Avot266

2:
Elisha ben-Avuyah was born some time around the year 80 CE to a well-to-do and respected family. In the Talmud of Eretz-Israel [Ĥagigah 9b] we are told that his father, Avuyah, was such a prominent citizen of Jerusalem that on the day that his son Elisha was circumcised he invited all the great sages, and that rabbis Eli'ezer and Yehoshu'a were among those who honoured him with their presence. (The fact that it is they who are mentioned and not their teacher, Rabban Yoĥanan ben-Zakkai, is an indication that the great sage was already dead. This places the circumcision some time after the year 80 CE.)

3:
Elisha was given a thoroughly good Jewish education and in the fullness of time he was ordained and took his place as a member of the Sanhedrin and became very respected for his great Torah knowledge. The Gemara [Mo'ed Katan 20a] records one occasion when the sage was asked a halakhic question – and also the response that he gave. Apart from that one matter no other halakhot are quoted in his name; but one of the Tosefists [Sotah 12a] refers to a tradition he had received that Rabbi Me'ir (who was, as we shall see, a star pupil of Elisha) transmits all the teachings which he received from Elisha ben-Avuyah under the name of Aĥerim – "Others". We should, however, perhaps mention that Avot de-Rabbi Natan devotes one whole chapter (Chapter 24) only to aggadic teachings of Elisha ben-Avuya; they are similar in format and thrust to that quoted in our mishnah; of course, they are different in content.

4:
At a certain stage in his career, however, Elisha began to show worrying signs that he was 'having problems' with his Judaism. It is not quite clear what exactly happened, and it may well be that it was a concatenation of circumstances that caused his deviation from strict Pharasaism. According to one source it was his delving into esoteric studies that caused his defection. Another source says that his defection was politically (or ideologically) motivated. Yet another source suggests that it was unresolved philosophical and theological issues that led him to stray from the path. In our next shiur we shall begin to investigate all these possibilities in some detail.

To be continued.

In Avot 260 we encountered Rabbi Ya'akov saying: One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the next world, and one hour of serenity in the next world is better than all the life of this world.

Jacob Chinitz writes:

Rabbi Yaakov is trying to have it both ways. This world is the goal; the next world is the goal. Can they both be the goal? Or is he saying: the next world is the goal, but it can be reached only through this world. The question arises: If the next world is the goal, why bother with this world? Why should this world be the testing ground for entrance into the next world? Why should there be a testing ground altogether? Louis Jacobs tries to solve this riddle by referring to the Kabbalistic term: Nahama Dekusufa, the Bread of Shame. This means that we cannot enjoy the bliss of the next world if we do not earn it. But why should the earning be in terms of what we do in this world? If this world is not a goal in itself, not an End but only a Means, why is this Means necessary to remove the shame of unearned bliss in the next world? Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai debated for two and a half years over whether it were better for man to be created or not to be created, and they concluded that it would have been better for man not to have been created. Were they saying what we are saying, that it is unfair to hinge the bliss in the next world, the End, on what we do in this world? They came to the pious conclusion, similar to the piety of the conclusion of Kohelet: Now that he has been created, let him examine his deeds. In other words, make the best of an illogical situation. But even the best remains illogical and a mystery.

I respond:

Perhaps someone would like to take up the very cogent questions that Jacob has presented here.

Because of the incidence of Israel's Independence Day on Tuesday, the next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on Thursday April 26th. Ĥag Samé'aĥ to everybody.