A Brave But Misguided Exploit
Judas Maccabeus besieged the Seleucid garrison in Jerusalem, but a Seleucid army of 50,000 men, accompanied by 30 war elephants, marched to its relief. So Judas lifted the siege, and marched out at the head of 20,000 men to intercept the Seleucids. In a misguided bit of bravado, he ditched the guerrilla tactics that had won him victories and served him well so far. Instead, Judas formed his men to meet the Seleucids in formal battle. It was a mistake, as the Jewish forces proved no match for the Seleucid heavy infantry phalanx, professional cavalry, and armored war elephants.
The Seleucid elephants especially unnerved the defenders, who began to panic and break in fear of the pachyderms. Eleazar Avaran sought to encourage his comrades with a demonstration of the elephants’ vulnerability. So he charged at the biggest elephant he could find, got beneath it, and thrust his spear into its unarmored belly. That killed the beast, but Eleazar did not get to savor his success for long. The dying elephant collapsed on top of Eleazar, and crushed him to death. His comrades did not rush in to emulate him, and the courageous demonstration did not suffice to keep the Jewish army from breaking soon thereafter.