Eleazar ben Pedat (Hebrew: רבי אלעזר בן פדת) was a second and third-generation amora or Talmudist from Babylon who lived in Syria Palaestina during the 3rd century.
[6] In his native country he was a disciple of Samuel,[7] and more especially of Rav,[8] whom he in after years generally cited by the appellation "our teacher",[9] and whose academy he revered above all others, recognizing in it the "lesser sanctuary" of the Diaspora, as promised (Ezekiel 11:16) to the exiles in Babylonia.
[10] When and why he left Babylonia is not stated; but from the data extant it appears that his ardent love for the Land of Israel,[11] and the superior opportunities which Palestine afforded for religious practices,[12] impelled him to emigrate to there—and at a comparatively early age, since some of Rabbi's contemporaries were still alive and active.
In Tiberias he was associated with Simon b. Eliakim in the office of judge,[19] and at the academy he occupied the position of colleague-disciple (חבר ותלמיד) of Johanan,[20] who himself repeatedly admitted that Eleazar had enlightened him,[21] once declaring that "the son of Pedat sits and interprets the Law as did Moses at the direct inspiration from the Almighty".
Eleazar's fame as an expert expounder of the Law having reached Babylonia, his most prominent contemporaries there addressed to him intricate halakhic questions, to which he returned satisfactory answers.
[25] This happened so often that he became known in his native country as the "master [i.e., legal authority] of the land of Israel";[26] and anonymous decisions introduced in the Babylonian schools with the statement "They sent word from there"[27] were understood, as a matter of course, to emanate from Eleazar ben Pedat.
[34] From the same Scriptural expression Eleazar draws the lesson, "Charity is rewarded only in proportion to the kindness in it";[34] that is, the pleasant and thoughtful way in which it is given, and the personal sacrifice it involves.