Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus | |
|---|---|
 Sketch/Engraving of Eleazar of Worms | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 1176 probablyMainz,Electorate of Mainz |
| Died | 1238 |
| Spouse | Dulcea of Worms |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Judaism |
Eleazar ofWorms (אלעזר מוורמייזא - also מגרמייזא of Garmiza or Garmisa) (c. 1176–1238), orEleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today asEleazar Rokeach ("Eleazar the Perfumer" אלעזר רקח) from the title of hisBook of the Perfumer (Sefer ha rokeah ספר הרקח)—where thenumerical value of "Perfumer" (inHebrew) is equal to Eleazar, was a prominentKabbalist andhalakhic authority, among the greatest of theHasidei Ashkenaz and a disciple of RabbiJudah the Pious.
He was the author of theSefer ha-Rokeach (Rokeach ingematria = Eleazar), one of theTosafists, and wrote many Kabbalistic works, most of which survive only in manuscript form. He served as a rabbi and judge in Worms, and instituted customs still observed in Ashkenazic communities today.
He was called "the Rokeach" after his book,[1] though he was often mistakenly referred to as "Rabbi Eliezer of Germiza".[2] Due to this confusion, he was sometimes wrongly identified asEliezer the Great.[3][4]
Rabbi Eleazar was born around 1165 in Mainz to his father and teacher, RabbiJudah ben Kalonymus of Mainz (known as the RIBaK), one of the greatest sages of his time. He traveled among centers of Torah inGermany and northernFrance. He learned Torah from his father and Kabbalah from his relative RabbiJudah the Pious.[5] He married the granddaughter of the RiBaN (Rabbi Yehuda ben Natan).[6]
Among his prominent students was RabbiIsaac ben Moses of Vienna, author of"Or Zarua". He signed the Enactments of SHU"M (Speyer, Worms, and Mainz). His date of death is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 1232 to 1242. He is buried in Worms.
He suffered greatly during attacks on the Jewish community, leading him to move from Mainz to Worms where he became rabbi. On the night of 22Kislev 1196 (14 November),[7] two intruders broke into his home during his study of the verse “And Jacob dwelt in safety,” wounded him and his son, and murdered his wife Dulcea, his 13-year-old daughter Belat, and his six-year-old daughter Hannah.[8] He wrote:
...And they split open the head of my daughter Belat... and also my daughter Hannah, and she died... My wife the righteous woman got up and cried that we were being murdered. The villains struck her in the head, shoulder, and across her back, and she fell and died. I closed the door and we cried until help came from Heaven.
I remained destitute, in great poverty and suffering.
Yet, at the end of his lamentation, he justifies God’s judgment:
Woe unto me for my wife, woe for my daughters,I will mourn with a lamentation—how great are my sins.
The Judge is faithful who judged me,
In my sin and transgression He humbled me,I shall bless Him for every measure and sing His praise,
To Him I bow and prostrate myself.
Some scholars argue that parts of the lament were added later or copied incorrectly, as it refers to sons having died even though earlier he mentions that his surviving son was treated by his wife and lived.[9]
One of the attackers was apprehended a week later, brought to justice, and executed. Following these events, Rabbi Eleazar focused on composing his Sefer ha-Rokeach and teaching via writing, as direct instruction had become difficult.
Eleazar developed a vigorous activity in many directions. On the one hand, he was a Talmudist of vast erudition, aliturgist gifted with a clear and easy style, and anastronomer, and was well versed in the sciences open to the Jews of Germany at that time. At the same time, he was an adventurous mystic who experienced visions, seeing legions of angels and demons. He exerted himself to spread mystical systems which went far beyond the conceptions of the classical authors of Jewish esoterica. In his mystical works he developed and gave a new impulse to the mysticism associated with the letters of the alphabet. By thegematria andnotarikon systems of interpretation found in the Talmud, Eleazar invented new combinations by which miracles could be performed. Thehaggadicanthropomorphism which he had combated in his earlier works (Ha-Roḳeaḥ,Sha'are ha-Sod weha-Yiḥud) occupied later the foremost place in his mystical writings. Eleazar's great merit therefore lies not only in his new mystical system, but also in his ethical works. In these he shows greatness of soul and a piety bordering uponasceticism. Though so severely tried by fate, he inculcates cheerfulness, patience, and love for humanity.
Unlike Rabbi Judah the Pious, he signed his writings by name (usually as "the small one"). He was the first to do so.
RabbiDavid Gans dated his death to 1238, and many scholars followed him. However,Ephraim Elimelech Urbach noted that Rabbi Eleazar is cited as deceased in works from 1232 and 1234, suggesting an earlier death. Yet, a signature by him exists from 1224, so his death likely occurred between these years. He is buried in theOld Cemetery in Worms.[10]
His main work, "Sefer ha-Rokeach", is ahalakhic text including legal rulings, customs, and their reasons according to the Tosafist tradition. It combinespilpul, halakhic conclusions, ethical insights, and many gematriot.
He taught that the reward for mitzvot depends on one’s struggle. A mitzvah that is difficult to perform earns more reward than "a hundred mitzvot performed easily."
The book frequently referencesKiddush Hashem and reasons that if a person would die for his faith, he can surely resist lesser sins.
Another halakhic work is "36 Sha'arim" on the laws ofshechita andtreifot.[11]
Rabbi Eleazar praised serving God with joy, quoting from the Torah on the verse: "Because you did not serve the Lord with joy and gladness of heart..." He wrote:
One should always think how to do God's will. Pleasures with one’s wife and children are insignificant compared to loving the Creator... Even the satisfaction of a man uniting with a woman after a long separation is as nothing compared to the joy of doing God’s will.[12]
He emphasized repentance from sexual sin. Following theSefer Hasidim, he categorized levels of repentance including "Teshuvat HaBa’ah"—returning to the scene of sin but resisting. He also supported ascetic forms of repentance—painful self-afflictions proportionate to the pleasure derived from sin, known as "Teshuvat HaMishkal".
Joseph Dan argued this elite form of teshuva was ideal in Ashkenazi Hasidism, though dangerous for most people.
He wrote many Kabbalistic works, rich in gematria. Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech of Dinov in theBnei Yissaschar emphasized that the Rokeach’s teachings were fromElijah the Prophet.[13]
His concept of "Kavod" as an intermediary, non-created emanation of God, was adapted cautiously fromSaadia Gaon and his teacher Rabbi Judah the Pious.
Rabbi Eleazar instituted several customs, including:
The earliest source for thekitniyot prohibition on Passover is found in his Pesach derasha.[16]
In addition to these works, Eleazar wrotetosafot to many Talmudic treatises, referred to byBezalel Ashkenazi in hisShiṭṭah Mequbbeṣet; a commentary on "Sheqalim" in theJerusalem Talmud, cited byAsher ben Jehiel in his commentary to that treatise in theBabylonian Talmud; thirty-six chapters on the examination ofritually slaughtered animals (MS. Michael No. 307).Leopold Zunz enumerates fifty-five liturgical poems and dirges composed by Eleazar and occurring in the Ashkenazicmaḥzorim,qinnot, andseliḥot.[8]
For an extensive list of his attributed works, including halakhic, kabbalistic, liturgical, and ethical texts, see the Hebrew article or consult:
Among his descendants is RabbiElazar Rokeach of Amsterdam, author ofMaaseh Rokeach, founder of the Rokeach rabbinic dynasty.Ephraim Zalman Margolies, genealogist and halakhist, also claimed descent and served as a reference point for many rabbinic lineages in Central and Eastern Europe.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus of Worms".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. RetrievedJan 11, 2017.