Pt1 Aḥer’s Apostasy and Its Aftermath (Chagigah 15a-b)

This is the first part of a two-part series. The outline of the series follows.

Outline

1. Aḥer’s Vision of Metatron and Subsequent Heresy (Ecclesiastes 5:5)

2. Metatron’s Punishment; A Bat Kol Excludes Aḥer from Repentance (Jeremiah 3:22)

3. Aḥer’s Descent into Sin: the incident with the prostitute and the origin of his epithet “Other”

4. Aḥer and R' Meir's Shabbat Encounter

5. Aḥer’s Doomed Fate: A Series of Unfavorable Omens (Isaiah 48:22; Jeremiah 2:22, 4:30)

6. Aḥer and the Child's Stuttered Recitation: A Deadly Misinterpretation (Psalms 50:16)

7. Aḥer’s Posthumous Fate: In Limbo; R' Meir's Intervention

8. R' Yoḥanan’s Redemption of Aḥer: Questioning R' Meir’s Actions; Pledge to Save Aḥer; Fulfillment of the Promise

9. The Honor of Torah and Aḥer’s Legacy: His Daughter’s Plea, R' Yehuda HaNasi’s Harsh Response, and a Heavenly Sign (Job 18:19)

10. Aḥer’s Core Failure: His affinity for Greek culture: Signs of Aḥer's Alienation from Rabbinic Tradition; Greek Poems as Cultural Symptom; Hidden Heretical Readings

11. Oenomaus of Gadara and the Parable of Dyed Wool: R' Meir’s View on Aḥer’s Innate Flaw

Appendix 1 - The Survival of R' Akiva in the Pardes (Chagigah 15b-16a)

1. R' Akiva’s Unique Survival: Divine Intervention Amid the Peril of the Pardes (Song of Songs 1:4)

2. The Verse That Shielded R' Akiva from the Error of Dual Theism (Deuteronomy 33:2; Song of Songs 5:10; Isaiah 48:2; I Kings 19:11-12)

Appendix 2 - Women’s Financial Dependence on Men in the Talmud

1. Terminology for the Wife’s Stipend: Parnasa (פרנסה) and Mezonot (מזונות)

2. Seven Duties the Wife Must Perform for Her Husband (Mishnah Ketubot 59b)

3. Three Accounts of a Rabbi Determining a Widow’s Stipend (Ketubot 65a)

4. Nakdimon ben Guryon’s Daughter (Ketubot 66b-67a)

The Passage

Chagigah.15a.5-16a.8

Aḥer’s Vision of Metatron and Subsequent Heresy (Ecclesiastes 5:5)

The Talmud recounts that Aḥer,¹ once a sage, turned to heresy after witnessing a disturbing vision. The verse “Do not let your mouth bring your flesh into guilt” (Ecclesiastes 5:5) is applied to his downfall.

Aḥer saw the angel Metatron seated in heaven, writing the merits of Israel. This was problematic because tradition held that the celestial realm has no sitting, competition (תחרות), turning away,² or lethargy (עיפוי).

Aḥer concluded that if Metatron was seated, there must be two divine authorities.³

אחר קיצץ בנטיעות,

עליו הכתוב אומר:

״אל תתן את פיך

לחטיא את בשרך״.

מאי היא?

חזא מיטטרון דאתיהבא ליה רשותא למיתב למיכתב זכוותא דישראל,

אמר:

גמירי

דלמעלה לא הוי

1. לא ישיבה

2. ולא תחרות,

3. ולא עורף

4. ולא עיפוי.

שמא,

חס ושלום,

שתי רשויות הן?

The Gemara stated earlier that Aḥer chopped down the saplings, becoming a heretic.

With regard to him, the verse states:

“Do not let your mouth

bring your flesh into guilt” (Ecclesiastes 5:5).

The Gemara poses a question: What was it that led him to heresy?

He saw the angel Mitatron, who was granted permission to sit and write the merits of Israel.

He said:

There is a tradition that

in the world above there is

1. no sitting;

2. no competition;

3. no turning one’s back before Him, i.e., all face the Divine Presence;

4. and no lethargy.

Seeing that someone other than God was seated above, he said: Perhaps,

the Gemara here interjects, Heaven forbid,

there are two authorities, and there is another source of power in control of the world in addition to God. Such thoughts led Aḥer to heresy.

Metatron’s Punishment; A Bat Kol Excludes Aḥer from Repentance (Jeremiah 3:22)

Metatron was flogged with sixty fiery⁴ lashes.⁵

He was also given permission to erase Aḥer’s merits.⁶

A bat kol (heavenly voice) declared (quoting Jeremiah 3:22) that all may repent except Aḥer.

אפקוה למיטטרון, ומחיוה שיתין פולסי דנורא.

אמרו ליה: מאי טעמא כי חזיתיה לא קמת מקמיה?!

איתיהיבא ליה רשותא למימחק זכוותא דאחר.

יצתה בת קול ואמרה: ״שובו בנים שובבים״ — חוץ מאחר.

The Gemara relates: They removed Mitatron from his place in heaven and smote him with sixty rods [pulsei] of fire, so that others would not make the mistake that Aḥer made.

They said to the angel: What is the reason that when you saw Elisha ben Avuya you did not stand before him?!

Despite this conduct, since Mitatron was personally involved, he was granted permission to erase the merits of Aḥer and cause him to stumble in any manner.

A Divine Voice went forth saying: “Return, rebellious children” (Jeremiah 3:22), apart from Aḥer.

Aḥer’s Descent into Sin: the incident with the prostitute and the origin of his epithet “Other”

Having been banished (איטריד) from the World-to-Come,⁷ Aḥer sought earthly pleasures⁸ and “went to bad ‘tarbut’ “ .⁹

When he solicited (תבעה) a prostitute, she rhetorically questioned in surprise: “And are you not Elisha ben Avuya?!”

To prove his abandonment of Jewish law, he desecrated Shabbat by uprooting a radish (פוגלא) from a patch (מישרא), after which she labeled him “Aḥer”.¹⁰

אמר:

הואיל ואיטריד ההוא גברא מההוא עלמא,

ליפוק ליתהני בהאי עלמא.

נפק אחר לתרבות רעה.

נפק,

אשכח זונה

תבעה,

אמרה ליה: ולאו אלישע בן אבויה את?!

עקר פוגלא ממישרא בשבת

ויהב לה,

אמרה: אחר הוא.

[...]

Upon hearing this, Elisha ben Avuya said:

Since that man, meaning himself, has been banished from that world,

let him go out and enjoy this world.

Aḥer went astray.

He went

and found a prostitute

and solicited her for intercourse.

She said to him: And are you not Elisha ben Avuya?! Shall a person of your stature perform such an act?

He uprooted a radish from a patch of radishes on Shabbat

and gave it to her, to demonstrate that he no longer observed the Torah.

The prostitute said: He is other than he was. He is not the same Elisha ben Avuya, he is Aḥer, other.

[...]

Aḥer and R' Meir's Shabbat Encounter

Aḥer, riding a horse on Shabbat, is followed by R' Meir, who continues to learn Torah from him despite his heretical status. Aḥer warns R' Meir to turn back, as they have reached the “Shabbat boundary”.¹¹

R' Meir urges Aḥer to return to the path of righteousness, but Aḥer refuses, again recounting the afore-mentioned bat kol: that all rebellious children may return, except for him.

תנו רבנן:

מעשה באחר

שהיה רוכב על הסוס בשבת,

והיה רבי מאיר מהלך אחריו, ללמוד תורה מפיו,

אמר לו:

מאיר!

חזור לאחריך!

שכבר שיערתי בעקבי סוסי

עד כאן תחום שבת.

אמר לו: אף אתה חזור בך.

אמר לו:

ולא כבר אמרתי לך?!

כבר שמעתי מאחורי הפרגוד: ״שובו בנים שובבים״ — חוץ מאחר.

The Gemara cites a related story: The Sages taught:

There was once an incident involving Aḥer,

who was riding on a horse on Shabbat,

and R' Meir was walking behind him to learn Torah from him.

After a while, Aḥer said to him:

Meir!

turn back!

for I have already estimated and measured according to the steps of my horse

that the Shabbat boundary ends here, and you may therefore venture no further.

R' Meir said to him: You, too, return to the correct path.

He said to him:

But have I not already told you?!

I have already heard behind the dividing curtain: “Return, rebellious children,” apart from Aḥer

Aḥer’s Doomed Fate: A Series of Unfavorable Omens (Isaiah 48:22; Jeremiah 2:22, 4:30)

R' Meir brought Aḥer to various study halls (presumably, in an attempt to reintegrate him into Torah study).

However, each time Aḥer asked a child to recite a verse they had learned, they providentially recited verses on the hopelessness of the wicked:

1. The first child recited Isaiah 48:22: “There is no peace, said YHWH, for the wicked.”

2. The second child recited Jeremiah 2:22: “For though you wash with niter (נתר), and take for you much soap (בורית), yet your iniquity is stained (נכתם) before Me.”

3. The third child recited Jeremiah 4:30: “And you, spoiled one (שדוד), what are you doing, that you clothe yourself with scarlet (שני), that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with kohl (פוך)? In vain you make yourself fair.”

After hearing similar messages in thirteen different synagogues, Aḥer interpreted this as a divine sign that his repentance was impossible.

1. תקפיה עייליה לבי מדרשא, אמר ליה לינוקא: פסוק לי פסוקך. אמר לו: ״אין שלום, אמר ה׳, לרשעים״.

2. עייליה לבי כנישתא אחריתי, אמר ליה לינוקא: פסוק לי פסוקך. אמר לו: ״כי אם תכבסי בנתר, ותרבי לך בורית, נכתם עונך לפני״.

3. עייליה לבי כנישתא אחריתי, אמר ליה לינוקא: פסוק לי פסוקך. אמר ליה: ״ואת שדוד, מה תעשי כי תלבשי שני, כי תעדי עדי זהב, כי תקרעי בפוך עיניך, לשוא תתיפי וגו׳״.

עייליה לבי כנישתא אחריתי,

עד דעייליה לתליסר בי כנישתא,

כולהו פסקו ליה כי האי גוונא.

1. Nevertheless, R' Meir took hold of him and brought him to the study hall. Aḥer said to a child, by way of divination: Recite your verse that you studied today to me. He recited the following verse to him: “There is no peace, said the Lord, concerning the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22).

2. He brought him to another study hall. Aḥer said to a child: Recite your verse to me. He recited to him: “For though you wash with niter, and take for you much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me” (Jeremiah 2:22).

3. He brought him to another study hall. Aḥer said to a child: Recite your verse to me. He recited to him: “And you, spoiled one, what are you doing, that you clothe yourself with scarlet, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you make yourself fair” (Jeremiah 4:30).

He brought him to another synagogue,

until he had brought him into thirteen synagogues,

where all the children recited to him similar verses that speak of the hopeless situation of the wicked.

Aḥer and the Child's Stuttered Recitation: A Deadly Misinterpretation (Psalms 50:16)

In the last synagogue Aḥer visited, a child began reciting Psalms 50:16, which starts with “rasha” (wicked one), but due to a stutter (מגמגם), the word sounded like “Elisha,” seemingly calling Aḥer out by name. Enraged by this perceived divine condemnation, Aḥer reacted with extreme violence:

One version of the story reports that he killed the child, tearing the body apart and distributing the parts to thirteen synagogues.¹²

According to another version, he merely expressed the desire to kill the child, stating: “Had I a knife, I would have torn him apart.”

לבתרא אמר ליה: פסוק לי פסוקך.

אמר ליה:

״ולרשע אמר אלהים:

מה לך לספר חקי וגו׳״.

ההוא ינוקא הוה מגמגם בלישניה,

אשתמע כמה דאמר ליה: ״ולאלישע אמר אלהים״,

איכא דאמרי:

סכינא הוה בהדיה,

וקרעיה ושדריה לתליסר בי כנישתי.

ואיכא דאמרי:

אמר:

אי הואי בידי סכינא,

הוה קרענא ליה.

At the last one, he said to him: Recite your verse to me.

He recited to him:

“And to the wicked [velerasha] God says,

what is it for you to declare My statutes” (Psalms 50:16).

The Gemara relates: That child had a stutter,

so it sounded as though he were saying to him: Vele’elisha, i.e., and to Elisha, God says. This made Elisha think the child was deliberately insulting him.

Some say:

Aḥer had a knife,

and he tore the child apart and sent him to the thirteen synagogues.

And others say that:

Aḥer merely said:

Had I a knife,

I would have torn him apart.

1. “Other”, the rabbinic epithet for Elisha ben Abuyah, see later for the etiology of this epithet.

2. עורף - literally: “back of the neck”; i.e. turning away from God.

3. This dualistic thought led him to reject monotheism, resulting in his heresy.

Compare my series on a related aggadic sugya: “Defending God, Biblical Monotheism, and Jewish Distinctiveness: Twelve Dialogues Between Sages and Challengers in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b-39a)”, final part here.

4. נורא - nura - on heavenly items as made of fire, see my extended note in my piece “Pt3 Exploring the Greatness of R' Hiyya (Bava Metzia 85b-86a)“, on section “Story of Elijah and R’ Yehuda Hanasi“.

5. פולסי - from Latin pulsus; as punishment.

6. זכוותא - reinforcing his fall from grace.

7. ההוא עלמא - literally “that world”.

8. ליתהני בהאי עלמא - “enjoy this world”, i.e. the material world, as opposed to the World-to-Come.

9. תרבות רעה - on this expression, see my footnote at my piece “Pt2 Rabbinic Elitism and the Am Ha’aretz: Hierarchy, Hostility, Hatred, and Distrust (Pesachim 49b)”, on section “The Hierarchy of Animosity Toward Torah Scholars: Am Ha’aretz, Their Wives, and Those Who Studied Torah but Later Abandoned It”

10. “Other” - the epithet used by the Talmud to refer to him; presumably, the Talmud is implying that this incident with the prostitute is the origin of his epithet “Aḥer”.

11. תחום שבת - see Wikipedia, Techum shabbat:

In Jewish halacha, the techum shabbat (Hebrew: תחום שבת, "Shabbat limit"), or simply techum, is a limited physical area in which a Jew is permitted to walk on foot on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. In general, this area is calculated by measuring 2000 cubits (about 1 kilometer) in every direction from the place (or settlement) where a person was located when Shabbat began.

One may extend this limit for an additional 2000 cubits in one direction, using a procedure known as eruv techumin.

Aḥer thus showed his continued awareness of Jewish law despite his transgressions.

12. A grim parallel to the biblical account of the Levite's concubine (פילגש בגבעה) in Judges 19-21, of a Levite whose concubine was brutally abused and killed in the town of Gibeah; in response, the Levite tore her body into twelve pieces and sent them to each of the twelve tribes of Israel, calling for justice and prompting a civil war against the tribe of Benjamin.