“Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open” (Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157).
Secondly, here is the description of these miracles that we find in the Babylonian Talmud:
“Our rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ‘For the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves” (Soncino version, Yoma 39b)."
What conclusion do Jews make of these records in their own Talmuds?
I will try to be brief and concise. I will fail.
The Rabbis taught that forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple the lot did not come up in the high priest’s right hand nor did the tongue of scarlet wool become white . . . ."
Christians will often say that this started the year Jesus was crucified, 30 CE, and cite this as proof that since animal sacrifices could not attone for sins, the wool not turning white proved our sins were not forgiven. And they conclude this is a result of Jews rejecting Jesus as God.
The above argument relies on a Jewish text – our Talmud. So I think it is only fair that it be addressed from a Jewish perspective.
It is a complete leap of faith argue Jesus as a reson for the thread not changing colors and requires first taking a christian belief and attaching it to a Jewish text. Such a conclusion is no more believable than a more jewish belief that the reason the scarlet strip of wool did not turn white was due to the fact that masses of wayward Jews had followed the false messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. (IMO, both explanations are incorrect.)
Also, we believe animal sacrifices will resume when the Temple is rebuilt. Much of the book of Eziekal deals with this. I understand christians would reject this argument based on their own doctrine.
Finally, the portion of the Talmud that deals with this Yom Kippur. Page 39a is talks about Israel’s declining spiritual condition during the Second Temple period. Things like the thread changing color are an indicator of the spritual condition. When it’s good, miracles happen (red to white). When it’s not so good, then red to… red.
The talmudic discussion starts with the miraculous events that occurred during the forty years when Shimon HaTzaddik was high pries. It then relates how the appearance of these miracles progressively diminished after he died.
Shimon HaTzaddik was a great man. He’s famous for: “The world exists on three things: the Torah, divine worship, and acts of kindness.”
After he died, we failed to maintain the spiritual heights achieved during Shimon HaTzaddik’s lifetime. Thus the Talmud’s assertion that after the death of Shimon HaTzaddik the occurrence of these miracles became sporadic; there were some years when these miraculous signs occurred, and there were other years when they did not. The low point being the last 40 years of the second Temple period.
We don’t need to guess as to what we Jews did during those last 40 years that stopped the events altogether. The Talmud tells us.
The big sin of Israel was hatred for each other. which we believe was the reason for the Second Temple’s desturction. There was an increase of violence against each other. The Sanhedrin didn’t even bother to impose capital punishment for murder because it was so prevelant.
Oppressing the poor and doing violence to the weak is enough to warrant the destruction of our Temple. Isaiah compares Israel to the people to Sodom and Gomorrah. He says if you are going to treat your neighbor so poorly, then God’s not interested in how you keep the Sabbath. You can’t keep a Sabbath holy if you’re going to treat people like garbage. That’s a central message of Isaiah and that’s the central reason why the miracles in the Temple ceased.
