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• The destruction itself is a long and fascinating story – but it was horrific for the Jews. They had no food. They were desperate. They resorted to cannibalism, just as Deuteronomy chapter 28 had said. Any caught escaping were crucified – up to 500 per day. There were so many crucifixions, in fact, that the Romans ran out of wood. Inside, any Jews who suggesting surrender as an option, were killed by the Zealots.
• The Temple, and Jerusalem itself, were destroyed by the Roman army on the 9th day of the Hebrew month Av. The 9th of Av has ever since been a day of mourning for Jews. Ironically, it was the very same day that the First Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonian Empire, in 586 B.C. as we saw in our lessons on the Babylonian Empire and the Babylonian Exile.