25 Sivan · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Yishmael Kohen HaGadol - "Asara Harugei Malchut"
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Kohen HaGadol was one of the Ten Martyrs - "Asara Harugei Malchut".
Yahrzeit - 25 Sivan
Resting place - near Karmiel, in the Druze village of Sajur
Rabbi Yishmael was one of the Tannaim (the great Sages of the Mishnah). He lived about 50 years after the Destruction of the Second Temple, in the time of Rabbi Akiva, and was one of the Asara Harugei Malchut (Ten Martyrs).
The Ten Martyrs
The Roman emperor Lupinus, who studied Torah, asked ten great sages of that generation: "According to your Torah, what is the law for a Jew who sells another Jew into slavery?" (referring to the sale of Yosef by his brothers).
"The severest punishment," answered Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.
"But Yosef's brothers were never punished for their crime!" the Roman exclaimed, and began preparing a deadly trap.
"Justice must be served, and there are no other leaders to take their place except you ten!"
When Rabbi Nechunia ben HaKanah heard of this decree, he said to his student Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha: "Ascend to the Heavens to determine whether this was truly decreed by the Heavenly Court." Rabbi Yishmael purified himself, whispered the secret Name of Ha-Shem, and ascended to the Heavens. He asked the angel Gavriel about the decree, and Gavriel answered: "Accept this upon yourselves, righteous ones, for I have heard from behind the curtain that this must be your fate," and Rabbi Yishmael was told that the ten sages would be handed over to the evil angel Samael as punishment for the sale of Yosef. Rabbi Yishmael reported this to his companions, and they accepted the decree.
Before Rabbi Yishmael's execution, the emperor's daughter saw him and demanded that the executioner wait while she went to her father to beg for Rabbi Yishmael's pardon. "What did you see in this Jew?" the emperor asked. "He has the most beautiful face I have ever seen," the princess answered. Naturally, Rabbi Yishmael would never have considered saving his life for the sake of the emperor's daughter. So the emperor ordered that the skin be flayed from Rabbi Yishmael's face while he was still alive, and preserved. When they reached the spot on his head where he used to place his tefillin, he cried out and his soul departed.
Esav, Yaakov, and the mask of Rabbi Yishmael
In Rome there was a custom: every 70 years they would take a healthy man and seat him upon a lame one, and parade them dressed in a costume representing Adam. The healthy man wore a mask made from Rabbi Yishmael's skin and was adorned with precious jewels. The two men were led through the city and would proclaim: "This is the story of our ancestors: the lame one is Yaakov, and the healthy one is Esav. Seeing Esav upon Yaakov is a sign that Esav dominates Yaakov, and that the blessings Yaakov obtained through deceit did not help him."
(Rabbi Ashi maintains that they actually said the opposite of what they intended to say). People came from far away to see this spectacle. (Tractate Avodah Zarah, page 11, Rashi)
Rabbi Yishmael - a gilgul of Yosef HaTzadik
According to the Arizal, zechuto tagen aleinu, Yosef himself was the cause of his brothers selling him. (Sha'ar HaGilgulim, 34) By spreading his dream of ruling over them and through lashon hara about his brothers, he brought these troubles upon himself.
Rabbi Yishmael was a gilgul of Yosef HaTzadik.
Just as Yosef possessed the beauty of Adam, so too did Rabbi Yishmael. Rabbi Yishmael's death was atonement for Yosef's own sins. This was not the only reason they had to die such a death, but it was the primary one.
The son and daughter of Rabbi Yishmael
His son and daughter were taken captive and sold as servants to different Roman masters. Their masters happened to meet, and each boasted of the beauty of his slave, so they decided to marry them to each other and divide their children between themselves. They left the two of them alone in one room. The servant sat in one corner of the room and thought: "I am a Kohen, a son of Kohanim Gedolim - should I marry a maidservant?" - while the maidservant sat in another corner and said to herself: "I am the daughter of Kohanim Gedolim - should I marry a servant?"
They sat in their corners and wept all night. When morning came, they recognized each other, wept, and continued weeping until their souls departed from this world. (Gittin 58a)
Rabbi Yishmael in Rome
Rabbi Yishmael was extraordinarily handsome and wise, and as a boy he was taken to Rome. The great Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananiah, while in Rome, learned that a Jewish boy was being held captive and decided to ransom him. He decided to use a clever trick, and at the place where the captives were held, he recited the first half of a verse from the Prophets: "Who gave Yaakov over to plunder, and Israel to robbers?" (Yeshayahu 42:24).
And immediately the boy answered him with the second half of the verse: "Was it not G-d, against Whom we sinned, and in Whose ways we did not wish to walk?"
Rabbi Yehoshua did everything he could to ransom this boy: "I am certain that this boy will grow up to become one of the greatest sages." (Gittin 58a)
Rabbi Yishmael became a student of the great Rabbi Nechunia ben HaKanah, author of the kabbalistic book "Sefer HaBahir" and of the prayer "Ana BeKoach."
How Rabbi Yishmael blessed G-d
"Said [the High Priest] Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha:
'Once [on Yom Kippur] I entered the Holy of Holies to offer incense. And I saw: [the angel of the highest level] Akatriel [not to be pronounced], the G-d of Hosts, sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted. And He said to me: "Yishmael, My son, bless Me." I said to Him: "May it be Your will that Your mercy overcome Your anger, and that Your mercy prevail over Your other attributes, so that You deal with Your children not with the full measure of strict judgment." And He nodded [in approval] with His head.' (Berachot, 7a)
The angel that the High Priest Rabbi Yishmael saw is an expression of the idea of unity. His name - Akatriel - is derived from the word keter ("crown"). This symbol of royal authority represents the highest level of Divine manifestation - the overarching force that sustains the existence of creation as a whole and each of its elements individually.
In the Sefer Heichalot, Rabbi Yishmael states that the Names of the 22 servants of the Creator are formed from the letter "hei".
Prayer of Rabbi Yishmael Kohen HaGadol
https://silatehilim.com/молитва-раби-ишмаэль-коэн-а-гадоль/
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/605-Rabbi-Ishmael-ben-Elisha-ha-Kohen)
Pilgrimage site:
Grave: Yishmael Kohen HaGadol