Following their brutal defeat by Rome, the Judean rebel sages and fighters who had survived the empire’s massacres went deep into hiding. The Zealots were publicly disavowed by many of Israel’s leading scholars, who were justifiably careful not only to avoid antagonizing the Romans but also to create the impression that the rebels didn’t represent mainstream Torah thought.
After the Romans killed the heroic Shimon bar-Kokhba and Rabbi Akiva ben-Yosef, most of our people despaired of continued rebellion against the empire. The resistance disbanded and Judea for the most part reconciled itself to Roman rule.
But Rabbi Shimon bar-Yoḥai and his son Elazar refused to accept foreign dominion over Jerusalem. As fugitives from the empire, they hid out in a cave where the legendary Eliyahu taught them the Torah’s deepest secrets.
The freedom movement went deep underground but its Torah continued to clandestinely live on through the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar-Yoḥai – teachings that were eventually unpacked by Rav Yehuda HaLevi, the Ramban, the Ramḥal, the Maharal of Prague, the Vilna Gaon, Rav Kook and his disciples (those interested in exploring these ideas further should check out Rav Yehuda HaKohen’s Lag Ba’Omer class).
But this Torah remained the exclusive property of giants throughout the centuries of exile and was for the most part unaccessible to the Jewish masses. Until 1967, when the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem and became capable of reconnecting to this deeper and more holistic Torah.
The freedom movement also found practical expression over the centuries through several daring attempts to restore Hebrew independence to Palestine, until 20th century Jewish urban guerrillas succeeded in defeating the British Empire and restoring freedom to the land and people of Israel.
But the reestablishment of Hebrew sovereignty in Eretz Yisrael didn’t close the curtain on the drama of Jewish history. We still have a long road ahead.
