Collection
This collection draws from multiple user interpretations of the Talmudic story of Kamtza and bar Kamtza, which is the classic tale of interpersonal relationships that prefigured the destruction.
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Kamtza and Bar Kamtza (et al): Freedom of Fault
Question guide is based on Sarah Rudolphs's WebYeshiva class, "Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza: Blame and the Chorban Beit Hamikdash" (July 2020)
Bar Kamtza was right
Bar Kamtza was right: An essay on institutions and the powerless
There's More to the Story
This examines the end of the Tisha B'Av story, usually left off, that the Temple and Jewish sovereignty weren't destroyed solely by sinat chinam, but by overzealous religiosity.
Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza: A 3-Act Story
A Readers’ Theatre version of Kamtza and Bar-Kamtza, with discussion questions
The Real Lesson of Tisha B’Av
The holiday frequently brings sermons about Jewish unity, but the story of the destruction of the Temple offers a very different message. Written by Yoav Schaefer and Jacob Samuel Abolafia, and featured in Tablet Magazine, July 2017
Kamtza & Bar Kamtza and Zekhariah ben Avkolas: The Development of a Narrative of Destruction
Originally written by Rabbi Yosef Goldman for "Aggadah as History" with Professor Richard Kalmin, Fall 2011.
Kamtza and Bar Kamtza: Rabbis must know the moment they are facing
Kamtza and Bar Kamzta is an essential story that helps us bring the Big Story of the destruction of the Temple into our own lives. The choices we make and the moments we have sometimes have big implications - and we have to step up.
The Kamtza and Bar Kamtza Incident: A Look at a Tragic Talmudic Drinking Story
A discussion of the infamous Kamtza and Bar Kamtza incident in the Babylonian Talmud
Tisha B'Av 5779
Bar Kamtza:The Rest Of The Story
Additional texts to frame a discussion of the bar Kamtza story (Kamtza and Bar Kamtza: The Story)
Kamtzah and Bar Kamtzah:
A Tale of Two Midrashim
A look at the big differences between the two versions of the Kamtzah/Bar-Kamtzah story.
Pirke Avot: Ego
A study of Hillel's famous dictum: "If I'm not for myself, who will be for me, and if I'm only for myself, what am I."