Shimon Bar Kokhba

Shimon ben Kosiba led the last great Jewish revolt against Rome, from 132 to 135. His letters, found in the Judean Desert, sign him "Shimon bar Kosiba, Nasi of Israel." Rabbi Akiva called him Bar Kokhba, "son of the star," reading Numbers 24:17, "a star shall come out of Jacob," as a prophecy about him; Rabbi Yohanan ben Torta answered, "Akiva, grass will grow from your cheeks and the son of David will still not have come" (Jerusalem Talmud Ta'anit 4:5). The rebels held much of Judea for over three years, ran an administration that leased land, and overstruck Roman coins with "Year One of the Redemption of Israel" and "For the Freedom of Jerusalem," some showing the Temple facade.

Hadrian brought his best general, Julius Severus, from Britain. Cassius Dio (69.12–14) reports 50 fortresses and 985 villages destroyed and 580,000 men killed in battle. The last stronghold, Betar, southwest of Jerusalem, fell on 9 Av (Mishnah Ta'anit 4:6). Later rabbis turned his name into Bar Koziba, "son of the lie," for the hopes that failed, while modern Israel remembers him as a hero on Lag BaOmer.