Ben Kalba Savu’a

According to tradition Ben Kalba Savu’a was a wealthy man of Jerusalem, who was renowned for his generosity. During the Roman siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), he and his two wealthy friends, Nakdimon b. Guryon and Ben Ẓiẓit ha-Kassat, provided food and other necessities for the inhabitants over a number of years, until the zealots set fire to their stores, in an attempt to force the people to make a desperate effort to break the siege. Historical source mentions the burning of “provisions that would have sufficed … for a long siege,” although it does not mention Ben Kalba Savu’a or his associates by name.