Bar Kochba and the brazen foxes

We currently have a family of foxes living in our back garden. Two adult foxes (who we are presuming are the mum and dad) and six of their cubs are currently living under the decking at the back of our garden. Between 4-7pm everyday they are outside, playing on the trampoline or just lolling about in the late afternoon sunshine. (The irony is that we built the decking so we could take advantage of the late afternoon and evening sunshine so at least someone is getting use out of it!). In the course of the invasion I’ve learnt several things about these urban warriors. Firstly, they aren’t considered pests so the council won’t get rid of them, secondly, for a fox to have six cubs is very rare and thirdly they are the most brazen animal I think I have ever seen. They simply have no fear of us and have been frequently gaining the upper hand in the staring competition that my family engage in every evening. So, I’ve concluded that we just have to accept that they’re there and hope they soon decide that they’ve had enough and move on.

The head of the fox family reminds me of that famous Judean warrior, Shimon Bar Kochba who was a leader of a rebellion in Judaea against the Romans in the second century. He was the commander of a revolt that began when the Emperor Hadrian broke a promise that he would rebuild a temple for Jews on the site of the destroyed second temple. As this promise failed to materialise the remaining Jews in Judaea sought to overthrow the Romans. The rebellion lasted three years and was not a success. Many historians believe that it was this revolt that finally led to the collapse of ancient Israel and the dispersal of Jews into the Diaspora.

In spite of early successes the rebels were defeated by the Romans. The ringleaders were caught and severely punished and surviving Jews sold into slavery and sent to other parts of the Roman Empire. So, why did the rebellion fail? Bar Kochba was referred to by Rabbi Akiva, as the ‘son of a star’[1] and it was thought that Bar Kochba was the messiah. So, what changed?

Jewish sources estimate that Bar Kochba had over 10,000 fighters in his rebel army. He was clearly recognised as a great leader and had the support of learned rabbis as well as all the different factions of Jews that lived at the time. However, The sages believe they lost because they were too arrogant[2]. Having tasted victory they adopted the attitude of, "by my strength and my valour I did this." (Deut. 8:17)

Bar Kochba’s failure was that he started to believe in his own hype. He heard people calling him the Messiah. Certainly, if Rabbi Akiva thought so, then he had the potential to be Israel's Ultimate Leader. He also became corrupted by his power and even beat his uncle, the great Rabbi Elazar HaModai, to death, having accepted false accusations that he was a Roman spy. Because of these faults he began to lose battles and was forced into retreat. Whether you feel that Shimon Bar Kochba is a great leader or not, the evidence that he wanted Jews in Judaea to live independently and practice freely shows that at the beginning he cared about his people and their destiny.

So, back to the fox family currently making the Juggler back garden their home. Mama Fox (at least that’s what I call her) is bar Kochba in a nutshell. Brazen, a great leader (those cubs never step out of line) and is staying her ground. Her followers are inspired by her brazenness, cunningness and rebelliousness. They don’t care about the noise we make, they aren’t bothered by the anti-animal spray. They aren’t bothered that whenever we have visitors to our house between 4-7pm, the boys drag them to the back door to show them our ‘guests’... they have simply decided that they like the look of our place and for the meantime, that’s where they are going to stay. I, on the other hand hope they continue to be like Bar Kochba and start to believe they are invincible. And then I will put my plan of defence into place. (Not that I know what it is yet so any ideas will be gratefully received!)




[1] Bar Kochba's success caused many to believe that he could be the Messiah. He was nicknamed "Bar Kochba" or "Son of Star," an allusion to a verse in the Book of Numbers (24:17): "there shall come a star out of Jacob." This star is understood to refer to the Messiah.


[2] This is mention in a discussion in the Talmud ta’anit 4:5