A Time to Weep (The Fall of Jerusalem and Beitar)

Almost tow thousand years have already passed since the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple at the hands of the Romans, and still, the Jewish people continue to mourn and lament over their irreplaceable loss as they await the coming of the Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple. A Time to Weep: The Fall of Jerusalem and Betar recreates that painful period in Jewish history in the journalistic style that brings the reader right into the middle of the furious battles. As the tragic saga unfolds, the noose of the Roman seige tightens around the starving and beleaguered city. We watch in horrified fascination as massive Roman siege machines breach the seemingly impregnable walls and vicious hand-to-hand combat engulfs the city. And as the awful tragedy reaches its climax, we see vivid images of the Holy Temple in flames and the Temple Courtyard strewn with fallen bodies. After the destruction of Jerusalem, we witness the heartbreaking executions of the Ten Martyrs, the rise and fall of Bar Kochba and the final catastrophe at the fortress of Betar. Rabbi Leibel Reznick has drawn on numerous Talmudic and Midrashic sources and the writings of Josephus, as well as his own intimate knowledge of the archaeology of the Old City, to create a living panorama of the downfall of the Jewish homeland and the beginnings of the Diaspora.