Simon bar Kokhba - Second Jewish revolt, Bar Kokhba in the arts, The Bar Kokhba game

Jewish leader in Palestine. With the rabbi Akiba ben Joseph, he led a rebellion of Jews in Judaea from 132 in response to the founding of a Roman colony (Aelia Capitolina) in Jerusalem. It was suppressed by Hadrian with ruthless severity, and he was killed at the Battle of Bethar. In 1960 some of his letters were found in caves near the Dead Sea.

For other uses, see Bar Kokhba.

Simon bar Kokhba (Hebrew: שמעון בר כוכבא, also transliterated as Bar Kokhva or Bar Kochba) was the Jewish leader who led what is known as Bar Kokhba's revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("prince," or "president").

Originally named Simon ben Kosba (Hebrew: שמעון בן כוסבא or ben Kosiba, בן כוזיבא), he was given the surname Bar Kokhba (Aramaic for "Son of a Star", referring to Numbers 24:17, "A star has shot off Jacob") by his contemporary, the Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva. Some scholars believe Rabbi Akiva named Bar Kosiba messiah to create the rift that eventually broke the Nazarene Jews (who believed Yeshua was Messiah, now commonly identified as Messianic Jews) from the Jewish community.

After the failure of the revolt, many, including rabbinical writers, declared Simon bar Kokhba a false messiah and renamed him Simon bar Kozeba ("Son of the lie").

Second Jewish revolt

Despite the devastation wrought by the Romans during the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE), which left the population and countryside in ruins, another Jewish rebellion took place 60 years later that re-established an independent state lasting three years.

After Bar Kokhba's defeat, Jerusalem was razed, Jews were forbidden to live there, and a new Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, was built in its place.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch in his commentary on Deuteronomy 8:10 states that the mandatory fourth blessing of the Birkat HaMazon was instituted after Bar Kokhba's revolt to remind the Jews to not try to take possession of the land of Israel without God's involvement--assumably the Messiah.

Over the past few decades, much new information about the revolt has come to light, thanks mainly to the discovery of several collections of letters, some possibly by Bar Kokhba himself, in the caves overlooking the Dead Sea.

Bar Kokhba in the arts

Bar Kokhba was the subject of an operetta, Bar Kokhba, written by Abraham Goldfaden some time between 1883 and 1885. Another operetta on the subject of Bar Kokhba was written by the Russian-Jewish emigre composer Yaacov Bilansky Levanon in Palestine in the 1920s.

John Zorn's Masada Chamber Ensemble recorded an album called Bar Kokhba, showing a photograph of the Letter of Bar Kokhba to Yeshua, son of Galgola on the cover.

The Bar Kokhba game

According to a legend, during his reign, Bar Kokhba was once presented a mutilated man, who had his tongue ripped out and hands cut off. As he was unable to talk or write, he wasn't able to tell who his attackers were, so Bar Kokhba decided to ask simple questions to which the dying man was able to nod or shake his head with his last movements, thus they were able to apprehend the murderers.

In Hungary, this legend spawned the "Bar Kohkba game", in which one of the two players comes up with a word or object, and the other one has to find out by asking questions only to be answered with "yes" or "no". Eck, 'The Bar Kokhba Revolt: the Roman point of view' in the Journal of Roman Studies 89 (1999) 76ff. David Goodblatt, Avital Pinnick and Daniel Schwartz: Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to the Bar Kohkba Revolt In Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Boston: Brill: 2001: ISBN 90-04-12007-6 Richard Marks: The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature: False Messiah and National Hero: University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press: 1994: ISBN 0-271-00939-X Leibel Reznick: The Mystery of Bar Kokhba: Northvale: J.Aronson: 1996: ISBN 1-56821-502-9 Peter Schafer: The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: Tubingen: Mohr: 2003: ISBN 3-16-148076-7 David Ussishkin: "Archaeological Soundings at Betar, Bar-Kochba's Last Stronghold", in: Tel Aviv.