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eleazar
(Onom. 84:10). The site is occupied at present by the Arab village
al-ʿĀl, 2,986 ft. (910 m.) above sea level, halfway between
Amman (Rabbath) and Madaba (Medba) in a region rich in
vineyards. Remains of walls from the Early Bronze (pre-patriarchal)
Age have been uncovered there as well as Moabite
and Hellenistic potsherds. The ruins of a settlement from the
Arab period are visible on the surface.
Bibliography: Horowitz, in: EI, 48f.; Press, Ereẓ, 1 (19512),
22; Glueck, in: AASOR, 14 (1934), 6; P. Thomsen, Loca Sancta (1907),
59. Add. Bibliography: B. Levine, Numbers 21–36 (AB; 2000),
484.
[Michael Avi-Yonah]
ELEAZAR (Heb. רָזעְלֶ ָ א; “God/El-has-aided”), high priest after
*Aaron. Eleazar was Aaron’s third son (Ex. 6:23); his older
brothers Nadab and *Abihu perished after offering strange fire
before the Lord (Lev. 10:1–7; Num. 3:4). During his father’s
lifetime Eleazar served as the “head chieftain of the Levites”
(Num. 3:32) and performed some of the functions of the high
priest (ibid. 19:4). After Aaron’s death, Eleazar was appointed
high priest in his father’s place (ibid. 20:28; Deut. 10:6). Together
with Moses, he concluded the census of the people on
the plains of Moab by the bank of the Jordan (Num. 26:1–3)
and, together with Joshua, supervised the division of the land
(Num. 34:17; Josh. 14:1 and elsewhere). In the text describing
the appointment of Joshua as Moses’ successor, it is stated that
Eleazar was to stand before Joshua when the latter inquired
“by the judgment of the Urim” (Num. 27:18–22). Eleazar’s
burial place was on the hill of his son *Phinehas in Mount
Ephraim (Josh. 24:33). The priestly family of *Zadok traced
its descent from Eleazar, who was regarded as the ancestor of
16 of the 24 priestly houses (I Chron. 24:4–18).
Bibliography: H. Gressmann, Moses und seine Zeit (1913),
213ff.; L. Waterman, in: AJSLL, 58 (1941), 50ff.; de Vaux, Anc Isr, index;
EM, 1 (1950), 369f.
ELEAZAR (2nd cent. B.C.E.), martyr during the religious
persecution instigated by Antiochus Epiphanes (167 B.C.E.).
“Eleazar, one of the foremost scribes, well advanced in years,”
was compelled to eat swine’s flesh, but chose “death with glory
rather than life with pollution, and of his own free will was
tortured” after refusing to so much as pretend to partake of the
forbidden meat. The principal source of this story is II Maccabees
16:18–31, while IV Maccabees 5–6 offers an elaborated
version of the original. Eleazar’s martyrdom was subsequently
extolled by the church fathers (Origen, Προτρεπτικὸς εὶς
μαρτύριον, xxii–xxvii).
Bibliography: Maas, in: MGWJ, 44 (1900), 145–56; Schuerer,
Hist, 28.
[Isaiah Gafni]
ELEAZAR (Alatzar, Abenalazar), prominent Jewish family
in the kingdom of Aragon in the Middle Ages. They were considered
francos (“free”) for the special services which they had
rendered to the kings of Aragon during the Christian Reconquest
and as such exempted from taxes. The main branch of
the family lived in Saragossa. The founder of this branch was
apparently ALAçAR, treasurer of Ramon Berenguer of Aragon,
who in 1135 granted him and his descendants a release
from taxes. In 1212 ABULFATH ABENALAZAR, son of Alazrach,
was transferred by King Pedro, together with his family, to the
protection of the Knights of the Order of St. John. They were
granted special protection, right of appeal to the king’s court of
justice, and exemption from the discriminatory Jewish *oath.
This privilege was confirmed by James I in 1235 to Abulfath’s
grandson, ALAçAR B. ALAZRACH, who served as alfaquim
(“physician-interpreter”) in Saragossa. The family’s omission
to pay their share of the communal taxes and failure to participate
in communal affairs alienated them from the Jewish
community. However, in 1413 the community succeeded in obtaining
an order from King Ferdinand I by which the Eleazar
family was compelled to share the expenses of sending a delegation
to the papal court. Their release in 1425 from the tax
on meat and wine finally caused their excommunication by
the Jewish community.
Other members of this family include the physician
MOSSE ABEN ELEAZAR (active c. 1390), as a result of whose
services to the Franciscans in Saragossa the Jews were permitted
in 1385 to carry their dead to the cemetery on the road
which passed by their church. Other physicians of the family
include EZDRA ELEAZAR, in attendance on the royal court
in 1387, and TODROS ALAZAR (second half of the 15th century).
The wealthy DON MAIR ALAZAR (first half of the 15th
century) established a Jewish hospital. One of the gates to the
Jewish quarter of Saragossa situated near his house was named
after him. Maestre MOSSE ALAZAR was in the service of the
court of Aragon in 1384. The richest Jewish moneylender in
Saragossa at the time of the Expulsion of 1492 was SOLOMON
ELEAZAR: an inventory of pledges in his possession has been
preserved. A secondary branch of the family lived in Valencia.
JUDAH ELEAZAR (d. 1377) was the most forceful communal
leader in the city and among the signatories of the regulations
of the communities of Aragon issued in 1354. He gave considerable
financial help to the king in the war against Castile,
and in 1370 lent 110,000 solidos for equipping the ships which
conveyed Pope Urban V from Rome to Avignon. Several less
influential members of the Eleazar family lived in Calatayud
and Huesca.
Bibliography: Baer, Urkunden, 1 (1929), index; Baer, Spain,
index; Neuman, Spain, index; M. Serrano y Sanz, Orìgenes de la Dominación
Española en América (1918), 12–13, 451–2; Cabezudo Astrain,
in: Sefarad, 14 (1954), 377–9; 20 (1960), 412–3, 415–6; Lopez de Meneses,
ibid., 14 (1954), 109, 112, 114; Piles Ros, ibid., 10 (1950), 370, 377,
378, 381, 384; A.M. Hershman, Rabbi lsaac Ben Sheshet Perfet and His
Times (1943), 22, 159, 169.
ELEAZAR BEN ANANIAS, Zealot leader in Jerusalem during
the Jewish war with Rome 66–70 C.E. Eleazar evidently
already held the office of Captain of the Temple (segan ha-Kohanim
– στρατηγόος) during the procuratorship of *Albinus,
62–64 C.E., and continued to hold that position until the de-
298 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6