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herself in the cistern there; although it has also been pointed
out that the ascription of heroic speeches to the heroes of history
was a literary device that characterized ancient historiography.
These passages are the only sources where Eleazar
is mentioned explicitly, and since Josephus is the only source
for the final battle of Masada and the last days of the fighters,
it should be treated with caution.
The image of Eleazar which emerges is not only multifaceted
but contradictory. His colorful character made it difficult
for Josephus to give a uniform or complete picture.
He never fails to stress that Eleazar was one of the Sicarii,
of whom he continually gives an unfavorable opinion. Yet,
at the same time, when he comes to describe in detail the
stand of Masada and its fall, he does not refrain from praising
Eleazar. Doubts have been cast upon the reliability of Josephus’
story of Masada. It has been argued (Ladouceur, but
see comments by Rajak) that Eleazar’s speech was written to
act as a balance to Josephus’ own opinions about self-inflicted
death (Wars, 3:362–382). Nevertheless, the archaeological excavations
at Masada – directed by Y. Yadin – even if they have
not produced factual epigraphic testimony of what happened
there, do not contradict the narrative. The many traces of fire
throughout the whole area of the fortress are a small part of the
mute testimony to the end of Masada. But the most remarkable
part of the excavation was the discovery of 11 small sherds
upon which names and appellations were marked (among
them: “Ben ha-Naḥtom,” “ha-Amki,” “Yo’av,” “Ben Ya’ir,” etc.).
These 11 ostraka have been tenuously connected by Yadin with
the statement by Josephus (Wars, 7:395f.): “then, having chosen
by lot ten of their number to despatch the rest … these,
having unswervingly slaughtered all, ordained the same rule
of the lot for one another, that he on whom it fell should slay
first the nine and then himself last of all.” The sherd bearing
the name “Ben Ya’ir” strengthens the picture, unique of its
kind, of Eleazar ben Jair.
Bibliography: Klausner, Bayit Sheni, 5 (19512), 148, 287–9; S.
Zeitlin, in: JQR, 55 (1964/65), 299–317; 57 (1966/67), 251–70; Y. Yadin,
Masada (1968). Add. Bibliography: D.J. Ladouceur, “Masada: A
Consideration of the Literary Evidence,” in: Greek Roman and Byzantine
Studies, 21 (1980), 246–47; S.J.D. Cohen, “Masada: Literary Tradition,
Archaeological Remains and the Credibility of Josephus,” in:
JJS, 33 (1982), 385–405; T. Rajak, Josephus: The Historian and his Society
(1983), 220; M. Stern, Studies in Jewish History: The Second Temple
Period (1991), 313–43; D. Flusser, “The Dead of Masada in the Eyes
of their Contemporaries,” in: I. Gaphni et al. (eds.), Jews and Judaism
in the Second Temple, Mishna and Talmud Period (1993), 116–46;
T. Ilan, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity. Part I. Palestine
330 B.C.E.–200 C.E. (2002), 65.
[Abraham Lebanon]
ELEAZAR BEN JUDAH OF BARTOTA (first half of the
second century C.E.), tanna. His cognomen is derived from
a place Bartota, whose exact locality is unknown. It appears
that Eleazar studied under R. *Joshua for, on the authority
of the latter’s teachings, he challenges those of R. Akiva
(Tosef., Bek. 7:6; cf. Tev. Yom 3:4–5). Among the sages who
eleazar ben judah of worms
quote him are R. Simeon b. Gamaliel (Or. 1:4) and R. Simeon
b. Yoḥai (Tosef., Zav. 1:5). The Talmud (Shab. 32b) ascribes to
R. Eleazar ben Judah (without the additional designation “of
Bartota”) a statement warning about the penalties for neglecting
to separate ḥallah.
The importance which Eleazar accorded to charity is reflected
in his maxim quoted in Avot (3:7). “Render unto Him
what is His, for thou and what thou hast are His, as David has
said (I Chron. 29:14), ‘For all things come of Thee, and of Thine
own have we given to Thee.’” In keeping with this maxim, the
Babylonian Talmud describes him as excessively generous,
which was a source of embarrassment even to the collectors
of charity. The Talmud relates (Ta’an. 24a) that on one occasion,
when he was on his way to purchase a trousseau for his
daughter, the collectors tried to avoid him, knowing that he
would give them more than he could afford. Eleazar, however,
ran after them and, discovering that they were collecting to
make possible the marriage of two orphans, he gave them all
he had, leaving himself only one zuz. With this, he bought a
small quantity of grain which he deposited in the granary.
Miraculously, it multiplied to fill the granary to the bursting
point; but when told of this by his daughter, Eleazar insisted
that this, too, be consecrated to charity.
Bibliography: Bacher, Tann; Hyman, Toledot, 177.
[Jehonatan Etz-Chaim]
ELEAZAR BEN JUDAH OF WORMS (c. 1165–c. 1230),
scholar in the fields of halakhah, theology, and exegesis in
medieval Germany. Eleazar was the last major scholar of the
Ḥasidei Ashkenaz movement (see *Ḥasidei Ashkenaz). Born
in Mainz, he traveled and studied in many of the centers of
learning in Germany and northern France. He spent most of
his life in Worms. Eleazar was a member of the *Kalonymus
family, one of the most important German-Jewish families of
that period. His father *Judah b. Kalonymus, one of the leading
scholars of his generation, taught his son both halakhah
and esoteric theology. *Judah b. Samuel, he-Ḥasid (“the Pious”),
the leading figure in the Ḥasidei Ashkenaz movement,
to whom Eleazar was related, was, however, his main teacher
in the latter field and R. Moses ha-Kohen and R. Eliezer of
Metz were his most prominent teachers in halakhah. Eleazar
witnessed and suffered personally from the new outburst of
persecution of the Jews by the Crusaders at the end of the
12th and the beginning of the 13th century. On a number of
occasions in his commentary on the prayers, one of his major
works, he noted the events that befell Worms, especially
during the persecutions that followed the fall of Jerusalem to
Saladin. In one of these persecutions, Eleazar’s wife, daughter,
and son were murdered, and he was severely injured. Eleazar’s
wife was very active in the religious and cultural life of her
community. It is reported that she led the women in prayer
and even gave public lectures to the women on the Sabbath.
This tragedy was described by him in detail both in a story and
in a poem. His personal loss and the catastrophic situation in
the Jewish communities in Germany explain his pessimistic
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