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

“For Your sake we are killed all day long” (Psalms 44:23): Stories of Roman Atrocities in Eretz Yisrael and Jewish Slaves

On the occasion of the commemoration of Tisha B’Av.¹

This sugya is one of the most harrowing sections in the Babylonian Talmud. It builds on the biblical verse ‘The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau’ (Genesis 27:22), using it as a theological frame to interpret Roman atrocities committed against the Jews. The Talmud identifies emperors Hadrian and Vespasian with the ‘voice of Jacob’ — not in mercy, but in the cries of slaughtered Jews — while ‘the hands of Esau’ symbolize the destructive violence of Rome.

The sugya mixes midrash, history, and martyr narrative, quoting Psalms and Lamentations throughout, to frame the suffering. The narrative turns to scenes of martyrdom: 400 children taken for sexual enslavement drown themselves in the sea; a woman watches her seven sons martyred by the Roman emperor for refusing to worship idols, each quoting a different biblical verse in defiance; she leaps to her death, and a heavenly voice calls her ‘a joyful mother of children’.

There are additional tales of individual loss: a captive child quoting Isaiah, whom R’ Yehoshua ben Ḥananya ransoms at great cost; a brother and sister (R' Yishmael ben Elisha’s enslaved children) unknowingly forced together, dying in grief upon recognizing each other; the raped and auctioned daughter of the High Priest; the final humiliation of a cuckolded man serving his wife and her new husband. In each, theology and atrocity are inseparably entwined.

Outline

Intro

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

Rome (“Esau”) vs. Jews (“Jacob”)

1. Mapping “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22) onto Roman violence against Jews

2. Hadrian, Vespasian, and the wicked Roman Empire

3. Voice and Victory as Ethnic Attributes: ‘Voice of Jacob' means no prayer is effective without a Jew; 'hands of Esau' means no war is won without a Roman

4. R' Elazar - hiding from quarrels incited by slander (Job 5:21)

5. Rav Yehuda citing Rav - David saw both the First and Second Temple's destruction (Psalm 137:1,7)

Story of 400 boys and girls taken captive for sexual slavery

1. Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel - 400 boys and girls, captured for prostitution, drowned themselves in the sea (Psalms 68:23)

2. Girls kill themselves; The boys reasoned: if girls kill themselves despite sex with men being their usual path, how much more so should they (Psalms 44:23)

Story of martyrdom of the woman and her seven sons

1. Rav Yehuda - Psalm 44:23 refers to the martyrdom of the woman and her seven sons

2. Sequential Trial and Execution of the Seven Sons (Exodus 20:2–3, 22:19; Deuteronomy 6:4, 4:39)

3. The Response of the Final (=7th) Son (Deuteronomy 26:17–18)

4. The Emperor’s Offer and the Son’s Retort

5. The mother praises their martyrdom and compares her situation to Abraham’s sacrifice

6. The mother commits suicide by jumping off a roof; a bat kol declares her joyous (Psalms 113:9)

Beitar massacre

1. Numbers related to the massive number of tefillin and brain matter of the massacred

2. Biblical Lament Citation: Psalms 137:8–9 cited as the biblical response to the massacre

3. The boys’ beauty outshone gold (Lamentations 4:2)

4. Romans first used pornographic images during sex, then used Jewish slaves (due to their beauty)

5. (Deuteronomy 28:61)

6. Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel citing Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel - Beitar had 400 synagogues with 400 teachers each, each teaching 400 students (Lamentations 3:51)

7. Children Resist and Are Burned: The children fought the enemy with pens, were captured, wrapped in scrolls, and burned

Story of R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya Ransoming a Jewish Boy Enslaved in Rome

1. Call and response of the verse in Isaiah 42:24

2. R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya ransoms him at great cost

3. The boy becomes a great decisor; identified as R' Yishmael

Story of Yishmael ben Elisha’s enslaved children

1. Rav Yehuda citing Rav

2. They are unknowingly matched to mate with each other

3. They recognize each other too late and die weeping (Lamentations 1:16)

Story of Tzafenat bat Peniel, the enslaved daughter of the High Priest

1. Reish Lakish - Etymology of her name

2. She’s raped, then displayed for sale, and raped again

3. She tears her garment, rolls in ashes, and calls on God to protect His name

4. (Jeremiah 6:26)

Story of the Carpenter's Apprentice

1. Rav Yehuda citing Rav (Micah 2:2)

2. the Carpenter's Apprentice covets his master's wife and tricks him into divorcing her

3. Final Humiliation: The ex-husband must serve the couple and cries into their cups; this seals the nation’s fate

The Passage

Gittin.57b.9-58a.21

Rome (“Esau”) vs. Jews (“Jacob”)

Mapping “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22) onto Roman violence against Jews

״הקול קול יעקב

והידים ידי עשו״

§ Apropos its discussion of the destruction of the Temple and the calamities that befell Israel, the Talmud cites the verse:

“The voice is the voice of Jacob,

but the hands are the hands of Esau” (Genesis 27:22),

which the rabbis expounded as follows:

Hadrian, Vespasian, and the wicked Roman Empire

1. ״הקול״,

   1. זה אדריינוס קיסר,

   2. שהרג באלכסנדריא של מצרים ששים רבוא על ששים רבוא, כפלים כיוצאי מצרים.

2. ״קול יעקב״ –

   1. זה אספסיינוס קיסר,

   2. שהרג בכרך ביתר ארבע מאות רבוא,

   3. ואמרי לה: ארבעת אלפים רבוא.

3. ״והידים ידי עשו״ –

   1. זו מלכות הרשעה,

   2. ש

      1. החריבה את בתינו,

      2. ושרפה את היכלנו,

      3. והגלתנוּ מארצנו.

1. “The voice”;

   1. this is the cry stirred up by the emperor Hadrian,²

   2. who caused the Jewish people to cry out when he killed 600,000 on 600,000 in Alexandria of Egypt, twice the number of men who left Egypt.³

2. “The voice of Jacob”;

   1. this is the cry aroused by the emperor Vespasian,⁴

   2. who killed 4 million people in the city of Beitar.

   3. And some say: He killed 40 million people.

3. “And the hands are the hands of Esau”;

   1. this is the wicked kingdom of Rome⁵

   2. that

      1. destroyed our Temple,

      2. burned our Sanctuary,

      3. and exiled us from our land.⁶

Voice and Victory as Ethnic Attributes: ‘Voice of Jacob' means no prayer is effective without a Jew; 'hands of Esau' means no war is won without a Roman

דבר אחר:

• ״הקול קול יעקב״ –

  • אין לך תפלה שמועלת, שאין בה מזרעו של יעקב.

• ״והידים ידי עשו״ –

  • אין לך מלחמה שנוצחת, שאין בה מזרעו של עשו.

Alternatively,

• “the voice is the voice of Jacob”

  • means that no prayer is effective in the world unless some member of the seed of Jacob has a part in it.

• “and the hands are the hands of Esau,”

  • means that no war grants victory unless some member of the seed of Esau has a part in it.

R' Elazar - hiding from quarrels incited by slander (Job 5:21)

והיינו דאמר רבי אלעזר:

״בשוט לשון תחבא״ –

בחירחורי לשון תחבא

And this is what R' Elazar says:

The verse that says: “You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue” (Job 5:21),

means: You shall need to hide (תחבא) on account of quarrels (חירחורי) provoked by the tongue.

Rav Yehuda citing Rav - David saw both the First and Second Temple's destruction (Psalm 137:1,7)

אמר רב יהודה אמר רב,

מאי דכתיב:

״על נהרות בבל,

שם ישבנו גם בכינו

בזכרנו את ציון״?

מלמד ש:

הראהו הקדוש ברוך הוא לדוד

1. חורבן בית ראשון

2. וחורבן בית שני.

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“By the rivers of Babylonia,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion” (Psalms 137:1)?

This teaches that God showed David

1. the destruction of the First Temple

2. and the destruction of the Second Temple.

1. חורבן בית ראשון –

   1. שנאמר:

      1. ״על נהרות בבל

      2. שם ישבנו גם בכינו״.

2. בית שני –

   1. דכתיב:

      1. ״זכור ה׳ לבני אדום את יום ירושלים,

      2. האומרים: ערו ערו עד היסוד בה״.

1. He saw the destruction of the First Temple,

   1. as it is stated:

      1. “By the rivers of Babylon,⁷

      2. there we sat down and wept.”

2. He saw the destruction of the Second Temple,

   1. as it is written later in that same psalm:

      1. “Remember, O YHWH, against the children of Edom the day of Jerusalem,

      2. when they said: Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation” (Psalms 137:7), as the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, “the children of Edom.”⁸

Story of 400 boys and girls taken captive for sexual slavery

Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel - 400 boys and girls, captured for prostitution

אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל,

ואיתימא רבי אמי,

ואמרי לה במתניתא תנא:

מעשה בארבע מאות ילדים וילדות שנשבו לקלון

Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says,

and some say that it was R' Ami who says this,

and some say that it was taught in a baraita:

There was an incident involving 400 boys and girls who were taken as captives for the purpose of prostitution⁹

הרגישו בעצמן למה הן מתבקשים,

אמרו:

אם אנו טובעין בים –

אנו באין לחיי העולם הבא?

These children sensed on their own what they were expected to do,

and they said:

If we commit suicide and drown in the sea,

will we come to eternal life in the World-to-Come?

(Psalms 68:23)

דרש להן הגדול שבהן:

״אמר ה׳ מבשן אשיב,

אשיב ממצולות ים״

• ״מבשן אשיב״,

  • מבין שיני אריה;

• ״אשיב ממצולות ים״,

  • אלו שטובעין בים.

The oldest child among them expounded the verse:

“YHWH said, I will bring back from Bashan,

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea” (Psalms 68:23).

• “I will bring back from Bashan,”

  • i.e., from between the teeth [bein shen] of the lion,¹⁰

• and “I will bring them back from the depths of the sea”

  • is referring to those who drown in the sea for the sake of Heaven.

Girls kill themselves by drowning themselves in the sea; The boys reasoned: if girls kill themselves despite sex with men being their usual path, how much more so should they (Psalms 44:23)

כיון ששמעו ילדות כך,

קפצו כולן ונפלו לתוך הים.

נשאו ילדים קל וחומר בעצמן,

ואמרו:

• מה הללו,

  • שדרכן לכך –

    • כך;

• אנו,

  • שאין דרכנו לכך –

    • על אחת כמה וכמה!

אף הם קפצו לתוך הים.

ועליהם הכתוב אומר:

״כי עליך הרגנו כל היום,

נחשבנו כצאן טבחה״.

When the girls heard this,

they all leapt and fell into the sea.¹¹

The boys then drew an a fortiori inference with regard to themselves

and said:

• If these girls,

  • for whom sex with men is their natural way,

    • act in such a manner,

• then we,

  • for whom sex with men is not our natural way,

    • should all the more so conduct ourselves likewise.

They too leapt into the sea.

Concerning them and others like them the verse states:

“As For Your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter” (Psalms 44:23).

Story of martyrdom of the woman and her seven sons

Rav Yehuda - Psalm 44:23 refers to the martyrdom of the woman and her seven sons

ורב יהודה אמר:

זו אשה ושבעה בניה

And Rav Yehuda said:

This verse applies to the woman and her seven sons who died as martyrs for the sake of the sanctification of God’s name.¹²

Sequential Trial and Execution of the Seven Sons (Exodus 20:2–3, 22:19; Deuteronomy 6:4, 4:39)

The sons appear one by one before the emperor. Each time a son is ordered to commit idolatry (i.e. to worship a pagan statue), and each time the son recites a verse from the Torah about the prohibition of idolatry to justify his refusal:

1. “I am YHWH your God” (Exodus 20:2)

2. “You shall have no other gods beside Me” (Exodus 20:3)

3. “He that sacrifices to any god… shall be destroyed” (Exodus 22:19)

4. “You shall not bow down to another god” (Exodus 34:14)

5. “Hear, O Israel, YHWH is our God, YHWH is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

6. “YHWH is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39)

7. “You have avouched YHWH… and YHWH has avouched you” (Deuteronomy 26:17–18)

1. אתיוה לקמא לקמיה דקיסר,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״אנכי ה׳ אלהיך״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

2. אתיוה לאידך לקמיה דקיסר,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

3. אתיוה לאידך,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״זובח לאלהים יחרם״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

4. אתיוה לאידך,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״לא תשתחוה לאל אחר״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

5. אתיוה לאידך,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״שמע ישראל ה׳ אלהינו ה׳ אחד״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

6. אתיוה לאידך,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

   2. אמר להו, כתוב בתורה: ״וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך, כי ה׳ הוא האלהים בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת, אין עוד״.

   3. אפקוה וקטלוה.

7. אתיוה לאידך,

   1. אמרו ליה: פלח לעבודה זרה!

The incident occurred as follows:

1. They brought in the first of the woman’s sons before the emperor

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “I am YHWH your God” (Exodus 20:2).

   3. They immediately took him out and killed him.

2. And they then brought in another son before the emperor,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “You shall have no other gods beside Me” (Exodus 20:3).

   3. And so they took him out and killed him.

3. They then brought in yet another son before the emperor,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “He that sacrifices to any god, save to YHWH only, he shall be utterly destroyed” (Exodus 22:19).

   3. And so they took him out and killed him.

4. They then brought in another son,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “You shall not bow down to any other god” (Exodus 34:14).

   3. And so they took him out and killed him.

5. They then brought in yet another son,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “Hear, O Israel, YHWH is our God, YHWH is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

   3. And so they took him out and killed him.

6. They then brought in another son,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

   2. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah: “Know therefore this today, and consider it in your heart, that YHWH, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39).

   3. And so they took him out and killed him..

7. They then brought in yet another son,

   1. and said to him: Worship the idol.

The Response of the Final (=7th) Son (Deuteronomy 26:17–18)

אמר להו:

כתוב בתורה:

״את ה׳ האמרת וגו׳

וה׳ האמירך היום״,

• כבר נשבענו להקדוש ברוך הוא --

  • שאין אנו מעבירין אותו באל אחר,

• ואף הוא נשבע לנו --

  • שאין מעביר אותנו באומה אחרת.

He said to them:

I cannot do so, as it is written in the Torah:

“You have avouched YHWH this day to be your God…

and YHWH has avouched you this day to be a people for His own possession” (Deuteronomy 26:17–18).

• We already took an oath to God --

  • that we will not exchange Him for a different god,

• and He too has taken an oath to us --

  • that He will not exchange us for another nation.

The Emperor’s Offer and the Son’s Retort

The emperor tries to spare the final child through a ruse: if the son merely bends down to pick up a royal seal, onlookers will assume he submitted.

The son refuses, declaring that if such deference is due to a human king, it is all the more so to God. His logic reverses the emperor’s own assumptions.

אמר ליה קיסר:

אישדי לך גושפנקא

וגחין ושקליה,

כי היכי דלימרו: קביל עליה הרמנא דמלכא.

אמר ליה:

חבל עלך קיסר, חבל עלך קיסר;

• על כבוד עצמך --

  • כך,

• על כבוד הקדוש ברוך הוא --

  • על אחת כמה וכמה!

It was the youngest brother who had said this, and the emperor pitied him.

Seeking a way to spare the boy’s life, the emperor said to him:

I will throw down my seal (גושפנקא) before you;

bend over and pick it up,

so that people will say that he has accepted the king’s authority [harmana].

The boy said to him:

Woe [ḥaval] to you, Caesar, woe to you, Caesar.

• If you think that for the sake of your honor --

  • I should fulfill your command and do this,

• then for the sake of the honor of God --

  • all the more so should I fulfill His command.

The mother praises their martyrdom and compares her situation to Abraham’s sacrifice

Before her youngest is killed, the mother requests to kiss him.

She tells him to relay a message to Abraham: he bound (עקדת) one child to the altar, she sacrificed seven.

אפקוה למיקטליה,

אמרה להו אימיה:

יהבוה ניהלי

ואינשקיה פורתא.

אמרה לו:

בניי!

לכו ואמרו לאברהם אביכם:

• אתה --

  • עקדת מזבח אחד

• ואני --

  • עקדתי שבעה מזבחות!

As they were taking him out to be killed,

his mother said to them:

Give him to me

so that I may give him a small kiss.

She said to him:

My sons!

go and say to your father Abraham:

• You --

  • bound one son to the altar,

• but I --

  • bound 7 altars.

The mother commits suicide by jumping off a roof; a bat kol declares her joyous (Psalms 113:9)

She then throws herself from a roof.

A bat kol then cites Psalm 113:9: “The joyful mother of children.” This response frames the narrative as not only a tragedy but a theologically charged display of loyalty and election.

אף היא עלתה לגג ונפלה ומתה.

יצתה בת קול ואמרה: ״אם הבנים שמחה״.

[...]

She too in the end went up to the roof, fell, and died.

A bat kol emerged and said: “A joyful mother of children” (Psalms 113:9), as she raised her children to be devoted in their service of God.

[...]

Beitar massacre

Numbers related to the massive number of tefillin and brain matter of the massacred

1. אמר רבה בר בר חנה, אמר רבי יוחנן:

   1. ארבעים סאה קצוצי תפילין נמצאו בראשי הרוגי ביתר.

2. רבי ינאי ברבי ישמעאל אמר:

   1. שלש קופות של ארבעים ארבעים סאה.

3. במתניתא תנא:

   1. ארבעים קופות של שלש שלש סאין [...]

4. אמר רבי אסי:

   1. ארבעה קבין מוח נמצאו על אבן אחת.

5. עולא אמר:

   1. תשעת קבין.

1. Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that R' Yoḥanan says:

   1. 40 se’a of phylactery boxes (tefillin) were found on the heads of those killed in Beitar.

2. R' Yannai, son of R' Yishmael, says:

   1. There were found 3 large baskets each holding 40 se’a of phylactery boxes.

3. And it was taught in a baraita:

   1. There were 40 large baskets each holding 3 se’a [...]

4. R' Asi says:

   1. 4 kav of brains (מוח) from children whose skulls were smashed were found on one stone.

5. Ulla says:

   1. 9 kav.

Biblical Lament Citation: Psalms 137:8–9 cited as the biblical response to the massacre

אמר רב כהנא

ואיתימא שילא בר מרי:

מאי קראה?

״בת בבל השדודה,

אשרי שישלם לך וגו׳,

אשרי שיאחז ונפץ את עולליך אל הסלע״.

Rav Kahana said,

and some say that it was Sheila bar Mari who said:

What is the verse from which it is derived?

“O daughter of Babylon, marked for devastation;

happy is he who shall repay you your recompense for what you have done to us.

Happy is he who shall seize and dash your little ones against the rock” (Psalms 137:8–9).

The boys’ beauty outshone gold (Lamentations 4:2)

״בני ציון היקרים

המסולאים בפז״ –

מאי ״מסולאים בפז״?

אילימא דהוו מחפי בפיזא,

והאמרי דבי רבי שילא:

תרתי מתקלי איסתירי פיזא נחות בעלמא –

• חדא ברומי,

• וחדא בכולי עלמא!

אלא שהיו מגנין את הפז ביופיין.

§ The verse states: “The precious sons of Zion,

comparable (מסולאים) to fine gold (פז)” (Lamentations 4:2).

What is the meaning of the expression “comparable to fine gold”?

If we say that it means they were covered in fine gold [piza], this is difficult;

but didn’t the school of R' Sheila say:

Two istira weights of fine gold came down into the world —

• one in Rome

• and one in all the rest of the world.

If so, it is certainly impossible to cover the inhabitants of Jerusalem with fine gold, as there is not enough of it in the entire world to do so.

Rather, this means that they would be so attractive that they would disgrace¹³ fine gold because of their beauty.

Romans first used pornographic images during sex, then used Jewish slaves (due to their beauty)

• מעיקרא —

  • חשיבי דרומאי הוו נקטי בליונא דגושפנקא,

  • ומשמשי ערסייהו;

• מכאן ואילך —

  • מייתו בני ישראל ואסרי בכרעי דפורייהו,

  • ומשמשי.

• The Talmud relates that initially —

  • the noblemen of Rome would keep an image imprinted on a seal (בליונא דגושפנקא) by their beds

  • and have sex opposite that image, so that they would beget children of similar beauty.¹⁴

• From this point forward from the time of the Great Revolt —

  • they would bring Jewish children, tie them to the foot of their beds,

  • and have sex across from them, because they were so handsome.

(Deuteronomy 28:61)

אמר ליה חד לחבריה: הא, היכא כתיבא?

אמר ליה: ״גם כל חלי וכל מכה אשר לא כתוב בספר התורה הזאת״.

אמר: כמה מרחיקנא מדוכתא פלן?

אמר ליה: אינגד פוסתא ופלגא.

אמר ליה: אי מטאי לגביה לא איצטריכי לך.

It is related that it once happened that they did this to two children, and one of them said to the other: Where is this affliction written in the Torah?

The other said to him: As it is written: “Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this Torah” (Deuteronomy 28:61).

The first one said: How far am I in my studies from this, i.e., how much more would I have had to learn in order to reach this verse?

The other said: Had you gone on one and a half columns [pusta], you would have reached this.

The first child said to the other: Had I reached this verse, I would not have needed you, as I would have known on my own that the verse was speaking about this.

Rav Yehuda citing Shmuel citing Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel - Beitar had 400 synagogues with 400 teachers each, each teaching 400 students (Lamentations 3:51)

1. אמר רב יהודה

2. אמר שמואל

3. משום רבן שמעון בן גמליאל,

מאי דכתיב:

״עיני עוללה לנפשי

מכל בנות עירי״?

1. ארבע מאות בתי כנסיות היו בכרך ביתר,

2. ובכל אחת ואחת היו בה ארבע מאות מלמדי תינוקות,

3. וכל אחד ואחד היו לפניו ארבע מאות תינוקות של בית רבן

1. Rav Yehuda says that

2. Shmuel says

3. in the name of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“My eye affects my soul

because of all the daughters of my city” (Lamentations 3:51)?

1. There were 400 synagogues in the city (כרך) of Beitar,

2. and in each and every one of them there were 400 schoolteachers (מלמדי תינוקות)

3. and each and every one of these teachers had 400 schoolchildren (תינוקות של בית רבן)

Children Resist and Are Burned: The children fought the enemy with pens, were captured, wrapped in scrolls, and burned

וכשהיה אויב נכנס לשם

היו דוקרין אותן בחוטריהן.

וכשגבר אויב ולכדום,

כרכום בספריהם

והציתום באש.

And when the enemy entered there,

these schoolchildren stabbed them with their pens [be-ḥotreihen].

And when the enemy prevailed and caught them,

they wrapped the children in their Torah scrolls

and lit them on fire.¹⁵

Story of R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya Ransoming a Jewish Boy Enslaved in Rome

תנו רבנן:

מעשה ברבי יהושע בן חנניה

שהלך לכרך גדול שברומי,

אמרו לו:

תינוק אחד יש בבית האסורים,

1. יפה עינים

2. וטוב רואי

3. וקווצותיו סדורות לו תלתלים

A baraita states another baraita (Tosefta, Horayot 2:5) relating to the fate of the Jewish children:

There was an incident involving R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya

who once went to the great city of Rome,

where they said to him:

There is a child in prison (בית האסורים)

1. with beautiful eyes (יפה עינים)

2. and an attractive appearance¹⁶

3. and his curly hair is arranged in locks¹⁷

Call and response of the verse in Isaiah 42:24

הלך ועמד על פתח בית האסורים,

אמר:

״מי נתן למשיסה יעקב

וישראל לבוזזים״?

ענה אותו תינוק ואמר:

״הלא ה׳

זו חטאנו לו

ולא אבו בדרכיו הלוך

ולא שמעו בתורתו״.

R' Yehoshua went and stood by the entrance to the prison.

He said, as if speaking to himself:

“Who gave Jacob for a spoil,

and Israel to the robbers?” (Isaiah 42:24).

That child answered by reciting the continuation of the verse:

“Did not YHWH,

He against Whom we have sinned,

and in Whose ways they would not walk,

neither were they obedient to His law?”

R' Yehoshua ben Ḥananya ransoms him at great cost

אמר:

מובטחני בו

שמורה הוראה בישראל,

העבודה!

שאיני זז מכאן

עד שאפדנו בכל ממון שפוסקין עליו.

אמרו:

לא זז משם

עד שפדאו בממון הרבה

R' Yehoshua said:

I am certain that (מובטחני),

if given the opportunity, this child will issue halakhic rulings in Israel,¹⁸ as he is already exceedingly wise.

He continued: I take an oath by the Temple service

that I will not move from here

until I ransom him for whatever sum of money they set for him.

They said that

he did not move from there

until he ransomed him for a great sum of money

The boy becomes a great decisor; identified as R' Yishmael

ולא היו ימים מועטין

עד שהורה הוראה בישראל.

ומנו?

רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע.

and not even a few days¹⁹ had passed

when this child then issued halakhic rulings in Israel.

And who was this child?

This was R' Yishmael ben Elisha.

Story of Yishmael ben Elisha’s enslaved children

Rav Yehuda citing Rav

אמר רב יהודה, אמר רב:

מעשה בבנו ובבתו של רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע

שנשבו לשני אדונים.

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says:

There was an incident involving the son and the daughter of R' Yishmael ben Elisha the High Priest,

who were taken captive and sold into slavery to two different masters.

לימים נזדווגו שניהם במקום אחד,

• זה אומר:

  • יש לי עבד שאין כיופיו בכל העולם,

• וזה אומר:

  • יש לי שפחה שאין בכל העולם כולו כיופיה.

אמרו:

בוא ונשיאם זה לזה,

ונחלק בוולדות.

After some time the two masters met (נזדווגו) in a certain place.

• This master said:

  • I have a male slave whose beauty is unmatched in all of the world,

• and that master said:

  • I have a female slave whose beauty is unmatched in all of the world.

The two masters said:

Come, let us marry (נשיאם) these two slaves to one another

and divide the children (וולדות) born to them between us, as they will certainly be very beautiful.

They are unknowingly matched to mate with each other

הכניסום לחדר.

• זה ישב בקרן זוית זה,

• וזו ישבה בקרן זוית זה,

• זה אומר:

  • אני, כהן בן כהנים גדולים,

  • אשא שפחה?!

• וזאת אומרת:

  • אני, כהנת בת כהנים גדולים,

  • אנשא לעבד?!

ובכו כל הלילה.

They secluded them in a room.

• This one, the son, sat in one corner,

• and that one, the daughter, sat in the other corner.

• He said:

  • I am a priest and the descendant of High Priests.

  • Shall I marry a female slave?!

• And she said:

  • I am the daughter of a priest and the descendant of High Priests.

  • Shall I be married to a male slave?!

And they wept all through the night.

They recognize each other too late and die weeping (Lamentations 1:16)

כיון שעלה עמוד השחר,

הכירו זה את זה,

ונפלו זה על זה

וגעו בבכיה

עד שיצאה נשמתן.

ועליהן קונן ירמיה:

״על אלה אני בוכיה,

עיני עיני יורדה מים״.

When dawn arrived

they recognized each other and saw that they were brother and sister.

They fell on each other

and cried (געו בבכיה)

until their souls departed due to their great distress.

And with regard to them and others like them, Jeremiah lamented (קונן):

“For these things I weep;

my eye, my eye runs down with water” (Lamentations 1:16).

Story of Tzafenat bat Peniel, the enslaved daughter of the High Priest

Reish Lakish - Etymology of her name

אמר ריש לקיש:

מעשה באשה אחת,

וצפנת בת פניאל שמה;

• ״צפנת״ –

  • שהכל צופין ביופיה,

• ״בת פניאל״ –

  • בתו של כהן גדול

  • ששימש לפני ולפנים

Reish Lakish says:

There was an incident involving a certain woman

named Tzafenat bat Peniel (צפנת בת פניאל)

And why was she called this?

• She was called “Tzafenat”²⁰

  • because they would all gaze [tzofin] at her beauty,

• and she was called “bat Peniel”²¹

  • because she was the daughter [bat] of the High Priest

  • who served in the innermost sanctum [lifnai ve-lefnim] of the Temple.

She’s raped, then displayed for sale, and raped again

שנתעלל בה שבאי כל הלילה.

למחר הלבישה שבעה חלוקים,

והוציאה למוכרה.

בא אדם אחד שהיה מכוער ביותר,

אמר לו: הראני את יופיה.

אמר לו:

ריקא!

אם אתה רוצה ליקח – קח,

שאין כיופיה בכל העולם כולו.

אמר לו: אף על פי כן.

הפשיטה ששה חלוקים,

ושביעי קרעתו

ונתפלשה באפר,

And it happened that she was taken captive and her captor (שבאי) abused (נתעלל) and raped her all night.

The next day he dressed her in 7 garments

and took her out to sell her.

A certain man who was especially ugly (מכוער) came

and said to the man who was selling her: Show me her beauty.

He said to him:

Good-for-nothing! (ריקא)

if you wish to buy her then buy her,

for there is no beauty like hers in all of the world.

The potential buyer said to the seller: Even so, I wish to see for myself.

He removed the 6 outermost garments,

and she herself tore the 7th,

and rolled²² in ashes.

She tears her garment, rolls in ashes, and calls on God to protect His name

אמרה לפניו:

רבונו של עולם!

• אם עלינו —

  • לא חסת,

• על קדושת שמך (הגבור) [הגדול] —

  • למה לא תחוס?!

She said before God:

Master of the Universe!

• even if to us —

  • You have shown no pity, and have allowed us to be disgraced in this way,

• to the sanctity of Your mighty name by which we are called —

  • why have You not shown pity ?!

(Jeremiah 6:26)

ועליה קונן ירמיה:

״בת עמי

חגרי שק

והתפלשי באפר,

אבל יחיד עשי לך

מספד תמרורים,

כי פתאום יבא השודד עלינו״

״עליך״ לא נאמר,

אלא ״עלינו״;

כביכול:

עלי ועליך בא שודד.

And with regard to her and others like her, Jeremiah lamented:

“O daughter of My people,

gird yourself with sackcloth

and roll in ashes;

make you mourning as for an only son,

most bitter lamentation,

for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us” (Jeremiah 6:26).

It is not stated: “Upon you”

but rather “upon us,”

for as it were (כביכול),

the spoiler shall come, both over Me and over you.

God Himself shares this pain and His name is also disgraced.

Story of the Carpenter's Apprentice

Rav Yehuda citing Rav (Micah 2:2)

אמר רב יהודה, אמר רב:

מאי דכתיב:

״ועשקו גבר וביתו

ואיש ונחלתו״?

מעשה באדם אחד

שנתן עיניו באשת רבו,

ושוליא דנגרי הוה.

§ Rav Yehuda says that Rav says:

What is the meaning of that which is written:

“And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; so they oppress a man and his house,

even a man and his heritage” (Micah 2:2)?

There was an incident involving a certain man

who set his eyes on his master’s wife,

and he was a carpenter’s apprentice [shulya].

the Carpenter's Apprentice covets his master's wife and tricks him into divorcing her

פעם אחת הוצרך (רבו) ללות,

אמר לו: שגר אשתך אצלי ואלונה.

שיגר אשתו אצלו,

שהה עמה שלשה ימים.

קדם ובא אצלו,

אמר לו: אשתי ששיגרתי לך, היכן היא?

אמר לו:

אני פטרתיה לאלתר,

ושמעתי שהתינוקות נתעללו בה בדרך.

One time his master needed to borrow some money,

and his apprentice said to him: Send your wife to me and I will lend her the money.

He sent his wife to him,

and the apprentice stayed with her for 3 days.

He then went back to his master before she did,

and the master said to him: Where is my wife whom I sent to you?

The apprentice said to him:

I sent her back (פטרתיה) immediately,

but I heard that the youth abused and raped her on the way.

אמר לו: מה אעשה?

אמר לו: אם אתה שומע לעצתי, גרשה.

אמר לו: כתובתה מרובה.

אמר לו: אני אלווך ותן לה כתובתה.

עמד זה וגרשה, הלך הוא ונשאה.

The master said to his apprentice: What shall I do?

The apprentice said to him: If you listen to my advice, divorce her.

He said to him: But her marriage contract (כתובתה) is large and I do not have the money to pay it.

The apprentice said to him: I will lend you the money, and you will give her payment of her marriage contract.

The master arose and divorced her, and the apprentice went and married her.

Final Humiliation: The ex-husband must serve the couple and cries into their cups; this seals the nation’s fate

כיון שהגיע זמנו ולא היה לו לפורעו,

אמר לו: בא ועשה עמי בחובך.

והיו הם יושבים ואוכלים ושותין,

והוא היה עומד ומשקה עליהן,

והיו דמעות נושרות מעיניו ונופלות בכוסיהן.

ועל אותה שעה נתחתם גזר דין.

ואמרי לה: על שתי פתילות בנר אחד.

When the time came that the debt was due, and he did not have the means with which to repay it,

the apprentice said to his master: Come and work off your debt with me.

And they, the apprentice and his wife, would sit and eat and drink,

while he, the woman’s first husband, would stand over them and serve them their drinks.

And tears would drop from his eyes and fall into their cups,

and at that time the Jewish people’s sentence was sealed, for remaining silent in the face of this injustice.²³

And some say that the Jewish people were punished for two wicks in one lamp, a euphemism for the sin of adultery committed by this couple while the master was still married to the woman.

1. In general, for a related Mishnaic lament on post-Destruction; compare the extended Mishnah at the end of tractate Sotah, discussed in these pieces of mine:

• Two-part series “The End of an Era: The Mishnah on Societal Decline and the Discontinuation of Rituals (Mishnah Sotah 9:9-15)“, final part here

• “”On Whom Can We Rely?” Literary Laments of a Fallen Society in the Mishnah (Mishnah Sotah 9:15)“

2. Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Referring here to the Hadrianic persecutions related to the Bar-Kochba Rebellion.

3. On this, compare these Wikipedia entries:

• “Alexandria riot (66)“

• “Alexandrian riots (38 CE)“

4. Began the campaign against Judaea in 68 CE. See mention of him earlier in the sugya, in my previous piece: “Pt1 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)“, section “Vespasian’s Siege - Rome dispatches Vespasian, who besieges Jerusalem for three years“.

And see especially the well-known extended story earlier in the sugya of “The Story of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai and Vespasian“; that will appear in the next part of that series.

5. On the general Talmudic identification of Rome with Esau, see my recent note, referenced in a later footnote.

6. This same tripartite line appears earlier in the sugya, at the conclusion of the story of Kamtza and Bar-Kamtz, about Zekharya ben Avkolas, in my “Talmudic Stories Relating to the Destruction of the Second Temple (Gittin 55b-56a)“:

אמר רבי יוחנן:

ענוותנותו של רבי זכריה בן אבקולס

1. החריבה את ביתנו,

2. ושרפה את היכלנו,

3. והגליתנו מארצנו.

R’ Yoḥanan says:

The excessive humility (ענוותנותו) of Rabbi Zekharya ben Avkolas

1. destroyed our Temple,

2. burned our Sanctuary,

3. and exiled us from our land.

7. The First Temple was destroyed by Babylonians; the Judeans were subsequently exiled to Babylonia.

8. On “Edom” being identified with “Rome” in Talmudic literature, see my note in my recent piece here, on section “Child’s Verse & Conversion - A boy recites Ezekiel 25:14; Nero infers God will punish Rome through Israel, flees, converts, and becomes ancestor of R’ Meir“.

9. קלון - literally: “shame‏, dishonor‏‏‏‏“, a euphemism for sexual slavery.

For an extended discussion of this story, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “מעשה בארבע מאות ילדים וילדות שנשבו לקלון“.

For another Talmudic reference to Roman sexual slavery, see my “R' Meir's Suspicious Brushes with Sexual Indiscretions, and His Encounters with Roman Troops, as Depicted in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 18a-b; Sanhedrin 11a; Kiddushin 81a)“, section “Avodah Zarah 18a-b - Sister-in-law in a brothel; Escaping by going into a brothel“.

In general, compare Wikipedia, “Slavery in ancient Rome“, especially ibid., section “Sexual ethics and attitudes“.

10. Likely referring to martyrdom via wild beasts in a stadium.

11. To kill themselves.

Compare the standard form of suicide in Talmudic stories, jumping from a roof. For example, see my “Pt2 Rav Yehuda vs. Rav Naḥman: A Talmudic Clash Over Speech, Social Status, and Slavery (Kiddushin 70a-b)“, section “The Claim of Hasmonean Descent“, and my note there.

In fact, in a later section in this sugya, that form of suicide is mentioned, see in the next story “Story of martyrdom of the woman and her seven sons“, final section “The mother commits suicide by jumping off a roof; a bat kol declares her joyous (Psalms 113:9)“.

12. The Talmud goes on to tell the story. On this story, and its broader context, see Wikipedia, “Woman with seven sons“, and the corresponding Hebrew Wikipedia entry, “חנה ושבעת בניה“.

13. מגנין.

See my extended discussion of this idiom in “Actual Resurrection or Allegory? The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37 in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 92b)“, section “R' Yoḥanan: the beautiful youths of the Dura Valley killed due to the lust of Babylonian women“.

14. Based on the common pre-modern belief in maternal impression.

Compare my “The Beauty and the Bandit: The Talmudic Tragedy of R' Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish (Bava Metzia 84a)“, section “R' Yoḥanan’s Bathhouse Strategy“.

15. The same exact method of execution is found elsewhere in the Talmud, see my “"Destined for the World-to-Come": The Trial and Martyrdom of R’ Ḥanina ben Teradyon by Burning at the Stake (Avodah Zarah 18a)“, section “Martyrdom by Fire: R' Ḥanina ben Teradyon’s Execution and Prolonged Suffering“:

הביאוהו

וכרכוהו בספר תורה

והקיפוהו בחבילי זמורות

והציתו בהן את האור

והביאו ספוגין של צמר

ושראום במים

והניחום על לבו

כדי שלא תצא נשמתו מהרה

They [=the Romans] brought him [=R' Ḥanina ben Teradyon] to be sentenced,

and wrapped him in the Torah scroll,

and encircled him with bundles of branches,

and they set fire to it.

And they brought tufts of wool

and soaked them in water,

and placed them on his heart,

so that his soul should not leave his body quickly, but he would die slowly and painfully.

16. טוב רואי.

These two descriptions are based on the biblical description of David, in I_Samuel.16.12:

והוא אדמוני

עם־יפה עינים

וטוב ראי

He was ruddy-cheeked (אדמוני)

bright-eyed (יפה עינים)

and handsome (טוב ראי)

17. קווצותיו סדורות לו תלתלים.

This last description of male handsomeness is based on the description of the male lover in Song_of_Songs.5.11:

ראשו כתם פז

קוצותיו תלתלים

שחרות כעורב

His head is finest gold (כתם פז)
His locks are curled (קוצותיו תלתלים)
And black as a raven.

This same same tripartite series of literary descriptions for a handsome man is found elsewhere in the Talmud, see Nedarim.9b.5-7 (=Nazir.4b.14-16):

דתניא,

אמר (רבי) שמעון הצדיק:

מימי לא אכלתי אשם נזיר טמא אלא אחד

As it is taught in a baraita that

R' Shimon HaTzaddik said:

In all my days as a priest, I never ate the guilt-offering of a ritually impure nazirite except for one occasion.

פעם אחת

בא אדם אחד נזיר מן הדרום,

וראיתיו שהוא

1. יפה עינים

2. וטוב רואי

3. וקווצותיו סדורות לו תלתלים

One time,

a particular man who was a nazirite came from the South

and I saw that he

1. had beautiful eyes

2. and was good looking,

3. and the fringes of his hair were arranged in curls.

אמרתי לו:

בני!

מה ראית להשחית את שערך זה הנאה?!

I said to him:

My son!

what did you see that made you decide to destroy this beautiful hair of yours by becoming a nazirite?!

A nazirite must shave off his hair at the completion of his term. If he becomes impure before the completion of his term, he shaves off his hair and starts his term of naziriteship again.

אמר לי:

רועה הייתי לאבא בעירי,

הלכתי למלאות מים מן המעיין

ונסתכלתי בבבואה שלי,

ופחז עלי יצרי

ובקש לטורדני מן העולם.

He said to me:

I was a shepherd for my father in my city,

and I went to draw water from the spring,

and I looked at my reflection [ba-bavua] in the water

and my evil inclination quickly overcame me

and sought to expel me from the world (E.B. compare the well-known story by Ovid of Narcissus falling in love with his own reflection in a pool of water; mirrors were uncommon in pre-modern times)

אמרתי לו:

רשע!

למה אתה מתגאה בעולם שאינו שלך?!

במי שהוא עתיד להיות רמה ותולעה?!

העבודה,

שאגלחך לשמים!

I said to my hair:

Wicked one!

Why do you pride yourself in a world that is not yours?!

Why are you proud of someone who will eventually be food in the grave for worms and maggots, i.e., your body?!

I swear by the Temple service

that I shall shave you [=my hair] for the sake of Heaven.

מיד עמדתי ונשקתיו על ראשו,

אמרתי לו:

בני!

כמוך ירבו נוזרי נזירות בישראל.

[…]

Shimon HaTzaddik continues the narrative: I immediately arose and kissed him on his head.

I said to him:

My son!

may there be more who take vows of naziriteship like you among the Jewish people.

[…]

18. מורה הוראה בישראל.

See the same line and similar stories elsewhere in the Talmud, at search results here.

19. ימים מועטין.

'Yamim mu'atin' probably isn't meant literally as just 'a few days' (as ed. Steinsaltz seems to interpret it); it's more likely an idiomatic way of saying that only a relatively short time passed, meaning, a few months or years.

20. צפנת.

This epithet (“Tzafenat”) appears in the bible, referring to Joseph, see Wikipedia, “Zaphnath-Paaneah“.

21. פניאל.

Compare the biblical place name “Penu-el / Peni-el“ (פנואל / פניאל), appearing in Genesis; see Wikipedia, “Penuel“, section “Biblical narrative“ (with adjustments):

According to the Biblical narrative, the site was named Peniel (פניאל - "Face of God") by Jacob:

“It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared” ( Genesis 32:31)

22. נתפלשה - a rare word, based on the verse in Jeremiah 6:26 cited in the continuation.

23. It’s worth noting the oddity of the Carpenter’s Apprentice story as the closing scene in a sugya that just catalogued some of the most catastrophic and grotesque atrocities of the Roman destruction.

The previous stories involve genocide, famine, war, enslavement, and desecration of the Temple.

This one is essentially a personal, tragic love triangle. It’s emotionally powerful, but on a different register: it's intimate, almost folkloric, and lacks the epic-national scale of what precedes it.

There is no explicit Roman involvement here; no soldiers, no decrees, no emperors. This makes it unique among the surrounding passages, which are all direct consequences of Roman aggression. Earlier stories are framed as cosmic or prophetic (e.g., Titus desecrating the Temple, martyrs quoting verses, divine vengeance on Edom). This tale is more a moral tragedy: a story of injustice, failed loyalty, and romantic frustration within the Jewish community itself.

One way to read it is as a denouement that draws inward: after national catastrophe and divine wrath, the final blow is not from Rome but from internal collapse: betrayal, exploitation, lust, and emotional ruin within Jewish society.