Defending Caesar’s Daughter in the ‘Eleh Ezkerah’ Piyut
The “Eleh Ezkerah” Piyut:
בת בליעל לקול בכיתו של רבי ישמעאל עמדה, תאר יפיו בלבה חמדה, ושאלה מאת אביה חיתו להעמידה. נאץ בליעל דבר זה לעשותו. להפשיט עורו מעל פניו שאלה מאתו, ולא עכב דבר זה לעשותו, וכשהגיע למקום תפלין צרח בקול מר ליוצר נשמתו.
ArtScroll’s Yom Kippur Machzor translation, under the line p. 588:
להפשיט עורו – The flesh be flayed.In a display of cruelty that showed what a contemptible being she was, she asked that Rabbi Yishmael’s flesh be torn from his face while he was still alive. She could then stuff the skin to preserve his handsome features for her to gaze upon.
When in doubt we ascribe wickedness to the wicked, as Chazal say. But why would Caesar’s daughter want him tortured a moment after she desired he let live?!
No, she wanted Rabbi Yishmael alive but was denied. So, as consolation, she requested that his skin be preserved after his demise for her own pleasure (maybe she wasn’t specific enough…). But Caesar specifically “delayed not” (ולא עכב דבר זה לעשותו), and fulfilled “what she asked” while Rabbi Yishmael was still breathing, instead.
(Indeed, the villain throughout the Piyut is Caesar; adding other players ruins the sought-after effect.)
Still and all, I hope “כי שכיבנא “she won’t “נפק לוותי” (as gratitude for minimizing her bad image from murderous lecher to mere lecher)…