This is from the revered Talmud Gittin 57b:
So, according to them, Hadrian killed 600,000 “on” 600,000 Jews. Let’s assume that’s only addition and not multiplication, that would be 1.2 million Jews. And apparently the number of Jews who had left Egypt is 600,000. But Emperor Vespasian apparently killed another 4 million Jews just in the city of Beitar. It’s kind of weird that no one has heard of this ancient bustling metropolis that could hold 4 million Jews and presumably many other people too, but hey, let’s not get lost in such details when we are discussing such serious Holocausts here!
But some say he killed 40 million Jews. Well. I guess all population estimates of antiquity are just flat out wrong and the Jews used to be far more numerous and would probably number in the two digit billions if it weren’t for those evil Roman Emperors. I mean, the only alternative is that the Jews are flat out lying and making up numbers, and surely, surely, that just can’t be the case! I mean, if they were, what other numbers in Jewish mythology might be completely fictitious?
One can’t possibly contemplate such antisemitic ideas of course.
I find it more fascinating that if the voice is that of Jacob, no salutary lessons were drawn on changes in conduct and why such punishment would come.