God has shown
mercy to Israel, that he led the ones with
Jeconiah into the exile before the ones with
Zedekiah, so that the oral Torah would not be
forgotten by them and so that they would remain in
Babel in their schools from that time until
now. And over them has neither Edom [Rome] nor
Greece had authority, not has anyone
threatened them with religious persecution. And even in the days of the Messiah they
will not see the birth pains of the Messiah. Tanh 9a