Destruction at Beitar

Because of a rooster and a hen, the king’s mountain was destroyed. There was a practice that when a bride and groom went out [to be married, people] would bring a rooster and a hen before them, as if to say: Be fruitful and multiply like chickens. One day a troop of Roman soldiers was passing by and took [the rooster and hen] from them. [The people of the city] fell upon them and beat them. They came and said to the emperor, “The Jews have rebelled against you!” [The emperor] came upon them.

There was [among the people of the king’s mountain] a certain man named bar Deroma who could jump the distance of a mil [.6 mi; .9 km] and kill [the Romans]. The emperor took his crown and put it on the ground, saying: Master of the world, if it is pleasing to You, do not give me and my kingdom into the hands of one man. Bar Deroma’s own mouth caused him to stumble; he said: Have You not rejected us, O God, so that You go not forth, O God, with our hosts? (Psalm 60:12). [ . . . ]

[Bar Deroma] entered a bathroom, a serpent came and tore out his large intestine, and he died. [The emperor] said: Since a miracle was performed for me, I will surely let [the Judeans] be this time. He let them be and went [on his way]. They rejoiced, ate, drank, and lit lamps until the seal of a signet ring was seen from a distance of a mil. [The emperor] said, “The Jews are rejoicing over me.” So he came against them.

R. Asi says: Three hundred thousand men with drawn swords entered the king’s mountain and killed [people there for] three days and three nights. On the other side [of the mountain, people continued their] feasts and dances and they did not know about one another. [ . . . ]

Beitar was destroyed because of a carriage shaft; for the [people of Beitar] had a practice that when a boy was born, they would plant a cedar tree, [and when] a girl was born, they would plant an acacia tree. When they would [grow up and] marry, they would cut down [the trees] and make them into a bridal canopy. One day the daughter of the Caesar was passing by, and the shaft of her carriage broke; [her servants] cut down a cedar tree and brought it to her. [The people of Beitar] came to them and struck them. They went and told the Caesar, “The Jews are rebelling against you,” and [the Caesar] came upon them.

He has cut off in His anger the entire horn of Israel (Lamentations 2:3). R. Zera said that R. Abbahu said that R. Yoḥanan said: These are the eighty thousand horns of war that entered the city of Beitar when they captured it and killed all the men, women, and children until their blood flowed into the Great Sea. Lest you say that it was near [the sea], it was actually a mil distant from [the sea]. It was taught, R. Eliezer the Great says: There are two rivers in the Valley of Hands, one going in this direction and one going in that direction; and the sages estimated that [they were] two parts water and one part blood.

Translated by Matthew Goldstone.