It's a reminder that divinity can work through anything.
Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, puts it this way: "The advantage of land is in every way…" This isn’t about real estate. It’s about divine agency. God tells the prophets: do you think if you don't go on My mission, I'm stuck? No way! "The advantage of land is in every way" – I can accomplish My mission with anything.
Rabbi Aha drives the point home. God can use a snake, a scorpion, even a gnat or a frog! Seem far-fetched? Then buckle up for the story of Titus.
Titus, the Roman emperor's son, was no friend of the Jewish people. He was the one who, in 70 CE, led the Roman legions that destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Imagine the arrogance, the sacrilege. The story goes that he actually entered the Holy of Holies – the most sacred space, normally entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur – with his sword drawn. He desecrated the space, even engaging in relations with prostitutes atop the altar.
He emerged, sword dripping. Some say with the blood of sacrifices, others say with the blood of the Yom Kippur goat. He then boasted, according to the Midrash, that defeating the God of the Jews was easier than defeating a king in his own house. He gathered up the Temple vessels, loaded them onto a ship, and set sail for Rome.
But the sea had other ideas. A massive wave crashed against the ship, and Titus, ever the arrogant one, sneered. "It appears that the God of this nation has power only in the water! He exacted retribution against the generation of Enosh only with water," (as we find in Bereshit Rabbah 90:6) "and I, too, when I was in His house, He was unable to stand against me; now, He has confronted me here."
Big mistake, Titus.
The Holy One, blessed be He, retorted, "Oh, wicked one son of a wicked one, by your life, with the smallest creature I created during the six days of Creation, I will exact retribution from this wicked one." Immediately, the sea calmed. Titus sailed on, arriving in Rome to a hero's welcome.
They prepared a bath for him, and afterwards, a celebratory goblet of wine. And here's where the story takes a truly bizarre, almost Kafkaesque turn. The Holy One, blessed be He, sent a gnat. This tiny creature flew into Titus’ nostril and began gnawing at his brain.
Imagine that. A tiny insect, relentlessly consuming the mind of a Roman conqueror.
The gnat grew and grew until it was the size of a young dove, weighing two litra (an ancient Roman unit of weight). Titus, driven mad by the pain, cried out for doctors to dissect his brain and discover how this God was punishing him.
They did as he asked. And inside his skull, they found the gnat, the size of a dove, weighing two litra. Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei recounts being in Rome and witnessing this firsthand. He says they placed the gnat on one side of a scale and two litra on the other, and they balanced perfectly. As the gnat's condition changed, so did Titus's. Finally, the gnat flew away, and Titus’ soul departed with it, "to destruction and to eternal disgrace."
And that, Kohelet Rabbah concludes, is "the advantage of land."
What does this all mean? It's more than just a gruesome story of divine retribution. It's a powerful reminder that God's power is limitless and that even the smallest of creatures can be an instrument of divine will. Even when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, with the might of an empire arrayed against us, we should never forget that God can work in mysterious ways, through the most unexpected agents.
So, the next time you feel small, insignificant, remember the gnat and Titus. Remember that even the tiniest among us can play a part in a much larger story.