ר' אלעזר בן עזריה

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah (a) [in Mishnah Avot 3:3. Berakhot 1:4, 4:4, 5:3. Shevi'it 1:8, 3:3. Ma'aserot 5:1.

Ma'aser Sheni 5:9. Shabbat 4:2, 5:4, 19:3. Eruvin 4:1. Yoma 8:9.

Beitzah 2:8. Makkot 1:2. Ketubot 4:6, 5:1. Nedarim 3:11.

Nazir 6:2. Sotah 9:15. Bava Kamma 6:4. Makkot 1:10.

Ediyot 3:12. Zevachim 1:3. Menachot 13:6. Arakhin 8:4.

Keritot 2:5. Kelim 3:8. Negaim 7:2, 8:9, 13:6. Mikvaot 3:2, 8:3.

Yadayim 3:5, 4:2, 3:3. Mikshirin 6:6. Taharot 7:7. Uktzin 1:5.]

b) Wise and wealthy, and wealthy in Ezra and Cohen. [And when they transferred Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, they appointed him as Nasi at the age of eighteen, and a miracle occurred for him, and they added to him eighteen rows of honor. And he taught that a person should always engage in Torah, even not for its own sake, so that he may come to engage for its own sake, and ten benches were added, and there are those who say, come and see the benches, Berakhot (28).

And it is written in the genealogy [in Seder HaDoros] in the name of the Jerusalem Talmud, in the chapter of Tamid that was slaughtered, that he was thirteen years old, and it is mentioned only in Berakhot, in the chapter of the Morning Prayer, at the end of Mishnah 1, and in Ta'anit, chapter 4, at the end of Halacha 1. He was sixteen years old, and his head was filled with white hair, and Rabbi Akiva was sitting and grieving and said, not that he is a man of Torah more than me, but that he is a descendant of great ones more than me.

Fortunate is the person who has merited to have ancestors like his; fortunate is the person who has a peg to hang onto, and what was his peg? He was the tenth generation from Ezra. And how many benches were there? That is to say, benches of Torah scholars, aside from those standing behind the fence, as it is written, one hundred outside, etc.

And when they agreed to seat Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah arose with them at the entrance of Rabban Gamliel, nevertheless, they did not diminish his greatness, but appointed him as Av Beit Din.

Thus far the text. And it is written in Yefeh Mar'eh, in the chapter of the Morning Prayer, in the gloss, section 8, that in the Babylonian Talmud, in the chapter of the Many, Rabbi Yehoshua was the Av Beit Din of Rabban Gamliel.

Therefore, it is understood that Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah was not Av Beit Din, but after they restored Rabban Gamliel to the Nasi position, Rabban Gamliel taught for two Shabbatot, and Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah taught for one Shabbat. (And in Shabbat (22b) it is written that Rabbi Yochanan was with Rabban Gamliel for forty years). And it is written in the genealogy there, and we do not leave the simple meaning, and he was more than seventy years old, as he said, behold, I am like a seventy-year-old.

And the Jerusalem Talmud did not speak of this as being like a seventy-year-old.

Thus far the text. I do not understand, for if it is as it seems, that he was seventy years old, why did he say like a seventy-year-old? And perhaps indeed when he was appointed as Nasi, he was eighteen or sixteen, but when he taught about the Exodus from Egypt at night, he was seventy, and he did not merit that they should agree with him until Ben Zoma taught. And in the Jerusalem Talmud, in the first chapter of Berakhot, it is said, behold, I am like a seventy-year-old, even though he entered into greatness, he lived many days.

Thus far the text. And Yefeh Mar'eh wrote in section 19 that this contradicts the Babylonian Talmud, which said that on the day they appointed him as Nasi, they added to him eighteen rows of honor, on that he said, behold, I am like a seventy-year-old]:

g) [On Shabbat (N'darim 54b), twelve thousand calves were given as tithes each year. The Tosafot questioned: Did we not say in Bekhorot (53a) that the tithing of animals does not apply after the destruction?

Therefore, during the time of the Temple, there was tithing, and it is assumed that he was thirteen years old when he tithed, for a minor is not capable of tithing.

Thus, at the time of the destruction, he could only have been fourteen or fifteen years old, since Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai's presidency continued for a year or two after the destruction (see there), and afterward Rabbi Gamliel was president for a year or two or three before they appointed Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, as he stated in the chapter on the morning prayer last year (Rosh Hashanah) regarding his suffering. When they appointed him as president, he was eighteen years old.

Therefore, prior to the destruction, he was at most fourteen or fifteen.

Consequently, for the two years that he separated, he should not have said every year. It must be that he did not tithe himself, but rather his guardian tithed on his behalf. Alternatively, it was not immediately annulled after the destruction for several years. Rabbi Elchanan explains that there was tithing after the destruction as a tax for the king (see all this in the Tosafot there and in Bekhorot there and in Avodah Zarah (13a) and in Yoma (56a) and in Beitzah (23a), and there in the Gemara the text reads twelve thousand, etc., but in the Tosafot in the aforementioned places, the text reads thirteen thousand)]:

(d) [In Yevamot (56b) it is stated that terumah is given to a kohen and ma'aser rishon is given to a Levi. Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham (RaB"A) says that it is also given to a kohen. This garden from which Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham would take ma'aser rishon, Rabbi Akiva went and returned it to the entrance of the graves, saying, "Akiva, after your pack, and I am alive." And in the Jerusalem Talmud, in the fifth chapter of Ma'aser Sheni, it is stated that Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham argue.

Rabbi Yehoshua says that ma'aser is not given to a kohen, while Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham says that it is given. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him, etc. Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham said to him, etc. There was a certain garden that Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham was accustomed to take ma'aser from, and that garden had two openings, one for a place of tumah and one for a place of taharah.

Rabbi Akiva went and said to the owner of the garden to close the opening that leads to the place of taharah and to open the opening that leads to the place of tumah. And if Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham comes, he should tell him to enter through the opening of the place of tumah. And the owner of the garden said, "Perhaps he will send a messenger who is not a kohen and he will enter through that opening." Rabbi Akiva said to him, "It is written, 'You' which means that he must take it himself and not through his messenger." Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham heard this and said, "The tricks of Rabbi Akiva have come here." At that time, Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham returned all the tithes that he had taken in his name.

He preceded Rabbi Akiva even though Rabbi Akiva was greater than him due to his lineage (see Rabbi Akiva). Rabbi Avraham ben Avraham said to Rabbi Akiva, "If you increase all day, I will not listen to you." Menachot (29a), Niddah (72b)]:

5) [In Bechorot (58a), Ben Azzai said that all the sages of Israel are like the skins of garlic, except for this Korach. The Tosafot wrote in the name of the Yerushalmi that he was Korach (see Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korach and Rabbi Akiva). And at the end of Sotah, it is stated that when wealth ceased from the sages. And in Berakhot (57b), one who sees Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah in a dream should expect wealth].

In Shabbat [(54b)], once the cow of his neighbor went out with a strap between its horns on Shabbat, and he did not protest, and its teeth became blackened due to the fast. And the Ba'al HaMakhtem wrote that it was on Yom Tov. And in the Yerushalmi, it is stated that his wife is called his cow, as it is said, "If not for your plowing in my cart." [This means that his wife was going out in a matter that the sages prohibited, and they referred to her derogatorily as his cow, and a cow and a calf are one matter.

This was expounded in the vineyard of Yavneh. Ketubot (49), Bava Batra (131b), and Ruth]. In the first chapter of Yevamot [(16a)], Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinus said that there is a son of our friend Eliezer [(see there)]. And he called upon him, "I was a youth, and now I am old." [And in the Yerushalmi there, in the first chapter, law 6, Rabbi Yonatan ben Horkinus recited this verse and said, "I recognize him; he is the tenth generation from Ezra"].

He was called a "box of spices" [Gittin (67a)]. On the day he was appointed, Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Metayim and Rabbi Yosi Dromski were present. And Rabbi Yishmael was called in Berakhot (11a) and for Rabbi Tarfon in Yadayim (4). And Rabbi Chiya said that Rabbi Eliezer was his teacher.

And in Shemot Rabbah, Parashat Mishpatim, it is stated that he went with Rabbi Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva to Rome, and his father, Rabbi Azariah, was a wise and wealthy man (see there). [In the Tosafot on Yevamot (86a), Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah preceded Rabbi Meir by a great deal. Rabbi Yehoshua said that there was a story about four elders who sat before Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah: Rabbi Chutzpit, Rabbi Yeshiv, Rabbi Chalafata, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri.

In Tosefta Keilim, Bava Batra, chapter 2, it is written in the book of Ginat Nefesh that Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah is the reincarnation of Ezra, and Ibn Ezra is the reincarnation of Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah. And the aforementioned cow is a correction for the wife of Korach (this is in accordance with the Yerushalmi that his cow is his wife) who gave advice to Korach regarding the blue thread. And the strap between its horns hints at the four corners that are called "karnot." His burial place is in the village of Alma (see Rabbi Eliezer ben Arach), and in the travels of Benjamin, it is written that he is buried in Kadesh Naphtali (see Rabbi Eliezer ben Arach)].

5) [In the name of Elazar the Modai. Baitus son of Zunin in his time. Dosa son of Harkinas (may his memory be blessed). Rabbi Yehuda son of Rabbi Elai, his student.

Rabbi Yochanan in his name. Rabbi Yosi the Galilean. Rabbi Yosi son of Kipur in his name. His son Rabbi Yishmael.

Levi the Sard in his time. Rav Shazvi in his name. Rav Lul in his name. Shimon brother of Azariah his uncle.

Rav Sheshet in his name]: