ELEAZAR BEN AZARIAH

(fl. 1st-2nd cent)

Palestinian tanna. He traced his ancestry back ten generations toEzra. WhenRabban Gamaliel IIwas temporarily deposed as nasi, Eleazar ben Azariah was chosen to succeed him; the school of Jabneh, the centre of rabbinic learning, was opened to all who wished to study, and no longer restricted to those considered worthy. According to tradition, Eleazar ben Azariah went on a mission to Rome withRabban Gamaliel II. He was a halakhist and an aggadist.