In this season of Tisha B’Av, the solemn period of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, we present three selections from The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan (‘Abot de-Rabbi Natan). The first describes the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, the second is a commentary on the meaning of the Temple service, and the third suggests acts of lovingkindness may be as effective an atonement as the Temple service.

These selections are from the text translated by Dr. Judah Goldin of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and published (1955) by the Yale University Press in the Yale Judaica Series. “The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan,” Dr. Goldin writes in his introduction, “is one of the so-called extracanonical Minor Tractates of the Talmud. Briefly it may be described as a commentary and amplification of the renowned mishnaic tractate . . . called ‘Abot (Fathers) or Pirke ‘Abot (Chapters of the Fathers). . . .

“Nothing can be said with certainty about the identity of the ‘Nathan’ in the title . . . or about the exact nature of his relation to this work. . . . The most plausible suggestion [is] that the Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan is based on a recension of Chapters of the Fathers by the Babylonian Rabbi Nathan who was an older contemporary of Judah the Prince. There is still the possibility, however, that our Rabbi Nathan is an otherwise unknown sage who is responsible for [the present work] itself rather than for the alternative Chapters of the Fathers on which it is based.”

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Now, when Vespasian came to destroy Jerusalem he said to the inhabitants: “Fools, why do you seek to destroy this city and why do you seek to burn the Temple? For what do I ask of you but that you send me one bow or one arrow, and I shall go off from you?”

They said to him: “Even as we went forth against the first two who were here before thee and slew them, so shall we go forth against thee and slay thee.”

When Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai heard this, he sent for the men of Jerusalem and said to them: “My children, why do you destroy this city and why do you seek to burn the Temple? For what is it that he asks of you? Verily he asks naught of you save one bow or one arrow, and he will go off from you.”

They said to him: “Even as we went forth against the two before him and slew them, so shall we go forth against him and slay him.”

Vespasian had men stationed inside the walls of Jerusalem. Every word which they overheard they would write down, attach (the message) to an arrow, and shoot it over the wall, saying that Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai was one of the Emperor’s friends.

Now, after Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai had spoken to them one day, two and three days, and they still would not attend to him, he sent for his disciples, for Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua.

“My sons,” he said to them, “arise and take me out of here. Make a coffin for me that I might lie in it.”

Rabbi Eliezer took hold of the head end of it, Rabbi Joshua took hold of the foot; and they began carrying him as the sun set, until they reached the gates of Jerusalem.

“Who is this?” the gatekeepers demanded.

“It’s a dead man,” they replied. “Do you not know that the dead may not be held overnight in Jerusalem?”

“If it’s a dead man,” the gatekeepers said to them, “take him out.”

So they took him out and continued carrying him until they reached Vespasian. They opened the coffin and Rabban Johanan stood up before him.

“Art thou Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai?” Vespasian inquired; “tell me, what may I give thee?”

“I ask naught of thee,” Rabban Johanan replied, “save Jamnia, where I might go and teach my disciples and there establish a prayer [house] and perform all the commandments.”

“Go,” Vespasian said to him, “and whatever thou wishest to do, do.”

Said Rabban Johanan to him: “By thy leave, may I say something to thee?”

“Speak,” Vespasian said to him.

Said Rabban Johanan to him: “Lo, thou art about to be appointed king.”

“How dost thou know this?” Vespasian asked.

Rabban Johanan replied: “This has been handed down to us, that the Temple will not be surrendered to a commoner, but to a king; as it is said, And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one” (Isa. 10-34).

It was said: No more than a day, or two or three days, passed before messengers reached him from his city (announcing) that the emperor was dead and that he had been elected to succeed as king.

A catapult was brought to him, drawn up against the wall of Jerusalem. Boards of cedar were brought to him which he set into the catapult, and with these he struck against the wall until he made a breach in it. A swine’s head was brought and set into the catapult, and this he hurled toward the (sacrificial) limbs which were on the altar.

It was then that Jerusalem was captured.

Meanwhile Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai sat and waited trembling, the way Eli had sat and waited; as it is said, Lo, Eli sat upon his seat by the wayside watching; for his heart trembled for the ark of God (I Sam. 4:13). When Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai heard that Jerusalem was destroyed and the Temple was up in flames, he tore his clothing, and his disciples tore their clothing, and they wept, crying aloud and mourning.

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On the Temple service: how so? So long as the Temple service is maintained, the world is a blessing to its inhabitants and the rains come down in season, as it is said, To Love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain . . . and I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle (Deut. 11: 13-15). But when the Temple service is not maintained, the world is not a blessing to its inhabitants and the rains do not come down in season, as it is said, Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived . . . and He shut up the heaven, so that there shall be no rain (Deut. 11:16-17).

And so, too, it says, I pray you, consider from this day and forward—before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, through all that time, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty press-measures, there were but twenty (Hag. 2: 15-16).

Why is it not said of the wine vat, “Twenty measures, there were but ten,” as it is said of the wheat, Twenty measures (etc.)? Because the (yield of the) wine vat is a better sign (of the year’s fortune) than wheat. This is to teach thee that whenever wine suffers it is a bad sign for the remainder of the year.

Said Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He: “Master of the Universe, why didst Thou do this to us?”

The Holy Spirit replied: “Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little . . . because of My house that lieth waste, while ye run every man for his own house (Hag. 1:9). But if you will busy yourselves with the service of the Temple, I shall bless you as in the beginning; as it is said, Consider, 1 pray you . . . from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. . . . Is the seed yet in the barn? Yea, the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree hath not brought forth—from this day will 1 bless you” (Hag. 2:18-19).

Thus thou dost learn that there is no service more beloved of the Holy One, blessed be He, than the Temple service.

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On acts of Loving-Kindness: how so? Lo, it says, For I desire mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). From the very first the world was created only with mercy, as it is said, For I have said, the world is built with mercy; in the very heavens Thou dost establish Thy faithfulness (Ps. 89:3).

Once as Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins.

“Woe unto us!” Rabbi Joshua cried, “that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste!”

“My son,” Rabban Johanan said to him, “be not grieved; we have another atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving-kindness, as it is said, For I desire mercy and not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6).

For thus we find concerning Daniel, that greatly beloved man, that he was engaged in acts of loving-kindness [all his days. For it is said of him, Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee (Dan. 6:17)].

Now, what were the acts of loving-kindness in which Daniel was engaged? Canst thou say that he offered burnt offerings and sacrifices in Babylon? Verily it had been said, Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest; but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there shalt thou offer thy burnt offerings (Deut. 12: 13-14). What then were the acts of loving-kindness in which he was engaged? He used to outfit the bride and make her rejoice, accompany the dead, give a perutah to the poor, and pray three times a day—and his prayer was received with favor; as it is said, And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house—now his windows were open in his upper chamber toward Jerusalem—and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God . . . (Dan. 6:11).

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