Avot270

16:
One of the main items in the Pharisaic agenda of belief was the concept of Teĥiyyat ha-Metim. This was one of the beliefs that separated the Pharisees from the Sadducees, since the latter rejected this belief out of hand. We have had several opportunities to discuss and describe this item of Pharisaic belief, so I shall not do so again. Those interested will find a lengthy deliberation on this topic in Avot 021 and the following shiurim. As a card-carrying member of the Pharisaic party Elisha was educated to an unswerving belief that at the culmination of history there would be a Great Judgement: the wicked would be consigned to everlasting perdition and the righteous would enjoy everlasting life.

17:
In the previous shiur we noted that the Torah details two commandments the reward for whose observance is a long and happy life: honouring parents and not taking a bird's eggs or fledglings from a nest in the presence of the mother-bird. The Gemara of Eretz-Israel [Ĥagigah 9b] records an incident witnessed by Elisha ben-Avuyah:

There is also a slightly different version of this story in which the second man tells his son to climb the tree and fetch the eggs. The son obeys his father and also sends the mother-bird away before taking the eggs. He then falls from the tree to his death, thus compounding the dilemma. The son observed two commandments that promise long life: honouring his parent and sending away the mother-bird; and he was rewarded with instantaneous death. Witnessing such an event was bound to raise questions in the mind of a person such as Elisha. It is a very small step from such ruminations to the conclusion that "there is no judgement, there is no judge". Apparently, Elisha ben-Avuyah took that small step, or something very similar.

18:
That same source tells us that on another occasion he was present, during the Hadrianic persecution of the sages that followed the Bar-Kokhba fiasco, when one of the sages, Rabbi Yehudah the Baker, was executed and his remains thrown to the dogs. When Elisha saw a dog gnawing at the martyred sage's tongue he cried out: 'Is this Torah and is this its reward?! This is the tongue that properly uttered words of Torah; this is the tongue that laboured at Torah all its life! Is this Torah and is this its reward?! There can be no reward and there can be no resurrection!'

19:
It seems quite certain that at least one of these events was the catalyst which launched Elisha's apostasy. He saw that the most cherished beliefs of the Pharisees had no basis in real life. From that moment he could no longer be a sage, a member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee.

To be continued.

In the discussion section of Avot 266 Jacob Chinitz presented a critique of the teaching of Rabbi Ya'akov which had been presented in Avot 260. I asked whether anyone would like to react to Jacob's comments. Here is one of the reactions I received: it comes from Motti Laxman:

Indeed, Jacob Chinitz has raised serious questions. The focus of his discussion is the distinction between means and aims and the connection between them. My question is this: is every aim identical to the means which bring about its achievement? I do not accept as an answer to Jacob's questions that the end justifies the means. In my view, if we leave the focus of the discussion in the distinction between means and aims we cannot answer the questions. I suggest a different approach: the difference between belief and taking a stand regarding human life. Those greater and wiser than me have made this distinction – be it Kant or be it our own Yeshayahu Leibowitz. I understand Rabbi Chinitz' words in two levels of expression: Rabbi Chinitz believes in the Life to Come and believes that there is a connection between that life and life in this world (this was expressed mainly in the first part of his words). But, on the other hand, he knows that he can say nothing meaningful about the Life to Come. He can take a meaningful stand only with regards to life in this world. No man or woman comes into this world by choice. No man or woman is asked by their parents whether they wish to be born or not. A person arrives in this world: that is a given; but the way a person leeds his life is in his hands, under his control, his decision and his choice. The more that people are aware of this the more responsible they become for their deeds and their consequences. Therefore "one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the next world." If people live this way it will be better for everybody on this planet.