Eliezer ben Hurcanus
Rabbinical eras |
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Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Hyrcanus (Hebrew: אליעזר בן הורקנוס) was one of the most prominent Sages (tannaim) of the 1st and 2nd centuries in Judea, disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai[1][2] and colleague of Gamaliel II (whose sister Ima Shalom he married), and of Joshua ben Hananiah.[2][3][4] He is the sixth most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.[5]
Biography
Introduction to Torah
He was a
His father in the meantime determined to disinherit him, and with that purpose in view went to Jerusalem, there to declare his will before Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. Ben Zakkai, having heard of Hyrcanus' arrival and of the purpose of his visit, instructed the usher to reserve for Hyrcanus a seat among those to be occupied by the elite of the city, and appointed Eliezer lecturer for that day. At first the latter hesitated to venture in Ben Zakkai's place, but, pressed by the master and encouraged by his friends, delivered a discourse, gradually displaying wonderful knowledge. Hyrcanus having recognized in the lecturer his truant son, and hearing the praises which Ben-Zakkai showered on him, now desired to transfer all his earthly possessions to Eliezer. But Eliezer, overjoyed at the reconciliation, declined to take advantage of his brothers, and requested to be allowed to have only his proportionate share.[9] He continued his attendance at Ben-Zakkai's college until near the close of the siege of Jerusalem, when he and Joshua assisted in smuggling their master out of the city and into the Roman camp.
Subsequently, Eliezer proceeded to Yavne,[10] where he later became a member of the Sanhedrin under the presidency of Gamaliel II,[11] though he had established, and for many years afterward conducted, his own academy at Lydda.[12] His fame as a great scholar had in the meantime spread, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai himself declaring that Eliezer was unequaled as an expositor of traditional law;[9] and many promising students, among them Akiva,[2][13] attached themselves to his school.
Eliezer became known as "Eliezer ha-Gadol" ("the Great";[14] generally, however, he is styled simply "R. Eliezer"), and with reference to his legal acumen and judicial impartiality, the Scriptural saying "That which is altogether just [literally "Justice, justice"] shalt thou follow,"[15] was thus explained: "Seek a reliable court: go after R. Eliezer to Lod, or after Yohanan ben Zakkai to Beror Ḥayil," etc.[16][17] Once he accompanied Gamaliel and Joshua on an embassy to Rome.[18]
Conservatism
Rabbi Eliezer was very severe and somewhat domineering with his pupils and colleagues,
Eliezer's conservatism brought him into conflict with his colleagues and contemporaries, who realized that such conservatism must be fatal to a proper development of the oral law. It was also felt that the new circumstances, such as the destruction of the
At last the rupture came. The
Roman charge of heresy
Rabbinic accounts in the
The rabbinic accounts do not reference the wider context of Roman persecution of Christians, and instead focus on specific points of Jewish halakha. The accounts state that Eliezer was charged for being a heretic, and was summoned before the penal tribunal. Being asked by the Roman governor, "How can a great man like you engage in such idle things?" he simply replied, "Blessed is the True Judge". The judge, thinking that Rabbi Eliezer was speaking about him, released him, while Rabbi Eliezer understood by "judge" God, justifying the judgment of God which had brought this trial upon him. That he should be suspected of apostasy grieved him sorely, and though some of his pupils tried to comfort him, he remained for some time inconsolable. At last he remembered that once, while on a road of
Censure
Separated from his colleagues and excluded from the deliberations of the Sanhedrin, Eliezer passed his last years of life unnoticed and in comparative solitude. It is probably from this melancholy period that his aphorism dates:
Let the honor of thy colleague (variant, "pupils") be as dear to thee as thine own, and be not easily moved to anger. Repent one day before thy death. Warm thyself by the fire of the wise men, but be cautious of their burning coals ("slight them not"), that thou be not burned; for their bite is the bite of a jackal, their sting is that of a scorpion, their hissing is that of a snake, and all their words are fiery coals.[33]
When asked how one can determine the one day before his death, he answered: "So much the more must one repent daily, lest he die tomorrow; and it follows that he must spend all his days in piety".[34]
Death
When his former colleagues heard of his approaching death, the most prominent among them hastened to his bedside at
Eliezer died on a Friday, and after the following Sabbath his remains were solemnly conveyed to Lydda, where he had formerly conducted his academy, and there he was buried. Many and earnest were the eulogies pronounced over his bier. R. Joshua is said to have kissed the stone on which Eliezer used to sit while instructing his pupils, and to have remarked, "This stone represents Sinai, and he who sat on it represented the Ark of the Covenant".[36] R. Akiva applied to Eliezer the terms which Elisha had applied to Elijah,[37] and which Joash subsequently applied to Elisha himself,[38] "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof".[39]
Eliezer is buried in the HaRambam compound in Tiberias.[citation needed]
Quotes
Though excommunicated, Rabbi Eliezer is quoted in the
Anyone who has bread in his basket and asks, 'what shall I eat to-morrow,' belongs to those of little faith.[40]
Be particularly careful about the honour due to your fellow man, and prevent your children from [relying on] logic [when studying verses that tend toward heresy], and have them seated between the knees of the disciples of the Sages, and whenever you [stand up to] pray, be apprised of whom it is you are standing before, on which account you shall be merited to obtain life in the world to come.[41]
It was not in vain that the
References
- Avot of Rabbi Natan6:3
- ^ Avot of Rabbi Natan14:5
- ^ a b Pirkei Abot 2:8
- ^ Bava Batra 10b
- ^ Drew Kaplan, "Rabbinic Popularity in the Mishnah VII: Top Ten Overall Final Tally" Drew Kaplan's Blog (5 July 2011).
- ^ Korban Ha'eidah to the Jerusalem Talmud, Sotah 3:4
- OCLC 232936057.
- ^ Sukkah 28a
- ^ Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer1+
- Avot of Rabbi Natan 4:5; Gittin56
- Sanhedrin17b
- ^ Sanhedrin 36b
- Pesahim6 (33b)
- Sotah13b, 48b-49a
- ^ Deuteronomy 16:20
- Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 32b
- OCLC 745203905.
- ^ Jerusalem Talmud Sanhedrin 7 (25d); Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:24
- 25b
- ^ Niddah 7b; see Tosafot's explanation of the term shammuti
- ^ Bava Metzia 59b; Jerusalem Talmud Mo'ed Katan' 3 (81a+)
- ^ Yadayim 4:3
- ^ Jerusalem Talmud, Moed Katan; Chapter 3
- ^ Schwartz, Joshua; Thomson, Peter J. (2012). "When Rabbi Eliezer was Arrested for Heresy" (PDF). Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal. 10: 145–181. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Joshua; Thomson, Peter J. (2012). "When Rabbi Eliezer was Arrested for Heresy" (PDF). Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal. 10: 179. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
- ^ Proverbs 5:8
- ^ Joshua Schwartz, Peter J. Tomson,'When Rabbi Eliezer was arrested for heresy,' Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal 2012, vol.10, pp.1-37, pp.6-7.
- Abodah Zarah16b
- ^ Ecclesiastes Rabbah 1:8
- ^ Hullin (Tosefta) 2:24
- ^ a b Sotah 3:4
- ^ Yoma 66b
- Avot of Rabbi Natan15:1
- Avot of Rabbi Natan 15:4; Shabbat153a
- Sanhedrin68a
- Canticles Rabbah1:3
- ^ 2 Kings 2:12
- ^ 2 Kings 13:14
- Avot of Rabbi Natan25:3
- ^ Soṭah 48b
- ^ Berakhot 28b
- ^ Baba Kama 92b
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Mendelsohn, S.; Schechter, Solomon (1903). "Eliezer (Liezer) Ben Hyrcanus". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. pp. 113–115.