Midrash Eleh Ezkerah
Encyclopedia
Midrash Eleh Ezkerah is an aggadic midrash, one of the smaller midrashim
, which receives its name from the fact that a seliḥah for the Day of Atonement
, which treats the same subject and begins with the words "Eleh ezkerah," recounts the execution of ten famous teachers of the Mishnah
in the time of the persecution by Hadrian
(see Ten Martyrs
). The same event is related in a very ancient source, Ekah Rabbati on Lam.
ii. 2, ed. S. Buber, p. 50b (comp. also Midr. Teh. on Ps.
ix. 13, ed. Buber, p. 44b).
According to the Midrash Eleh Ezkerah, a Roman emperor commanded the execution of the ten sages of Israel to expiate the guilt of the sons of Jacob
, who had sold their brother Joseph
—a crime which, according to Ex. xxi. 16, had to be punished with death. The names of the martyrs are given here, as in the seliḥah already mentioned (varying in part from the Eicha Rabba and the Midrash Tehillim
), as follows:
Although this midrash employs other sources, borrowing its introduction from the Midrash Konen, and the account of the conversation of Rabbi Ishmael with the angels in heaven probably from the Hekalot, it forms, nevertheless, a coherent work. It was edited, on the basis of a Hamburg codex, by A. Jellinek (Leipsic, 1853, and in his B. H. ii. 64-72), and, according to another manuscript, by S. Chones, in his Rab Pe'alim (pp. 157-160). A second and a third recension of the midrash were edited, on the basis of manuscript sources, in B. H. (vi. 19-35), and a fourth is contained in the Spanish liturgical work Bet Ab (Leghorn, 1877). According to Jellinek, "the fourth recension is the oldest, since it has borrowed large portions from the Hekalot; next to this stand the second and the third; while the youngest is the first, which, nevertheless, has the advantage of real conformity with the spirit of the race and represents this the best of all." The martyrdom of the ten sages is also treated in the additions to the Hekalot (B. H. v. 167 et seq.) and in the ḳinah
for the Ninth of Ab.
Smaller midrashim
A number of midrashim exist which are smaller in size, and generally later in date, than those dealt with in the articles Midrash Haggadah and Midrash Halakah....
, which receives its name from the fact that a seliḥah for the Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, which treats the same subject and begins with the words "Eleh ezkerah," recounts the execution of ten famous teachers of 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...
in the time of the persecution by Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
(see Ten Martyrs
Ten Martyrs
The Ten Martyrs refers to a group of ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Romans in the period after the destruction of the second Temple...
). The same event is related in a very ancient source, Ekah Rabbati on Lam.
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
ii. 2, ed. S. Buber, p. 50b (comp. also Midr. Teh. on Ps.
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
ix. 13, ed. Buber, p. 44b).
The version in Eleh Ezkerah
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
, who had sold their brother Joseph
Joseph (Hebrew Bible)
Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
—a crime which, according to Ex. xxi. 16, had to be punished with death. The names of the martyrs are given here, as in the seliḥah already mentioned (varying in part from the Eicha Rabba and the Midrash Tehillim
Midrash Tehillim
Midrash Tehillim or Midrash to Psalms is a haggadic midrash known since the 11th century, when it was quoted by Nathan of Rome in his Aruk , by R. Isaac ben Judah ibn Ghayyat in his Halakot , and by Rashi in his commentary on I Sam. xvii. 49, and on many other passages. This midrash is called also...
), as follows:
- R. Simeon b. Gamaliel
- R. Ishmael the high priest
- R. Akiba
- R. Ḥanina b. Teradion
- R. Judah b. Baba
- R. Judah b. Dama
- R. Ḥuzpit
- R. Hananiah b. Ḥakinai
- R. Jeshebeab
- R. Eleazar b. Shammua'
Although this midrash employs other sources, borrowing its introduction from the Midrash Konen, and the account of the conversation of Rabbi Ishmael with the angels in heaven probably from the Hekalot, it forms, nevertheless, a coherent work. It was edited, on the basis of a Hamburg codex, by A. Jellinek (Leipsic, 1853, and in his B. H. ii. 64-72), and, according to another manuscript, by S. Chones, in his Rab Pe'alim (pp. 157-160). A second and a third recension of the midrash were edited, on the basis of manuscript sources, in B. H. (vi. 19-35), and a fourth is contained in the Spanish liturgical work Bet Ab (Leghorn, 1877). According to Jellinek, "the fourth recension is the oldest, since it has borrowed large portions from the Hekalot; next to this stand the second and the third; while the youngest is the first, which, nevertheless, has the advantage of real conformity with the spirit of the race and represents this the best of all." The martyrdom of the ten sages is also treated in the additions to the Hekalot (B. H. v. 167 et seq.) and in the ḳinah
Kinnot
Kinnot are dirges or elegies traditionally recited by Jews on Tisha B'Av to mourn the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and other tragedies in Jewish history, including the Crusades and the Holocaust...
for the Ninth of Ab.
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
- ZunzZunzZunz, Zuntz is a Yiddish surname: , Belgian pharmacologist* Leopold Zunz , German Reform rabbi* Gerhard Jack Zunz , British civil engineer- Zuntz :* Nathan Zuntz , German physiologist...
, G. V. p. 142; - A. Jellinek, B. H. ii., pp. xxiii. et seq.; v., p. xli.; vi., pp. xvii. et seq.;
- Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 299.
- On the problem of the synchronism of the ten martyrs see Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. iv. 175 et seq., and Monatsschrift, i. 314 et seq. A German translation by P. Möbius appeared in 1845.