Reply To: Kamtza & Bar Kamtza

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#942048
Avi K
Participant

The Maharal asks why Kamtza is also blamed when he wasn’t even there.He says that the atmosphere of divisiveness was so strong that the baal haseuda chose Kamtza as a friend solely because he was an enemy of Bar Kamtza. Bar Kamtza being a Tzadukki would fit in with the idea of two factions. However, in light of the Maharal’s interpretation it could be that Kamtza was not a worthy person in other ways but he was one of “unzer mentschen” simply because of his enmity towards Bar Kamtza. The use of the “bar” could also signify that things got to the point where families were split. In addition, the fact that his anger was such that he slandered the Jews to the Romans (and used the term “Jews” rather than “rabbanim’)may indicate that he felt himself it got to the point where the two factions considered theselves two separate peoples.