Meir Ohana Argues Second Temple's Destruction Stemmed From Long-Term National Decline
Meir Ohana offers a fresh perspective on the destruction of the Second Temple, arguing it was not solely due to baseless hatred or Roman military might, but a prolonged process of losing national sovereignty, mutual responsibility, and prioritizing exile life over nation-building in the Land of Israel. He explains that the physical destruction was the tragic culmination of a deeper collapse in national consciousness, where the Jewish people lost their understanding of statehood and became fragmented survivalist communities rather than a unified nation with a shared destiny.
Ohana traces this decline back to the time of Ezra the Scribe, who called the Jews to return from Babylonian exile and rebuild the Temple. Many, including a wealthy Jewish community in Djerba, Tunisia, refused to return, preferring the comfort of exile despite spiritual justifications. Ezra's harsh response and the community's curse symbolized the foundational split that left much of the nation in exile and weakened the collective national identity.
This lack of unity and statehood consciousness was starkly revealed during the Great Revolt against Rome. While Jewish forces fought in the Galilee, many Jews in mixed cities remained indifferent, believing their fate was disconnected from Jerusalem's. Inside besieged Jerusalem, internal factional violence, including the burning of food stores by rival groups led by figures like Yohanan of Gush Halav and Shimon Bar Giora, further weakened the city, contributing to its fall by starvation.
Ohana highlights how this internal collapse influenced Jewish spiritual life, with the Babylonian Talmud becoming the central text for a people living in exile and survival mode, while the Jerusalem Talmud embodied the vision of a sovereign, united society. Today, with the physical state of Israel reestablished, Ohana calls for a spiritual and national renewal to move beyond survival mentality and revive the vision of a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
The article concludes with a prayer written by Yehuda Wald, CEO of the Religious Zionist Party, expressing hope for redemption and unity, recited on Tisha B'Av at the Beit David synagogue in Tiberias.
