Pt3 From Nero to Titus: The Siege of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE in Talmudic Retelling (Gittin 56a-b)

This is the third and final part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.¹

Titus

Titus Takes Command - Vespasian departs for Rome; Titus assumes the Judean campaign (Deuteronomy 32:37)

אזל שדריה לטיטוס.

״ואמר:

אי אלהימו

צור חסיו בו״ –

זה טיטוס הרשע

שחירף וגידף כלפי מעלה

§ Vespasian went back to Rome and sent Titus in his place.

The Talmud cites a verse that was expounded as referring to Titus: “And he shall say:

Where is their God,

their rock in whom they trusted?” (Deuteronomy 32:37).

This is the wicked Titus,

who insulted and blasphemed² God on High.

Holy of Holies Desecrated - Titus brings a prostitute into the Holy of Holies and has sex on a Torah scroll

מה עשה?

תפש זונה בידו

ונכנס לבית קדשי הקדשים,

והציע ספר תורה

ועבר עליה עבירה

What did Titus do when he conquered the Temple?

He took a prostitute with his hand,

and entered the Holy of Holies with her.

He then spread out a Torah scroll underneath him

and committed a sin, i.e., had sex, on it.

Titus slashes the Temple curtain, seeing blood (Psalms 74:4)

ונטל סייף

וגידר את הפרוכת,

ונעשה נס

והיה דם מבצבץ ויוצא,

וכסבור הרג את עצמו,

שנאמר:

״שאגו צורריך בקרב מועדיך

שמו אותותם אותות״.

Afterward he took a sword (סייף)

and cut into the Temple curtain (פרוכת) separating between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.

And a miracle was performed

and blood spurted forth.

Seeing the blood, he mistakenly thought that he had killed himself. Here, the term himself is a euphemism for God. Titus saw blood issuing forth from the curtain in God’s meeting place, the Temple, and he took it as a sign that he had succeeded in killing God Himself.

As it is stated:

“Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;

they have set up their own signs for signs” (Psalms 74:4).

God’s Forbearance - Midrashic voices marvel that God remains silent

Abba Ḥanan (Psalms 89:9)

אבא חנן אומר:

״מי כמוך חסין יה״

מי כמוך חסין וקשה,

שאתה שומע ניאוצו וגידופו של אותו רשע,

ושותק

Abba Ḥanan says:

The verse states: “Who is strong (חסין) like You, O YH?” (Psalms 89:9).

Who is strong and indurate like You,

as You hear the abuse (ניאוצו - “invective‏‏‏‏“) and the blasphemy of that wicked man

and remain silent.

R' Yishmael’s School - “Who is like You among the mute” (Exodus 15:11)

דבי רבי ישמעאל תנא:

״מי כמכה באלים ה׳״

מי כמוכה באלמים

Similarly, the school of R' Yishmael taught that the verse:

“Who is like You, O YHWH, among the gods [elim]” (Exodus 15:11),

should be read as: Who is like You among the mute [ilmim], for You conduct Yourself like a mute and remain silent in the face of Your blasphemers.

Loot in the Curtain - Titus bundles Temple vessels in the Temple curtain (פרוכת)

מה עשה?

נטל את הפרוכת

ועשאו כמין גרגותני,

והביא כל כלים שבמקדש

והניחן בהן,

What else did Titus do?

He took the Temple curtain³

and formed it like a large basket (גרגותני)

and brought all of the sacred vessels of the Temple

and placed them in it.

Titus ships the Temple vessels to Rome (Ecclesiastes 8:10)

והושיבן בספינה לילך להשתבח בעירו,

שנאמר:

״ובכן ראיתי רשעים קבורים ובאו,

וממקום קדוש יהלכו,

וישתכחו בעיר אשר כן עשו״ –

• אל תיקרי ״קבורים״

  • אלא ״קבוצים״;

• אל תיקרי ״וישתכחו״

  • אלא ״וישתבחו״.

And he put them on a ship to go and be praised in his city [=Rome] that he had conquered Jerusalem,

as it is stated:

“And so I saw the wicked buried, and come to their rest;

but those that had done right were gone from the holy place,

and were forgotten in the city; this also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 8:10).

• Do not read the word as “buried [kevurim].”

  • Rather, read it as collected [kevutzim].

• And do not read the word as “and were forgotten [veyishtakeḥu].”

  • Rather, read it as: And they were praised [veyishtabeḥu].

According to this interpretation, the verse speaks of those who will gather and collect items “from the holy place,” the Temple, and be praised in their city about what they had done.

איכא דאמרי,

קבורים ממש –

דאפילו מילי דמטמרן —

איגליין להון.

There are those who say that

the verse is to be read as written, as it is referring to items that were actually buried.

This is because even items that had been buried⁴ —

were revealed to them, i.e., Titus and his soldiers,

as they found all of the sacred vessels.

At sea a massive wave rises; Titus mocks God’s seeming limitation to “water power”

עמד עליו נחשול שבים לטובעו,

אמר:

כמדומה אני שאלהיהם של אלו,

אין גבורתו אלא במים:

It is further related about Titus that as he was traveling at sea, a large wave (נחשול) rose up against him and threatened to drown him.

Titus said:

It seems to me

that their God, the God of Israel,

has power only in water:

1. בא פרעה –

   1. טבעו במים,

2. בא סיסרא –

   1. טבעו במים;

3. אף הוא עומד עלי

   1. לטובעני במים.

אם גבור הוא,

יעלה ליבשה

ויעשה עמי מלחמה!

1. Pharaoh rose against them

   1. and He drowned him in water

2. Sisera rose against them

   1. and He drowned him in water (see Judges 5:21)

3. Here too, He has risen up against me

   1. to drown me in water.

If He is really mighty,

let Him go up on dry land

and there wage war against me!

A bat kol promises defeat by a mere gnat

יצתה בת קול ואמרה לו:

1. רשע

2. בן רשע

3. בן בנו של עשו הרשע!

בריה קלה יש לי בעולמי,

ויתוש שמה.

[...]

עלה ליבשה ותעשה עמה מלחמה.

A bat kol issued forth and said to him:

1. Wicked one,

2. son of a wicked one,

3. grandson of Esau the wicked, for you are among his descendants⁵ and act just like him,

I have a lowly creature in My world and it is called a gnat⁶

[...]

Go up on dry land and make war with it.

Seven-Year Gnat - A gnat enters Titus’ nostril, drills his brain for seven years

עלה ליבשה,

בא יתוש ונכנס בחוטמו,

ונקר במוחו שבע שנים.

He went up on dry land,

and a gnat came, entered his nostril (חוטמו)

and picked (נקר - “pecked”) at his brain for seven years.

Hammer blows briefly quiet the gnat in Titus’ skull, then fail

יומא חד

הוה קא חליף אבבא דבי נפחא,

שמע קל ארזפתא, אישתיק;

אמר: איכא תקנתא.

Titus suffered greatly from this until one day

he passed by the gate of a blacksmith’s shop.

The gnat heard the sound of a hammer and was silent and still.

Titus said: I see that there is a remedy for my pain.

כל יומא מייתו נפחא

ומחו קמיה.

• לגוי –

  • יהיב ליה ארבע זוזי,

• ישראל –

  • אמר ליה: מיסתייך דקא חזית בסנאך.

Every day they would bring a blacksmith

who hammered before him.

• to a non-Jew blacksmith --

  • He would give 4 dinars as payment

• and to a Jew --

  • he would simply say: It is enough for you that you see your enemy in so much pain.

עד תלתין יומין --

עבד הכי;

מכאן ואילך --

כיון דדש, דש.

for 30 days --

He did this and it was effective

From that point forward --

since the gnat became accustomed to the hammering, it became accustomed to it, and once again it began to pick away at Titus’s brain.

Autopsy reveals bird-sized gnat in Titus’ skull

תניא,

אמר רבי פנחס בן ערובא:

אני הייתי בין גדולי רומי,

וכשמת

פצעו את מוחו,

ומצאו בו כצפור דרור משקל שני סלעים.

It is taught in a baraita that

R' Pineḥas ben Arova⁷ said:

I was at that time among the noblemen of Rome,

and when Titus died

they split open his head (מוחו - literally: “brain”)

and found that the gnat had grown to the size of a sparrow (צפור דרור) weighing two sela.

במתניתא תנא:

כגוזל בן שנה –

משקל שני ליטרין.

אמר אביי:

נקטינן:

• פיו --

  • של נחושת

• וצפורניו --

  • של ברזל.

It was taught in another baraita:

It was like a 1-year-old pigeon

weighing 2 litra (from Greek/Latin)

Abaye said:

We have a tradition that

• its mouth --

  • was made of copper

• and its claws --

  • were fashioned of iron.

Ashes Scattered - Dying, Titus orders cremation and ash dispersal; in the next world his ashes are daily reconstituted, judged, and re-scattered

כי הוה קא מיית,

אמר להו:

ליקליוה לההוא גברא

ובדרו לקיטמיה אשב ימי,

דלא לשכחיה אלהא דיהודאי

ולוקמיה בדינא.

When Titus was dying,

he said to his attendants:

Burn that man, i.e., me,

and scatter his ashes across the 7 seas,

so that the God of the Jews should not find me

and stand me for judgment.

Appendix 1 - Onkelos Consults Judaism’s Historical Enemies: Seeking Advice from the Dead Titus, Balaam, and Jesus on Judaism and Conversion (Gittin 56b-57a)

Gittin.56b.18-57a.4

Onkelos Consults Titus

Necromancer Onkelos summons His Uncle Titus

אונקלוס בר קלוניקוס בר אחתיה דטיטוס הוה.

בעי לאיגיורי,

אזל אסקיה לטיטוס בנגידא,

אמר ליה: מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא?

אמר ליה: ישראל.

§ The Talmud relates: Onkelos bar Kalonikos, the son of Titus’s sister,

wanted to convert to Judaism.

He went and raised Titus from the grave through necromancy (נגידא)

and said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now?

Titus said to him: The Jewish people.

Titus advises harming Jews (Lamentations 1:5)

מהו לאידבוקי בהו?

אמר ליה:

מילייהו נפישין,

ולא מצית לקיומינהו.

זיל איגרי בהו בההוא עלמא והוית רישא,

דכתיב: ״היו צריה לראש וגו׳״

כל המיצר לישראל נעשה ראש.

Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them here in this world?

Titus said to him:

Their commandments (מילייהו - literally: “things”) are numerous,

and you will not be able to fulfill them.

It is best that you do as follows: Go out and battle against them in that world, and you will become the chief,

as it is written: “Her adversaries [tzareha] have become the chief” (Lamentations 1:5),

which means: Anyone who distresses [meitzer] Israel will become the chief.

Titus describes his endless punishment

אמר ליה: דיניה דההוא גברא במאי?

אמר ליה:

במאי דפסיק אנפשיה –

כל יומא מכנשי ליה לקיטמיה

ודייני ליה,

וקלו ליה

ומבדרו [ליה] אשב ימי.

Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Titus himself, in the next world?

Titus said to him:

That which he decreed against himself, as he undergoes the following:

Every day his ashes are gathered,

and they judge him,

and they burn him,

and they scatter him over the 7 seas.

Onkelos Consults Balaam - Balaam says Israel is supreme, counsels eternal enmity, and reveals his punishment: boiling semen (Deuteronomy 23:7)

אזל אסקיה לבלעם בנגידא,

אמר ליה: מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא?

אמר ליה: ישראל.

מהו לאידבוקי בהו?

אמר ליה: ״לא תדרוש שלומם וטובתם כל הימים״.

אמר ליה: דיניה דההוא גברא במאי?

אמר ליה: בשכבת זרע רותחת.

Onkelos then went and raised Balaam from the grave through necromancy.

He said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now?

Balaam said to him: The Jewish people.

Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them here in this world?

Balaam said to him: You shall not seek their peace or their welfare all the days (see Deuteronomy 23:7).

Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Balaam himself, in the next world?

Balaam said to him: He is cooked in boiling semen, as he caused Israel to engage in licentious behavior with the daughters of Moab.⁸

Onkelos Consults Jesus

Jesus affirms Israel’s primacy, urges seeking their welfare

אזל אסקיה בנגידא לישו הנוצרי,

אמר ליה: מאן חשיב בההוא עלמא?

אמר ליה: ישראל.

מהו לאדבוקי בהו?

אמר ליה:

טובתם דרוש,

רעתם לא תדרוש,

כל הנוגע בהן --

כאילו נוגע בבבת עינו.

Onkelos then went and raised Jesus the Nazarene from the grave through necromancy.

Onkelos said to him: Who is most important in that world where you are now?

Jesus said to him: The Jewish people.

Onkelos asked him: Should I then attach myself to them in this world?

Jesus said to him:

Their welfare (טובתם) you shall seek,

their misfortune (רעתם) you shall not seek,

for anyone who touches them --

is regarded as if he were touching the apple of his eye⁹

Jesus discloses his punishment: boiling excrement for mocking sages

אמר ליה: דיניה דההוא גברא במאי?

אמר ליה: בצואה רותחת.

דאמר מר:

כל המלעיג על דברי חכמים --

נידון בצואה רותחת

Onkelos said to him: What is the punishment of that man, a euphemism for Jesus himself, in the next world?

Jesus said to him: He is punished with boiling excrement (צואה)

As the Master said:

Anyone who mocks (מלעיג) the words of the rabbis --

will be sentenced to boiling excrement.

And this was his sin, as he mocked the words of the rabbis.

Appendix 2 - The Dynamics of Sinners and Divine Punishment (Eruvin 19a)

Eruvin.19a.4-9

Sinners and Gehenna (Psalms 84:7)

היינו דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי:

מאי דכתיב

״עוברי בעמק הבכא מעין ישיתוהו

גם ברכות יעטה מורה״.

And this is what R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“Those who pass through the valley of weeping turn it into a water spring;

moreover, the early rain covers it with blessings” (Psalms 84:7)?

1. ״עוברי״ —

   1. אלו בני אדם שעוברין על רצונו של הקדוש ברוך הוא.

2. ״עמק״ —

   1. שמעמיקין להם גיהנם.

3. ״הבכא״ —

   1. שבוכין ומורידין דמעות כמעיין של שיתין.

4. ״גם ברכות יעטה מורה״ —

   1. שמצדיקין עליהם את הדין,

1. “Those who pass through [overei],”

   1. these are people who transgress [overin] the will of God.

2. “Valley [emek]”

   1. indicates that their punishment is that Gehenna is deepened [ma’amikin] for them.

3. “Of weeping [bakha]”

   1. and “turn it into a water spring [ma’ayan yeshituhu],” indicates that they weep [bokhin] and make tears flow like a spring [ma’ayan] of the foundations [shitin], meaning like a spring that descends to the foundations of the earth.

4. “Moreover, the early rain covers it with blessings,”

   1. indicates that they accept (מצדיקין - “justify”) the justice of God’s judgment

Sinners Admit that God's Punishment Is Justified

ואומרים לפניו:

רבונו של עולם!

1. יפה דנת,

2. יפה זכית,

3. יפה חייבת,

4. ויפה תקנת

   1. גיהנם לרשעים

   2. גן עדן לצדיקים

and say before Him:

God!

1. You have judged properly,

2. You have acquitted properly,

3. You have condemned properly,

4. and it is befitting that You have prepared

   1. Gehenna for the wicked

   2. and the Garden of Eden for the righteous.

The wicked don’t repent even at the entrance to Gehenna (Isaiah 66:24)

איני?

והאמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש:

רשעים —

אפילו על פתחו של גיהנם

אינם חוזרין בתשובה,

The Talmud raises a difficulty: Is that so?

Didn’t R' Shimon ben Lakish say:

The wicked —

even at the entrance to Gehenna,

do not repent

שנאמר:

״ויצאו

וראו בפגרי האנשים הפושעים בי וגו׳״,

״שפשעו״ לא נאמר,

אלא ״הפושעים״ —

שפושעים והולכין לעולם!

as it is stated:

“And they shall go forth,

and look upon the carcasses of the men who rebel against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24)?

The verse does not say: “Who rebelled (פשעו - past tense)”,

but rather: “Who rebel,” in the present tense,

meaning they continue rebelling forever.

Jewish vs. Non-Jewish sinners

לא קשיא:

• הא —

  • בפושעי ישראל,

• הא —

  • בפושעי אומות העולם.

The Talmud answers: This is not difficult;

• here, i.e., where it is said that they accept God’s judgment,

  • it is referring to Jewish sinners (פושעי ישראל)

• there, i.e., where it is said that they do not recant,

  • it is referring to non-Jewish sinners (פושעי אומות העולם)

הכי נמי מסתברא,

דאם כן קשיא דריש לקיש אדריש לקיש.

דאמר ריש לקיש:

פושעי ישראל —

אין אור גיהנם שולטת בהן,

So too, it is reasonable to say this,

for if you do not say so, there would be a contradiction between one statement of Reish Lakish and another statement of Reish Lakish.

As Reish Lakish said:

With regard to Jewish sinners —

the fire of Gehenna has no power over them

‘a fortiori’ reasoning from the Golden Altar

קל וחומר ממזבח הזהב:

• מה מזבח הזהב,

  • שאין עליו אלא כעובי דינר זהב,

    • עמד כמה שנים ולא שלטה בו האור.

• פושעי ישראל,

  • שמליאין מצות כרמון […]

    • על אחת כמה וכמה

as may be learned by a fortiori reasoning from the golden altar:

• If the golden altar in the Temple,

  • which was only covered by gold the thickness of a golden dinar,

    • stood for many years and the fire did not burn it, for its gold did not melt,

• so too Jewish sinners,

  • who are filled with good deeds like a pomegranate […]

    • how much more so should the fire of Gehenna have no power over them.

Appendix 3 - The Concealing of the Ark and Other Temple Items (Yoma 52b)

Yoma.52b.11-15

List of Temple Items concealed (I Samuel 6:8)

[…]

תניא:

משנגנז ארון —

נגנזה עמו

1. צנצנת המן,

2. וצלוחית שמן המשחה,

3. ומקלו של אהרן ושקדיה ופרחיה,

4. וארגז ששגרו פלשתים דורון לאלהי ישראל,

שנאמר:

״וכלי הזהב אשר השיבותם לו אשם

תשימו בארגז מצדו

ושלחתם אותו והלך״.

[…]

taught in a baraita that

when the Ark was buried (נגנז - “stored away, concealed“),

along with it was buried

1. the jar (צנצנת) of manna that was next to it,

2. and the flask (צלוחית) of oil used for anointing (שמן המשחה)

3. and Aaron’s staff with its almonds and blossoms,

4. and the chest (ארגז) that the Philistines sent as a gift (דורון - from Greek) to the God of Israel

after they captured the Ark and were stricken by several plagues,

as it is stated:

“And put the jewels of gold that you return to Him for a guilt-offering,

in a coffer by its side,

and send it away that it may go” (I Samuel 6:8)?

Josiah Concealed Them (Deuteronomy 28:36)

ומי גנזו —

יאשיהו גנזו.

מה ראה שגנזו?

ראה שכתוב:

״יולך ה׳ אותך

ואת מלכך אשר תקים עליך״,

עמד וגנזו.

§ And who buried the Ark?

Josiah, king of Judea, buried it.

And what did he see that he decided to bury it?

He saw that it is written:

“YHWH will bring you,

and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known” (Deuteronomy 28:36).

Since he knew that the Jewish people would ultimately be exiled, he felt it was better that the Ark should not be disgraced in exile, and therefore he arose and buried it.

Biblical Prooftexts that Josiah Concealed Them (I Chronicles 35:3)

שנאמר:

״ויאמר ללוים המבינים לכל ישראל הקדושים לה׳:

תנו את ארון הקודש בבית אשר בנה שלמה בן דוד מלך ישראל

אין לכם משא בכתף

עתה עבדו את ה׳ אלהיכם ואת עמו ישראל״.

The Talmud cites the source for the tradition that Josiah buried the Ark.

As it is stated:

“And he said to the Levites who taught all of Israel, who were sacred to YHWH:

Put the sacred Ark in the house that Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, built.

There shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders;

now serve YHWH your God, and His people Israel” (I Chronicles 35:3).

In other words, from now onward the Levites will no longer carry the Ark on their shoulders, and they should dedicate themselves to their service of singing and locking the gates of the Temple.

ואמר רבי אלעזר:

• אתיא

  • ״שמה״

  • ״שמה״

• ואתיא

  • ״דורות״

  • ״דורות״

• ואתיא

  • ״משמרת״

  • ״משמרת״

And R' Elazar said:

• The matter is derived by means of a verbal analogy (re the hiding of the Ark)

  • as it is written with regard to the Ark: “That is by the Ark of the Testimony, before the Ark cover that is above the testimony, there (שמה) will I meet with you” (Exodus 30:6),

  • and it is written: “Take a jar and put a full omer of manna there, and place it before YHWH for safekeeping throughout your generations” (Exodus 16:33).

• And it is further derived by verbal analogy (re the hiding of the sacred anointing oil)

  • from the term “Generations” written here

  • and “generations” written with regard to the oil used for anointing: “This shall be a sacred anointing oil for Me throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:31).

• R' Elazar continued: And it is likewise derived by verbal analogy (re the hiding of Aaron’s rod)

  • from the term “safekeeping” (משמרת) stated here

  • and “safekeeping” stated in connection to the staff of Aaron: “Place back the rod of Aaron before the testimony for safekeeping” (Numbers 17:25).

These verbal analogies teach that all of these items were hidden together with the Ark.

1. Thus concludes my series on the sugya of the Destruction.

All the posts in the series, in order of the sugya:

1. Talmudic Stories Relating to the Destruction of the Second Temple (Gittin 55b-56a)

2. From Nero to Titus: The Siege of Jerusalem and the Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE in Talmudic Retelling (Gittin 56a-b)

   1. Pt1

   2. Pt2

3. The Destruction of “King’s Mountain” (‘Tur Malka’): A Story of Custom, Rebellion, and Massacre (Gittin 57a)

4. Three Talmudic Stories about the Righteous Community of Kefar Sekhanya of Egypt (Gittin 57a)

5. [Appendix - The Beitar Massacre (Gittin 57a, sections # 21-23)]

6. Rome’s Hands, Jacob’s Voice: A Talmudic Lament Over the Destruction (Gittin 57b-58a)

2. חירף וגידף.

On this common Talmudic idiom, see my previous piece.

3. פרוכת.

Mentioned also in the previous section, that he had had sex on it.

4. מטמרן - “hidden, concealed‏”.

On the hiding of Temple vessels, compare the baraita cited in the appendix at the end of this piece, “Appendix 3 - The Concealing of the Ark and Other Temple Items (Yoma 52b)“.

5. On Rome as typological descendant of Esau, see my previous footnote.

6. יתוש.

The Talmud here glosses, Gittin.56b.14:

אמאי קרי לה ״בריה קלה״?

דמעלנא אית לה,

ומפקנא לית לה

Why is it called a “lowly (קלה - literally: “light”) creature”?

It is called this because it has an entrance (מעלנא) for taking in food,

but it does not have an exit (מפקנא) for excretion.

7. רבי פנחס בן ערובא.

This person is mentioned one other time in the Talmud, cited by R’ Yohanan in Bekhorot.38b.19. His surname likely means “raven” (עורב).

8. See the Talmud’s discussion of this biblical episode, in my two-part series “The Prophet, the Prostitutes, and the Curses Reversed: The Biblical Story of Balaam in Talmudic Interpretation (Sanhedrin 105b-106b)“, final part here.

See especially ibid., section “Balaam's Plot: The Dramatic Story of How Prostitutes Led the Jewish Men Astray“.

9. בבת עינו; see Zechariah 2:12.

The Talmud later comments on this, Gittin.57a.4:

תא חזי

מה בין פושעי ישראל

לנביאי אומות העולם

Come and see

the difference between Jewish sinners [=Jesus]

and non-Jewish prophets [=Balaam]

As Balaam, who was a prophet, wished Israel harm, whereas Jesus, who was a Jewish sinner, sought their well-being.

Compare the similar idea elsewhere, cited in the next appendix, “Appendix 2 - The Dynamics of Sinners and Divine Punishment (Eruvin 19a)“.