The Ten Martyrs (Aseret Harugei Malchut עשרת הרוגי מלכות) refers to a group of ten rabbis living during the era of the Mishnah who were martyred by the Romans in the period after the destruction of the second Temple. Although all ten could not have been killed at the same time since two of the rabbis listed lived well before the other eight - they are listed together, in a manner of a dramatic poem (known as the Eleh Ezkera) recited on two important Jewish holidays, to elicit the proper mood of the day, one of reflection and the hope of redemption in the face of attacks to the beliefs of Judaism.
The term "martyrology" is also used about the story of the deaths (martyrdom) of several famous Rabbis (including Rabbi Akiva) by Romans, read both on Yom Kippur and Tisha b'Av. The deaths were gruesome, including, being wrapped in Torah scrolls and then being set aflame. See also Midrash Eleh Ezkerah.
The rabbis mentioned lived over a period of several hundred years and their stories are presented as a plot by Romans and others to weaken Jews by destroying Jewish leadership.
Read more about Ten Martyrs: Story, The Martyrs, Part of The Yom Kippur Services, In Contemporary Times, See Also, External Sources
Famous quotes containing the words ten and/or martyrs:
“Creative force, like a musical composer, goes on unweariedly repeating a simple air or theme, now high, now low, in solo, in chorus, ten thousand times reverberated, till it fills earth and heaven with the chant.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)