As you open your machzor this Rosh Hashanah, something you will probably not expect to find is a Jewish pope. But if you read carefully, that’s exactly what you’ll see.
In the Shacharis tefillos on Rosh Hashanah is a hidden mention of Elchanan, the son of a prominent rav and paytan who was kidnapped by the family’s Christian maid when he was a small boy in 11th-century Mayence (Mainz, Germany,
today), then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was brought up as a priest, rose to be a bishop and eventually became a pope.
There are many interesting tales surrounding Elchanan’s kidnapping and his eventual reunion with his father.
Paytan, Dayan, Rav—and Father
“Baruch Hashem Yom Yom,” the Shabbos zemirah that we sing describing Hashem’s presence among us during the Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman exiles, was composed by Rashi’s maternal great-grandfather, Rabbi Shimon bar Yitzchak ben Abun Hagadol (950-1020 CE), who was the father of
Elchanan, the Jewish pope. (Rabbi Shimon bar Yitzchak is not to be confused with the latter’s grandson, Rabbi Shimon bar Yitzchak Hazaken, a brother of Miriam Tzarfati, Rashi’s mother.)
Rabbi Shimon, as was the custom among paytanim, incorporated his own name into the piyut. Medieval poets indicated their names in acrostics formed by the initial letters of the verses of their poems.
In examining the zemirah “Baruch Hashem Yom Yom,” one discovers that the first Hebrew letters of the second, third, fourth and fifth stanzas spell the name “Shimon”; the first letters of the sixth and seventh stanzas spell “bar”; and the first letters of the first four words of the eighth stanza spell “Yitzchak.”
When we derive weekly enjoyment from the beautiful words of the piyut, most of us are unaware that its composer, Rabbi Shimon, a prominent and wealthy talmid chacham in Mayence, was heartbroken when his brilliant young son Elchanan disappeared without a trace, along with their Christian maid.
All that time, Rabbi Shimon taught with Rabbeinu Gershom Me’or Hagolah (960-1040 CE) in the yeshivah in Mainz and served with him on the city’s beis din. Rabbeinu Gershom Me’or Hagolah was famous for the takanos he instituted for the benefit of the Jewish community, such as the prohibition against a man marrying more than one wife at a time, the requirement that a woman must agree to accept a get, and the restriction against opening someone else’s mail.
Rabbi Shimon, believed to be a descendant of Dovid Hamelech, the composer of Tehillim, was also a gifted chazan who composed many more piyutim. They were mainly added to the tefillos of the second day of Yom Tov, observed in chutz la’aretz.
Many of the piyutim for the first days of Yom Tov were composed by Rabbi Elazar Hakalir several centuries earlier; he lived in Eretz Yisrael, where only one day of Yom Tov is celebrated (except for Rosh Hashanah).
Some of his better-known piyutim include one for the second day of Shavuos, which begins with the words “Vayakem eidus b’Yaakov v’Torah sam b’Yisrael,” and “Imru Leilokim Adirim,” sung during Shacharis on the seventh day of Pesach. In this piyut,
Rabbi Shimon mentions all those throughout the generations who angered Hashem, including Enosh and Haman. Selichos numbers 11, 50, 58 and 68 were also composed by Rabbi Shimon.
In the Machzor Vitri, it is said about Rabbi Shimon bar Yitzchak that he was a miracle worker. Rabbeinu Tam was said to have stated that he was “learned in miracles.”
Mentioned in a Piyut
The story is told that when Elchanan was four years old, he observed his father working on the Rosh Hashanah piyut and saw that his name was incorporated into it. His father was composing the piyut “Melech Amun Maamareich,” which is still recited today, a thousand years later, by many Ashkenazi Jews around the world during Shacharis on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, before Shema and after the Yotzros.
In “Melech Amun Maamareich,” we beseech Hashem to fulfill. His promise to Adam Harishon “to redeem us, His offspring… in the merit of the shofar that Hashem instituted, so that we will be moved to repent and earn atonement.”
Elchanan’s name is found in the first two words of the stanza beginning “Keil chanan nachalaso b’noam l’hashpar yid’am kero korbanosav b’mispar.”
This line is understood to mean that when the Jewish people no longer have the Beis Hamikdash in which to bring korbanos, they will read about the korbanos in the Torah, and it will be considered as if they had actually brought the sacrifices.
Rabbi Shimon’s name is formed from the first letters of the stanza beginning with the words “Shomrei Mitzvos Eidecha V’ovdecha Natleim v’naseim, those who observe Your mitzvos are your witnesses and servants; raise them up and exalt them.”
According to the story, these lines describe a conversation. Elchanan’s father explains to his son that no matter how far one may stray from the path of Hashem, if he atones, Hashem will accept his offering and repentance. The son responds that he will never leave Hashem’s path; at that time, of course, he never dreamt that he would one day be kidnapped.
The Kidnapping
Historians don’t dispute the fact that Elchanan, the son of Rabbi Shimon, was kidnapped and raised as a pope, but details regarding the identity of the pope and how he was reunited with his father differ. Since the story was transmitted orally and did not appear in print until more than 500 years later, there are different versions of it.
Some say the kidnapping took place on Yom Kippur, when the boy’s parents were in shul and he wasn’t feeling well. Others claim the kidnapping took place on a Shabbos morning when the boy was home alone with the maid. For many years, the parents had no idea whether or not he was still alive.
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The Pope Seeks His Family
According to one variation of the story, by the time Elchanan became a pope, his counsel was sought by many princes and kings. He was not content, however, with all the honor bestowed upon him, troubled as he was by the mystery of his origin. He was also aggravated by doubts about the truth of the Christian religion.
He eventually demanded that his attendants disclose to him the secret of his birth. They finally confessed the truth but attributed his kidnapping to the will of G-d, who had c d chosen him, they claimed, for his sacred role. The pope thereupon gave orders that Rabbi Shimon, his father, be brought to him from Mayence at once.
Upon Rabbi Shimon’s arrival, the pope interrogated him about his family and asked him to list his children. With persistent pressure, Rabbi Shimon admitted that there was another child who had disappeared, and he described the birthmarks this child had had on his back and hands.
The pope then showed his father the birthmarks, revealing that he was none other than the missing son and stating that he wished to return to the faith of his fathers.
The pope summoned everyone in the town to a convocation.
Addressing the people from the top of a tower, he denied the truth of Christian doctrine. The bishops were astounded and claimed that their leader had gone insane; Elchanan responded that it was they who were insane, and he threw himself from the top of the tower and died.
Another Version
According to another version of the story, after the pope learned who his parents were, he sent a papal decree to the bishop of Mayence forbidding the Jews to observe circumcision and the Sabbath, in the hope that his father, Rabbi Shimon, would try
to avert the decree by coming to Rome to see him. And indeed, Rabbi Shimon and two other leaders of the Jewish community of Mayence fasted, prayed and traveled to Rome to seek a meeting with the pope.
When the Jewish delegation gained an audience with the pope to plead for the annulment of the decree, the pope asked that only Rabbi Shimon remain in the room. During that meeting, the two men discussed religion and the Bible. Rabbi Shimon was amazed at the pope’s great erudition and Jewish scholarship.
They then played a game of chess, which the pope won despite the fact that Rabbi Shimon was a renowned chess expert. Rabbi Shimon noticed that the pope used a certain move he had taught to Elchanan as a child, and he realized that they were father and son. The pope admitted that he had only sent the papal decree as a ruse to bring his father to him, and he gave his father a letter rescinding the decree. Rabbi Shimon returned to Mayence.
According to yet another variation of the story, the pope disappeared and returned clandestinely to Mayence, leaving a book disputing the principles of the Church for his successors to find.
He began practicing Judaism, until he was killed by the Crusaders. Another twist on the story is that when Rabbi Shimon was
speaking with the pope, he mentioned that he was a paytan. The pope replied that he enjoyed poetry very much. Rabbi Shimon showed him a paper that he always carried in his pocket, on which were written the words of the Rosh Hashanah piyut Keil Chanun, and he told the pope about his kidnapped son. With
tremendous excitement, the pope jumped up and exclaimed that he himself was that son.
Others state that Rabbi Shimon wrote the piyut later, as a hymn of gratitude for his reunion with his son, using both their names in the acrostic. According to Eliezer Ashkenazi, the editor of Taam Zekeinim (Frankfurt-am-Main, 1854), based on an old Spanish document he discovered, the pope who was born a Jew was Pope Andreas. Another source says that he was Pope Victor III. However, Rabbi
Shimon passed away before Victor III rose to the position, so it may actually have been Victor II.
Different sources of the story that were published centuries after it occurred appeared in many languages, including German, Yiddish, English and even Arabic.
When we reach this piyut in our machzorim this Rosh Hashanah, whether it is our minhag to skip over it or to recite it, let us
have in mind the great pain and tremendous relief of the paytan
who was reunited with his son Elchanan.
By Pearl Herzog
25 ELUL 5776 // SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 // AMI MAGAZINE