Calev Ben-Dor argues that the fight raging today between Israeli politicians about how to interpret the meaning of ancient Jewish texts reflects the political chasm currently separating the two national-religious parties. ‘One focuses on the dangers of zealotry, the other on the importance of principles come what may,’ he writes. Some Zionists have long heroised Bar Kochba, the leader of the doomed Jewish revolt of 132-135 CE against the Romans, while in recent decades others have warned of the suicidal consequences of contracting ‘Bar Kochba Syndrome’.Cross-file under Talmud Watch.
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