Bar Kochba's Temple?

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John2
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Re: Bar Kochba's Temple?

Post by John2 »

Neil,

It would require that Bar Kokhba captured Jerusalem though, which is something that no one mentions, as far as I can tell.
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semiopen
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Re: Bar Kochba's Temple?

Post by semiopen »

The only suggestion supporting a new temple comes from the image on coins. There is a possibility he held Jerusalem briefly, but hardly a sure thing.
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neilgodfrey
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Re: Bar Kochba's Temple?

Post by neilgodfrey »

Menahem Mor, The Second Jewish Revolt: The Bar Kokhba War, 132-136 CE (2016) contains a very detailed analysis (40 pages!) of "all" of the data relevant to the question of whether Bar Kochba captured Jerusalem (some of the argument relates to the point of my earlier post, interestingly, at least for me), and William Horbury, Jewish War under Trajan and Hadrian (2014) also has a discussion with a very lengthy bibliography on the question --

both express strong doubts that the rebels ever took Jerusalem. I mention them because of the detail they supply with their arguments -- and the ability they give us readers to undertake a wide research ourselves.
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andrewcriddle
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Re: Bar Kochba's Temple?

Post by andrewcriddle »

semiopen wrote: Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:22 am
Speaking of obscure Maimonides quotes, I read somewhere that he knew Ana Bekoach - http://thejewishhome.org/volvi/Ana%20BeKoach.pdf
The Ana BeKoach prayer was written in the first century by a great kabalistic Rabbi -
Rabbbi Nehunia Ben Hakannah, zs'kl. The mystical prayer was written according to the
seventy names of HaShem and is composed of seven lines, with six words in each line.
The first letter of every word is taken, creating the 42-letter name corresponding to one of
the Holy Names of HaShem. The initial letters of each word also refer to this Holy Name.
The combination of Ana BeKoach is hidden in the first 42 letters of the book of Genesis
(from the first word Bereshit to the word Vavohoo הארץ ואת, השמים את, אלהים ברא, בראשית
ובהו תהו היתה, והארץ .(The letters are translated using a secret kabalistic calculation. The
Kabbalists consider the prayer Ana BeKoa'ach to be the most mystical and powerful of
all and has the power to overpower Klipat Ishmael.
Since, the first century origin legend is pretty dubious, it really surprised me that it might have been around even 1000 years later. However, I was unable to find the reference by Maimonides - doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

If Maimonides knew that prayer, that would be important; relating some BS about Bar Kokhba not so much.
Maimonides knew traditions about the 42 letter name of God see Guide for the Perplexed
I am unclear about how far this implies knowledge of Ana Bekoach as such.

Andrew Criddle
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