November 15 1196 – 22 Kislev 4957
Vandals broke into the home of Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (Ba’al HaRoke’ah), murdering his wife and two daughters and wounding the rabbi and his sons. Rabbi Eleazar (1165–1230) and wife Dulcea were part of a small circle of pietistic Jews (Hasidei Ashkenaz) following in the footsteps of his teacher Rabbi Judah He-hasid. Rabbi Eleazar ran a small yeshiva out of his home, and the lament he wrote for his wife describes her many roles there, from stitching together Torah scrolls and making tallow candles to teaching women and leading them in prayer. She also ran a money-lending business, which may well have prompted the attack.