Rabbi Zecharya ben Avkulas רבי זכריה בן אבקולס
the sage whose forbearance the Gemara named the cause of the destruction
Bar Kamtza, humiliated at another man's feast and not defended by the sages, denounced Jerusalem to the emperor; the emperor sent an offering for the Temple, and Bar Kamtza on the way made a blemish in it—of the kind that among the nations is no blemish at all. The sages were inclined to offer it for the sake of peace with the power. Rabbi Zecharya ben Avkulas said: they will say that blemished animals are offered on the altar. Then they resolved to kill the informer—and Rabbi Zecharya said: they will say that one who blemishes an offering is put to death.
And the Gemara pronounces: "The forbearance of Rabbi Zecharya ben Avkulas destroyed our House, burned our Sanctuary and exiled us from our land" (Gittin 56a).
The word rendered here "forbearance"—anvetanuto—can be given as "accommodation" or as "irresolution". The point is not a flaw of character but that caution in an hour that demands decision costs more than a mistake. The Tosefta names the same man among those strict in the laws of purity (Tosefta Shabbat 16:7)—that is, he was no chance figure but one known for strictness.
On the timeline
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Gittin 55b–56a — Kamtza and Bar Kamtza; «forbearance… destroyed our House»
- Tosefta Shabbat 16:7 — the same man among those strict in the laws of purity
Basis: Talmud and midrash.