JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

eliezer ben hyrcanus
me, let it be proved from heaven,’ whereupon a *bat kol cried
out: ‘Why do you dispute with Eliezer, seeing that in all matters
the halakhah agrees with him?’ R. Joshua arose and said,
‘It [i.e., halakhic decision] is not in heaven’ [Deut. 30:12], we
pay no attention to a bat kol, for it is written in the Torah at
Mount Sinai: One must follow the majority’ [Ex. 23:2]” (BM
59b). The aggadah continues that on that day all objects which
Eliezer had declared ritually pure were brought and burned. A
vote was then taken and they excommunicated him.
This severe step affected Eliezer’s status and undermined
his influence in halakhah. He was removed from the council,
his associates and pupils held aloof from him, and even
refrained from quoting his halakhot in the assembly of the
scholars (Nid. 7b; Sif. Deut. 188). Of his violent reaction it is
reported: “Great was the anger on that day, for everything at
which he cast his eyes was burned. Rabban Gamaliel, too, was
traveling in a ship when a huge wave arose to drown him. ‘It
appears to me,’ he reflected, ‘that this is on account of none
other than Eliezer b. Hyrcanus.’ He arose and said: ‘Lord of
the Universe! Thou knowest full well that I have acted neither
for my honor nor for the honor of my father’s house, but
for Thine, so that strife may not multiply in Israel’” (BM 59b).
Rabban Gamaliel excused his action on the grounds that excommunication
was designed to establish unity in the sphere
of halakhah and to establish the authority of the council as a
determining and decisive institution in a fateful period in the
life of the nation.
Attitudes toward the Jewish and Pagan Worlds
Eliezer’s love for Israel and his country and his hatred of pagans
knew no bounds. During the Roman War he was near in
spirit to the *Zealots. He considered weapons to be an adornment,
permitting them to be worn on the Sabbath in public
(Shab. 6:4). He forbade chapter 16 of Ezekiel to be read as haftarah,
and sharply censured anyone who transgressed this,
because it included matters that offend the honor and ancestry
of the Jews (Meg. 4:10, 25b). His adverse opinion of heathens
is expressed in his saying: “All the charity and kindness
done by the heathen is counted to them as sin, because they
only do it to magnify themselves” (BB 10b). This adverse attitude
served as the basis for several of his halakhot, such as
his disqualification of sacrifice from heathens (Par. 2:1; Av.
Zar. 23a), and he endeavored as far as possible to lessen social
contact between them and Jews (Ḥul. 2:7; Git. 45b). This,
too, is the cause of his reservations about accepting proselytes
(Yev. 48b; BM 59b).
The Tosefta relates that Eliezer was once arrested by the
government for uttering heretical opinions. Though he was
liberated and exempted from punishment, he was greatly distressed
that he had been wrongly suspected. Akiva, in an attempt
to comfort him, said to him: “Perhaps you heard a heretical
opinion and it appealed to you.” Eliezer remembered
that in Sepphoris he had heard a halakhah from Jacob of Kefar
Sekhania in the name of Jesus b. Pandira, which had appealed
to him, thus transgressing (Prov. 5:8), “Remove thy way from
her,” i.e., from heresy. This may be reflected in his statement:
“Keep away not only from ugly deeds but from what appear
such” (Tosef., Ḥul. 2:24; Av. Zar. 16b). His bitter experience is
reflected in his saying: “Let the honor of thy friend be as dear
to thee as thine own; and be not easily provoked to anger; and
repent one day before thy death; and warm thyself before the
fire of the wise, but beware of their glowing coals that thou be
not singed, for their bite is the bite of a fox, and their sting is
the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is the hiss of a serpent,
and all their words are like coals of fire” (Avot 2:10).
Attitude toward his Colleagues in his Last Days
When Joshua, Eleazar b. Azariah, and Akiva came to visit him
in his last illness, he expressed his severe indictment of the
scholars for their withdrawal from him: “I shall be surprised
if these [the scholars of the generation] die a natural death,”
he exclaimed bitterly; and in explanation he said, “Because
they did not come to study under me.” Eliezer then lifted both
arms, placed them upon his breast, and said: “Woe for my two
arms, that are like two scrolls of the Law and that are about to
depart from the world. For were all the seas ink, and all the
reeds quills, and all the people scribes they would not suffice
to write all the Scripture and Mishnah I learned, and all the
practice I was taught at the yeshivah … and my pupils have
taken no more than the paint brush takes from the palette”
(ARN1 25, 80f.; Sanh. 68a).
Attitude toward Eliezer after his Death
The attitude of the scholars to Eliezer changed only after his
death. “When his soul departed in purity, Joshua arose and
said: ‘The vow is annulled! The vow is annulled!’ and he clung
to him and kissed him and wept, saying, ‘Rabbi! Rabbi!’”
(ibid.; TJ, Shab. 2:6, 5b). “Akiva rent his clothes and tore his
hair until blood flowed and he fell to the ground and cried
out: ‘Woe is me for thee, Rabbi! Woe is me for thee, Rabbi!
For thou hast left the whole generation orphaned. My father!
My father! the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof
[II Kings 2:12]. I have many coins to change, but no one to
accept them’”(ibid.). Everyone realized: “With the death of
Eliezer, the scroll of the Law was hidden away” (Sot. 49b). His
halakhot were restored to the bet midrash, many being cited in
his name in the Mishnah and beraitot. When scholars wished
to refute his words, Joshua said “You should not seek to refute
the lion after he is dead” (Git. 83a). The halakhah was also decided
in accordance with his views in a number of instances
(e.g., Nid. 7b). Eliezer left a son Hyrcanus who, according to
tradition, did not wish to occupy himself with study, whereupon
Eliezer consecrated his property to heaven in order to
compel him to occupy himself with Torah. The scholars later
absolved him from his vow (She’iltot, Ex. 40; cf. Shab. 127b).
The Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, as well as several other minor Midrashim,
are ascribed to his authorship.
[Yitzhak Dov Gilat]
Toward a History of the Legend
When approaching the history of the legends surrounding
a figure like R. Eliezer, it is virtually impossible to provide a
324 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6