The Midrash of “These I Shall Mention” (Midrash eleh ezkerah)

Ten times were the Jews sent into exile from Jerusalem, and they were these: four groups exiled by Sennacherib, four by Nebuchadnezzar, one by Titus the wicked, and one by the Emperor Hadrian. The first time, Sennacherib came up and exiled the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh [who lived on the eastern side of the Jordan]. He took the golden calf that Jeroboam had set up at Dan [see 1 Kings 12], along with the two and a half tribes, and brought them from Dan, where Jeroboam had built them a temple. That is why they were expelled from their own country to another, as they still are. Sennacherib deported them and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, the River Gozan, and the towns of Media. At that time, Pekah ben Remaliah was ruling over Israel. When Hosea ben Elah saw that the forces of Pekah ben Remaliah had diminished, he made war on him and killed him. He reigned over Israel in Samaria for five years. Thus, you have one exile.

Sennacherib heard about it, and he waged war on Hosea ben Elah and besieged him. Hosea came forth to King Sennacherib and paid him a tribute of gold and silver, and he also brought him the golden calf that Jeroboam had put in Bethel. After that, the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar were deported for not wanting to accept Hosea ben Elah as their king. In that way, Hosea ben Elah fulfilled the verse: Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria escape with the corner of a couch, and the leg of a bed (Amos 3:12). So Hosea ben Elah ruled over Israel, and Ahaz ruled over Judah. That is the second exile. [ . . . ]

Then Sennacherib the wicked exalted himself further and decided to go up to Jerusalem. He gathered his whole army of 40,000 kings, and the number of his soldiers was 259 myriads. He went up to Jerusalem and besieged it. Hezekiah saw this huge mass of men and was very afraid. He prayed to the Lord, he and all the people of Judah and of Benjamin, and he declared a fast. They put on sackcloth, went to the Temple of the Lord, and returned to the Lord, both heart and soul. The Holy One heard the prayer of the righteous Hezekiah and sent his angel, who smote the camp of Assyria. The 185,000 kings fled, along with the officers and the troops. None of the kings or officers who had gone with him remained—just Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar—thereby fulfilling the verse that Isaiah had prophesied: In that day, the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired in the parts beyond the River, even with the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also sweep away the beard (Isaiah 7:20). [ . . . ]

After that, due to our transgressions, Vespasian and Titus, his wife’s son, came up and destroyed the Second Temple and the city and exiled our ancestors to Rome. That was the ninth exile.

Betar remained, after the exile by Titus and Vespasian, for 52 years. Then the emperor Hadrian arose—may his bones crumble!—and besieged Betar, captured it, and destroyed it. He went all through the land of Israel to see the graves of the kings and the prophets.

When he came to Timnath-serah, he found the grave of Joshua, the attendant of Moses. He asked the exiles, “To whom does this grave belong?” They told him, “To Joshua, our judge and leader.” He said, “You have never had another leader as faithful as he. He bequeathed you a good, rich land and was buried between the mountains and the stones.”

He [Hadrian] traveled on and came to the grave of King David. He opened it and saw that his face was red and yellow. He put his hand on his face and pressed his finger against the flesh, and the blood moved to either side, just as it would in a man who had breath and spirit in him. That wicked man opened his mouth and said, “It would have been proper for this man to be king over the whole world when he was alive, for in death he is like a living man.”

He traveled on to the land of Moab to find the grave of our master Moses, the greatest of all the prophets. He had them dig there, and they dug on the mountain and saw below them the place where he [Moses] was concealed. But when they dug all the way down, they saw [that] the place where he was concealed [was now] far above them. At once he split the diggers into two groups, half of them above and half of them below. Those who were above would say to those below, “Did you find him?” And those who were digging below would say to those above, “Did you find him?” until they reached him and died, just as it is written: And no man knows of his sepulcher to this day (Deuteronomy 34:6).

When Emperor Hadrian saw this, he journeyed on from there and circled the entire world until he brought them and exiled them to Spain. And why is Spain called Sefarad in Hebrew? Because ba-sof radu—eventually they descended there, from exile. And that is the tenth exile. About them the prophet said: The exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sefarad (Obadiah 1:20).

The expulsions by Titus and Hadrian both occurred on the evening of the 9th of Av, after the Sabbath had departed, during the year after a sabbatical year. At the hour when they exiled them, the Levites were standing on the risers in the Temple courtyard, with their harps in their hands, singing their songs. And what verse was on their lips? And He has brought upon them their own iniquity and will cut them off in their own evil (Psalms 94:23). No sooner had they said and wipe them out for their wickedness than their enemies came upon them, killed some, and led the rest away into exile.

Source: London British Library MS Add. 27089, fols. 93a–94b.