The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881, 1880-08-06
"Sketches of Jewish Life and History
copyrighted by HENRY GERSoNI.
The Fall Of Bethargthe Martyrs
written in 1872 and published in the JEWISH
TINES at the timc.(
BY HENRY GER SOM.
III.
THE MARTYRS.

Considering the incidents narrated in
the two former chapters, it is no
wonder that the rabbis who attended
the convention were looked after very
closely. They we're not caught at the
synod, for they assembled in quiet and
hidden place but there were spies x
enough to ascertain the fact that such
an assemblage had taken place, and who
the persons were that had taken part in
it. So an ancient tradition tells us of
ten martrys who bled for their adher-
ence to the principles Of their creed
This sad event was lamented in glowing
terms by the old authors but in the
Hagadas of the Talmud, both Babli and
eJerusalmy, there cannot be found a re-
liable historical account as to who they
were or at what time they sustained
their doom.
We shall here give short account Of
those who are proven beyond doubt to
have lived at that time
The two first were r. Ishmael ben
Elishah and R. Simon, of the royal fam
lily of David They were both to suffer
death at one time. 1t is touching to
read how each of them wanted to die
first, so that he should not see the death
of his brother; r. Ishmael honoring his
fellow-martyr for his royal aristocracy,
and R. Simeon responding to it by honor
ing the other as the high priest. They
,comforted each other while under torture
r. Akiba delivered an grafton on their
death; soon afterward his own turn
came to die by the hand of the tyrant.
r. Akiba was taken to prison for preach
ing the law to an assembly of his core
ligionists. 1t seems that he was held
there very long time, and Rufus, who
we'll knew his influence and authority
among the Jews took special care that
his prisoner should be guarded very
strictly, so that nobody should come to
see him.
The rabbis, who wanted his decisions
on religious questions, invented a curious
Dr.. Gratz counts Achar elisha -ben-Abu-
iah, among the Roman spies, for which | cam
not the probability. Besides the charac-
teristics of that man, which do not agree at all
with such an hypothesis, and from all the sto-
ries told about him. it seems that he played
his role of a renegade after the death of Ha-
drian, when there was no opportunity for him
to be a spy. ''R. Mayir left his seat in the
pulpit when he was told by his disciples that
Elisha was passing by" (MedraSh KOheleth).
Now k. Mayir had no seat in the pulpit and no
disciples at that time, for he was ordained by
r. Jehudah-ben-Baba, one of the last martyrs
Besides, how was it possible to think of pub
lie place of worship when every religious per-
formancc was punished with death?-Even the
same Hagadah der, ChAgiga) of which Dr.
GratZ cites an instance, speaks of a public
place of studying the law, where Achar came
and said that the disciples should rather do
some business than study the law (Which we
think is the meaning of 0lr"Dl1 rS'D) His
speaking against their carrying loads on the
Sabbath under various pretcxts is only men
toned as one Of his arguments against their
doings but not as information to the govern
ment.
Concerning the person of Rabbi Ishmael
the historians are not certain who he was be-
cause the tradition called him high priest
and there had been no high priest of that name
since the destruction Of the temple. That was
also the reason why some were of opinion that
r. Simeon, who suffered martyrdOm with him.
was K. Simeon, the Patriarch, and this occur
ed at an earlier period. But we inclined
to think that II. IShmacl was nOmtndt d high
priest by Bar Cosiba, who began to rebuild the
temple in his reign and retained the title
though he never Otfciated as such 1t was
then the same X. lshmael who was released
from prison by JehOShua ben Chananiah for
great sum of money (see Bah Gettn, fol 5S
and MidraSh Taanith) }, who was of the family
of priests.