Temple records destroyed in 70AD?

[fisherman_carl]

Is it true that the Jewish genealogy was destroyed in the fire when the Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70A or is this just a myth? Did it come from the Jehovah Witnesses?

Some people say that it is true but how do they know that? I heard Josephus didn’t mention the temple records at all when the temple burned down. So how would we know?

 

[patrick457]

Is it true that the Jewish genealogy was destroyed in the fire when the Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70A or is this just a myth? Did it come from the Jehovah Witnesses?

Some people say that it is true but how do they know that? I heard Josephus didn’t mention the temple records at all when the temple burned down. So how would we know?

Well, IMHO, supposing that archives were indeed kept in Jerusalem, then the possibility of them being destroyed when the city was literally reduced to a burning pile of rubble in AD 70 is quite likely, as Jerusalem suffered heavy damage. Whether there were actually records or not we could no longer verify, but if they indeed existed, then all would have been lost at that time.

Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), [Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as they were of the greatest eminence; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne; and so much of the wall enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison [in the Upper City], as were the towers [the three forts] also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall [surrounding Jerusalem], it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.

 

[Curious1324]

Is it true that the Jewish genealogy was destroyed in the fire when the Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70A or is this just a myth? Did it come from the Jehovah Witnesses?

Some people say that it is true but how do they know that? I heard Josephus didn’t mention the temple records at all when the temple burned down. So how would we know?

We don’t know, and Scripture of course doesn’t tell us anything about this.

 

[NHInsider]

Individual genealogies would not have been in writing at the Temple anyway, they would have been preserved by oral tradition in the families and clans. There may have been royal and priestly genealogies and chronicles kept in the Temple, but even that seems unlikely since they would have had to have been carried into Exile and then brought back at the time of the reconstruction.

 

[Big_Dummy]

Is it true that the Jewish genealogy was destroyed in the fire when the Jewish Temple was destroyed in 70A or is this just a myth? Did it come from the Jehovah Witnesses?

Some people say that it is true but how do they know that? I heard Josephus didn’t mention the temple records at all when the temple burned down. So how would we know?

We Jews also had genealogy records at home and we know to this day who belongs to what tribe.

Today, we tend to keep tract by last name,

Halacha, applied Torah law, defines “Jewishness” as being determined by the mother’s Jewish status. If a person’s mother is halachically Jewish, then the child is Jewish - even from a non-Jewish father. The father determines the child’s Tribe status. These days, that is whether he is a Cohen, Levi or Yisrael - which includes Yehuda and all others.

cohen-levi.org/the_tribe/tribes_of_israel.htm

The surname Cohen comes from kohein, the Hebrew word for priest, and refers to patrilineal descendants of Aaron. Variations on this surname include Cohn, Cahn, Cone, Kohn, Kahn and possibly Katz. Why Katz? I have been told that it is an acronym of Kohein Tzaddik, which means Righteous Priest, but is close enough to the German word for “cat” that it could be slipped past registrars who required German surnames!

The surname Levy comes from the biblical tribe of Levi, whose descendants the Levites had distinctive duties in the Temple period. Variations on this surname include Levin, Levine, Levitt and many others.

Cohen and Levy are the two most common surnames among Jews in the United States (Miller is third, as mentioned above). Another specifically Jewish surname is Israel, which is much less common. Jewish thought often divides Jews into three groups: Kohein, Levy and Israel. Israel basically means the rest of us. Variations on this surname include Israeli, Yisrael, Yisroel and most notably Disraeli (the surname of a Jewish-born British Prime Minister and Earl who was baptized as a child but apparently retained some sense of Jewish identity).

jewfaq.org/jnames.htm