The Gemara says that after breaches were made in the walls of Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim became a Reshus ha'Rabim. In Pesachim 66a (Tosfos DH Tochev) we find that breeches made Yerushalayim into a Reshus ha'Rabim back in the times of Hillel ha'Nasi.
Who made these breeches in the wall? And if they were there in the times of Hillel, why weren't they there any more in the times of Rebbi Yochanan, who said that Yerushalayim was a Karmelis. Didn't he live much later?
Thanks!
Tuvya Marcus, Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel
Thanks for the excellent question.
Based on the Gemara Shabbos (15a), Hillel was appointed Nasi in the year 30-32 BCE (a century before the Churban). Accordingly, this incident occurred during the early years of King Herod, shortly after the civil war between him and the Chasmonai king Matisyahu Antigonos. It is very possible that these breaches were a result of that civil war. Eventually, King Herod rebuilt the walls of Yerushalayim, and they stood intact until the Churban.
Kol tuv,
Yehuda Landy