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TISHA B’AV READING

Rabbi Dr. Aharon Adler
The Execution of

Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua

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.א ָר ְקִ ּיַו ׁש ֵד ַקְיַו ׁשוּד ִק ן ַמְז הי ָה תָב ׁש ב ֶרֶע םֹוי .ה ָר ֵק ְד ַמ ְב ג ַרֳהֶנ הָנֹורֲח ַאָב ַעו ּמ ׁש ןֶב רָזָע ְל ֶא י ִב ַר קי ִדַצ
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.ה ָרוצ רָצְו רֵצֹוי ,םיקלֱא א ָר ָב ְב ֹות ָמ ׁשִנ ה ָת ְצי .ה ָר ְמָג ְל םיִ ּי ַחַב והוחִנ ִה אלְו ויָלָע ופל ׁש ב ֶר ֶח
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The righteous Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua was killed with a chisel.
It was Sabbath eve, the time of Kiddush, and as he recited it,
They drew the sword upon him, not permitting him to live to finish it.
His soul departed at the words “G-d created,” the Creator and Sculptor of forms.
ne of the central themes of the We learn that this all happens while Rabbi Most remarkable is a similar thought echoed
Tisha B’Av kinot is the catastrophic Elazar ben Shamua is still reciting the pre- by our Talmudic Sages (Ta’anit 29a) in refer-
collapse of Torah authority, along liminary verses to Kiddush. He is now in the ence to the final moments leading up to the
Owith its giants, as foretold in Eicha middle of the third verse, which includes First Temple’s destruction. There it states
2:9, “Her king and her princes are among the word, “ ׁש ּ ֵד ַקְי ַו”: that the Levites were singing the appropri-
the nations: there is no Torah; her proph- ְ ate Psalm (94) in utter desperation, given
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ets also find no vision from the L-rd.” This ל ָּכ ִמ ת ַב ׁש ֹוב י ִּכ ֹותֹא ׁש ּ ֵד ַקְי ַו י ִעי ִב ּׁ ש ַה םֹוי ת ֶא …ך ֶר ָבְי ַו the impending catastrophe. Approaching
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theme reverberates throughout the kinot in .תֹוש ֲע ַל םי ִקל ֱא א ָר ָּב ר ׁש ֲא ֹו ּ ת ְכא ַל ְמ
a plethora of historical settings, including This is the meaning in the poem: “ ׁשּו ּ ד ִק ן ַמ ְז the final verse (23), “And He has brought
the Temple’s destruction, the Bar Kochba א ָר ְקִּי ַו ׁש ּ ֵד ַקְי ַו.” We then learn that at this very upon them their own iniquity and will cut
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defeat, the Crusades in medieval times, as moment the execution takes place and that them off in their own evil” (ת ֶא ם ֶהי ֵל ֲע ב ׁשָּי ַו
well the modern-day Holocaust. Rabbi Elazar is one word shy of completing ם ֵתי ִמ ְצ ַי ם ָת ָע ָר ְבּו ם ָנֹוא), Chazal say, ּוקי ִּפ ְס ִה אֹל ְו
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םּו ׁש ָב ְכּו םִיֹוג ּוא ָּב ׁש ד ַע ּוני ֵקל ֱא ’ה ם ֵתי ִמ ְצַי ר ַמֹול, “and
One particular elegy stands out which is the verse. His life expires as he is saying, they hardly had time to say, ‘The L-rd our
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dedicated exclusively to this theme: the dis- “םי ִקל ֱא א ָר ָּב,” with the final word, “תֹוׂש ֲע ַל,” G-d will cut them off,’ when the heathens
integration of the Torah world. Arzei HaLev- remaining unsaid. came and captured them.”
anon, composed by the 13th-century Ash- In his commentary to Bereishit 2:3, Ramban
kenazi Rabbi Meir ben Yechiel, bewails the proposes that all the days of Creation repre- The Talmud concludes with an ambiguous
martyrdom of the famous 10 great scholars sent a blueprint for six millennia of world comment: “The same thing happened in
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(תּוכ ְל ַמ י ֵגּור ֲה ה ָר ָש ֲע) executed by the Romans history. The ultimate objective and aspira- the Second Temple” (הָּיִנ ְ ּׁ ש ַּ ב ן ֵכ ְו). The precise
in the aftermath of the Second Temple’s tion is to move the world into the eschato- details of Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua’s execu-
destruction and the Bar Kochba rebellion. logical seventh millennia. This is the pro-ac- tion might very well be that which is alluded
In this particular Tisha B’Av version of these tive meaning of “תֹוש ֲע ַל.” to in that closing Talmudic comment, “ן ֵכ ְו
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tragic episodes (there are four such versions Clearly, Rabbi Akiva and colleagues viewed הָּיִנ ְ ּׁ ש ַּ ב.”
– including the Yom Kippur version of Eila the Bar Kochba uprising as a prelude to Mes-
Ezkara), each of the Sages murdered is envel- sianic days. They were engaged in “תֹוש ֲע ַל” On Tisha B’Av, we beg for ּוני ֵקֹל ֱא ‘ה ם ֵתי ִמ ְצ ַי,
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oped with a particular mitzvah reflecting activities, in their gallant attempt to move as we engage in doing our part: “תֹוׂש ֲע ַל,”
enormous significance to his martyrdom. in ushering in the era of full redemption
the Jewish nation out of exile and usher in speedily in our days.
In the case of Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua, “the end of days” as quickly as possible. But,
the mitzvah is the Kiddush recitation on tragically, Divine Providence had a very dif-
Friday night. Whether absolutely histori- ferent plan for the nation. Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Dr. Aharon Adler is a former stu-
cal or purely allegorical, the poet provides Shamua would not be allowed to utter the dent of, and special assistant to, Rabbi
the setting – the murder takes place while word “תֹוׂש ֲע ַל” in his Kiddush, as the entire Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
reciting the Kiddush, along with a focus upon nation’s drive to implement “תֹוש ֲע ַל” would
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the precise word in the Kiddush – thereby fall short. And for this we weep and cry on A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
leaving the Kiddush unfinished. Tisha B’Av. mizrachi.org/speakers
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