Ki Saavir Mimsheles Zadon Min HaAretz – The Three Jewish Revolts Against Rome

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

There seems to be some debate as to the meaning of the words, “Mimsheles Zadon” – the evil empire.  Some Rishonim explain that it refers to all evil empires, including Sancheriv. Rav Nachum Yavrov zatzal in his machzor Niv Sfasayim writes that it refers to Amalek.  Others understand it as referring to the Malchus of the Yetzer HaRah.  The Avudraham, however, says that it refers specifically to Rome, and, likely, to all that it implies. 

One of the pivotal aspects of Rosh Hashana is “Malchius — accepting Hashem’s Kingship.” Yet, Rav Hutner zt”l asks, each day when we recite “Shema Yisroel,” we accept upon ourselves Hashem’s sovereignty. What distinguishes Rosh Hashana’s coronation from our everyday acknowledgment?

Rav Hutner (Pachad Yitzchok on Rosh HaShana #24) illuminates this distinction. Our daily acceptance of divine kingship centers on our personal relationship with Hashem — our loyalty, our commitment to align our lives with His mitzvos. It’s fundamentally about maintaining our existing covenant.

Rosh Hashana, however, operates on an entirely different plane. Here we don’t merely acknowledge Hashem’s ongoing reign; we actively participate in His coronation. We don’t simply declare “Hashem, You are our King” — we ceremonially install Him as King anew. This is not continuation but complete renewal.

 I would like to suggest that this transformative act also finds profound expression in the prayer “ki saavir memsheles zadon min haAretz” — “for You will remove the evil empire  from the earth.” The very language where we pine for this change is an act of actively participating in the removal of all competing claims to sovereignty. When we crown Hashem anew, we simultaneously dethrone all else — both in the world and within ourselves.

But getting back to the Avudraham, and on a historical noye -if the authorial intent of the Tefillah does indeed refer to Rome, then when was this Tefillah established?  It is clear that, according to this view, it was written after one of the three revolts against Rome.  But which one?  Many of us are not familiar with the three revolts in the first place.  What follows is a brief overview of them.

The First Revolt and the Destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash (66-73 CE)

The First Jewish Revolt against Rome began in 66 CE as a response to increasing Roman oppression and religious persecution. This catastrophic period saw the emergence of various Jewish factions—the Zealots, Sicarii, and others—who sought to throw off the Roman yoke through armed resistance. Despite initial successes, internal divisions among the Jewish forces weakened their ability to present a unified front against Rome.

The siege of Jerusalem reached its tragic climax in 70 CE when the Roman legions under Titus breached the city walls. On the 17th of Tammuz, the daily sacrifices ceased, and on Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av), the Second Beis HaMikdash was set aflame. Our Sages teach that the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed due to sinat chinam (baseless hatred) among Jews. This destruction led to the beginning of our current exile (galut), the imposition of the humiliating Fiscus Judaicus tax upon all Jews throughout the Empire, and the scattering of our people across the Roman world. The loss of the Beis HaMikdash meant the end of the sacrificial service and fundamentally transformed Jewish religious life, placing greater emphasis on Torah study, prayer, and the development of what would become Rabbinic Judaism.

The Second Revolt: The Diaspora Uprising (115-117 CE)

Fifty-two years after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan, a second great revolt erupted—not in Eretz Yisrael itself, but among the Jewish communities scattered throughout the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. This uprising, which our sources call “Mered HaGaluyot” (the Revolt of the Exiles), began around 115-116 CE and spread simultaneously across Egypt, Libya (Cyrenaica), Cyprus, and Mesopotamia.

The revolt was driven by multiple factors rooted in our people’s suffering under Roman rule. The memory of the Beis HaMikdash’s destruction remained fresh, creating intense messianic yearnings among the Jewish masses. The oppressive Fiscus Judaicus tax served as a constant reminder of our subjugated status. Long-standing tensions between Jewish communities and their Greek neighbors, particularly in Alexandria, had reached a breaking point after decades of increasing hostility following our defeat in the First Revolt.

In Libya, the Jewish forces were led by a figure the sources call either Andreas or Lukuas, with Eusebius notably referring to him as “king”—suggesting this may have been a messianic movement seeking to restore Jewish sovereignty. The rebellion there was marked by fierce fighting, with Jewish forces ultimately advancing into Egypt to join with their coreligionists. In Egypt, the uprising spread throughout the countryside, from Memphis in the north to Upper Egypt in the south, as Jewish communities rose against both their Greek oppressors and Roman authority.

The revolt in Cyprus, led by one Artemion, resulted in the destruction of the major city of Salamis. In Mesopotamia, the situation was complicated by the broader Parthian resistance to Roman expansion, but Jewish communities there also faced severe persecution under General Lusius Quietus.

The Roman response was swift and brutal. Emperor Trajan dispatched his leading general, Marcius Turbo, with both land and naval forces to suppress the uprisings. The campaign that followed was nothing short of genocidal. Roman sources themselves describe it as an attempt to “utterly destroy” the Jewish population in the affected regions. The violence was so severe that local populations—Greeks and Egyptians—eagerly joined the Romans in attacking Jews, driven by decades of accumulated hatred.

The Jerusalem Talmud’s Account

The Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkah 5:1) preserves three crucial narratives about this revolt that reveal how our Sages understood these tragic events. The Talmud records that during this period, the magnificent Great Synagogue of Alexandria—which had been so large that the chazan needed to wave a flag to signal when the congregation should respond “Amen”—was destroyed by Trajan’s forces.

Most significantly, the Yerushalmi contains a detailed account that presents the revolt within a framework of divine justice and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Rome. The passage describes how Trajan’s personal hatred of Jews was inflamed when a son was born to him on Tisha B’Av (when Jews fast in mourning for the Beis HaMikdash) and his daughter died on Chanukah (when Jews light festive lights). Interpreting these acts as rebellion, Trajan’s wife advised him: “Instead of conquering barbarians, come and conquer the Jews who have revolted against you.”

The Talmudic account continues with Trajan finding the Jews of Alexandria engaged in Torah study, specifically reading the verse: “Hashem will carry against you a people from far away, from the ends of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:49). When asked what they were studying, and informed of this passage, Trajan declared: “This refers to me, for I intended to come in ten days but arrived in five.” He then surrounded them with legions and massacred them.

When Trajan offered to spare the Jewish women if they would submit to his legions, they heroically replied: “What you did to those on the ground floor, do also to those in the gallery”—choosing death over dishonor. The Talmud records that their blood flowed so abundantly it reached the sea and extended to Cyprus, and concludes: “At that moment the horn of Israel was cut down and will not be restored until the Son of David comes.”

This Talmudic narrative serves multiple purposes in our tradition. It demonstrates the irreconcilable conflict between Jewish values and Roman paganism, shows how Torah study itself became an act of resistance, and emphasizes the heroism of Jewish martyrs who chose death over spiritual compromise. The reference to the mashiach (Son of David) connects these sufferings to our ultimate redemption.

The Aftermath and Divine Justice

The suppression of the revolt was catastrophic for Jewish communities throughout the eastern Roman Empire. In Egypt, the Jewish population was virtually annihilated—what one modern historian has called genocide. Jewish property was confiscated, synagogues destroyed, and entire communities eliminated. The same fate befell the Jews of Cyrenaica and Cyprus. Cassius Dio reports that even centuries later, no Jew was permitted to set foot on Cyprus under penalty of death.

Our Sages understood these tragedies through the lens of divine justice. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Yishmael cites the “days of Trajan” as the third violation of the Torah’s prohibition against returning to Egypt, explaining the destruction of Alexandria’s Jewish community as punishment for this transgression. As the Mekhilta states: “In three places God warned Israel not to return to Egypt… The third time was in the days of Trajan. On these three occasions they returned, and on all three occasions they fell.”

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who lived through the aftermath of these events, taught that despite the devastating consequences, only Eretz Yisrael offered hope of safety and salvation for the Jewish people—a lesson that would prove tragically prescient in the revolt that followed.

The Third Revolt: Bar Kokhba and the Final Attempt (132-135 CE)

Fifteen years after the Diaspora Revolt, the final and most devastating Jewish uprising against Rome erupted in Eretz Yisrael itself. The Bar Kokhba revolt (132-135 CE) represented the last attempt to restore Jewish independence in our ancestral land. The immediate catalysts included Emperor Hadrian’s decision to build a pagan city, Aelia Capitolina, on the ruins of Jerusalem, and his prohibition of bris milah (circumcision)—a direct attack on the covenant between Hashem and the Jewish people.

Under the leadership of Shimon bar Kokhba, whom the great Rabbi Akiva initially believed might be the mashiach, the Jews achieved remarkable initial success. They established an independent Jewish state that lasted nearly three years, minted coins proclaiming the “freedom of Jerusalem,” and restored Jewish religious practice throughout much of Judaea. However, the Romans responded with overwhelming force, eventually deploying twelve full legions under Emperor Hadrian’s personal command.

The revolt’s suppression in 135 CE was even more devastating than the previous disasters. The Romans systematically destroyed Jewish towns and villages throughout Judaea, killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, and sold countless others into slavery. Jerusalem was rebuilt as the pagan city Aelia Capitolina, from which Jews were banned. The province itself was renamed Syria Palaestina to erase its Jewish connection. Most tragically, the great Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues were martyred, dealing a severe blow to Torah scholarship. Following this final defeat, the center of Jewish life shifted from Judaea to the Galilee, and eventually to Babylonia, where the largest Jewish communities would flourish under Persian rule, beyond Rome’s reach—fulfilling, as the Bavli notes, Hashem’s protection: “The Holy One, blessed be He, knows that Israel cannot endure the cruel decrees of Edom [Rome], therefore He exiled them to Babylonia.”

These three revolts—spanning nearly seventy years from the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdash to Bar Kokhba’s defeat—marked the end of Jewish political independence for nearly two millennia. \The Tefillah in Rosh HaShana reminds us of all this and makes us pine to crown Hashem’s kingship even more. Doing this and not caring about our own fate on this day when we are judged – gives us a remarkable zchus.

The author can be reached at [email protected]