Titus Destroys the Temple and Challenges God

[Vespasian] went [back to Rome and] sent Titus [in his place. The Gemara 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 blasphemed God on High. 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., engaged in sexual intercourse] on it. [Afterward,] he took a sword and cut into the curtain [separating 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.¹ As it is stated: Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place; they have set up their own signs for signs (Psalm 74:4). Abba Ḥanan says: [The verse states:] Who is strong like You, O Lord? (Psalm 89:9). Who is strong and indurate like You, as You hear the abuse and the blasphemy of that wicked man and remain silent. [Similarly,] the school of R. Ishmael taught [that the verse]: Who is like You, O Lord, 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].

What [else did Titus] do? He took the curtain and formed it like a large basket and brought all of the [sacred] vessels of the Temple and placed them in it. And he put them on a ship to go and be praised in his city [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 [kevutsim].” [And] do not read [the word] as “and were forgotten [ve-yishtakeḥu].” Rather, [read it as:] “And they were praised [ve-yishtabeḥu].” 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 buried were revealed to them [i.e., Titus and his soldiers].

[It is further related about Titus that he was once traveling] at sea [and] a wave 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. Pharaoh rose [against them and] He drowned him in water. Sisera rose [against them and] He drowned him in water. [Here] too, He has risen up against me to drown me in water. If He is [really] mighty, let Him go up on dry land and [there] wage war against me. A divine voice issued forth and said to him: Wicked one, son of a wicked one, grandson of Esau the wicked, [for you are among his descendants and act just like him,] I have a lowly creature in My world, and it is called a gnat. Why is it called a lowly creature? [It is called this] because it has an entrance [for taking in food], but it does not have an exit [for excretion. The divine voice continued]: Go up on dry land and make war with it. He went up on dry land, [and] a gnat came, entered his nostril, and picked at his brain for seven years. [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]. Every day they would bring a blacksmith who hammered before him. He would give four dinars [as payment] to a gentile [blacksmith, and] to a Jew he would [simply] say: It is enough for you that you see your enemy [in so much pain]. He did this for thirty days [and it was effective until then]. 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’ brain].

It is taught [in a baraita that] R. Phineas ben Arova said: I was [at that time] among the noblemen of Rome, and when [Titus] died they split open his head and found [that the gnat had grown to] the size of a sparrow weighing two sela. It was taught in [another] baraita: [It was] like [a one]-year-old pigeon weighing two litra. Abaye said: We have a tradition [that] its mouth [was made] of copper and its claws were [fashioned of] iron. When [Titus] was dying, he said to [his attendants]: Burn that man [i.e., me], and scatter his ashes across the seven seas, so that the God of the Jews should not find me and stand me for judgment.