page_title: Ezra
section_title: Ezra in rabbinic literature
hierarchical_section_title: Ezra / Ezra in rabbinic literature
caption_attribution_description: English: Woodcut for "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Deutsch: Holzschnitt aus "Die Bibel in Bildern", 1860. Français&#160;: Gravure en bois pour «Die Bibel in Bildern», 1860.
context_page_description: Ezra, also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe and priest. In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras. According to the Hebrew Bible he was a descendant of Sraya the last High Priest to serve in the First Temple, and a close relative of Joshua the first High Priest of the Second Temple. He returned from Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem. According to 1 Esdras, a Greek translation of the Book of Ezra still in use in Eastern Orthodoxy, he was also a High Priest. Rabbinic tradition holds that he was an ordinary member of the priesthood.
  Several traditions have developed over his place of burial. One tradition says that he is buried in al-Uzayr near Basra, while another tradition alleges that he is buried in Tadif near Aleppo, in northern Syria.
  His name may be an abbreviation of עזריהו‎ Azaryahu, "Yah helps". In the Greek Septuagint the name is rendered Ésdrās, from which the Latin name Esdras comes.
  The Book of Ezra describes how he led a group of Judean exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem where he is said to have enforced observance of the Torah.
context_section_description: Traditionally Judaism credits Ezra with establishing the Great Assembly of scholars and prophets, the forerunner of the Sanhedrin, as the authority on matters of religious law. The Great Assembly is credited with establishing numerous features of contemporary traditional Judaism in something like their present form, including Torah reading, the Amidah, and celebration of the feast of Purim.
  In Rabbinic traditions, Ezra is metaphorically referred to as the "flowers that appear on the earth" signifying the springtime in the national history of Judaism. A disciple of Baruch ben Neriah, he favored study of the Law over the reconstruction of the Temple and thus because of his studies, he did not join the first party returning to Jerusalem in the reign of Cyrus. According to another opinion, he did not join the first party so as not to compete, even involuntarily, with Jeshua ben Jozadak for the office of chief priest.
  According to Jewish tradition, Ezra was the writer of the Books of Chronicles, and is the same prophet known also as Malachi. There is a slight controversy within rabbinic sources as to whether or not Ezra had served as Kohen Gadol.
  According to the Babylonian Talmud, Ezra the scribe is said to have enacted ten standing laws and orders, which are as follows: 1) That the public come together to read from the scroll of the Law on Sabbath days during the time of the afternoon oblation (Minchah), because of those travelling merchants who loiter in the closed shops in the street corners, and who may have missed the biblical lections that were read during the weekdays; 2) that the courts be opened throughout the Jewish townships on Mondays and Thursdays; 3) that women do not wait beyond Thursday to launder their clothes, because of the honor due to the Sabbath day; 4) that men would accustom themselves to eat [cooked] garlic on the eve of the Sabbath (believed to enhance love between a man and his wife); 5) that women would rise up early on Friday mornings to bake bread, so that a piece of bread will be available for the poor; 6) that Jewish women in every place be girded with a wide belt (waist band), whether from the front or from behind, out of modesty; 7) that Jewish women, during their menses, wash and comb their hair three days prior to their purification in a ritual bath; 8) that the travelling merchants make regular rounds into the Jewish townships because of the honor due to the daughters of Israel; 9) that Jewish women and/or girls, as a precautionary measure, be accustomed to conversing with one another while one of their party goes out to relieve herself in the outhouse; 10) that men who may have suffered a seminal emission (especially after accompanying with their wives) be required to immerse themselves in a ritual bath before being permitted to read from the scroll of the Law.
  In the Syrian village of Tedef, a synagogue said to be the place where Ezra stopped over has been venerated by Jews for centuries. Another tradition locates his tomb near Basra, Iraq.
caption: The return from exile is depicted in this woodcut for Die Bibel in Bildern, 1860, by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld.
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