Nero's Conversion to Judaism

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  • September 24, 2015 10:39 pm at 10:39 pm #616372
    Joseph
    Participant

    Was Nero the Roman Emperor who converted to Judaism? (From the Gemora where he shot four arrows from Yerushalayim.)

    September 24, 2015 11:15 pm at 11:15 pm #1100674
    zogt_besser
    Participant

    the gemara in gittin 56 says this: ??? ??????? ?????? ????

    I think it’s safe to say that “Neron” refers to Nero.

    September 24, 2015 11:46 pm at 11:46 pm #1100675
    Joseph
    Participant

    I’ve read that the accusation that “Nero fiddled while Rome burned” was a falsehood and libel issued against him by some ancient historians embarrassed that a Roman Emperor became a Jew. He was in fact out of Rome during the fire.

    September 25, 2015 4:16 am at 4:16 am #1100676
    Sam2
    Participant

    Joseph: That is incredibly unlikely as none of the Roman sources or ancient historians even reference, in any way, his conversion.

    I find it most likely that, if you want to reconcile the Gemara’s account with the history that we can tell, he just ran off and disappeared after being condemned for being a traitor to Rome. Everyone assumed he killed himself (I searched but I don’t think anyone mentions a funeral). In reality he became Jewish and lived in anonymity somewhere.

    September 25, 2015 4:19 am at 4:19 am #1100677
    –
    Participant

    If he did convert it would have to be close to his death, a number of years after the fire and the accusations against him.

    Alternatively, you can claim that he was a wonderful emperor and everything against him was fabricated by later historians.

    September 25, 2015 4:55 am at 4:55 am #1100678
    Joseph
    Participant

    Sam, Roman historians aren’t renown for their honesty. L’havdil, much like today’s liberal historians who read into history their agenda.

    Nero’s conversion was an embarrassment to the Roman establishment and it would be no wonder that they’d falsely write him out of history as a miscreant and try to whitewash and ignore his conversion. Indeed, today the historians view is that the idea that Nero fiddled while Rome burned is a falsehood.

    September 25, 2015 4:58 am at 4:58 am #1100679
    Joseph
    Participant

    Sam, why would you so willingly eat up and accept the record of Roman historians? Btw, the Roman historians whose record survived all are from a later era than Nero. And why would you accept that over Chazal?

    September 25, 2015 5:11 am at 5:11 am #1100680
    Sam2
    Participant

    The Gemara’s apparent timeline as is is problematic, though, because Nero was the one who sent Vespasian himself. So he clearly didn’t do Teshuvah immediately. Him doing Tshuvah later can work in the wording of the Gemara, but it’s forced.

    September 25, 2015 5:37 am at 5:37 am #1100681
    Joseph
    Participant

    You’re still challenging Chazal based on claims of Roman historians. Rather you should challenge the Roman historians claims based on the emes from Chazal.

    September 25, 2015 3:02 pm at 3:02 pm #1100683
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    the Gemorah is not a History book, it was not written that way and was not meant to as such

    September 25, 2015 3:19 pm at 3:19 pm #1100684
    GoGoGo
    Participant

    he ran away and converted to judaism.

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