Eleazar bar Zadok ( he, אלעזר בר צדוק), or Elazar Berabi Zadok, was a rabbi from the period of the

Tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

, who is mentioned many times in the Mishna. He was the son of

Rabbi Zadok Rabbi Zadok (Hebrew: רבי צדוק) was a Tanna of the second generation of the Tannaic era, a contemporary of Joshua ben Hananiah and Eliezer ben Hurcanus, descending from Tribe of Benjamin. Rabbi Zadok was one of the notable Tannaim of his g ...

Biography

His life story is obscure, to the point that scholar

Aharon Hyman Aharon אַהֲרֹן is masculine given name alternate spelling, commonly in Israel, of '' Aaron'', prominent biblical figure in the Old Testament, "Of the Mountains", or "Mountaineer". There are other variants including "Ahron" and "Aron". Aha ...

wrote "Regarding the events of this ''tannas life, much confusion has arisen, to the point that even if we say that he lives oftwo people are ecorded in his name we will not solve all difficulties." Hyman then performed an exhaustive investigation, concluding that seven generations of Torah scholars from one family appear in the Mishna, three of them named "Rabbi Tzadok" and three named "Rabbi Eleazar bar Zadok". Of the three named Eleazar, the first was the son of "Tzadok" (in his lifetime the title "Rabbi" was not popular, but he was occasionally known after his death as "Rabbi Tzadok"), and was the student of Rabbi Yochanan HaHorani, and worked as a shopkeeper in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

all his life, together with Abba Shaul ben Bitnit. The second Eleazar was son of the well-known

, and this Rabbi Eleazar provided the well-known testimonies from the house of

Rabban Gamliel Gamaliel the Elder (; also spelled Gamliel; he, רַבַּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן ''Rabban Gamlīʾēl hazZāqēn''; grc-koi, Γαμαλιὴλ ὁ Πρεσβύτερος ''Gamaliēl ho Presbýteros''), or Rabban Gamaliel I, ...

and was considered one of Rabban Gamliel's greatest students. The third Eleazar - son of the third Rabbi Tzadok - was the student of

Rabbi Meir Rabbi Meir ( he, רַבִּי מֵאִיר) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishn ...

In Rabban Gamliel's house

Rabbi Tzadok and his son Rabbi Eleazar were close to Rabban Gamliel, and frequently visited him. For example, R' Eleazar stated "Many times I entered after my father to the house of Rabban Gamliel, and they did not sweep the room of the beds on Yom Tov, but rather, they would sweep them on the eve of Yom Tov, and stretch sheets over them; the next day when guests arrived they would remove the sheets, and thus the house was swept on its own."Beitzah 22b Similarly, R' Eleazar stated, Rabban Gamliel found a way to circumvent the prohibition on placing incense on coals on Yom Tov, by placing incense on coals in a closed container before Yom Tov, and opening the container on Yom Tov, causing the aroma to spread through the house.

Priesthood

Several sources suggest that R' Eleazar and his family were of priestly descent, though one source suggests that they were from the tribe of

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

. To resolve this discrepancy,

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

suggested that R' Eleazar's father was a priest and his mother a Benjaminite.Tosafot, Eruvin 41a, s.v. ''mibnei''

References

{{Tannaim Mishnah rabbis