Pt2 The Story of Aher in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Chagigah 2:1)
This is the second and final part of a two-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
Anecdote of Aher’s circumcision - Elisha b. Abuya / Aḥer - Aḥer applies R’ Akiva’s interpretation to himself: his dedication to Torah began from his father’s improper motive, so it did not endure
ובי היה המעשה.
אבויה אבא מגדולי ירושלם היה.
ביום שבא למוהליני,
קרא לכל גדולי ירושלם
והושיבן בבית אחד.
ולרבי אליעזר ולרבי יהושע בבית אחד.
and this was a story with me:1
My father Abuya was one of the leading Jerusalemites2
On the day he came to circumcise me
he invited all the leading Jerusalemites
and sat them in one room,
and R’ Eliezer and R’ Yehoshua in another room.
At Aḥer’s circumcision, R’ Eliezer and R’ Yehoshua occupied themselves with studying Bible
מן דאכלון ושתון
שרון מטפחין ומרקדין.
אמר רבי ליעזר לרבי יהושע:
עד דאינון עסיקין בדידון
נעסוק אנן בדידן.
וישבו ונתעסקו בדברי תורה.
מן התורה לנביאים
ומן הנביאים לכתובים.
After they ate and drank
they started to clap (מטפחין) and dance.
R’ Eliezer and R’ Yehoshua said:
while they are occupied in theirs
let us be occupied with ours.
They sat occupied with words of the Torah [=Pentateuch],
from the Torah to Prophets,
from Prophets to Writings.
... heavenly fire surrounded them because the words were “joyful like at Sinai” - Deuteronomy 4:11
(See footnote.)3
וירדה אש מן השמים והקיפה אותם.
אמר להן אבויה:
רבותיי!
מה באתם לשרוף את ביתי עלי?!
אמרו לו:
חס ושלום.
אלא יושבין היינו וחוזרין בדברי תורה.
מן התורה לנביאים ומן הנביאים לכתובים.
והיו הדברים שמיחים כנתינתן מסיני.
והיתה האש מלחכת אותן כלחיכתן מסיני.
ועיקר נתינתן מסיני לא ניתנו באש?!
וההר בוער באש עד לב השמים.
Fire descended from Heaven and surrounded them.
Abuya said to them:
my teachers!
Why do you come to burn down my house?!
They told him:
Heaven forbid!
But we were sitting reviewing the words of the Torah,
from the Torah to Prophets,
from Prophets to Writings,
and the words were joyful as at their giving on Sinai.
And was the main giving on Sinai not in fire?!
And the Mountain burns in the fire up to the heart of Heaven (Deuteronomy 4:11)
Aḥer’s father Abuya resolved to dedicate his son to Torah if Torah had such power, but his motive was not for Heaven’s sake
אמר להן אבויה אבא:
רבותיי!
אם כך היא כוחה שלתורה --
אם נתקיים לי הבן הזה --
לתורה אני מפרישו.
לפי שלא היתה כוונתו לשם שמים --
לפיכך לא נתקיימו באותו האיש.
My father Abuya said to them:
my teachers!
If that is the power of Torah --
if this son of mine survives --
I dedicate him to Torah.
[But] because [Abuya’s] intent was not for Heaven --
it did not succeed with this man.4
R’ Meir - “it cannot be valued by gold or glass” means that Torah is difficult to acquire like gold vessels and easy to lose like glass vessels; but, like broken gold or glass vessels, a scholar who forgot his learning can return and learn it again - Job 28:17
אמר ליה: ומה הויתה דרש תובן?
אמר ליה: לא יערכנה זהב וזכוכית.
אמר ליה: ומה פתחת ביה?
He asked him: and what did you preach further?
He told him: it cannot be valued by gold or glass (Job 28:17)
He asked him: what did you explain about this?
אמר ליה:
דברי תורה
קשין לקנות
ככלי זהב
ונוחין לאבד
ככלי זכוכית
He told him:
the words of the Torah
are as difficult to acquire
as golden vessels,
and as easy to lose
as glass vessels.
ומה כלי זהב וכלי זכוכית
אם נשתברו
יכול הוא לחזור ולעשותן כלים כמו שהיו.
אף תלמיד חכם
ששכח תלמודו
יכול הוא לחזור וללמדו כתחילה.
And [another way that Torah is like golden and glass vessels:] just as golden and glass vessels
when they are broken
he can make them vessels as before,
so too the student of the rabbis
who forgot his learning
can learn it anew.5
Anecdote of Aher, R’ Meir, and Shabbat - Aḥer tells R’ Meir to stop walking because they have reached the Shabbat limit; he knows this by counting 2,000 cubits from his horse’s hoofbeats
(See footnote.)6
אמר ליה:
דייך מאיר.
עד כאן תחום שבת.
אמר ליה: מן הן את ידע?
אמר ליה: מן טלפי דסוסיי דהוינא מני והולך אלפיים אמה.
He said to him:
this is enough, Meir!
up to here is the Sabbath domain.
He asked him: how do you know?
He told him: from the horse’s hooves which I continuously counted for 2,000 cubits.
R’ Meir asks why Aher doesn’t repent
אמר ליה:
וכל הדא חכמתא אית בך
ולית את חזר בך?!
אמר ליה: לית אנא יכיל.
אמר ליה: למה?
He said to him, all that wisdom is in you and you do not repent?
He told him, I cannot.
He asked him, why?
Aḥer says he cannot repent because he heard a bat kol saying that all wayward children may return except Elisha b Abuya, who knew God’s power and rebelled - Jeremiah 3:14
אמר ליה:
שפעם אחת הייתי עובר לפני בית קודש הקדשים
רכוב על סוסי ביום הכיפורים שחל להיות בשבת
ושמעתי בת קול יוצאת מבית קודש הקדשים ואומרת:
שובו בנים שובבים.
חוץ מאלישע בן אבויה.
שידע כוחי ומרד בי.
He told him:
once I was passing by the Holiest of Holies
riding on a horse on Yom Kippur which fell on a Sabbath
and I heard a bat kol coming from the Holiest of Holies, saying:
return, erring children (Jeremiah 3:14)
except for Elisha ben Abuya7
who knew My power and rebelled against Me.
Anecdote of Aher and the man taking the birds eggs - Aḥer lost faith after seeing one person violate the law of sending away the mother bird and survive, while another fulfilled it and died; he questioned the Torah’s promise of goodness and long life - Deuteronomy 22:7
וכל דא מן הן אתת ליה.
אלא פעם אחת היה יושב ושונה בבקעת גיניסר.
וראה אדם אחד עלה לראש הדקל
ונטל אם על הבנים.
וירד משם בשלום.
And all that came to him because he was sitting memorizing in the valley of Genezareth
and saw a man climbing to the top of a date palm
taking the mother with the chicks
and descending safely.
למחר ראה אדם אחר שעלה לראש הדקל.
ונטל את הבנים ושילח את האם.
וירד משם והכישו נחש ומת.
The next day he saw another man climbing to the top of a date palm,
taking the chicks and sending away the mother.
When climbing down he was bitten by a snake, and he died.
אמר:
כתוב:
שלח תשלח את האם
ואת הבנים תקח לך
למען ייטב לך והארכת ימים.
איכן היא טובתו שלזה?!
איכן היא אריכות ימיו שלזה?!
He said:
it is written (Deuteronomy 22:7):
sending away you shall send the mother,
but the chicks you may take for yourself,
so it will be good for you and prolong your days.
Where is the good for this one?!
Where is the prolongation of days of this one?!
R’ Ya’akov - The promised “good” and “long life” for sending away the mother bird refer not to this world, but to the World to Come and the future that is entirely long - Deuteronomy 22:7
ולא היה ידע שדרשה רבי יעקב לפנים ממנו:
למען ייטב לך.
לעולם הבא שכולו טוב.
והארכת ימים.
לעתיד שכולו ארוך.
He did not know that R’ Ya’akov had explained it preceding him:
so it will be good for you
in the future world which is all good,
and prolong your days,
in the future which is all long.
Anecdote of Aher and R’ Yehuda the Baker - Aḥer lost faith after seeing R’ Yehuda the Baker’s tongue in a dog’s mouth, and concluded that there is no reward and no resurrection of the dead
ויש אומרים:
על ידי שראה לשונו שלרבי יהודה הנחתום נתון בפי הכלב שותת דם.
אמר:
זו תורה וזו שכרה?!
זה הוא הלשון שהיה מוציא דברי תורה כתיקנן?!
זהו הלשון שהיה יגיע בתורה כל ימיו?!
[זו תורה וזו שכרה.]
דומה שאין מתן שכר ואין תחיית המתים.
But some are saying:
because he saw the tongue of R’ Yehuda the baker in the mouth of a dog, oozing blood.
He said:
is this the Torah and this is its reward?!
This is the tongue which was delivering the words of the Torah correctly?!
this is the tongue which occupied itself with Torah all its days?!
[is this the Torah and this is its reward?!]
It appears that there is no reward and no resurrection of the dead.
Anecdote of Aher’s mother, when she was pregnant with him - Aḥer’s corruption began prenatally: while pregnant, his mother smelled idolatrous incense, and it entered her body like snake venom
ויש אומרים:
אמו כשהיתה מעוברת בו
היתה עוברת על בתי עבודה זרה
והריחה מאותו המין.
והיה אותו הריח מפעפע בגופה כאירסה שלחכינה.
But some are saying:
when his mother was pregnant with him
she passed by pagan temples (בתי עבודה זרה)
and smelled of this kind.
And this smell was bubbling (מפעפע) in her body like the poison of a viper (חכינה).
Anecdote re Aher’s death
R’ Meir tells the dying Elisha that repentance is accepted until the final crushing/extinction of the soul - Psalms 90:3
לאחר ימים חלה אלישע.
אתון ואמרון לרבי מאיר: הא רבך באיש.
אזל בעי מבקרתיה.
ואשכחיה באיש.
Later Elisha fell sick.
They came and informed R’ Meir: your teacher is sick.
He went to visit him
and [indeed] found him sick.
אמר ליה: לית את חזר בך?!
אמר ליה: ואין חזרין, מתקבלין?!
אמר ליה:
ולא כן כתיב:
תשב אנוש עד דכא
עד דיכדוכה שלנפש מקבלין.
He asked him: are you not repenting?!
He asked: and if one repents, is one accepted?!
He told him:
is it not written:
man shall repent up to extinction (דכא) (Psalms 90:3)
one receives up to the extinction (דיכדוכה) of the soul (נפש).
After Elisha cried and died, R’ Meir inferred that his teacher died in a state of repentance
באותה שעה בכה אלישע ונפטר ומת.
והיה רבי מאר שמח בליבו
ואומר: דומה שמתוך תשובה נפטר רבי.
At that moment Elisha cried, passed away, and died.
R’ Meir was happy internally
and said: it seems that my teacher passed away repentant.
Anecdote re Aher’s burial and grave
(See footnote.)8
Aḥer’s grave was burning
מן דקברוניה
ירדה האש מן השמים
ושרפה את קברו.
אתון ואמרון לרבי מאיר: הא קיבריה דרבך אייקד.
נפק בעי מבקרתיה.
ואשכחיה אייקד.
After they buried him,
fire descended from Heaven
and burned his grave.
They came and informed R’ Meir: your teacher’s grave is on fire (אייקד).
He went to visit it
and [indeed] found it burning.
R’ Meir spread his cloak over Aḥer’s grave and interpreted Ruth’s words as a plea: God should redeem Aḥer in the World to Come - Ruth 3:13; Psalms 145:9
מה עבד?
נסב גולתיה ופרסיה עלוי.
אמר:
ליני הלילה וגו׳.
ליני בעולם הזה שדומה ללילה.
והיה בבוקר.
זה העולם הבא שכולו בוקר.
אם יגאלך טוב יגאל.
זה הקדוש ברוך הוא שהוא טוב.
דכתיב:
ביה טוב יי לכל
ורחמיו על כל מעשיו.
ואם לא יחפץ לגאלך --
וגאלתיך אנכי חי יי.
ואיטפיית.
What did he do?
He took his robe (גולתיה) and spread it over it [=Aḥer’s grave].
He said:
stay for the night, etc. (Ruth 3:13)
Stay for this world which compares to the night,
and it will be in the morning,
this is the Future World which is all morning,
if the Good One will redeem,
this is God who is Good,
as it is written (Psalms 145:9):
YHWH is good to all,
and His mercies are on all His creatures.
And if He does not want to redeem you --
I shall redeem you, living is YHWH,
and it was extinguished (איטפיית).
Anecdote re R’ Meir regarding his teacher Aher vs own his father
R’ Meir says that in the afterlife he would visit his teacher (=Aher) before his father
אמרון לרבי מאיר:
אין אמרון לך בההוא עלמא:
למאן את בעי למבקרה:
לאבוך, או לרבך?
אמר לון:
אנא מיקרב לרבי קדמיי
ובתר כן לאבא.
They asked R’ Meir:
if they ask you in that World [=the afterlife]:
whom do you want to visit:
your father or your teacher?
He told them:
I shall visit my teacher first
and afterwards my father.
R’ Meir argues that Aḥer can be saved by the merit of his Torah, just as one saves the case of a Torah scroll or tefillin together with the sacred object
אמרין ליה: ושמעין לך?!
אמר לון:
ולא כן תנינן:
מצילין תיק הספר עם הספר,
תיק תפילין עם התפילין.
מצילין לאלישע אחר בזכות תורתו.
They said: will they listen to you?!
He told them:
did we not state:
“one saves the case of a [Bible] scroll with the scroll,
and the case of tefillin with the tefillin”?
One saves Elisha Aher by the merit of his Torah.
Anecdote re R’ Yehuda HaNasi and Aher’s daughters
At first R’ Yehuda HaNasi refused charity to Aḥer’s daughters, applying a verse against his descendants; Aḥer’s daughters ask R’ Yehuda HaNasi not to look at Aḥer’s deeds, but at his Torah study - Psalms 109:12
(See footnote.)9
לאחר ימים הלכו בנותיו ליטול צדקה מרבי.
גזר רבי ואמר:
אל יהי לו מושך חסד
ואל יהי חונן ליתומיו.
אמרו לו:
רבי!
אל תבט במעשיו.
הבט בתורתו.
Later his daughters went to take charity from R’.
R’ [Yehuda HaNasi] decided and said:
nobody shall show him grace
nor be friendly to his orphans (Psalms 109:12)
They said to him:
Rabbi!
Don’t look at his deeds,
look at his Torah.
R’ Yehuda HaNasi reverses his decision and supports Aḥer’s daughters, reasoning that if Torah studied not for Heaven’s sake produced such descendants, Torah studied for its own sake is all the more powerful
באותה השעה בכה רבי
וגזר עליהן שיתפרנסו.
אמר:
מה אם זה שיגע בתורה שלא לשום שמים
ראו מה העמיד.
מי שהוא יגע בתורה לשמה
על אחת כמה וכמה!
At this moment R’ [Yehuda HaNasi] cried
and decided for them that they be provided for.
He said:
if this one who toiled in Torah not for Heaven’s sake (שלא לשום שמים),
see what he produced;10
one who toils in the Torah for its own sake (לשמה)
All the more so!
ובי היה המעשה.
This is in continuation and referring to the interpretation in the previous section (“Elisha b. Abuya / Aḥer citing R’ Akiva - R’ Akiva interpreted “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” only when the matter was good from the beginning“), that “the end of a matter is good from the beginning” means only in the case where it is good from the start.
On this general idea, in reference to Aher, compare the Bavli, in my “Pt2 Aḥer’s Apostasy and Its Aftermath (Chagigah 15a-b)“, section “Oenomaus of Gadara and the Parable of Dyed Wool: R’ Meir’s View on Aḥer’s Innate Flaw“, where I summarize:
The non-Jewish philosopher Nimos HaGardi asked R’ Meir if all wool (עמר) dyed in a cauldron (יורה) takes color.
R’ Meir responded that only those pure “with their mother” (i.e. from birth/childhood) emerge properly.
מגדולי ירושלם - literally: “from the great ones of Jerusalem”.
On the trope of Torah study producing actual fire, compare the Bavli’s praise of Yonatan ben Uzziel, the greatest of Hillel’s students, in Sukkah/28a#7 (=Bava_Batra/134a#9; for the rest of that sugya in tractate Sukkah, that this section is continuing a referencing, see my “Appendix - Hillel’s 80 students, and Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai’s Encyclopedic Knowledge: A List of 11 Domains of Knowledge (Sukkah 28a)“):
וכי מאחר שקטן שבכולן
כך —
גדול שבכולן
על אחת כמה וכמה
And if the youngest of them [=Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai]
was so (i.e. such a great Torah scholar) —
the greatest of them [=Yonatan ben Uzziel]
was all the more so.
אמרו עליו על יונתן בן עוזיאל,
בשעה שיושב ועוסק בתורה —
כל עוף שפורח עליו מיד נשרף.
The Talmud relates that it was said of Yonatan ben Uzziel, the greatest of Hillel’s students,
that when he sat and was engaged in Torah study —
the sanctity that he generated was so intense that any bird that flew over him was immediately incinerated.
I.e. Aḥer, referring to himself in the third-person.
A similar idea was also stated earlier in the sugya (Part 1), section “R’ Meir - “The end of a matter is better than its beginning” means that a later successful outcome can compensate for earlier failure: children who survive in old age, commerce that succeeds later, or Torah forgotten in youth and retained later - Ecclesiastes 7:8“.
This same story appears in the Bavli, see my “Pt1 Aḥer’s Apostasy and Its Aftermath (Chagigah 15a-b)“, section “Aḥer and R’ Meir’s Shabbat Encounter“, where I summarize:
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”.
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.
This same line appears in the Bavli, see previous footnote, and also ibid, section “Metatron’s Punishment; A Bat Kol Excludes Aḥer from Repentance (Jeremiah 3:22)“, where I summarize:
Metatron was flogged with sixty fiery lashes.
He was also given permission to erase Aḥer’s merits.
A bat kol (heavenly voice) declared (quoting Jeremiah 3:22) that all may repent except Aḥer.
Broadly the same story appears in the Bavli (with differences), see my “Pt2 Aḥer’s Apostasy“, sections “Aḥer’s Posthumous Fate: In Limbo; R’ Meir’s Intervention“ and “R’ Yoḥanan’s Redemption of Aḥer: Questioning R’ Meir’s Actions; Pledge to Save Aḥer; Fulfillment of the Promise“, where I summarize:
Upon Aḥer’s death, Heaven refused to either punish or accept him to the World-to-Come:
He was barred from judgment due to his life of Torah study (עסק באורייתא), yet denied entry to the World-to-Come because of his sins.
R’ Meir argued it would be better for Aḥer to face judgment and eventually gain access to the World-to-Come, stating: “When will I die, and smoke rise from his grave?“
And indeed, following R’ Meir’s death, smoke (קוטרא) began to rise from Aḥer’s grave.
R’ Yoḥanan rhetorically challenges whether R’ Meir’s “roasting” of his teacher (רביה) was necessary.
He questions if there was truly no other way to save him and expresses frustration that a Sage who strayed could not be redeemed.
R’ Yoḥanan vows that when he dies, he will ensure the cessation of the smoke rising from Aḥer’s grave.
The Talmud states that indeed, tfter R’ Yoḥanan’s death, the smoke from Aḥer’s grave ceased (indicating his successful intercession).
A eulogizer (ספדנא) honors R’ Yoḥanan’s power, stating that even the gatekeeper could not oppose him.
This same story appears in the Bavli (with differences), see my “Pt2 Aḥer’s Apostasy“, section “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)“, where I summarize:
The daughter of Aḥer approached R’ Yehuda HaNasi for financial support.
Upon learning her identity, he reacted angrily, questioning how Aḥer’s descendants could still exist, citing a verse from Job 18:19.
She implored him to remember Aḥer’s Torah rather than his misdeeds.
At that moment, fire descended and licked (סכסכה) R’ Yehuda HaNasi’s bench.
העמיד - literally: “stood [them] up” - transitive.