Eleh Ezkerah: The Story of the Rabbis

On the ninth of Av It was decreed that our ancestors should not enter the land, The Temple was destroyed the first And the second time, Betar was captured, And the city was plowed up. When Av enters, they limit their rejoicing.

§ The mishna taught that on the Ninth of Av the city of Jerusalem was plowed. It is taught in a baraita: When the wicked Turnus Rufus plowed the Sanctuary, a decree was issued against Rabban Gamliel for execution. A certain Roman officer came and stood in the study hall and said surreptitiously: The man with the nose is wanted; the man with the nose is wanted. This was a hint that Rabban Gamliel, who stood out in his generation like a nose protruding from a face, was sought by the government. Rabban Gamliel heard and went into hiding. The Roman officer went to him in private, and said to him: If I save you from death, will you bring me into the World-to-Come? Rabban Gamliel said to him: Yes. The officer said to Rabban Gamliel: Swear to me. He swore to him. The officer ascended to the roof, fell, and died. And the Romans had a tradition that when they issued a decree and one of their advisors died, they would cancel the decree. The officer’s sacrifice saved Rabban Gamliel’s life. A Divine Voice emerged and said: That officer is designated for the life of the World-to-Come.

When Samuel the Small died, they suspended his key and writing-tablet from his coffin because he had no son, and when Rabban Gamaliel the Elder and R. Eleazar delivered their funeral orations over him, they exclaimed, ‘For this one it is fitting to weep, for this one it is fitting to mourn. When kings die they leave their crowns to their sons; when wealthy men die they leave their riches to their children; but Samuel the Small has taken away with him all the desirable things in the world and has departed’. And thus he. spoke at the time of his death, ‘Simeon and Ishmael are destined for the sword and the rest of the people for spoliation; great distress will befall [Israel] after them’. He uttered these words in Aramaic.

(1) R. Yishmael and R. Shimon were going out to be executed when R. Shimon said to R. Yishmael: Rebbi, my heart is faint, for I do not know why I am going to be killed. R. Yishmael: Did anyone ever come to you for judgment or ruling and you kept him waiting until you had finished your cup or taken your sandal or donned your garment? Scripture states" If afflict you afflict" — whether greater or lesser affliction. R. Shimon: "You have consoled me, Rebbi.

Rabbi Yishmael said: The members of my father’s family were among the wealthy property holders in the upper Galilee. And for what reason were they destroyed? It was due to the fact that they would graze flocks in the forests, and also because they would judge cases of monetary law by means of a single judge. And even though there were forests close to their houses, and therefore there should have been no problem for them to take their animals to graze in these forests, there was a small, private field and they would convey the animals on a path through it.

It was said about Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha that he was one of the seven best looking men of all time, and these are them: Adam, Jacob, Joseph, Saul, Avshalom, Rabbi Abahu and Rabbi Yishmael...When they brought him before the king, he said to Rabbi Yishmael, is there anyone in your nation who is as attractive, or more attractive, than you? He replied, no. Immediately, the king decreed that he should die.

The executioner came to cut off the heads of Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Shimon. Rabbi Yishmael pleaded, please start with me, as I am the High Priest, and a son of the High Priest, start with me so that I don't need to witness the death of the sages. Rabbi Shimon responded, I am the Nasi (head of the Sanhedrin), son of a Nasi; kill me first so that I don't need to witness the death of my friend.

The executioner decided to draw lots, and the lot fell on Rabbi Shimon. Immediately, Rabbi Shimon stuck out his neck and the executioner chopped off his head, and then said to Rabbi Yishmael, stick out your neck. Rabbi Yishmael replied, give me a moment to cry for the death of a righteous person. Immediately, Rabbi Yishmael picked up the head of Rabbi Shimon and put it on his knees, and he placed his eyes on his eyes and his face on his face, his nose on his nose and his mouth on his mouth and said, "How can a mouth that elevated grandeur of the Torah of a people that is holy and pure, a mouth that emitted pearls that can't be hidden in the sand, how is it possible that it met a fate like this?

The emperor responded to him, "Fool; why are you crying over his death; you should be crying over your own death, which will be worse than his. He immediately began to weep.

While he was weeping, the emperor's daughter stood and gazed upon Rabbi Yishmael the High Priest's handsome features, and she had compassion for him, and she sent a message to her father to grant her one request. The emperor sent back the following message: My daughter, all that you request I will grant, except for the sparing of Rabbi Yishmael and his colleagues. She sent back to him: I ask you to spare his life. He sent back: I have already sworn that I would kill him. She sent back to him: Then I ask you to flay the skin off his face so that I can look at it instead of looking in a mirror. The emperor commanded that Rabbi Yishmael's skin be flayed, and when they reached the place where his tefillin rested, he cried a great and bitter cry, and heaven and earth were shaken. He cried a second time and the throne of God's glory was shaken.

The ministering angels said before God: Is this Torah and this its reward- that this righteous man, to whom you showed all the secrets of the upper and lower worlds, should be killed with this terrible death by this evil man? He responded: Let him be, for his merits will be a model for generations to come. The Holy One, Blessed be He said: What can I do for my son? It is a decree, and there is no one who can annul it. A heavenly voice came forth and said: If I hear a single voice, I will turn the whole world back to chaos. When Rabbi Yishmael heard this, he was silent.

The emperor said to him: Until this point, you have not screamed or cried. Now why are you suddenly screaming? He said to him: I am not crying over my own soul, but over the ability to perform the mitzvah of Tefillin, which you are taking from me. The emperor said to him: Still you trust in God? He responded: Yes. God can kill me if He wishes. Immediately, he died.

And when R. Shimon and R. Yishmael were executed, R. Akiva said to his disciples: Prepare yourselves for calamity. For if good were destined to come in our generation, only R. Shimon and R. Yishmael would receive it. But it is revealed and known before Him who spoke and brought the world into being that great calamity is destined to come in our generation wherefore these were taken from among us (so as not to witness it.) As it is written (Isaiah 57:1) "the tzaddik perishes and no one takes it to heart. And men of lovingkindness are taken off and none understand (why). It is before the evil (that is destined to befall them) that the tzaddik was taken off.

The Sages taught: One time the evil empire of Rome decreed that Israel may not engage in the study and practice of Torah. Pappos ben Yehuda came and found Rabbi Akiva, who was convening assemblies in public and engaging in Torah study. Pappos said to him: Akiva, are you not afraid of the empire? Rabbi Akiva answered him: I will relate a parable. To what can this be compared? It is like a fox walking along a riverbank when he sees fish gathering and fleeing from place to place.
The fox said to them: From what are you fleeing?
They said to him: We are fleeing from the nets that people cast upon us.
He said to them: Do you wish to come up onto dry land, and we will reside together just as my ancestors resided with your ancestors?
The fish said to him: You are the one of whom they say, he is the cleverest of animals? You are not clever; you are a fool. If we are afraid in the water, our natural habitat which gives us life, then in a habitat that causes our death, all the more so.
The moral is: So too, we Jews, now that we sit and engage in Torah study, about which it is written: “For that is your life, and the length of your days” (Deuteronomy 30:20), we fear the empire to this extent; if we proceed to sit idle from its study, as its abandonment is the habitat that causes our death, all the more so will we fear the empire.

The Sages said: Not a few days passed until they seized Rabbi Akiva and incarcerated him in prison, and seized Pappos ben Yehuda and incarcerated him alongside him. Rabbi Akiva said to him: Pappos, who brought you here? Pappos replied: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, for you were arrested on the charge of engaging in Torah study. Woe unto Pappos who was seized on the charge of engaging in idle matters. The Gemara relates:

When they took Rabbi Akiva out to be executed, it was time for the recitation of Shema. And they were raking his flesh with iron combs, and he was reciting Shema, thereby accepting upon himself the yoke of Heaven. His students said to him: Our teacher, even now, as you suffer, you recite Shema? He said to them: All my days I have been troubled by the verse: With all your soul, meaning: Even if God takes your soul. I said to myself: When will the opportunity be afforded me to fulfill this verse? Now that it has been afforded me, shall I not fulfill it? He prolonged his uttering of the word: One, until his soul left his body as he uttered his final word: One. A voice descended from heaven and said: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your soul left your body as you uttered: One. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: This is Torah and this its reward? As it is stated: “From death, by Your hand, O Lord, from death of the world” (Psalms 17:14); Your hand, God, kills and does not save. God said the end of the verse to the ministering angels: “Whose portion is in this life.” And then a Divine Voice emerged and said: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, as you are destined for life in the World-to-Come, as your portion is already in eternal life.

(9) When R. ‘Aḳiba was executed in Caesarea and the news reached R. Judah b. Baba and R. Ḥanina b. Teradion, they arose, girded themselves in sackcloth, rent their garments and exclaimed, ‘Our brethren, hearken unto us! R. ‘Aḳiba was not executed for robbery or because he did not labour in the Torah with all his strength. He has only been put to death as a sign,.. Within a short while there will be no place found in the land of Israel where no [slain] will be cast forth. It is reported that it was not long before war came and disturbed the world, and within twelve months Judea ceased.

§ The Sages taught: When Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma fell ill, Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon went to visit him. Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma said to him: Ḥanina my brother, do you not know that this nation has been given reign by a decree from Heaven? The proof is that Rome has destroyed God’s Temple, and burned His Sanctuary, and killed His pious ones, and destroyed His best ones, and it still exists. Evidently, all of this is by Divine decree. And yet I heard about you that you sit and engage in Torah study, and convene assemblies in public, and have a Torah scroll placed in your lap, thereby demonstrating complete disregard for the decrees issued by the Romans. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to him: Heaven will have mercy and protect me. Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma said to him: I am saying reasonable matters to you, and you say to me: Heaven will have mercy? I wonder if the Romans will not burn both you and your Torah scroll by fire. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to him: My teacher, what will become of me? Am I destined for life in the World-to-Come? Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma said to him: Did any special incident occur to you which might serve as an indication? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to him: I confused my own coins that I needed for the festivities of Purim with coins of charity, and I distributed them all to the poor at my own expense. Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma said to him: If that is so, may my portion be of your portion, and may my lot be of your lot.

The Sages said: Not even a few days passed before Rabbi Yosei ben Kisma died of his illness, and all of the Roman notables went to bury him, and they eulogized him with a great eulogy. And upon their return, they found Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon, who was sitting and engaging in Torah study and convening assemblies in public, with a Torah scroll placed in his lap. They brought him to be sentenced, and wrapped him in the Torah scroll, and encircled him with bundles of branches, and they set fire to it. And they brought tufts of wool and soaked them in water, and placed them on his heart, so that his soul should not leave his body quickly, but he would die slowly and painfully. His daughter said to him: Father, must I see you like this? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to her: If I alone were being burned, it would be difficult for me, but now that I am burning along with a Torah scroll, He who will seek retribution for the insult accorded to the Torah scroll will also seek retribution for the insult accorded to me. His students said to him: Our teacher, what do you see? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to them: I see the parchment burning, but its letters are flying to the heavens. They said to him: You too should open your mouth and the fire will enter you, and you will die quickly. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to them: It is preferable that He who gave me my soul should take it away, and one should not harm oneself to speed his death. The executioner [kaltzatoniri] said to him: My teacher, if I increase the flame and take off the tufts of wool from your heart, so that you will die sooner and suffer less, will you bring me to the life of the World-to-Come? Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon said to the executioner: Yes. The executioner said: Take an oath for me, that what you say is true. Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon took the oath for him, and the executioner immediately increased the flame and took off the tufts of wool from his heart, causing his soul to leave his body quickly. The executioner too leaped and fell into the fire and died. A Divine Voice emerged and said: Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon and the executioner are destined for the life of the World-to-Come. Upon hearing this, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi wept and said: There is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come in one moment, such as the executioner, and there is one who acquires his share in the World-to-Come only after many years of toil, such as Rabbi Ḥanina ben Teradyon.