* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin ([email protected])
As usual, the newest news is the oldest. The Israel Antiquities Authority reported yesterday on finding the rare coin pictured below. It dates from the Bar Kokhva revolt and bears this inscription: “one year of (since) Israel’s redemption.” On both sides the name “Elazar HaCohen” appears. Some of the researchers think that this name refers to Rabbi Elazar HaModa’i who, according to tradition, was Bar Kokhva’s uncle.
What we find in the ground of Eretz Yisrael reminds us of how deep our roots are and how ancient our story is in this land . Besides the coin itself, let’s pause for a moment to contemplate the words of Rabbi Elazar. Although he is often mentioned or quoted in the Gemara and Midrash, the following quote from Pirkei Avot is the single Mishnah where he appears: “Rabbi Elazar of Modi'in said: One who profanes consecrated sacrificial animals, who degrades the Festivals, who humiliates his friend in public, who abrogates the covenant of our father Abraham, or who interprets the Torah contrary to its true intent—although he may possess Torah knowledge and good deeds, he has no share in the World to Come.”
Notice that everything in Rabbi Elazar’s words relates to respect or honor: honoring the Temple service and the holidays, honoring friends and others, honoring the practice of Brit Milah, and honoring the Torah. The verbs used convey lack of respect: profanes, degrades, humiliates, abrogates . . . Such an attitude distances us from eternal life and the world to come.
This coin may be 2,000 years old, but the cautionary message of the one whose name appears on the coin is still pertinent today.
