it did not matter who ruled Judea, what mattered was who ruled an individual's heart. But many Jews were not ready to make peace with a foreign occupier. Giddy over their success at evicting the Roman garrison, the Zealots openly declared war on Rome. Convinced that they were mad, other groups decided to physically challenge them. House-to-house combat that lasted a week resulted in the city of Jerusalem being severely damaged by fire and looting. The conflict quickly spread throughout Judea. Romans, Greeks and Syrians attacked the Jews, the Jews made reprisals against them as well as each other. Anarchy had replaced social order. The Siege of Jerusalem Rome had to act and General Vespasian was dispatched with three legions of 60,000 soldiers to the troubled area. The Jewish countryside fled to the walls of Jerusalem upon seeing the advancing Roman army. The historian Josephus estimated that 100,000 were trapped inside the city walls where anarchy reigned. Six rebel groups vied with one another, destroying their entire food supply. The zealots threatened death to anyone who wished to leave the city. If one did manage to escape, they faced the Roman army and their mercenaries who would either eviscerate them, looking for swallowed gold or jewels, or crucify them. The hills around Jerusalem were deforested due to the number of crosses being erected for crucifixion. Only the bodies of the dead were allowed by the Zealots to leave the city. Feigning death, Jochanan ben Zakai, with help from his disciples, was able to escape the city lying on a cart amongst a pile of rotting meat. Destruction of the Temple In 70 AD, after a four-month siege, the Romans broke through the city walls. After heavy house-to-house combat, the Roman army surrounded the Temple and destroyed it. According to Rabbi Perry Netter, “The Temple was the center of economic life of the Jewish people. It’s as if the Federal Reserve was housed in the Temple. It was the center of the judicial life, the Supreme Court was housed in the temple. It was the center of the religious life as if the high priest was the chief rabbi centered in that building.” When the temple was destroyed, there was no other branch of government left for the Jews. Without the temple, their future looked bleak indeed. The Gifts of the Jews Masada Masada, an impregnable fortress built by Herod, atop