Rabbi Yishmael (Ben Elisha)
Kohen Gadol
Born:
Eretz Yisrael
Died: 115 CE.
Rabbi Yishmael was the Kohen Gadol (high priest) at the end of the
SecondTemple period, and one of the Asara Harugei Malchut (Ten Martyrs).
He
said: "Once I entered the inner sanctuary (in the Temple) to offer the
incense and I saw God sitting on a high and exalted throne. He said to me, 'Yishmael,
my son, bless me,' and I said to him, 'may it be your will that Your compassion
should be revealed over Your other attributes and You should conduct Yourself
toward Your children with compassion and beyond the letter of the law,' and He
nodded His head" (as if agreeing to the blessing and answering
"Amen," Rashi)
(Tractate Berachot p. 7a)
The
Ten Martyrs
Lupinus
the Roman Emperor at the time was studying Torah and asked the ten great sages
of that time: "What is the law according to your Torah, for a Jew who sells
another into captivity?" (referring to the sale of Joseph by his brothers)
"Capital Punishment," answered Rabbi Akiva and his
colleagues."But, Yosef's brothers were never punished for their
crime!" the Roman protested,
and then began to set his deadly trap. "Justice must be done, and there has
been no leaders to take their places until the ten of you!". When
R' Nechunya ben HaKana heard of this decree, he told R' Yishmael Ben Elisha to
asend to Heaven to ascertain whether this was the result of heavenly decree. R'
Yishmael purified himself, uttered God's secret name, and ascended to Heaven. He
asked the angel Gavriel about the decree, and Gavriel responded, "Accept it
upon yourselves, righteous and beloved men, for I have heard behind the
partition that this is to be your destiny," and R' Yishmael was told that
the ten sages would be given to the evil angel Samael as a punishment for the
selling of Yoseph. R' Yishmael reported to his colleagues what he had been told,
and they accepted the heavenly decree.
R' Yishmael and Raban
Shimon ben Gamliel were imprisoned together, and R' Shimon began to
weep. R' Yishmael said to him, "Soon you will be among the saints in the
next world. Why are you crying?" R' Shimon answered, "I am not crying
because I am going to die, but because I am being executed like a Shabbat
desecrator or an idol worshiper or ...a murderer." R' Yishmael suggested
that maybe while he was eating or napping a women came to ask if she was
considered a niddah and his attendants did not allow her to come in
and
disturb him...or a beggar may have knocked on the door while R' Shimon
was eating and his was not allowed in...R' Shimon asserted that he was extremely
careful in these matters. R' Yishmael suggested that maybe he felt pride
while he was teaching...and R' Shimon once again asserted that he was
careful not to have proud thoughts after he preached. (Some reverse the roles
and
say that R' Yishamel was crying and R' Shimon said these things to him).
When R' Shimon and R' Yishmael were taken out to be killed, R'
Yishmael fell at the feet of the executioner and begged, "I am a Kohen
Gadol, the son of Kohanim Gedolim; kill me first so that I will not see the
death of my fellow." R' Shimon pleaded, "I am a Nassi, the son of a
Nassi; kill me first so that I will not see the death of my fellow." The
executioner cast lots, and the lot fell on R' Shimon to be killed first. The
executioner immediately decapitated R' Shimon. R' Yishmael hugged the head to
himself and placed his eyes against the eyes of R' Shimon and his mouth against
R' Shimon's mouth. In a loud voice he cried out, "You holy lips; you never
spoke anything but secrets of the Torah. How can you be made to lick the
dust?"
The royal princess was drawn to the scene. When she saw the
handsome R' Yishmael, she bid the executioner to wait for her, and she ran to
her father and asked that he spare R' Yishmael. "What do you see in that
Jew?" asked the emperor. "He has the most beautiful face I have ever
seen," responded the princess. The emperor gave orders that R' Yishmael be
skinned alive, and that the skin of his face be mounted and preserved. When,
while they were skinning his face, they reached the place on his head where he
used to wear his tefillin, he gave a loud scream and died.
There
was a custom in Rome that every 70 years they would take a healthy man and ride
him on a cripple, both of them wearing the garments of Adam. The healthy man
would be masked with the skin of R' Yishmael and adorned with precious jewels.
The two men would be led through the city and they would prepare say, "This
is the story of our ancestors. The cripple is Yaakov, and the healthy is Esau.
See how Esau is on top of Yaakov; this is a sign that Esau dominates Yaakov and
the blessings that Yaakov got through trickery did not help." (Rabbi
Ashei
claims they actually said the opposite of what they meant to say). " People
would come from far and wide to see the spectacle...(Tractate Avodah Zarah,
p. 11, Rashi)
When
Rabbi
Akiva
and Rabbi
Yehudah ben Bava
(or
Betairah)
heard about the
deaths
of Rabbi Shimon and R' Yishmael, they arose, put on a sackcloth, tore their
garments
in mourning, and said, "If there was any good in the world, it was
in the merit of R' Shimon & R' Yishmael. Great misfortunes will befall the
world"
Their deaths had been previously prophesied by Shmuel
HaKatan,
who
predicted
before he died (before the Temple was destroyed), "Shimon and Yishmael
will die by the sword, and their colleagues are destined to be murdered..."(Sota
48)
According to the Ari
(R' Yitzchak Luria), Yosef himself caused the brothers to sell him, and all that
happened to him as a result (Sha'ar
HaGilgulim, hakdama 34). Between publicizing his dreams of rulership, and
speaking lashon hara about his brothers, Yosef brought upon himself all
of his misfortune. R' Yishmael was the reincarnation of Yosef
HaTzaddik (Joseph). Just as Yosef had the beauty of Adam and was handsome,
so was R' Yishmael. R' Yishmael's death was an atonement for the sin of Yosef
himself!
This wasn't the only reason why he had to die so gruesome a death, but it was
the main reason.
The
Son and Daughter of R' Yishmael
His
son and daughter were taken into captivity and sold as servants to different
Roman masters. Their two masters once met each other, and they both boasted
about the beauty of their servants. They decided to have the servant and the
maidservant marry each other and their children would be divided between the two
masters. They placed the servant and maidservant in a room at night. The servant
sat in one corner and said to himself, "I am a cohen, the son of Cohanim
Gedolim; I should marry a maidservant?" and the maidservant sat in another
corner and said to herself, "I am a Kohent, the daughter of Kohanim Gedolim;
I should marry a servant?" They each sat in their respective corners and
cried the whole night long. When morning came, they recognized each other and
fell on each other and cried until their souls left them (Gittin.
58a).
May
the merit of the tzaddik Rabbi
Yishmael Kohen Gadol
protect us all, Amen.