Menahem ben Judah lived around the time of the First Jewish-Roman War and is mentioned by Josephus. He was the leader of a faction called the Sicarii who carried out assassinations of Romans and collaborators in the Holy Land.[1]
He was the son of Judas of Galilee and grandson of Hezekiah, the leader of the Zealots, who had troubled Herod and was a warrior. When the war broke out, he attacked Masada with his band, armed his followers with the weapons stored there, and proceeded to Jerusalem, where he captured the fortress Antonia, overpowering the troops of Agrippa II. Emboldened by his success, he behaved as a king, and claimed the leadership of all the troops. Thereby, he aroused the enmity of Eleazar, another Zealot leader, and met death as a result of a conspiracy against him (ib. ii. 17, § 9).
Some identify him with Menahem the Essene, including Israel Knohl (English edition, 2001), who makes this identification from two purportedly messianic hymns from Qumran.[2][3]
He may be identical with the Menahem ben Hezekiah mentioned in the Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 98b) and called "the comforter that should relieve", and is to be distinguished from Menahem ben Ammiel, the Messiah of the Sefer Zerubbabel.
^Ancient battle divides Israel as Masada 'myth' unravels; Was the siege really so heroic, asks Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem, The Independent, 30 March 1997
^Book review digest: Volume 97 H.W. Wilson Company - 2001 "Thanks to David Maisel' s excellent English translation, we can consider Knohl's thesis. ... whom he identifies as Menahem the Essene. Knohl arrives at his hypothesis through an examination of two purportedly messianic hymns from Qumran ..."
^Israel Knohl trans. David Maisel The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls 2002 p.61 "Significantly, the only mention of Menahem in the Mishna occurs immediately after the remarks on the wickedness of slighting God's honor. The protagonist of the messianic hymns, whom we have identified with Menahem, describes himself "
Temple was destroyed (AD 70). He may be the same as Menahem ben Judah; also see Menahemben Ammiel. In the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 98b, he is mentioned...
belonging to the Shammaite party, Zacharia ben Amphicalos, then supported Eleazar. Zealot MenahembenJudah seized the fortress Masada, and killed the...
Lord." (18.1.6) According to the Jewish Encyclopedia article on Zealots: Judah of Gaulanitis is regarded as the founder of the Zealots, who are identified...
claims that MenahembenJudah, one of the early leaders of the Jewish Revolt in 66 CE, was Judas's "son", which some scholars doubt though Menahem may have...
Gershom benJudah, (c. 960–1040) best known as Rabbeinu Gershom (Hebrew: רבנו גרשום, "Our teacher Gershom") and also commonly known to scholars of Rabbinic...
Menahemben Saruq (also known as Menahemben Jacob ibn Saruq, Hebrew: מנחם בן סרוק) was a Spanish-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE. He was a...
United Kingdom of Israel and those of its successor states, Israel and Judah, followed in the Second Temple period, part of classical antiquity, by the...
and he will be named Menahem. He is not referred to as the Messiah ben Joseph. However some have linked this passage to Messiah ben Joseph. Selling his...
several factions. The Sicarii, led by MenahembenJudah, could hold on for long; the Zealots, led by Eleazar ben Simon, eventually fell under the command...
Isaac benJudah Abarbanel (Hebrew: יצחק בן יהודה אברבנאל; 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (Hebrew: אַבַּרבְּנְאֵל; also spelled Abravanel...
Elijah benMenahem the Elder (Hebrew: אליהו בן מנחם הזקן; c. 980 - 1060 ), also known as Rabbeinu Eliyahu HaZaken, was an 11th-century French Tosafist...
Judah Halevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; Hebrew: יהודה הלוי and Judahben Shmuel Halevi יהודה בן שמואל הלוי; Arabic: يهوذا اللاوي, romanized: Yahūḏa...
dynasty is so named because Menahem was the son of Gadi. Two kings of Israel came from the dynasty - Menahem and Pekahiah. Menahem became king of Israel in...
extensively to translate the works of grammarian and biblical exegetist Judahben David Hayyuj from their original Judeo-Arabic to Hebrew. Published as...
the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "ME'IRI, MENAHEMBEN SOLOMON". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Soloveitchik...
(ב"ח), of Joshua Höschel ben Joseph of Kraków, and of Menahem Mendel Krochmal of Nikolsburg. He married the daughter of Judah Loeb Cohn of Kraków (died...
Judahben David Hayyuj (Hebrew: יְהוּדָה בֶּן דָּוִד חַיּוּג׳, romanized: Yəhuḏā ben Dawiḏ Ḥayyuj, Arabic: أبو زكريا يحيى بن داؤد حيوج, romanized: Abū...
teacher Judah of Meiush' had been discovered in Orléans. Judah of Metz (or Meaux)'s most notable student was the tosafist Avigdor son of Menahem. Emmanuel...
מוורמייזא - also מגרמייזא of Garmiza or Garmisa) (c. 1176–1238), or Eleazar benJudahben Kalonymus, also sometimes known today as Eleazar Rokeach ("Eleazar the...
Yehudah's progeny among the Israelites formed the Tribe of Judah, with whom the Kingdom of Judah is associated. Related nomenclature continued to be used...
Judahben Samuel of Regensburg (1150 – 22 February 1217), also called Yehuda HeHasid or 'Judah the Pious' in Hebrew, was a leader of the Chassidei Ashkenaz...
Gerondi (Rabbeinu Yonah). Among his teachers in Talmud were Judahben Yakar and Nathan ben Meïr of Trinquetaille, and he is said to have been instructed...
two were therefore enemies of the pro-Assyrian king of Judah, Ahaz (Isaiah 7:1). Meanwhile, Menahem, ruling in Samaria, sent tribute to Tiglath-Pileser (Biblical...
under German rabbi Yaakov ben Yakar and French rabbi Isaac ben Eliezer Halevi, both of whom were pupils of Gershom benJudah. After returning to Troyes...
met Menahemben Saruq, also an important grammarian, though the two did not get along because of their many grammatical disputes as well as Menahem's tough...
teacher was Judahben Asher, who went through the whole of the Talmud with him, with the exception of the third and fourth orders. In 1361 Menahem succeeded...
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