Bava ben Buta, the Sage Who Survived
Herod spares a single sage, blinding him; and it is this blind old man who advises the king to atone by rebuilding the Temple.
The Talmud relates that after destroying the sages of Israel, Herod left one alive — Bava ben Buta — but put out his eyes so he could not serve as a judge, and set a wreath of thorns on his head. One day the king came to him in disguise and began cursing himself, testing whether the old man would curse the ruler. Each time Bava ben Buta answered with a verse: 'Do not curse the king even in your thoughts.' Herod revealed himself: 'Had I known the sages were so careful, I would not have killed them. What can I do to repair it?' Bava replied: 'You extinguished the light of the world — occupy yourself with the light of the world.' By this account, that is how the rebuilding of the Temple began.
Bava ben Buta is remembered for other things too. A student of Shammai, he adopted stringencies voluntarily. The Mishnah records that he brought a guilt offering every day except the day after Yom Kippur, in case he had sinned without knowing. The Talmud (Nedarim 66b) preserves another story about him. A woman who had misunderstood her Babylonian husband broke two lamps over the head of Bava ben Buta as he sat in judgment. He did not take offence but asked why she had done it, and on hearing that her husband had told her to, blessed her: "You did your husband's will — may the Almighty bring forth from you two sons like Bava ben Buta."