Kamza and Bar-Kamza

Kamza and Bar-Kamza is a Talmudic story from the Mischnatraktat Gittin , Folio 56a. It serves to illustrate the concept of baseless hatred ( Hebrew שנאת חינם Ssinat chinam ). The story describes a group of Torah scholars in the time immediately before the second destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 . It reads as follows:

Rabbi Jochanan said: 'What does the verse in the Book of Proverbs of Solomon , chapter 28 , mean :' Happy man who always fears God; but whoever hardens his heart falls into misery? Because of Kamza and Bar-Kamza, Jerusalem has been destroyed. '

There was a man from Jerusalem who was friends with Kamza but was an enemy of Bar-Kamza. He made a feast and said to his servant, 'Bring Kamza to my feast.' Instead, the servant appeared with Bar-Kamza. The host saw Bar-Kamza among his guests. He said to him, 'Since you are my enemy, what are you doing here? Get up and go! ' Bar-Kamza said, 'Since I'm here, let me stay, I'll pay for my food and drink too.' The host replied: 'No!' 'I'll pay half the cost of the festival.' - 'No!' - 'I will pay the whole cost of the festival.' - 'No!' And he grabbed Bar-Kamza, lifted him from his chair and threw him out.

Bar-Kamza thought, 'Since there were rabbis there who saw it and didn't protest, they obviously didn't care about my embarrassment. I am going to the king now and will do a little slander there . ' Bar-Kamza went to Caesar and announced to him: 'The Jews have rebelled against you!' Caesar replied: 'Who said that?' Bar-Kamza said, 'Send them a sacrifice and see if they will sacrifice it too.'

Caesar sent a healthy, faultless ram through Bar-Kamza . On the way, Bar-Kamza inflicted a small injury on the animal. Some say it was a wound on the upper lip, others say it was a bruise in the eye (perhaps symbolizing the rabbis' silent or blind behavior). In any case, according to Jewish regulations, the animal could no longer be sacrificed as a result, while this played no role for the Romans.

In any case, the rabbis wanted to sacrifice it in order to maintain peaceful relations with the government. But Rabbi Sechariah, son of Avkulos, protested: 'People will say:' Animals with injuries may be sacrificed on the altar! '

The rabbis wanted to kill Bar-Kamza so that he could not report what had happened to the Caesar. But again Rabbi Sechariah, the son of Avkulos protested: 'People will say:' Anyone who injures sacrificial animals will be killed! '

Rabbi Jochanan says: 'The excessive care of Rabbi Sechariah, son of Avkulos, destroyed our temple, burned our palace and banished us from our land.'

As the story illustrates, the majority of the Torah scholars mentioned had become so corrupt during the Roman occupation that the shaming of a person seemed less important to them than the sacrifice of an animal according to all the provisions of the Torah. This was true for them even if the whole nation were to be endangered.