Welcome back to the Daily Holy Story. Rabbi Shimon ben Yitzchak of Magentza was the uncle of Rashi and a great poet. He wrote many poems about the holidays, and in them he hints at his son Elchanan, who was kidnapped from him and eventually became the Pope of the Christian Church. The story goes as follows. Rabbi Shimon’s young son, Elchanan, was stolen from his crib by his Catholic housemaid when he was a little child. One of the priests convinced her to steal the baby and train him as the son of a great rabbi to become a Catholic priest. It was a terrible, terrible event for the family of Rabbi Shimon of Magentza. The traces of his son disappeared, and everything was silent. The boy grew up in Catholic monasteries and was very successful in his Catholic education. He developed into a genius in the Catholic Church, to the point that the Pope in Rome himself wanted to meet him. The Pope was impressed by Elchanan’s beauty and intelligence; Elchanan’s Jewish identity was hidden, and the Pope wanted the boy to stay with him in Rome. Even in the Pope’s courtyard, the boy was very successful, and his roots would remain hidden. He climbed higher and higher in the hierarchy of the Church, and when the Pope died, the Church decided that the next Pope would be none other than Elchanan, the son of Rabbi Shimon of Magentza.
Then Elchanan learned that he was a Jew. The priest who had done the whole thing went to him and told the Pope that he was a Jew, stolen from his Jewish parents, hoping that favors would be given to him. Because of the priest, Elchanan ended up being the Pope of the whole Catholic Church. But it had the opposite effect. The fact that he was a Jew affected Pope Elchanan; he began to think about his parents and wanted to see them. But how could he? He was the Pope. So he came up with a great idea. He issued a decree against the Jews of Magentza, saying that they were not allowed to keep Shabbat or do Milah (circumcision). The Church received this decree happily and did not pay attention to the little addendum to it. The Pope wrote that if the Jews refused to accept the decree, they must send the Rabbi of Magentza to Rome together with other rabbinical authorities from Magentza.
The Jews of Magentza paid attention to this detail, and the Rabbi of Magentza came to Rome escorted by other leaders of the community. The Pope received them, and there Rabbi Shimon began to explain the principles of Judaism and the importance of keeping Shabbat and keeping Milah. The Pope paid very careful attention. He asked many questions and ordered the decree abolished. The group of Jews from Magentza were very happy and asked for permission to return to Magentza to tell the Jews that the decree had been lifted. The Pope said, “You can all return. However, you, Rabbi, I want you to stay in Rome for a few days. I need to speak to you about various things concerning Judaism.” Rabbi Shimon of Magentza agreed.
The Pope was happy that his plan had worked. He stayed with his father in a locked room and revealed himself to him: “I am your son, Elchanan.” The father had mixed feelings. His son was alive. Fantastic. But he was a Catholic. And not only that, the Pope. So he decided to sit down right then and there and teach his son Torah. The son revealed many things to his father with many questions. The father told his son that he must come back to Judaism and leave his position as Pope. Elchanan was fighting with himself over leaving such an exalted position. But the light of Judaism did not let him rest. In the end, he left Rome, went back to Judaism, and went back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He). Thank you for listening. And have a wonderful, wonderful day. And evening.