JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

struction of the Temple. Son of the high priest *Ananias and
a member of the priestly circles who joined the revolt, he persuaded
the priests to discontinue the practice of accepting offerings
on behalf of aliens. Cessation of the sacrifice offered
up for the emperor was tantamount to challenging Roman
rule, and – according to Josephus – this action signaled the
revolt against Rome. The Talmud attributes the action to Zechariah
b. Avkulus (Git. 56a).
The discontinuation of sacrifices for the health of the emperor
led to a struggle in Jerusalem between the Zealots and
those favoring conciliation. Eleazar and his partisans gained
possession of the Temple mount and the lower city while the
peace party and troops of King *Agrippa II occupied the upper
city. With the help of the extremist *Sicarii faction, however,
Eleazar and his men succeeded in capturing this section too.
The extremist elements then gained the upper hand, and attacked
not only the Romans, but also their opponents among
their compatriots. They set fire to the palaces of Agrippa,
*Berenice, and the high priest Ananias, as well as to the public
archives where loan bonds were deposited. Ananias and
his brother Hezekiah (see *Ananias b. Nedebeus) were put to
death. When *Menahem b. Judah the Galilean, a central figure
among the extremists, attempted to seize the command
for himself, he was foiled by Eleazar. After *Cestius Gallus
was defeated, Eleazar was appointed general of Idumea by
the war party in Jerusalem, together with *Jesus b. Zapphas.
The appointment was evidently prompted by a desire to remove
him from a key position in the command, and no more
is known of him.
Bibliography: Derenbourg, Hist, 472–4; Schuerer, Gesch,
1 (19014), 584, 602, 607; Klausner, Bayit Sheni, 5 (19512), 145–9; M.
Stern, in: Ha-Ishiyyut ve-Dorah (1963), 73; Jos., Ant., 20:208; Jos.,
Wars, 2:17, 409, 425, 566.
[Lea Roth]
ELEAZAR BEN ARAKH (second half of the first century
C.E.), tanna. He was one of the most outstanding disciples of
R. *Johanan b. Zakkai, who described him as “an overflowing
spring,” i.e., an inexhaustible source of innovative interpretation
and insight into the meaning of the Torah. According to
one tradition, he was considered to “outweigh all the sages
of Israel” (Avot 2:8). Relatively few traditions are preserved
in his name in the tannaitic sources. To his teacher’s question,
“Which is the good way to which a man should cleave?”
Eleazar answered, “A good heart,” a reply which, in R. Johanan’s
opinion, embodied all those given by his other pupils
(Avot. 2:9). In addition he is associated with two other aggadic
statements: the one “Be eager to study the Torah, and know
what you should answer to an unbeliever …” (Avot 2:14); and
the other that God humbled Himself by speaking to Moses
from the burning bush and not from some high mountain
or elevated place (Mekh. Sby, to 3:5; cf. Mid. Ḥag. to Ex. 3:2).
Only two of his halakhic statements are cited in tannaitic
sources (Tosef. Ter. 5:15; TJ, Yev. 2:1, 3c, and parallel passages;
Sifra 2:8; Ḥul. 106a). According to two early traditions (Mech.
eleazar ben azariah
of Rabbi Shimon, 158–159; Tos. Ḥag. 2:1), Eleazar engaged, together
with his teacher, in mystical speculation concerning the
Divine Chariot (see *Merkabah Mysticism). While this story
may have an historical foundation, the literary figure of R.
Eleazar – the “overflowing spring” – may also have been used
here by later story tellers to exemplify Ḥag. 2:1, which permits
mystical speculation only in the case of “a sage who understands
by himself.” According to the Mech. of Rabbi Shimon,
R. Eleazar expounded the secrets of the Chariot “on the basis
of his own understanding” until “a fire surrounded him” – a
sign of divine confirmation of his experience. The story as related
by the Tosefta is a far more sober affair, involving a form
of “scholastic” mysticism, which takes place wholly on the
earthly plane, and which was strictly supervised by Rabban
Johanan. The Babylonian Talmud (following the lead of the
Jerusalem Talmud) combines and elaborates these two traditions,
relating that while they were traveling together, Eleazar
asked R. Johanan to teach him the secrets of the Chariot, to
which the latter replied: “Have I not taught you that such
speculations may not be conveyed to an individual, unless he
is a scholar who is able to think and speculate for himself?”
Having obtained R. Johanan’s permission, Eleazar began to
expound the subject, whereupon fire immediately descended
from heaven and enveloped all the trees in the field, which
broke forth in song. R. Johanan then kissed his pupil and said:
“Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, who has granted our father
Abraham a descendant capable of understanding, inquiring
into, and expounding the Divine Chariot” (Ḥag. 14b). Later
traditions tell a story of his having followed his wife’s advice
to go to Emmaus instead of accompanying R. Johanan from
Jerusalem to Jabneh. As a result of his isolation he is reputed
to have forgotten his learning in Emmaus, “a place of bathhouses
and luxury” (Shab. 147b; ARN 14:30; ARN2 29, 3; Eccl.
R. 7:7). It is likely, however, that these traditions, rather than
reflecting the historical truth of Rabbi Eleazar’s own life, reflect
an attempt to explain the paucity of traditions preserved
in his name despite the lavish praise bestowed upon him by
his teacher as recorded in Avot.
Bibliography: Geiger, in: JZWL, 9 (1871), 45–49; Bacher,
Tann, 1 (19032), 69–72; Frankel, Mishnah, 95f.; Alon, Toledot, 1
(19582), 63. Add. Bibliography: A. Goshen-Gottstein, The Sinner
and the Amnesiac (2000); S. Wald, in: JSIJ (2006).
[Shmuel Safrai / Stephen G. Wald (2nd ed.)]
ELEAZAR BEN AZARIAH (first–second century C.E.),
one of the sages of Jabneh. He was one of the most prominent
tannaim and is quoted dozens of times in the Mishnah, the
Tosefta, and the tannaitic Midrashim, his statements touching
on all areas of halakhah and aggadah. A priest, it is said that he
could trace his ancestry back ten generations to Ezra (TJ, Yev.
1:6, 3a–6). Like many prominent tannaim, events mentioned
briefly or in passing in the earlier sources were expanded and
elaborated in the later talmudic literature. For example, Ben
Azzai mentions in three places (Zev. 1:3; Yad. 3:5; 4:2) “the day
that they seated R. Eleazar ben Azariah in the yeshivah.” The
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