Eleazar Chisma
Encyclopedia
Eleazar Chisma was a tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...

 of the second and third generations (2nd century); he was a disciple of Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...

 and Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...

. (Ḥag. 3a; Hor. 10a).

Etymology

In their use of the word "ben" in connection with his cognomen "Ḥisma" or "Ḥasma" (see Geiger, "Schriften," iv. 343, and Strack, "Einleitung in den Thalmud," 2d ed., p. 81), the sources are inconsistent; its insertion, however, seems justifiable. "Ḥisma," is not an adjectival cognomen (see Eleazar I.), but a locative, the place probably being identical with Hizmeh (see Luncz, "Jerusalem," vi. 67; ; hence "ben Ḥisma" means "son of [= "native of"] Ḥisma" (compare R. H. 17a; Meg. 19a; Ḳid. ii. 3).

Several halakot are preserved under Eleazar's name in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

(Ter. iii. 5; B. M. vii. 5), and he is met with in halakic controversies with Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah , was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna . He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b. Hananiah, and senior of Akiba...

 and Akiba
Akiba
Akiba may refer to:*Akiba-kei, a Japanese slang term*Tadatoshi Akiba , mayor of Hiroshima* Akiba, a subgenus of protozoa in the genus LeucocytozoonIn entertainment:* Akiba , a 2006 Japanese film...

 (Neg. vii. 2; Sifra, Tazria', i. 2), and with Eliezer ben Jacob I
Eliezer ben Jacob I
Eliezer ben Jacob I was a Tanna of the 1st century; contemporary of Eleazar b. Ḥisma and Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and senior of Illai...

 (Pes. 32a; Yalḳ., Lev. 638); and to him is ascribed the economic rule that the employee is not entitled to a proportion of his employer's produce greater than the amount of his wages (B. M. vii. 5, 92a; Sifre, Deut. 266).

Exegesis

Some haggadot also are ascribed to him (Mek., Beshallaḥ Wayassa', 4; ib., Amalek, 1; Yoma 19b). Conjointly with Rabbi Joshua, he gives an allegorical reason for Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....

's attack on Israel (Ex. xvii. 8 et seq.) just at the time it occurred. Citing Job viii. 11, "Can a rush grow up without mire? Can the flag grow without water?" he remarks, "Even so is it impossible for Israel to flourish without the Law; and since they had neglected the Law [see Ex. xvii. 1-7], an enemy was ordered out to war against them" (compare Yalḳ. to Ex. l.c., § 262; anonymous in Yalḳ. to Job l.c., § 904). Again, he cites Isa. xliii. 22, "But thou hast not called on me, O Jacob," and applies it to those who are not devout in their prayers, but while reciting the "Shema'" communicate with their neighbors by sign language (compare Yalḳ. to Isa. l.c., § 318).

Scientific knowledge

Not only was Chizma possessed of wide rabbinic learning, but he was also an adept in the sciences. Joshua, introducing him and Johanan b. (Gudgada) Nuri to the notice of Patriarch Gamaliel II, remarked of them that they could approximately calculate the number of drops contained in the ocean (Hor. 10a). As they were very poor, Gamaliel appointed them to remunerative offices in the academy (Sifre, Deut. 14; Yalḳ., Deut. 902; Hor. l.c.). Probably it was here—because the academicians sought from him instruction in secular science—that Eleazar remarked, "The laws concerning birds' nests and those concerning the incipient uncleanness of woman are elements of the Law, while astronomy and geometry are only condiments of wisdom" (Ab. iii. 18; Ab. R. N. xxvii. 2).

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