The Reason for This Long Exile

As always, I would like to share some of my thoughts on a topic I think we can learn more about, since I still think some things may have been left out or could be understood differently from another angle. And as always, everything that is about to follow is just my opinion.

In Masekhet Gittin 55b, it talks about one interesting law:

The law is called Sikarikon, or סיקריקון, which means possessor of confiscated property. If someone first purchased land from a Sicarius, who extorted the field from its prior owners with threats, and afterward the buyer returned and purchased the same field a second time from the prior landowner, his purchase is void. The prior owner of the field can say he did not actually mean to sell it to him. By contrast, if he first acquired the field from the prior owner and afterward he returned and purchased the same field from a Sicarius, his purchase stands.

This law refers as a counter-measure to deal effectively with religious persecution against Jews in which the Roman government had permitted its own citizens to seize the property of Jewish landowners who were either absent or killed in war, or taken captive, or else where Roman citizens had received property (real estate) that had been confiscated by the state in the laws prescribed under ager publicus - where Vespasian gave order that all Judea should be exposed to sale, and to which the original Jewish owners of such property had not incurred any legal debt or fine, but had simply been the victims of war and the illegal, governmental expropriation of such lands from their rightful owners or heirs. The original Jewish law, made at some time after the First Jewish-Roman War with Vespasian and his son Titus, saw additional amendments by later rabbinic courts, all of which were meant to safeguard against depriving the original landowners and their heirs of any land that belonged to them, and to ensure their ability to redeem such property in the future. (source)

I believe the owner of the banquet and Bar Kamtza had a property-related problem: one of them tried to get his rightful property back where Sikarikon was involved, the other refused, and that led to the nasty dispute between the two.

But there’s a bigger problem: Batei Dinim maintain those records, and because of a fire or some other unfortunate event, the records may have been damaged or lost, and plenty of people may have had similar property-related problems. I won’t be afraid to mention here the marriage and divorce contracts that may have had similar issues. 

The incident with Bar Kamtza is just one that the Gemara documented; most likely, there were thousands of these disputes.

This led to the Galut, or Exile. Problems arose from poor record-keeping of real estate deeds, titles, and records overall. Galut solves it all - wiped clean all the records, and all of those families that lived in the Land died or got lost in history, so no family at that time owned anything in the Land, which meant one thing - no more disputes.

Geulah, or Redemption, may happen in our times because we have computer systems and established procedures to track real estate transactions, titles, and deeds throughout the Land and the World.

As Ezekiel 48 says, the Son of David will once again divide the Land between the tribes. In the Book The Third Bet Hamikdash, Preface, it says: "So says God, the Lord, 'This is the boundary for which you shall divide the land as an inheritance…. You shall divide it as an inheritance, for each [tribe] like his brother.'" These verses imply that the future division of the land will not resemble the original division, in which each tribe was given a portion according to its population. In the future time, all the tribes will be given equal portions. The division of the tribes' portions will resemble the rows of a vineyard, with each portion spanning from the eastern border of Eretz Yisrael to the Sea on the west, as explained in the narrative. No two tribes will be given a portion in the same strip of land.

Going forward, we will implement better record-keeping using the latest technologies across all categories, which will eventually lead to peace between people.

I believe the whole incident with Bar Kamtza was property/money related. The mistake of the many was that they followed the owner of the banquet, because he knew how to convince, and everyone blindly followed him, and went against one man - Bar Kamtza. At this point, it doesn’t matter who was right or wrong; it turned out BAD for everyone.

WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLICLY DECLARE: 

To the Creator of the World, 

Today we have great systems to maintain the records of all the real estate sales, deeds, and titles, and not only in business but across all categories, in order to prevent the occurrence of a similar situation in the future.

But most importantly, we have the scholars and the knowledge to make the Torah law our primary law of the Land, finely integrated into our daily life to tackle business and related problems which we might face in the future. So, coming out after all these centuries of exile, we are better equipped and skilled to build a better society; therefore, we are now ready to go Home.

Blow the shofar, sound the trumpets, and sing the songs of joy. The King has returned to His Nation!!

Shmuel Katanov