Rabbinic stance on Bar Kokhba revolt

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Bar Kokhba revolt
Participants Jews of Judaea Simon bar Kokhba Yeshua ben Galgula Rabbi Akiva Eleazar of Modi'im Ten Martyrs Roman Empire Hadrian Quintus Tineius Rufus Sextus Julius Severus Gaius Quinctius Certus Poblicius Marcellus
Events Aelia Capitolina Siege of Betar
Sites Bar Kokhba hiding complexes Bar Kokhba refuge caves Cave of Horror Cave of Letters Wadi Murabba'at El-Jai cave Te'omim Cave Destroyed sites Horvat 'Ethri Horvat Bad Issa Herodium Betar
Findings Bar Kokhba revolt coinage Bar Kokhba weights Archive of Babatha
Literary sources Cassius Dio Rabbinic literature Babylonian Talmud Jerusalem Talmud Rabbinic stance on Bar Kokhba revolt
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The rabbinic movement's stance on Bar Kokhba revolt is unclear based on seemingly contradictory Talmudic sources. However, the revolt strengthened the rabbis' position as the dominant Jewish sect. Most researchers believe Rabbi Akiva's students participated in the revolt and died fighting. A minority hold they died earlier of plague, unrelated to the revolt.