almost impossible to describe. The Gemara and Midrash Rabbah tell us blood flowed like a river toward the Mediterranean Sea, and for seven years the nations of the region used Jewish blood to fertilize their vineyards. We also learn the deep story of Zachariah the prophet, whose