JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

the olive, providing that it is from Thy hand, rather than as
sweet as honey if I have to depend upon man” (Sanh. 108b);
“Even when a sharp sword rests on his neck, man should not
abandon hope of mercy” (Ber. 10a); “An unmarried person
is less than a man … as is he who owns no land” (Yev. 63a).
Many of his sayings are devoted to fostering the sanctity and
love of the Land of Israel: e.g., “Whoever resides in Israel lives
without sin” (Ket. 111a); “Those who die outside Israel will not
be resurrected” (ibid.). When told that his associate Ulla had
died during one of his frequent visits to Babylon, he quoted
Amos 7:17 and declared “Thou Ulla, ‘shalt die in an unclean
land’” (ibid.). He also ruled as a matter of halakhah, “Books
which have merited to come to Israel, may not be taken out
of the country” (Sanh. 3:10, 21). Although Eleazar’s aggadic
sayings embrace many spheres of Torah, he avoided esoteric
study. He refused to receive instruction in this field from either
his teacher Johanan or, many years later, from his friend
Assi, who wished to attract him to the subject (Ḥag. 13a). His
teachings were transmitted by numerous contemporaries and
later scholars, particularly Abbahu, Rabbah b. Hana, and Zera
(Shab. 12b, 134b; Suk. 43a; et al.).
Bibliography: Bacher, Pal Amor, s.v.; Epstein, Mishnah,
292–307; Frankel, Mevo, 111b–113a; Halevy, Dorot, 2 (1923), 327–32;
Hyman, Toledot, 192–9; Weiss, Dor, 3 (19044), 76–80.
[Shmuel Safrai]
ELEAZAR BEN SHAMMUA (c. 150 C.E.), tanna. He is generally
referred to simply as “Eleazar,” without his patronymic.
He is quoted frequently in the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and the
Midrashei Halakhah, appearing together with R. Meir, R.
Shimon, R, Johanan ha-Sandelar, and other students of R.
Akiva. Many of Eleazar’s mishnayot were incorporated into
the Mishnah by Judah ha-Nasi. It is difficult, however, to determine
the precise extent of this incorporation because of the
repeated confusion throughout talmudic literature between
Eleazar and Eliezer (b. Hyrcanus). Tannaitic sources record
that when Eleazar and Johanan ha-Sandelar reached Sidon
on their way to Nisibis to study under *Judah b. Bathyra they
recalled Ereẓ Israel, and with tears streaming from their eyes,
returned home, declaring, “Living in Ereẓ Israel is equivalent
to all the mitzvot of the Torah” (Sif. Deut. 80). He is the author
of the law that the witnesses of its delivery validate a get (bill
of divorce) or any other document, even if the document itself
is unsigned by witnesses (Git. 9:4). Among his aggadic statements
is: “The Bible and the sword came down from heaven,
bound together. God said to the Jews: ‘If you keep what is
written in this book, you will be saved from the sword, but
if not, you will ultimately be killed by the sword’” (Sif. Deut.
40). According to the Babylonian Talmud he was a kohen
(Sot. 39a) and one of the last pupils of R. *Akiva (Yev. 62b; cf.
Gen. R. 61:3), whose views are cited on several occasions as
the bases for some of Eleazar’s statements (Ket. 40a; Zev. 93a;
et al.). After the Bar Kokhba revolt Eleazar, among others,
was ordained by *Judah b. Bava, who consequently suffered
martyrdom at the hands of the Romans (Sanh. 14a). Other
eleazar ben simeon
talmudic sources, however, do not mention Eleazar among
Akiva’s pupils at any of the gatherings of the sages after the
period of the persecutions (TJ, Ḥag. 3:1, 78d; Song R. 2:5; Ber.
63b). Judah ha-Nasi, who was his pupil (Men. 18a), said that
Eleazar’s bet ha-midrash was so crowded that six pupils used
to sit there in the space of one cubit (Er. 53a). Highly esteemed
by the early amoraim, Eleazar was called by Rav “the happiest
of the sages” (Ket. 40a), while Johanan said of him that his
heart was as broad as the door of the temple porch (Er. 53a).
The Talmud tells that he lived to an old age, and when asked
by his pupils to what he attributed his longevity, replied: “I
have never taken a short-cut through a synagogue; I have not
stepped over the heads of the holy people (i.e., of other pupils
to get to his place in the bet midrash); and I have not raised
my hands (for the priestly benediction) without first reciting a
blessing” (Meg. 27b). Later Midrashim include Eleazar among
the *Ten Martyrs of the Hadrianic persecutions.
Bibliography: J. Bruell, Mevo ha-Mishnah, 1 (1876), 195–7;
Bacher, Tann; Hyman, Toledot, 205–10; Frankel, Mishnah, 182–4;
Epstein, Tanna’im, 158–9.
[Shmuel Safrai]
ELEAZAR BEN SIMEON, Zealot leader during the Roman
war of 66–70 C.E. Eleazar was a member of a distinguished
priestly family of Jerusalem and a friend of *Zechariah b. Avkilus.
He played an important role in the war against *Cestius
Gallus, attacking the retreating Roman army and seizing military
equipment, which was later to prove of great value in the
defense of Jerusalem. Eleazar was not appointed a member of
the governing council formed after the war against Cestius,
probably because he was an extremist. The entry of Idumeans
into Jerusalem, and the ensuing slaughter of those who had
opposed the Zealots can be attributed to the machinations
of Eleazar and his associates. Josephus attempted to exonerate
Eleazar from responsibility for the massacres, putting the
blame on *John of Giscala. Josephus cannot be relied on in
this, since he was probably influenced by his great hostility to
John. Eleazar engaged in internecine warfare with John of Giscala
inside Jerusalem. Eleazar’s men entrenched themselves in
the Temple, which occupied the highest position in the city,
affording them a significant strategic advantage over their enemies.
Eleazar was thus able to maintain a defense although
he had only a few men at his disposal. A peace agreement between
the warring factions was not reached until Passover of
70 C.E. when the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans had already
begun. Coins inscribed “Eleazar the Priest” on one side
and “Year One of the Redemption of Israel” on the obverse are
extant. In the opinion of some historians Eleazar b. Simeon is
the subject of the inscription but it is probable that the coins
date from the rebellion of Bar Kokhba, and that “Eleazar the
Priest” refers to the high priest of that time.
Bibliography: Jos., Wars, 2:562–5; 4:225; 5:5–10, 99, 250;
Klausner, Bayit Sheni, 5 (19512), 302 (index); Schuerer, Hist, 264ff.;
F.W. Madden, Coins of the Jews (19672), 35ff., 188ff.; A. Schlatter, Zur
Topographie und Geschichte Palaestinas (1893).
[Abraham Schalit]
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 307