Why is the Second Temple ultimately destroyed? And how can we prevent further national disasters? In this week's Shiur, we focused on the story describing the Roman siege of Jerusalem and the city's ultimate destruction. Despite the usual suspects who hold responsibility for the tragedy - the Romans, Bar Kamtza or the Jewish zealots who burned down the storehouses as Jerusalem was under siege - Rabbi Yochanan chooses to pin the blame on one of the Rabbis – Zecharia Ben Avkulus and his 'anvetanut', generally translated as 'meekness'.
Through studying the story in the Gemara in context, as well as looking at some recent articles on Zecharia Ben Avkulus, its possible to suggest an understanding of what 'anvetanut' could mean and its contemporary relevance for us today.
Following on from last week's look at what Torah Min Hashamayim could mean, this week's shiur focused on certain problems regarding the Maximalist understanding of Torah Min Hashamayim (that all of the Torah was dictated by God to Moshe), and looked at other sources that suggest viewing the concept of Torah from Heaven in a different way.
Rabbi Yochanan explains that the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people exiled due to what he terms the Anvetanut or Rabbi Zecahria Ben Avkulus.
