Eleazar ben Arach

Eleazar ben Arach was one of the tannaim of the second generation (1st century). Little is known about him.

Teachings Described as first among the disciples of Yohanan ben Zakkai, it was said, "If all the sages of Israel were placed in one scale, and Eleazar ben Arach in the other, he would outweigh them all". Yochanan described him as a "gushing stream" or "ever-flowing spring". They continue by noting he represented a symbol of a particular kind of rabbinical learning, one that not only repeated existing wisdom from the scripture but also innovated, providing new lessons for new circumstance as a spring or a well provides fresh (new) water.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach is known for saying: "If there was no Torah, there would be no decorum (derekh eretz)."

Tomb Crusader-period Jewish sources identify Eleazar ben Arach's tomb at the Upper Galilee town of Alma. Benjamin of Tudela mentions his tomb in a "large cemetery of the Israelites" at Alma, which also houses the tombs of Eleazar ben Azariah, Honi HaMe'agel, Simeon ben Gamliel and Jose the Galilean. An anonymous Hebrew manuscript of the same period states that the Jews and Muslims of Alma light candles on Eleazar ben Arach's tomb on Shabbat Eve, and mention a nearby miracle-working tree.