WEBVTT

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(soft music)

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(narrator): For centuries,
Jews around the world

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have been lamenting
the destruction of Jerusalem

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and their temple,

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which they believe
was the beginning

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of their long 2,000 years
of exile.

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(soft music)

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Exile is not only
a religious Jewish belief.

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For millions of Jews
and of non-Jews alike,

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it\'s a historical fact.

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- So that\'s one
of the most dramatic points

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that you can really touch
the end of Jerusalem.

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And not only the end
of Jerusalem,

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the end of the existence

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of ongoing life of Jews
in this country.

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(narrator): But what has been
considered as fact for centuries

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has been challenged

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by archaeological evidence
unearthed across Israel.

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Here, only 70 miles
from Jerusalem,

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in the ancient town
of Sepphoris,

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evidence does not point
to a people driven into exile,

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but, on the contrary,
to a population that flourished.

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So why has exile been perceived
as a tangible reality

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for thousands of years?

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And if it never existed,

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what accounts
for the millions of Jews

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who, over centuries,
have settled around the world?

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And perhaps
the inevitable question:

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what happened to inhabitants
of places like Sepphoris

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who were never exiled?

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(background chatter)

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Until 1948,

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a predominately Muslim
Palestinian village

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stood on the ruins of Sepphoris.

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The village was destroyed

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and its inhabitants
barred from returning.

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Is it possible that some
of the Palestinian refugees

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are descendants of ancient Jews
who were never exiled?

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(oriental music)

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(call for prayer)

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(distant sirens)

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(church bells tolling)

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(background chatter)

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Every day, thousands of Jewish
and Christian tourists

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flock to Jerusalem

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to experience the story of exile

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and confirm
the version of history

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they grew up on:

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the Jewish rebellion
against Rome in 66 AD,

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which led to the destruction

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of the temple and the city,

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the centre of ancient Judaism.

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(guide): We\'re just reaching now
one of the focal places

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for any Jew worldwide

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at the time
when the temple still existed

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up on top of the mountain here.

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The largest manmade complex
on earth,

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that could accommodate
a quarter of a million people.

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And the need
to accommodate so many

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is because three times a year,
Jews would gather here

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in the high holidays
at the most sacred place,

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the meeting place,
the place to say, \"I am Jew.\"

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(narrator): The story of exile

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begins here
in the visitor centre,

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where the Jewish temple
is virtually made whole again.

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The temple used to hold
Judaism\'s most sacred objects,

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symbols of the nation\'s
covenant with God:

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the Ark of the Covenant

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and the candleholder,
with its seven branches:

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the menorah.

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(dog barking)
(background chatter)

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But what tourists
are not being told

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is that the temple
was not only a religious centre,

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but an economic powerhouse

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with donations
from four corners of the empire

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and the income from hundreds
of thousands of pilgrims.

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(Schwartz):
The city was highly inflated.

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It was very overblown.

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It had a huge population

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of people who derived
their livelihood

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from the temple
and the pilgrimage trade.

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And it was also a city which
was founded on Jewish piety.

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Jewish piety was the currency,

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was the cultural capital
of the city.

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We have to think of something
like the Vatican City

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when we think about Jerusalem.

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Um... the Vatican City,
you know, it\'s embedded in Rome,

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but it feels quite different
from the city

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that it\'s embedded in.

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It has a distinctive
internal culture.

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And the things that are
important in the Vatican City

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are often not very important

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immediately beyond
its boundaries.

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And I think the same thing
could be said for Jerusalem

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in the first century.

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(narrator):
Similar to the Vatican,

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Jerusalem was ruled
by its religious authority,

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the temple priests.

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- Under the houses
of the Jewish quarter

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of Jerusalem,

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there are remains
of a whole neighbourhood,

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a quarter of the priestly class
of Jerusalem

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from the time of the temple.

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Here, those priests that served
the temple used to live.

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And when you look around,
you can see that those houses

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kept quite high standards
of living,

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with mosaic floors,

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and with murals,

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frescoes on the walls,
beautiful furniture.

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And here we have the people

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who were supposed
to be the spiritual leaders

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living in beautiful houses,
a good life,

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while there was
so much poverty around.

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We are looking at, now,

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the nuclear, the beginning,

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of the Jewish people.

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Think about all those people...

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(narrator): In a city
run by religious authorities,

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theological rivalries
played an enormous role

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in shaping the city\'s politics,

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and eventually leading
to the rebellion in 66 AD.

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(Schwartz): The sectarian groups
are defined

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by their differences of opinion

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over how to interpret
the Hebrew Bible.

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And, you know, why do they care?

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Well, because they\'re unusually
invested in it,

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because that is the culture
of the town they live in,

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of the place they live.

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This is not the case elsewhere
in Jewish Palestine.

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(narrator): Jerusalem
and the tiny region of Judea

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were only a small part
of a far larger territory

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created by series of previous
Jewish military expansions

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forcing the conquered population
to convert to Judaism.

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Jerusalem,
despite the common belief,

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did not represent
the entire Jewish nation.

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- So the Jewish world
has expanded tremendously.

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There were more of them.

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They were also in closer
connection with each other.

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(man): And they were divided.
- And they were divided.

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There were all
these profound divisions.

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Uh, so, you know, there\'s
this complicated business

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that they\'re all, in some sense,
part of one group.

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But by the same token,

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they\'re often
at each other\'s throats.

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(guide): It is the main road
of the city that was here,

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the city that was then
the pearl of the East...

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(narrator): The profound
divisions that gave rise

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to the rebellion
have been simplified over time

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into a single narrative,

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that of a Jewish nation
that refused to accept

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the authority
of a pagan Roman Caesar.

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- The religion
being very institutional,

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well built here,

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was all the combine
of being a nation of Jews.

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And so it was a way to say,

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\"We are unique,
we are independent.

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\"You can rule us,

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but still we are independent.\"

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And that would be hard
for an emperor to tolerate.

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(footsteps)

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(narrator): There is one man
who single-handedly succeeded

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in shaping the narrative
of the rebellion.

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His name was Josephus Flavius,

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a son of Jerusalem\'s
priestly elite.

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His book,The Jewish War,

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is the most important
historical record of the time

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that has for centuries
shaped the perception

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of the rebellion
as a national uprising.

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(man): \"The family
from which I\'m derived

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\"is not an ignoble one,

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\"but has descended all along
from the priests.

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\"So with us,
to be of the sacerdotal dignity

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is an indication
of the splendour of a family.\"

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- For Josephus,
the rebellion was the uprising

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of the ethnos of the nation
of the Jews against the Romans.

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Josephus reflects
this Jerusalemite perspective.

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He sees things from that angle.

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He thinks that the Jerusalemites

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are in control
of the entire country,

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you know, that the priesthood
is in control of the country

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and that everyone
is equally loyal

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to the priesthood
and the temple.

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And that any time a Jerusalemite

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shows up anywhere
in the countryside,

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people will automatically
fall at his feet.

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(beeping)

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(indistinct chatter)

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(narrator):
Josephus began his career

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as a military commander

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sent by the rebel leadership
in Jerusalem

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to bring the Galilee
into the fold of the rebellion.

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(narrator):
Josephus failed to recruit

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the Galilee\'s biggest cities
to the rebellion.

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Jerusalem\'s national aspiration

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suffered its first setback
in Sepphoris.

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(distant mooing)

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(man): \"But the inhabitants
of this city,

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\"having determined to continue
their allegiance to the Romans,

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\"sent to the Roman governor

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\"and desired him
to come to them immediately

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and take possession
of their city.\"

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(narrator): Sepphoris\'s decision
not to join the rebellion

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triggered the interest

00:14:10.876 --> 00:14:14.041
of Israeli archaeologist
Zeev Weiss.

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His findings shed new light

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on why Sepphoris and the Galilee

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chose not to rebel.

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(dog barking)
(background chatter)

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(narrator): Zeev\'s findings
cover a period

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of hundreds of years.

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They help us imagine a society
which Josephus barely mentioned

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and never focused on.

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(narrator): Jerusalem might have
mobilized for a national war,

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yet the majority of the Galilee

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didn\'t seem to have any interest
in a fight.

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Josephus found himself holed up

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with a small group of followers
in Jotapata,

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one of the few towns
and villages

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that did end up
fighting the Romans.

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(bell clanging)

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(dog barking)
(sheep lowing)

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(narrator): Moti Aviam found
very little in Jotapata

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beyond evidence
of war and killing,

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a grim picture
of the destruction

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of an entire community.

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(background chatter)

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Yet only a few miles away,

00:17:20.834 --> 00:17:23.041
Zeev Weiss\'s findings
shed new light

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on the cultural divide
between those who rebelled

00:17:26.876 --> 00:17:30.124
and the society
that chose not to.

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(background chatter)

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The Judaism practiced
in Jerusalem and Jotapata

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could not tolerate
Rome\'s foreign rule.

00:17:42.626 --> 00:17:43.958
Sepphoris, on the other hand,

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promoted coexistence
with Rome\'s pagan culture.

00:18:12.042 --> 00:18:14.959
(background chatter)

00:18:18.959 --> 00:18:21.208
(ox snorting)

00:18:21.209 --> 00:18:23.542
(ox lowing)

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(dog barking)

00:18:27.459 --> 00:18:29.958
(narrator): Zeev\'s discovery
of the existence

00:18:29.959 --> 00:18:32.791
of a pagan temple
dating to the time

00:18:32.792 --> 00:18:35.833
when Sepphoris became
a Jewish theological centre

00:18:35.834 --> 00:18:38.041
was nothing short
of sensational.

00:18:38.042 --> 00:18:40.125
(laughter)

00:18:41.918 --> 00:18:43.959
(applause)

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Sepphoris also had
a Roman theatre

00:18:48.751 --> 00:18:51.833
around the time
of the rebellion.

00:18:51.834 --> 00:18:53.959
(thunder rumbling)

00:18:57.042 --> 00:19:00.791
It had bathhouses
and mosaic floors

00:19:00.792 --> 00:19:02.124
depicting human figures,

00:19:02.125 --> 00:19:04.374
all forbidden and unheard-of

00:19:04.375 --> 00:19:10.501
in the religion practiced
in Jerusalem and tiny Judea.

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Sepphoris and Jerusalem
seemed to symbolize

00:19:20.125 --> 00:19:23.124
a deep cultural
and political divide

00:19:23.125 --> 00:19:27.501
rather than the unity
of a national uprising.

00:19:54.542 --> 00:19:57.083
(background chatter)

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(narrator):
The reality of Sepphoris

00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.208
has been unearthed
only in the past three decades.

00:20:06.209 --> 00:20:07.876
(beeping)

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For centuries,
perception has been shaped

00:20:15.834 --> 00:20:18.958
by Josephus\'s single,
powerful narrative

00:20:18.959 --> 00:20:21.918
of a heroic national uprising.

00:20:22.626 --> 00:20:26.042
(marching)
(indistinct shouting)

00:20:39.626 --> 00:20:43.458
Abandoned by his troops
before the war even began,

00:20:43.459 --> 00:20:47.958
Josephus was forced to watch
from behind the town\'s walls

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as 50,000 Roman soldiers
were setting siege to Jotapata.

00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:54.416
Vastly outnumbered,

00:20:54.417 --> 00:20:58.959
he and his band of rebels
faced certain death.

00:21:18.042 --> 00:21:19.958
(Schwartz): We know
that Josephus likes

00:21:19.959 --> 00:21:21.833
to really write up
these episodes,

00:21:21.834 --> 00:21:22.667
and this is quite interesting.

00:21:22.668 --> 00:21:26.249
It plays into the rest
of his account that this is...

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that, you know,
this was a heroic rebellion.

00:21:31.709 --> 00:21:34.416
When push came to shove,
the Jewish nation

00:21:34.417 --> 00:21:36.500
offered heroic resistance
to the Romans,

00:21:36.501 --> 00:21:40.250
as is shown
by the siege of Jotapata.

00:21:45.083 --> 00:21:46.959
(shouting)

00:21:55.626 --> 00:21:59.833
(narrator): Jotapata fell
on July the 13th,

00:21:59.834 --> 00:22:02.458
after 40 days of siege.

00:22:02.459 --> 00:22:05.750
The Romans went on
for three years,

00:22:05.751 --> 00:22:08.625
brutally erasing
every rebellious community

00:22:08.626 --> 00:22:09.417
around the country.

00:22:09.418 --> 00:22:12.833
Towns and villages
that did not rebel were spared.

00:22:12.834 --> 00:22:17.292
And in the Galilee,
they were the majority.

00:22:35.250 --> 00:22:37.292
(howling)

00:22:49.334 --> 00:22:50.374
In Jotapata,

00:22:50.375 --> 00:22:53.750
Josephus\'s short military career
was over.

00:22:53.751 --> 00:22:55.958
He escaped the fate
of his troops,

00:22:55.959 --> 00:23:00.166
and that of the town,
by hiding in a cave

00:23:00.167 --> 00:23:03.751
and finally surrendering
to the Romans.

00:23:05.959 --> 00:23:10.958
But Josephus did not die
with the people of Jotapata.

00:23:10.959 --> 00:23:14.082
His life was spared
by General Vespasian.

00:23:14.083 --> 00:23:17.958
Josephus became
the general\'s personal slave,

00:23:17.959 --> 00:23:20.958
taking,
as Roman custom dictates,

00:23:20.959 --> 00:23:24.249
Vespasian\'s last name, Flavius.

00:23:24.250 --> 00:23:28.208
- Vespasian now embraces
Josephus, frees him from chains,

00:23:28.209 --> 00:23:33.124
makes him part of his entourage,
eventually brings him to Rome,

00:23:33.125 --> 00:23:34.291
settles him in a house,

00:23:34.292 --> 00:23:36.291
and has Josephus write
these accounts

00:23:36.292 --> 00:23:39.959
of the Jewish rebellion
against the Romans.

00:23:44.959 --> 00:23:47.792
(background chatter)

00:23:51.667 --> 00:23:53.750
(narrator): Suddenly,
Josephus\'s version

00:23:53.751 --> 00:23:58.334
of the rebellion
gained an unexpected ally.

00:24:00.584 --> 00:24:02.999
Having come to power by force,

00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:05.958
and aspiring to establish
his own dynasty,

00:24:05.959 --> 00:24:11.292
Vespasian was a new emperor
in search of legitimacy.

00:24:14.959 --> 00:24:18.166
- The only key to legitimacy
in this sort of environment,

00:24:18.167 --> 00:24:21.541
if you don\'t have it
through descent, is, you know,

00:24:21.542 --> 00:24:24.124
it\'s called in Latin
the jus gladii:

00:24:24.125 --> 00:24:26.876
the law of the sword.

00:24:36.959 --> 00:24:38.541
(shouting)

00:24:38.542 --> 00:24:41.958
That is,
a substantial military victory

00:24:41.959 --> 00:24:45.082
can make you a legitimate ruler.

00:24:45.083 --> 00:24:46.750
What this means that is

00:24:46.751 --> 00:24:49.082
that it was
in Vespasian\'s interests

00:24:49.083 --> 00:24:50.625
to have this war portrayed

00:24:50.626 --> 00:24:53.082
exactly as Josephus
wanted to portray it:

00:24:53.083 --> 00:24:58.709
a great, all-out war
between two mighty nations.

00:25:07.959 --> 00:25:10.501
(call for prayer)

00:25:21.959 --> 00:25:23.917
(birds chirping)

00:25:23.918 --> 00:25:25.958
(dog barking)

00:25:25.959 --> 00:25:27.374
(narrator): In 69 AD,

00:25:27.375 --> 00:25:31.958
three years after
he was captured in Jotapata,

00:25:31.959 --> 00:25:33.374
Josephus returned -

00:25:33.375 --> 00:25:35.958
not as a Jewish militant
fighting Rome,

00:25:35.959 --> 00:25:39.249
but as a chronicler
embedded in the Roman army,

00:25:39.250 --> 00:25:44.125
invited to witness
the fall of his hometown.

00:25:46.918 --> 00:25:49.791
(guide): This city
was completely destroyed

00:25:49.792 --> 00:25:50.709
and disappeared.

00:25:50.710 --> 00:25:55.917
And part of this very dramatic
last moment of the city

00:25:55.918 --> 00:25:57.249
could be traced over here,

00:25:57.250 --> 00:26:02.333
when the Jerusalemites tried
to escape and save their lives

00:26:02.334 --> 00:26:05.751
when the Romans
slaughtered everybody.

00:26:10.959 --> 00:26:13.208
(screaming)

00:26:13.209 --> 00:26:15.959
(baby crying)

00:26:23.959 --> 00:26:26.082
(man): \"More terrible
than the noise

00:26:26.083 --> 00:26:28.124
\"were the sights
that met the eye.

00:26:28.125 --> 00:26:31.541
\"Nowhere could the ground
be seen between corpses

00:26:31.542 --> 00:26:35.249
\"and the soldiers
climbing over heaps of bodies

00:26:35.250 --> 00:26:37.959
as they chased the fugitives.\"

00:26:41.125 --> 00:26:43.751
(fire crackling)

00:26:52.959 --> 00:26:53.626
- Here we are,

00:26:53.627 --> 00:26:58.958
and you can see the hole here
and many other holes all along.

00:26:58.959 --> 00:27:02.833
Those holes were done
by the Romans themselves,

00:27:02.834 --> 00:27:03.958
the Roman soldiers,

00:27:03.959 --> 00:27:06.416
at the very last day
of Jerusalem,

00:27:06.417 --> 00:27:08.666
when people tried to use

00:27:08.667 --> 00:27:09.791
the underground...

00:27:09.792 --> 00:27:13.249
drainage canal here
to escape out

00:27:13.250 --> 00:27:17.124
without being seen
by the Romans.

00:27:17.125 --> 00:27:20.041
How do we know about that?

00:27:20.042 --> 00:27:22.958
Josephus Flavius
speaks about it.

00:27:22.959 --> 00:27:24.124
Everybody, one by one,

00:27:24.125 --> 00:27:27.918
was pulled out
and had been killed.

00:27:30.375 --> 00:27:33.751
(crowd cheering)
(trumpeting)

00:27:39.709 --> 00:27:42.958
(narrator): To celebrate
his victory over the Jews,

00:27:42.959 --> 00:27:44.833
Emperor Vespasian
and his son Titus

00:27:44.834 --> 00:27:47.958
held a victory parade,
exhibiting what was probably

00:27:47.959 --> 00:27:50.958
the most cherished loot
of the war:

00:27:50.959 --> 00:27:52.625
the Jewish menorah,

00:27:52.626 --> 00:27:55.958
a proud symbol
of a monotheistic religion

00:27:55.959 --> 00:27:58.542
he thought was vanquished.

00:27:59.459 --> 00:28:01.501
(crowd cheering)

00:28:10.501 --> 00:28:13.166
- The very centre
of the Roman Empire -

00:28:13.167 --> 00:28:17.208
that is, the Roman Forum,
the Capitoline Hill on one end,

00:28:17.209 --> 00:28:19.041
the Coliseum on another end -

00:28:19.042 --> 00:28:22.249
is altered in order to celebrate

00:28:22.250 --> 00:28:24.958
the Flavian victory
over the Jews.

00:28:24.959 --> 00:28:27.166
And I think
that it makes a lot of sense

00:28:27.167 --> 00:28:30.459
to see Josephus\'s Jewish War
as part of that.

00:28:37.292 --> 00:28:39.542
(soft music)

00:28:53.459 --> 00:28:55.750
(narrator):
Among the Forum\'s monuments,

00:28:55.751 --> 00:28:58.708
there is this Titus
Arch of Triumph

00:28:58.709 --> 00:29:01.959
celebrating the destruction
of Jerusalem.

00:29:03.417 --> 00:29:06.124
Its stone carvings
depict Roman soldiers

00:29:06.125 --> 00:29:11.292
carrying the temple\'s loot
and the sacred menorah.

00:29:14.959 --> 00:29:17.291
- Josephus\'s sort of desire,
retrospectively,

00:29:17.292 --> 00:29:21.500
to have the Jews unify
as a single group,

00:29:21.501 --> 00:29:24.958
as a mighty nation,
and rise up to fight the Romans,

00:29:24.959 --> 00:29:28.791
which was essentially a kind
of Jewish national aspiration

00:29:28.792 --> 00:29:29.584
which never happened,

00:29:29.585 --> 00:29:33.291
resonated perfectly
with the Flavian dynasty\'s need

00:29:33.292 --> 00:29:36.791
to have experienced
a great victory

00:29:36.792 --> 00:29:38.959
over a great nation.

00:29:45.375 --> 00:29:48.958
(call for prayer)
(indistinct chatter)

00:29:48.959 --> 00:29:50.082
(narrator): But what happened

00:29:50.083 --> 00:29:53.959
after the destruction
of Jerusalem?

00:29:56.751 --> 00:29:59.416
Nowhere in his writings
does Josephus mention

00:29:59.417 --> 00:30:02.791
the forced expulsion of the Jews
from Jerusalem

00:30:02.792 --> 00:30:06.125
or the rest
of the Roman province.

00:30:07.501 --> 00:30:08.958
So why is it that exile

00:30:08.959 --> 00:30:11.666
has been historically perceived
as a fact

00:30:11.667 --> 00:30:16.083
and the destruction of Jerusalem
as the evidence?

00:30:30.959 --> 00:30:32.959
(rumbling)

00:30:35.542 --> 00:30:37.249
(soft music)

00:30:37.250 --> 00:30:39.542
(footsteps)

00:31:14.375 --> 00:31:16.542
(soft music)

00:31:18.959 --> 00:31:21.374
- So that\'s one
of the most dramatic points,

00:31:21.375 --> 00:31:24.333
that you can really touch
the end of Jerusalem.

00:31:24.334 --> 00:31:26.958
And not only the end
of Jerusalem,

00:31:26.959 --> 00:31:28.333
the end of the existence

00:31:28.334 --> 00:31:32.958
of ongoing life of Jews
in this country.

00:31:32.959 --> 00:31:37.958
Jerusalem is by far the symbol
of this huge dramatic end

00:31:37.959 --> 00:31:42.124
that created the spreading
of people all over,

00:31:42.125 --> 00:31:43.083
the Diaspora,

00:31:43.084 --> 00:31:46.958
and the beginning
of this very long process

00:31:46.959 --> 00:31:49.334
of longing to come back.

00:31:50.751 --> 00:31:52.959
(mournful music)

00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:04.751
(distant digging)

00:33:44.250 --> 00:33:46.917
(narrator):
Despite the ample evidence

00:33:46.918 --> 00:33:47.958
gathered in the Galilee,

00:33:47.959 --> 00:33:51.958
the perception persists that
the destruction of Jerusalem

00:33:51.959 --> 00:33:55.959
put an end to Jewish life here.

00:33:56.334 --> 00:34:00.750
\"Masada,\" the last chapter
in Josephus\'s book,

00:34:00.751 --> 00:34:02.958
is the place
that best illustrates

00:34:02.959 --> 00:34:06.751
the power of legend
over reality.

00:34:07.876 --> 00:34:10.458
(background chatter)

00:34:10.459 --> 00:34:12.292
(ringing)

00:34:16.792 --> 00:34:19.333
Hundreds of thousands
of tourists

00:34:19.334 --> 00:34:21.166
visit Masada each year.

00:34:21.167 --> 00:34:22.416
This isolated rock,

00:34:22.417 --> 00:34:24.958
on which
the last battle occurred

00:34:24.959 --> 00:34:26.208
after the fall of Jerusalem,

00:34:26.209 --> 00:34:31.959
has become one of Israel\'s
most visited national parks.

00:34:33.959 --> 00:34:35.625
- This is a very critical
turning point

00:34:35.626 --> 00:34:38.999
in the history of the area.
Okay? And this, by the way,

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:42.959
is an example of what Josephus
was talking about.

00:34:44.959 --> 00:34:46.958
(narrator):
According to Josephus,

00:34:46.959 --> 00:34:48.958
960 Jewish militants,

00:34:48.959 --> 00:34:51.041
whom he named Zealots,

00:34:51.042 --> 00:34:54.750
fled with their families
from Judea and Jerusalem

00:34:54.751 --> 00:34:59.166
to the edge of the desert
on the shores of the Dead Sea.

00:34:59.167 --> 00:35:01.917
They barricaded themselves

00:35:01.918 --> 00:35:03.625
in this fortress

00:35:03.626 --> 00:35:07.542
and withstood the Roman siege
for three years.

00:35:21.959 --> 00:35:25.333
(foreign language)

00:35:25.334 --> 00:35:27.959
(man speaking Italian)

00:35:34.584 --> 00:35:36.625
(narrator):
But it is Josephus\'s tale

00:35:36.626 --> 00:35:37.958
of what the Romans found

00:35:37.959 --> 00:35:39.374
when they entered the compound

00:35:39.375 --> 00:35:42.959
that captured
the world\'s imagination.

00:35:49.125 --> 00:35:51.542
(mournful music)

00:35:52.959 --> 00:35:55.249
(man):
\"Expecting further resistance,

00:35:55.250 --> 00:35:58.958
\"the Romans armed themselves
at dawn,

00:35:58.959 --> 00:36:00.124
\"seeing no enemy

00:36:00.125 --> 00:36:03.958
\"but dreadful solitude
at every side,

00:36:03.959 --> 00:36:07.083
fire within, and silence.\"

00:36:09.375 --> 00:36:11.959
(footsteps)

00:36:23.250 --> 00:36:26.458
(narrator): All 960 men,
women and children

00:36:26.459 --> 00:36:29.958
committed suicide,
according to Josephus,

00:36:29.959 --> 00:36:32.959
preferring death to surrender.

00:36:34.959 --> 00:36:37.083
(bird cawing)

00:36:41.959 --> 00:36:44.249
- And it\'s a lesson
for all of us

00:36:44.250 --> 00:36:45.958
to stand up to what is right,

00:36:45.959 --> 00:36:48.666
and to be at the top
of the mountain

00:36:48.667 --> 00:36:50.959
defending our convictions.

00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:59.500
- And I think this is one
of your, uh...

00:36:59.501 --> 00:37:02.917
country\'s... symbols:

00:37:02.918 --> 00:37:05.209
Never give up.

00:37:12.959 --> 00:37:14.208
(digging)

00:37:14.209 --> 00:37:16.500
(narrator): Several
archaeological expeditions

00:37:16.501 --> 00:37:18.958
found evidence of Jewish life

00:37:18.959 --> 00:37:20.958
and of the Roman siege,

00:37:20.959 --> 00:37:22.416
but nothing to support

00:37:22.417 --> 00:37:25.292
Josephus\'s dramatic tale.

00:37:26.083 --> 00:37:28.958
But that did not prevent UNESCO

00:37:28.959 --> 00:37:31.124
from designating
the isolated rock

00:37:31.125 --> 00:37:33.791
as a World Heritage Site,
declaring it:

00:37:33.792 --> 00:37:37.999
\"a symbol of the ancient
Jewish Kingdom of Israel,

00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:40.249
of its violent destruction,

00:37:40.250 --> 00:37:44.209
and of the subsequent Diaspora.\"

00:37:48.834 --> 00:37:50.918
(soft music)

00:37:50.959 --> 00:37:52.750
The Lubell family from New York,

00:37:52.751 --> 00:37:55.958
like many others
in the Jewish Diaspora,

00:37:55.959 --> 00:37:58.666
chose to hold
their daughter\'s Bat Mitzvah,

00:37:58.667 --> 00:38:00.583
her coming-of-age ceremony,

00:38:00.584 --> 00:38:03.333
not in the customary synagogue,

00:38:03.334 --> 00:38:04.958
but on Masada.

00:38:04.959 --> 00:38:06.958
They posted the event
on YouTube.

00:38:06.959 --> 00:38:10.500
For them, coming here
is a symbolic return

00:38:10.501 --> 00:38:13.083
after a long exile.

00:38:14.167 --> 00:38:16.458
- We say at the Seder
on Passover,

00:38:16.459 --> 00:38:19.458
and on Yom Kippur,
\"Next year in Jerusalem.\"

00:38:19.459 --> 00:38:22.708
We\'re always saying that,
\"Next year in Jerusalem\",

00:38:22.709 --> 00:38:24.124
for thousands of years,

00:38:24.125 --> 00:38:26.999
and now you have come
to Jerusalem.

00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:28.875
You are in Israel.

00:38:28.876 --> 00:38:30.374
(soft music)

00:38:30.375 --> 00:38:32.959
(singing in Hebrew)

00:38:40.167 --> 00:38:42.333
(narrator): In her Bat Mitzvah,

00:38:42.334 --> 00:38:43.958
13-year-old Luisa

00:38:43.959 --> 00:38:46.959
sang \"Jerusalem of Gold.\"

00:38:47.792 --> 00:38:53.124
A popular Israeli song depicting
Jerusalem as an empty city

00:38:53.125 --> 00:38:57.625
waiting for its exiled children
to return.

00:38:57.626 --> 00:38:59.751
(footsteps)

00:39:16.876 --> 00:39:18.959
(crowd cheering)

00:39:23.375 --> 00:39:26.666
So if exile
is ultimately an idea

00:39:26.667 --> 00:39:29.750
that cannot be supported
by evidence,

00:39:29.751 --> 00:39:32.166
how and when was it born?

00:39:32.167 --> 00:39:33.958
To begin uncovering its roots,

00:39:33.959 --> 00:39:37.750
we need to explore
yet one more rebellion

00:39:37.751 --> 00:39:39.708
that erupted 62 years

00:39:39.709 --> 00:39:43.334
after the destruction
of Jerusalem.

00:40:02.584 --> 00:40:06.791
To the world,
Masada is the symbolic end

00:40:06.792 --> 00:40:09.334
of Jewish life in Israel.

00:40:09.959 --> 00:40:11.374
In reality,

00:40:11.375 --> 00:40:12.625
the Jewish population

00:40:12.626 --> 00:40:14.875
not only survived
and flourished,

00:40:14.876 --> 00:40:17.875
it even produced
a second rebellion

00:40:17.876 --> 00:40:19.791
60 years later.

00:40:19.792 --> 00:40:22.583
It was this rebellion,
some claim,

00:40:22.584 --> 00:40:25.875
that is the origin of exile.

00:40:25.876 --> 00:40:28.833
- In Jerusalem,
we saw the attempt of the Jews

00:40:28.834 --> 00:40:30.958
to try and revolt
against the Romans,

00:40:30.959 --> 00:40:33.291
regaining their freedom
and so on.

00:40:33.292 --> 00:40:34.125
Not only once.

00:40:34.126 --> 00:40:36.958
The first huge revolt
was the one that ended

00:40:36.959 --> 00:40:40.166
with the destruction of the city
and the temple.

00:40:40.167 --> 00:40:41.416
And then, 60 years later,

00:40:41.417 --> 00:40:45.959
another revolt
started against the Romans.

00:40:48.167 --> 00:40:52.249
(narrator): The new rebellion
that erupted against the Romans

00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:55.958
was limited mainly
to the region of Judea.

00:40:55.959 --> 00:40:57.583
It was a guerrilla war

00:40:57.584 --> 00:40:59.958
made possible
in part by the desert

00:40:59.959 --> 00:41:02.918
and the caves that dot the area.

00:41:03.042 --> 00:41:07.082
The rebellion was led
by a mysterious messianic leader

00:41:07.083 --> 00:41:09.124
named Bar Kochva,

00:41:09.125 --> 00:41:11.918
or Bar Kusba.

00:42:01.959 --> 00:42:04.625
- Where does the population...

00:42:04.626 --> 00:42:07.958
supply come from
for the second revolt

00:42:07.959 --> 00:42:11.958
if we lost so many
of the population

00:42:11.959 --> 00:42:14.750
to the first revolt?
- Well, first of all,

00:42:14.751 --> 00:42:17.500
two generations passed -
60 years and more.

00:42:17.501 --> 00:42:18.541
- Okay.
- Uh...

00:42:18.542 --> 00:42:22.958
that gave enough time to regain
more and more people.

00:42:22.959 --> 00:42:23.751
And I would say

00:42:23.752 --> 00:42:26.625
that it was much more
of a rural population revolt

00:42:26.626 --> 00:42:31.333
than the urban one of Jerusalem
and the cities around.

00:42:31.334 --> 00:42:32.541
Demographically speaking,

00:42:32.542 --> 00:42:37.666
it\'s by far the end
of everything over here.

00:42:37.667 --> 00:42:39.374
So what we\'ll do now

00:42:39.375 --> 00:42:42.166
is leaving
the cultivated green area

00:42:42.167 --> 00:42:43.167
through the desert,

00:42:43.168 --> 00:42:46.959
reaching the area
where the people escaped to.

00:42:55.042 --> 00:42:56.917
(narrator):
Israeli archaeologists

00:42:56.918 --> 00:43:00.166
were looking
for historical roots,

00:43:00.167 --> 00:43:00.959
legitimacy,

00:43:00.960 --> 00:43:05.959
and a link to events that
happened 1,800 years earlier.

00:43:06.959 --> 00:43:10.583
They were hoping
to find archaeological evidence

00:43:10.584 --> 00:43:15.083
of the existence of Bar Kochva
to create such a link.

00:43:32.083 --> 00:43:33.625
In 1961,

00:43:33.626 --> 00:43:37.958
an archaeological expedition
led by Professor Yigael Yadin

00:43:37.959 --> 00:43:39.958
set out on these desert roads

00:43:39.959 --> 00:43:44.166
to look for the remains
of Bar Kochva\'s fighters,

00:43:44.167 --> 00:43:46.625
which he saw as the last signs

00:43:46.626 --> 00:43:50.542
of independent Jewish life
in the country.

00:44:10.042 --> 00:44:12.291
(shouting)

00:44:12.292 --> 00:44:14.501
(marching)

00:44:15.918 --> 00:44:19.374
(narrator): Yigael Yadin,
who led the excavation,

00:44:19.375 --> 00:44:22.750
was no ordinary archaeologist.

00:44:22.751 --> 00:44:24.625
He was famous in Israel

00:44:24.626 --> 00:44:28.082
for serving
as the army\'s chief of staff

00:44:28.083 --> 00:44:32.959
during country\'s crucial
War of Independence in 1948.

00:44:49.959 --> 00:44:53.249
(TV): Today\'s program
is a conversation

00:44:53.250 --> 00:44:53.959
with Yigael Yadin,

00:44:53.960 --> 00:44:56.958
Professor of Archaeology
at the Hebrew University...

00:44:56.959 --> 00:45:00.500
(narrator): Helped by the army
and the government,

00:45:00.501 --> 00:45:02.249
Yadin\'s was no ordinary
expedition,

00:45:02.250 --> 00:45:05.958
but an attempt to find
the archaeological evidence

00:45:05.959 --> 00:45:08.583
that would confirm
the legitimacy

00:45:08.584 --> 00:45:09.708
of the Israeli state.

00:45:09.709 --> 00:45:12.500
- You see, this search
for the Bar Kochva documents,

00:45:12.501 --> 00:45:14.958
which you referred to,
Mr. Agronsky, just now,

00:45:14.959 --> 00:45:17.750
was one of the most fascinating,
I would say,

00:45:17.751 --> 00:45:21.709
expeditions I had the privilege
to take part in.

00:45:30.167 --> 00:45:32.458
- Yadin, who was
a great archaeologist,

00:45:32.459 --> 00:45:36.208
was very much involved,
even emotionally,

00:45:36.209 --> 00:45:37.791
with the finds here,

00:45:37.792 --> 00:45:40.958
as was all of this generation

00:45:40.959 --> 00:45:42.791
of the big archaeologists.

00:45:42.792 --> 00:45:46.249
At the time,
that was just the continuation

00:45:46.250 --> 00:45:50.917
of establishing the state,
and the search for roots,

00:45:50.918 --> 00:45:53.208
and coming back to the country.

00:45:53.209 --> 00:45:58.333
And epos like the one
of Bar Kochva or Masada

00:45:58.334 --> 00:46:01.209
were very, very strong.

00:46:02.334 --> 00:46:04.501
(footsteps)

00:46:11.083 --> 00:46:15.958
So here we are, just above
this huge canyon of Nahal Hever

00:46:15.959 --> 00:46:18.625
running to the Dead Sea,

00:46:18.626 --> 00:46:20.958
and it has huge, sheer cliffs

00:46:20.959 --> 00:46:22.500
going all the way down.

00:46:22.501 --> 00:46:25.875
And just to have some scale,
if you look over there,

00:46:25.876 --> 00:46:27.500
you see the opening of the cave

00:46:27.501 --> 00:46:29.541
where those refugees
found a shelter,

00:46:29.542 --> 00:46:34.958
and the distance from the top
of the cliff to the cave

00:46:34.959 --> 00:46:37.125
is 350 feet.

00:46:38.542 --> 00:46:40.958
- And the caves are right
in the middle of the canyon,

00:46:40.959 --> 00:46:44.666
sometimes 300 feet from the top
and 900 feet from the bottom,

00:46:44.667 --> 00:46:45.833
in a steep slope.

00:46:45.834 --> 00:46:48.208
- The people
who found shelter there

00:46:48.209 --> 00:46:50.208
could not leave the place.

00:46:50.209 --> 00:46:51.583
The Romans made sure

00:46:51.584 --> 00:46:54.959
that nobody
would be able to escape.

00:46:57.167 --> 00:46:58.958
(soft music)

00:46:58.959 --> 00:47:00.959
(bird cawing)

00:47:02.626 --> 00:47:05.542
(indistinct shouting)

00:47:40.292 --> 00:47:42.875
- And then only
we came into the cave,

00:47:42.876 --> 00:47:44.917
nwhere we saw for the first time

00:47:44.918 --> 00:47:46.041
the first grim site

00:47:46.042 --> 00:47:48.958
of the last moment
of this desperate war -

00:47:48.959 --> 00:47:52.792
a heroic war - of Bar Kochva
against the Romans.

00:47:55.209 --> 00:47:58.833
(narrator): The findings
were indeed sensational:

00:47:58.834 --> 00:48:02.791
rich evidence
of daily life of refugees

00:48:02.792 --> 00:48:04.208
who hid in the caves;

00:48:04.209 --> 00:48:06.333
skeletons, personal documents,

00:48:06.334 --> 00:48:10.459
and even letters signed
by Bar Kusba himself.

00:48:11.918 --> 00:48:14.541
Yadin believed that he had found

00:48:14.542 --> 00:48:18.208
what he was looking for:
the archaeological evidence

00:48:18.209 --> 00:48:20.416
of the last moments

00:48:20.417 --> 00:48:22.751
of the Jewish nation.

00:48:25.209 --> 00:48:26.833
-This was really, I would say,

00:48:26.834 --> 00:48:30.416
the last phase of the struggle
against the Romans there.

00:48:30.417 --> 00:48:32.875
(man): And that was
the last time,

00:48:32.876 --> 00:48:33.958
nreally, that the Jews, since...

00:48:33.959 --> 00:48:36.124
in Jewish history,
that there was a revolt

00:48:36.125 --> 00:48:38.458
that attempted to reconstitute
a state of Israel.

00:48:38.459 --> 00:48:41.958
- Yes, this is the last revolt,
we call the Second Revolt,

00:48:41.959 --> 00:48:44.750
and actually 1,800 years
have passed since, again,

00:48:44.751 --> 00:48:48.459
a Jewish state
was established here.

00:48:59.918 --> 00:49:04.416
(narrator): Yadin articulated
the official Israeli narrative:

00:49:04.417 --> 00:49:06.333
exile indeed began

00:49:06.334 --> 00:49:10.542
with the final loss
of Jewish independence.

00:49:11.125 --> 00:49:14.083
(helicopter blades whirring)

00:49:18.542 --> 00:49:21.917
Twenty-two years
after his discoveries,

00:49:21.918 --> 00:49:24.124
Israel\'s prime minister,
Menachem Begin,

00:49:24.125 --> 00:49:29.249
flew with a group of politicians
and dignitaries to the canyon.

00:49:29.250 --> 00:49:31.208
(indistinct shout)

00:49:31.209 --> 00:49:35.958
The skeletal remains
unearthed by Yadin

00:49:35.959 --> 00:49:39.166
were given
a full military state funeral.

00:49:39.167 --> 00:49:41.959
(man speaking Hebrew)

00:49:45.083 --> 00:49:47.083
(man screaming)

00:50:19.209 --> 00:50:21.292
(man shouting order)

00:50:21.959 --> 00:50:23.959
(gunfire)

00:50:31.292 --> 00:50:34.583
(narrator): Both rebellions
were used at different times

00:50:34.584 --> 00:50:37.751
to mark the beginning of exile.

00:50:38.167 --> 00:50:39.374
Yet none of these claims

00:50:39.375 --> 00:50:43.501
are supported
by archaeological evidence.

00:50:43.792 --> 00:50:49.333
So when and how
was the idea of exile born?

00:50:49.334 --> 00:50:50.750
For answers,

00:50:50.751 --> 00:50:52.958
we need to go back to Sepphoris

00:50:52.959 --> 00:50:58.125
in the decades after the failure
of Bar Kochva\'s rebellion.

00:51:07.292 --> 00:51:09.709
(oriental music)

00:51:47.959 --> 00:51:51.959
Subtitling: CNST, Montreal