View source for Eleazar beRabbi Qallir


{{Short description|Byzantine Jewish poet}}
{{for|the 18th-century rabbi|Eleazar ben Eleazar Kallir}}

[[File:El'azar Hakalir TA.jpg|thumb|Street named after Qallir in [[Tel Aviv]].]]
'''Eleazar beRabbi Qallir''' ({{Langx|he|אלעזר בירבי קליר|ʾElʿāzār beRibbi Qallir}}; {{circa|570}}{{snd}}{{circa|640}}), also known as '''Eleazar ha-Kalir''',{{notetag|Other variants of his name include '''Eleazar ben Qillir''', '''Kalir''', and '''ha-Kaliri'''.}} was a [[History of the Jews in the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Jewish]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Samuel|last=Krauss|title=Studien zur byzantinisch-jüdischen Geschichte|date=1914|pages=99,127–129}}</ref> poet whose [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]-language [[liturgical]] verses or [[piyyut|piyyuṭim]] are sung during significant religious services, especially in the [[Nusach Ashkenaz]] rite, as well as in the [[Italian Nusach]] and well as the [[Romaniote_Jews#Nusach_and_Minhag|Romaniote rite]].<ref name=EB1911/> In particular, he wrote hymns for the [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals]], for special [[Shabbat]]s, for weekdays of festive character, and the [[ta'anit|fast days]].<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/><ref>{{cite book |last= Carmi |first= T. |pages= 227 |chapter= To the Tenth Century |title= Hebrew Verse |year= 1981 |location= Fairfield, Pennsylvania |publisher= Penguin Books |language= en, he}}</ref>

==Biography==
Although his poems have had a prominent place in printed ritual and he is known to have lived somewhere in the [[Near East]], documentation regarding details of his life has been lost to history, including the exact year and circumstances of his birth and death. He is said to have been the disciple of another 6th-century composer of piyyuṭim, [[Yannai (Payetan)|Yannai]], who, according to a certain legend, grew jealous of Eleazar's superior knowledge and caused his death by inserting into his shoe a scorpion whose sting proved to be fatal.<ref>{{cite book |last= Carmi |first= T. |pages= 88 |chapter= Table of Poems |title= Hebrew Verse |year= 1981 |location= Fairfield, Pennsylvania |publisher= Penguin Books |language= en, he}}</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

[[Samuel David Luzzatto]], however, dismisses this legend because Yannai's piyyuṭim are still recited. Luzzatto argues that if Yannai was a murderer then there is no way Yannai's piyyuṭim would be so popular. Additionally, argues Luzzatto, [[Gershom ben Judah]] mentions Yannai and uses [[honorifics]], something Gershom would not have done if the legend were true.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Luzzatto|first=Samuel David|author-link=Samuel David Luzzatto|script-title=he:מבוא למחזור כמנהג בני רומא|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=33108&st=&pgnum=8|access-date=2013-10-07|year=1856|location=[[Livorno]]|language=he|page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://seforim.traditiononline.org/index.cfm/2008/10/7/Eliezer-Kallir |title=Eliezer Kallir - Updated |date=2008-10-07|access-date=2013-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930051452/http://seforim.traditiononline.org/index.cfm/2008/10/7/Eliezer-Kallir |archive-date=2012-09-30 }}</ref>

In the acrostics of his hymns he usually signs his father's name, ''Qallir'', but three times he writes ''Qillir''.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> In some of them, he adds the name of his city, [[Kirjath Sepher]].<ref name=Rosh>{{cite book|title=Rosh|author=Asher ben Jehiel|at=[[Berakhot (Talmud)|Brachot]], 5:21, with ''Ma'adanei Yom Tov''|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14308&st=&pgnum=179|access-date=2013-12-25|language=he|author-link=Asher ben Jehiel}}</ref> Eleazar's name, home, and time have been the subject of many discussions in modern Jewish literature. [[Italy]], [[Lower Mesopotamia]], and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] have been claimed by different scholars as his native land. Some legends concerning his career have been handed down.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

[[Nathan ben Jehiel]] derives the name "Qallir" from {{langx|grc|κόλλυρα|a small cake}},<ref>s.v. 3, קלר</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Trachtenberg|first=Joshua|title=Jewish Magic and Superstition|location=Philadelphia|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|year=2004|orig-year=Originally published 1939|isbn=9780812218626|page=123}}</ref> and reports that the poet obtained his name from a cake inscribed with Biblical verses that was given him to eat as a talisman for wisdom when he began to go to school. His scholarship having been attributed later to that talisman, he was called "Eleazar the Cake." While such a custom is known to have existed among Jews and [[Syriac Christians]], others claim that the explanation put forward by ben Jehiel is not acceptable since ''Qallir'' is not the name of the poet but that of his father.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

Another interpretation holds that the name was derived from the poet's or his father's hometown:<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> the Italian city [[Cagliari]],<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> [[Calais]], [[Cologne]], [[Ayn al-Zara|Callirrhoë in the Transjordan]],<ref>[[A. Jellinek]], [[Paulus Stephanus Cassel|S. Cassel]]</ref> or [[Edessa]] in Syria (F. Perles).<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> Others see in it the Latin name ''Celer''<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> ([[Joseph Derenbourg]]).<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> Kirjath Sepher has been identified with the biblical place in [[Judea]] of the same name ([[Wolf Heidenheim]]),<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> with [[Sippar]] on the [[Euphrates]] ([[Filosseno Luzzatto]]),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Luzzatto|first=Samuel David|title=מבוא למחזור כמנהג בני רומא|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=33108&st=&pgnum=9|access-date=2013-10-07|page=9}}</ref> and with Cagliari (Civitas Portus), in Italy.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

The theory that he lived in Italy is based upon the premise that he wrote double ''qerovoth'' ({{lang|arc|[[:wikt:קרובות|קרובא]]}}, special piyyuṭim) for [[Jewish holidays]];<ref>{{Cite book|last=Berliner|first=Abraham|author-link=Abraham Berliner|year=1893|title=Geschichte der Juden in Rom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAIVAAAAYAAJ&q=Geschichte+der+Juden+in+Rom|language=de|volume=2|location=[[Frankfurt]]|publisher=J. Kauffmann|page=15|access-date=2013-12-25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Einstein|first=Berthold|year=1887|title=Abermals über die Kalir-Frage|url=http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/cm/periodical/pageview/2877219|journal=[[Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums]]|language=de|page=529|access-date=2013-12-25}}</ref> although [[Tosafot]]<ref name=Tosafot>{{cite wikisource |author=Tosafot |author-link=Tosafot |title=תוספות חגיגה יג א |wslink=חגיגה יג א#תוספות |wslanguage=he}}</ref> and [[Asher ben Jehiel]]<ref name=Rosh/> assert that he did not write any for the [[yom tov sheni shel galuyot|extra festival days]] celebrated in the [[Jewish diaspora|Diaspora]].

His time has been set at different dates, from the second century, to the tenth or eleventh century.<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> Based on [[Saadia Gaon]]'s ''Sefer ha-galuy'', some place him in the 6th century.<ref name=EB1911/> Older authorities consider him to have been a teacher of the [[Mishnah]] and identify him either with [[Eleazar ben Arach]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Shlomo ben Aderet|author-link=Shlomo ben Aderet|script-title=he:שאלות ותשובות|access-date=2013-10-07|volume=1|language=he|oclc=233041810|chapter=469|chapter-url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1376&pgnum=216}}</ref> or with [[Eleazar ben Simeon]]<ref>{{cite wikisource |author=Tosafot |author-link=Tosafot |title=תוספות חגיגה יג א |wslink=חגיגה יג א#תוספות |wslanguage=he}} {{Cite book|last=Heller|first=Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann|author-link=Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller|title=Ma'adanei Yom Tov|at=''Brochos'', 5:21, gloss 5}} discusses whether this Eleazar was the son of [[Rashbi]] or another Rabbi Shimon.</ref> He has been confounded with another poet named Eleazar ben Jacob, and a book by the title of ''Kevod Adonai'' was ascribed to him by [[Moses Botarel]].<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

The earliest references to Qallir seem to be in a [[history of responsa in Judaism|responsum]] of [[Natronai ben Hilai]] (c. 853),<ref>[[Isaac Hirsch Weiss]], "''Dor Dor ve-Dorshav''," iv. 118</ref> in the ''[[Sefer Yetzirah]]'' commentary of Saadia Gaon,<ref>see Gräber, in "''Otzar ha-Sifrut''," i., v.</ref> and in his "''[[Agron (dictionary)|Agron]]''",<ref>[[Bernhard Stade]]'s "''[[Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft|Zeitschrift]]''," 1882, p. 83</ref> as well as in the writings of [[Jacob Qirqisani]].<ref>[[A. Harkavy]], in "''Ha-Maggid''," 1879, No. 45, p. 359a</ref>

Modern research points to the probability that he and his teacher were Palestinian Jews. Since Yannai is known to have been one of the [[halakhic]] authorities of [[Anan ben David]], the alleged founder of [[Karaite Judaism]], he must therefore have lived a considerable time earlier than Anan. Qallir's time may thus be fixed with some probability as the first half of the 7th century.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> From a linguistic point of view, it would seem that he lived in the Land of Israel at the end of the sixth century.<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/>

Qallir's hymns became an object of study and of [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] exegesis, as his personality was a mystery. It was related that heavenly fire surrounded him when he wrote the ''Vehahayot'' in ''[[Kedushah (prayer)|Kedushah]]'' for [[Rosh Hashanah]];<ref>''[[Shibbole ha-Leket]]'' 28</ref> that he ascended to heaven and there learned from the [[angel]]s the secret of writing alphabetical hymns.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

A peculiar development of the Qallir legend is seen in the story that [[Saadia Gaon]] found in Qallir's tomb a recipe for making [[amulet]]s in the form of cakes.<ref>[[Goldziher]], in "''Festschrift zum 70ten Geburtstag Berliners''," p. 150</ref> On a piyyuṭ found in the ''[[Mahzor Vitry]]'' and ascribed by [[Henrik Bródy]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kontres haPiyyutim|at=p. 67|script-title=he:קונטרס הפיוטים|url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=34863&st=&pgnum=71&hilite=|language=he|access-date=2013-11-06}}</ref> to Qallir, see Max Weisz.<ref>In "''Monatsschrift''," xli. 145</ref>

==Poetic style==
[[File:אמל ורבך ותליית המן מתוך מחזור ליפסיא 51ב.jpg|right|thumb|from a [[Purim]] poem by Qallir, hanging of the sons of [[Haman]], [[Leipzig Mahzor]]]]
The "Kallir style" had a profound influence on the poets who succeeded him in Palestine and the Near East. He made radical innovations in [[diction]] and style while employing the full range of [[Mishnaic Hebrew]]. It may be that the stories of Yannai growing jealous of him are based in fact because the patterns of [[rhyme]], [[acrostic]], repetition, and [[refrain]] in his piyyuṭim are much more complex than those of his master.

His use of [[neologism]]s and other oddities has earned him a reputation as an enigmatic writer, to the point where some have criticized him for being obscure and having a corruptive influence on Hebrew. He was, however, capable of writing in simple and direct language, as poems like his ''[[Epithalamium]]'' demonstrate.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031419/http://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/B/benKallirEle/Epithalamium.htm Eleazar ben Kallir: Epithalamium]</ref>

[[Joseph Solomon Delmedigo]] warns the student against Qallir's writings because "he has cut up the Hebrew language in an arbitrary way".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Melo Chofnayim|author=Abraham Geiger|at=p. 15|script-title=he:מלא חפנים|url=http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=33738&st=&pgnum=22&hilite=|access-date=2013-11-05|language=he|author-link=Abraham Geiger}}</ref>

Qallir was the first to embellish the entire liturgy with a series of hymns whose essential element was the [[aggadah]]. He drew his material from the [[Talmud]], and from [[midrashic]] compilations, some of which latter are now probably lost,<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> thus preserving some otherwise forgotten aggadic traditions.<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/> Qallir used the early [[Hekhalot literature]] of the [[Merkabah mysticism|Merkabah mystics]], and traces of their ideas and language appear in his poetry.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bloch|first=Philipp|year=1893|title=Die יורדי מרכבה|trans-title=The Merkabah Riders|journal=[[Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums]]|language=de|location=Breslau|page=71|oclc=5764327}}</ref><ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> His language, however, is not that of his sources, but [[Biblical Hebrew]], enriched with daring innovations. His predilection for rare words, allegorical expressions, and aggadic allusions make his writings hard to understand<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> – some describe him as a "Hebrew version of [[Robert Browning]]".<ref name=EB1911/> His linguistic peculiarities were followed by many a succeeding ''payṭan''; and they influenced to some extent even early prose, especially among [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]].<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/>

With the awakening of linguistic studies among the Jews and with the growing acquaintance of the latter with [[Arabic]], his linguistic peculiarities were severely criticized (e.g., by [[Abraham ibn Ezra]],<ref>[[Abraham ibn Ezra]] on [[Ecclesiastes]] 5:1</ref> a criticism which centuries later influenced the ''[[maskilim]]'' in their disparagement of Qallir<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary/>); but the structure of his hymns remained a model which was followed for centuries after him and which received the name "Kaliric",<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> (or "Kalliri"<ref name=jewishvirtuallibrary>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10643.html KALLIR, ELEAZAR] in the [[Jewish Virtual Library]].</ref>).

==Works==
{{commonscat|Eleazar ben Killir}}
While some of his hymns have been lost, more than 200 of them appear in various [[machzor]]s.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia>{{JewishEncyclopedia|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=K&artid=45|article=Kalir, Eleazar|accessdate=2013-09-29}}<br />'''Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography:'''
*[[Joseph Derenbourg|J. Derenbourg]], in ''[[Revue des Etudes Juives|R. E. J.]]'' xii. 298;
*[[Pinkus Frankl|P. F. Frankl]], ''Fragment einer Kalir'schen Keroba'', reprint from ''Zunz Jubelschrift'', Berlin, 1884;
*[[A. Harkavy]], ''Leben und Werke Saadia Gaon's'', i. 109, Berlin, 1891;
*''Israelitische Annalen'', i. 85, ii. 320;
*[[Landshuth]], ''Ammude ha-'Abodah'', i. 27-44, Berlin, 1877;
*[[S. L. Rapoport]], in ''[[Bikkure ha-Ittim|Bikkure ha-'Ittim]]'', x. 95-123, xi. 92-102;
*[[Steinschneider]], ''[[Cat. Bodl.]]'' col. 913;
*[[Leopold Zunz|Zunz]], ''[https://archive.org/stream/literaturgeschi03zunzgoog/literaturgeschi03zunzgoog_djvu.txt Literaturgesch.]'' pp. 29-64.</ref> Twenty-odd of the [[kinnot]] of [[Tisha B'Av]] were composed by him too.

Although most of Qallir's work remains unpublished, [[Shulamit Elizur]] has published four volumes of his poetry for [[Rosh Hashanah]], [[Yom Kippur]], [[Sukkot]] and [[Shemini Atzeret]], respectively, and continues to work on his work.

===Translations===
Translations of some of his hymns into [[German language|German]] are found in [[Leopold Zunz]],<ref>"''Synagogale Poesie des Mittelalters''" pp. 75 et al. (Berliner), "''Synagogal-Poesieen''," p. 24; [[Paul de Lagarde|De Lagarde]], "''Mittheilungen''," ii. 138</ref> in [[Michael Sachs (rabbi)|Sachs]]'s edition of the [[siddur]], and in [[Gustav Karpeles]]' ''Zionsharfe''.<ref>""''Zionsharfe''," pp. 10-17</ref> Some have been rendered into English by Nina Davis<ref>In "''[[J. Q. R.]]''" ix. 29</ref> and by Mrs. Henry Lucas.<ref>{{Cite book|year=1894|title=Songs of Zion by Hebrew Singers of Mediæval Times|url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001929539|others=Translated into English verse by Mrs. Henry Lucas|location=London|publisher=[[J. M. Dent and Company|J. M. Dent and Co.]]|access-date=2013-11-06}}|at=p. 60</ref> Some renderings of his poems may be found in the volumes of Davis & Adler's edition of the ''German Festival Prayers'' entitled ''Service of the Synagogue'',<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Kalir, Eleazer|volume=15|page=642}}</ref> as well as other holiday prayer books of the Ashkenazic Nusach with translations, including the only English translation of the Western Ashkenazic machzor by Jenny Marmorstein.<ref>[https://www.goldschmidt-basel.ch/gebetbuecher/machsor-englisch-saemtliche-feiertage.php Goldschmidt Basel] (description of the Machzorim in German)</ref>  Additionally, the works that are recited in the [[Italian Nusach]] were translated into Italian by [[Menachem Emanuel Hartom]].

==Commemoration==
In [[Tel Aviv]], Elazar HaKalir street near the city hall is named after him. Likewise, in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of [[Sha'arei Hesed]], a street is named after him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/HaKalir,+Jerusalem,+Israel/@31.7765312,35.209663,18.26z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x1502d7d4c8575131:0x839886529b3b7fd5!8m2!3d31.7760851!4d35.2108888|title = HaKalir · Jerusalem, Israel}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notefoot}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wikisource author-inline|Eleazar ben Kalir}}
* {{cite book |last1=Safrai |first1=Shemuel |title=The Literature of the Sages |date=2006 |publisher=Van Gorcum |isbn=978-90-232-4222-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVCImEO-ef0C&dq=%22ben+killir%22&pg=PA374 |language=en}}
* {{cite web |title=Eleazar Kallir |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/kallir-eleazar |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleazar Ben Killir}}
[[Category:Hebrew-language poets]]
[[Category:Byzantine Jews]]
[[Category:7th-century Byzantine writers]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:570 births]]
[[Category:640 deaths]]
[[Category:Place of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Date of death unknown]]
[[Category:Place of death unknown]]
[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[Category:7th-century Jews]]
[[Category:7th-century poets]]
[[Category:Jewish liturgical poets]]