‘The Oven of Akhnai’: Disputation, Miracles, Ostracism, and Disasters in a Foundational Talmudic Story
Presenting a foundational and fascinating Talmudic story. Also an experiment in ways of making the Talmud more accessible
I am currently reading Jefferey Rubenstein’s incredible Talmudic Stories (1999, in the updated Hebrew translation, published in 2021).
I thought it might interest readers to present one of these foundational and fascinating stories.
Experiment in accessible Talmud
This is also an experiment in ways of making the Talmud more accessible. Sefaria, Hebrew Wikisource, and Al-Hatorah are all missing punctuation on the Talmudic pages, making them difficult to parse.
I used Sefaria, with the Steinzaltz translation available there.
I broadly split the story into two parts: “1. Dispute and Miracles” and “2. Aftermath: Ostracism and Disasters”. My splitting is different from Rubenstein’s division (p. 67 in the Hebrew translation).
I split the Hebrew, and its equivalent translation, into lines, for ease of reading. I also hyperlinked especially important keyphrases to the corresponding Wikipedia entries.
The one place I found punctuation is Hebrew Wikisource’s Commentary (ביאור), from R’ Yishaya Hacohen Hollander’s Easy Talmud (גמרא נוחה) .[1] I pulled this punctuated text automatically, and copy-pasted it here.[2] In addition to the very important punctuation work, R’ Hollander’s text also opens up all acronyms.[3] A future blogpost will be about how to pull this text automatically.[4]
See my previous pieces discussing potential ways of making the Talmud Bavli more accessible:
“Cataloguing My Blogposts: An Organized Breakdown by Theme” > section “Automation and digital layouts of rabbinic works”
Torah and embarrassment in the story of the Oven of Akhnai (Bava Metzia 59a-b)
The Oven of Akhnai - Wikipedia:
The Oven of Akhnai is a Talmudic story found in Bava Metzia 59a-b which is set around the early 2nd century CE. In the Talmud, the story is told after a discussion of being careful not to mistreat a person and the power of prayers which are said in pain to be heard by God. The story concerns a debate which was held over the halakhic status of a new type of oven. In the course of the rabbinic disagreement, the story expresses differing views of the nature of law and authority, concerns over a fractured and divisive community, and the issue of harming another person through words and actions.
What follows is the Hebrew text of the Talmud, with the Steinzaltz translation, section by section.
1. Dispute and Miracles
תנן התם:
חתכו חוליות ונתן חול בין חוליא לחוליא:
רבי אליעזר מטהר ,
וחכמים מטמאין ,
Apropos the topic of verbal mistreatment, we learned in a mishna there (Kelim 5:10):
If one cut an earthenware oven widthwise into segments, and placed sand between each and every segment,
Rabbi Eliezer deems it ritually pure. Because of the sand, its legal status is not that of a complete vessel, and therefore it is not susceptible to ritual impurity.
And the Rabbis deem it ritually impure, as it is functionally a complete oven.
וזה הוא תנור של עכנאי .
מאי 'עכנאי'?
אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: שהקיפו דברים כעכנא זו וטמאוהו.
תנא: באותו היום השיב רבי אליעזר כל תשובות שבעולם - ולא קיבלו הימנו.
And this is known as the oven of akhnai.
The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of akhnai, a snake, in this context?
Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: It is characterized in that manner due to the fact that the Rabbis surrounded it with their statements like this snake, which often forms a coil when at rest, and deemed it impure.
The Sages taught: On that day, when they discussed this matter, Rabbi Eliezer answered all possible answers in the world to support his opinion, but the Rabbis did not accept his explanations from him.
אמר להם: אם הלכה כמותי - חרוב זה יוכיח!
- נעקר חרוב ממקומו מאה אמה, ואמרי לה ארבע מאות אמה.
אמרו לו: אין מביאין ראיה מן החרוב.
חזר ואמר להם: אם הלכה כמותי - אמת המים יוכיחו!
- חזרו אמת המים לאחוריהם.
אמרו לו: אין מביאין ראיה מאמת המים.
After failing to convince the Rabbis logically, Rabbi Eliezer said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, this carob tree will prove it.
The carob tree was uprooted from its place one hundred cubits, and some say four hundred cubits.
The Rabbis said to him: One does not cite halakhic proof from the carob tree.
Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, the stream will prove it.
The water in the stream turned backward and began flowing in the opposite direction.
They said to him: One does not cite halakhic proof from a stream.
חזר ואמר להם: אם הלכה כמותי - כותלי בית המדרש יוכיחו!
- הטו כותלי בית המדרש ליפול.
גער בהם רבי יהושע, אמר להם: אם תלמידי חכמים מנצחים זה את זה בהלכה - אתם מה טיבכם?
- לא נפלו מפני כבודו של רבי יהושע, ולא זקפו מפני כבודו של רבי אליעזר, ועדיין מטין ועומדין.
Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, the walls of the study hall will prove it.
The walls of the study hall leaned inward and began to fall.
Rabbi Yehoshua scolded the walls and said to them: If Torah scholars are contending with each other in matters of halakha, what is the nature of your involvement in this dispute?
The Gemara relates: The walls did not fall because of the deference due Rabbi Yehoshua, but they did not straighten because of the deference due Rabbi Eliezer, and they still remain leaning.
חזר ואמר להם: אם הלכה כמותי - מן השמים יוכיחו!
- יצאתה בת קול ואמרה: "מה לכם אצל רבי אליעזר, שהלכה כמותו בכל מקום"!
Rabbi Eliezer then said to them: If the halakha is in accordance with my opinion, Heaven will prove it.
A Divine Voice emerged from Heaven and said: Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion?
עמד רבי יהושע על רגליו ואמר: לא בשמים היא!
מאי לא בשמים היא?
אמר רבי ירמיה: שכבר נתנה תורה מהר סיני; אין אנו משגיחין בבת קול, שכבר כתבת בהר סיני בתורה (שמות כג, ב) - אחרי רבים להטות
אשכחיה רבי נתן לאליהו, אמר ליה: מאי עביד קוב"ה בההיא שעתא?
אמר ליה: קא חייך ואמר: נצחוני בני, נצחוני בני!
Rabbi Yehoshua stood on his feet and said: It is written: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12).
The Gemara asks: What is the relevance of the phrase “It is not in heaven” in this context?
Rabbi Yirmeya says: Since the Torah was already given at Mount Sinai, we do not regard a Divine Voice, as You already wrote at Mount Sinai, in the Torah: “After a majority to incline” (Exodus 23:2). Since the majority of Rabbis disagreed with Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion, the halakha is not ruled in accordance with his opinion.
The Gemara relates: Years after, Rabbi Natan encountered Elijah the prophet and said to him: What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do at that time, when Rabbi Yehoshua issued his declaration?
Elijah said to him: The Holy One, Blessed be He, smiled and said: My children have triumphed over Me; My children have triumphed over Me.
2. Aftermath: Ostracism and Disasters
אמרו: אותו היום הביאו כל טהרות שטיהר רבי אליעזר ושרפום באש ונמנו עליו וברכוהו.
ואמרו: מי ילך ויודיעו?
אמר להם רבי עקיבא: אני אלך, שמא ילך אדם שאינו הגון ויודיעו ונמצא מחריב את כל העולם כולו.
The Sages said: On that day, the Sages brought all the ritually pure items deemed pure by the ruling of Rabbi Eliezer with regard to the oven and burned them in fire, and the Sages reached a consensus in his regard and ostracized him.
And the Sages said: Who will go and inform him of his ostracism?
Rabbi Akiva, his beloved disciple, said to them: I will go, lest an unseemly person go and inform him in a callous and offensive manner, and he would thereby destroy the entire world.
מה עשה רבי עקיבא? לבש שחורים , ונתעטף שחורים, וישב לפניו ברחוק ארבע אמות.
אמר לו רבי אליעזר: עקיבא - מה יום מיומים?
אמר לו רבי: כמדומה לי שחבירים בדילים ממך.
אף הוא קרע בגדיו , וחלץ מנעליו , ונשמט , וישב על גבי קרקע;
What did Rabbi Akiva do? He wore black and wrapped himself in black, as an expression of mourning and pain, and sat before Rabbi Eliezer at a distance of four cubits, which is the distance that one must maintain from an ostracized individual.
Rabbi Eliezer said to him: Akiva, what is different about today from other days, that you comport yourself in this manner?
Rabbi Akiva said to him: My teacher, it appears to me that your colleagues are distancing themselves from you. He employed euphemism, as actually they distanced Rabbi Eliezer from them.
Rabbi Eliezer too, rent his garments and removed his shoes, as is the custom of an ostracized person, and he dropped from his seat and sat upon the ground.
זלגו עיניו דמעות.
לקה העולם שליש בזיתים ושליש בחטים ושליש בשעורים,
ויש אומרים אף בצק שבידי אשה טפח .
תנא: אך גדול היה באותו היום: שבכל מקום שנתן בו עיניו רבי אליעזר – נשרף.
The Gemara relates: His eyes shed tears,
and as a result the entire world was afflicted: One-third of its olives were afflicted, and one-third of its wheat, and one-third of its barley.
And some say that even dough kneaded in a woman’s hands spoiled.
The Sages taught: There was great anger on that day, as any place that Rabbi Eliezer fixed his gaze was burned.
ואף רבן גמליאל היה בא בספינה, עמד עליו נחשול לטבעו,
אמר: כמדומה לי שאין זה אלא בשביל רבי אליעזר בן הורקנוס.
עמד על רגליו ואמר: רבונו של עולם! גלוי וידוע לפניך שלא לכבודי עשיתי, ולא לכבוד בית אבא עשיתי, אלא לכבודך: שלא ירבו מחלוקות בישראל !
נח הים מזעפו.
And even Rabban Gamliel, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin at Yavne, the head of the Sages who were responsible for the decision to ostracize Rabbi Eliezer, was coming on a boat at the time, and a large wave swelled over him and threatened to drown him.
Rabban Gamliel said: It seems to me that this is only for the sake of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, as God punishes those who mistreat others.
Rabban Gamliel stood on his feet and said: Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that neither was it for my honor that I acted when ostracizing him, nor was it for the honor of the house of my father that I acted; rather, it was for Your honor, so that disputes will not proliferate in Israel.
In response, the sea calmed from its raging.
אימא שלום - דביתהו דרבי אליעזר - אחתיה דרבן גמליאל הואי.
מההוא מעשה ואילך - לא הוה שבקה ליה לרבי אליעזר למיפל על אפיה.
ההוא יומא - ריש ירחא הוה, ואיחלף לה בין מלא לחסר ;
איכא דאמרי: אתא עניא וקאי אבבא; אפיקא ליה ריפתא,
The Gemara further relates: Imma Shalom, the wife of Rabbi Eliezer, was the sister of Rabban Gamliel.
From that incident forward, she would not allow Rabbi Eliezer to lower his head and recite the taḥanun prayer, which includes supplication and entreaties. She feared that were her husband to bemoan his fate and pray at that moment, her brother would be punished.
A certain day was around the day of the New Moon, and she inadvertently substituted a full thirty-day month for a deficient twenty-nine-day month, i.e., she thought that it was the New Moon, when one does not lower his head in supplication, but it was not.
Some say that a pauper came and stood at the door, and she took bread out to him. The result was that she left her husband momentarily unsupervised.
אשכחתיה דנפל על אנפיה,
אמרה ליה: קום! קטלית לאחי!!
אדהכי נפק שיפורא מבית רבן גמליאל דשכיב.
אמר לה: מנא ידעת?
אמרה ליה: כך מקובלני מבית אבי אבא : כל השערים ננעלים חוץ משערי אונאה .
When she returned, she found him and saw that he had lowered his head in prayer.
She said to him: Arise, you already killed my brother. Meanwhile, the sound of a shofar emerged from the house of Rabban Gamliel to announce that the Nasi had died.
Rabbi Eliezer said to her: From where did you know that your brother would die?
She said to him: This is the tradition that I received from the house of the father of my father: All the gates of Heaven are apt to be locked, except for the gates of prayer for victims of verbal mistreatment.
[1] R’ Hollander is a member of the “New Sanhedrin” (see 2004 attempt to revive the Sanhedrin - Wikipedia and הסנהדרין החדשה – ויקיפדיה) . My translation of his bio at their website:
“R’ Yeshayahu Hacohen Hollander, born in 1937 in New York. He immigrated to Israel in 1948. Since 2000, he has published an edition of the Babylonian Talmud "Easy Talmud" (גמרא נוחה)
2000 - Rabbi in a Hesder Kollel.
1992-1999 - Logistics Systems Engineer.
1991-1992 - Taught at the School of Business at Tel Aviv University.
He has a deep background in education, marketing, and project management in industry.”
[2] Interestingly, I first split the Sefaria text into lines, before discovering R’ Hollander’s punctuated text. It turns out that R’ Hollander split the text into lines in almost exactly the same way I had. Making it apparent that the splitting isn’t subjective!
[3] However, even R’ Hollander doesn’t open up all acronyms. For example, קוב"ה is left as is (=קודשא בריך הוא).
[4] See some more interesting experiments in Talmud layout on Hebrew Wikisource here: