When Nebuchadnezzar carried Judah into exile, his officers wanted the captives dead. These men are men of death, they said. They refuse to obey the king's order. Execute them.
One captive stepped forward. His name was Pelatya son of Yehoyada, and he had a parable ready.
He turned to the Babylonian king and spoke calmly. Tell me this: if a flock is delivered into the hands of a shepherd, and a wolf steals a lamb from the flock, who is responsible to the owner?
Nebuchadnezzar answered without hesitating. Surely the shepherd.
Pelatya closed the trap. Then listen to your own words. God has given Israel into your hands. To Him, not to your officers, you are responsible for every Jew who is slain on your watch.
The king stopped. He ordered the chains removed from the prisoners. The officers were overruled. The captives were not put to death that day.
The source adds a line that echoes across centuries: Through Kamtza and Bar Kamtza was Jerusalem destroyed — a reference to the Gittin 55b-56a story in which one man's pride at a banquet triggered the fall of the Second Temple. The two tales, side by side, teach opposite halves of the same lesson. A single faithful Jew can save a whole people. A single quarrel can destroy a whole city.