The following aggadic narrative demonstrates the reasons for the Rabbinic hesitation to teach esoteric traditions. After Elisha ben Abuyah becomes an apostate, his student Rabbi Meir continues to respect his immense learning while feeling the pain of his loss to the Rabbinic community of sages.

Four entered the Pardes. 215 One peeked and died; one peeked and was harmed, went crazy; one peeked and cut the shoots; 216 one entered in peace and left in peace.

Ben Azzai peeked and was harmed. Concerning him the verse says, “If you found honey, eat what you need, lest you get sick and throw it up” (Prov. 25-16).

Ben Zoma peeked and died. Concerning him the verse says, “Precious in the eyes of God is the death of his pious ones” (Ps. 116-15).

Aher, Other, peeked and cut the shoots. Who is Aher? Elisha ben Abuyah, who used to “kill” Torah scholars. They say that when Elisha would encounter a student who excelled in Torah, he would “kill” him. 217 Moreover, when he would enter the academy and see children before their teacher, he would ask, “Why are they sitting here? The profession of this one is a builder, the profession of this one is a carpenter, the profession of this one is a hunter, the profession of this one is a tailor.” When they heard this they abandoned their studies and left the academy. Concerning him the verse says, “Do not let your mouth bring guilt on your flesh” (Eccl. 5-5), for he spoiled the works of that same man, that is, himself.

Also, in the time of the persecution, 218 they made the Jews carry burdens on the Sabbath and they tried to carry them two at a time, because “two who perform a single labor are exempt.” 219 Elisha said, “Make them carry singly.” They carried singly, but attempted to place the objects in a karmelit, 220 in order to avoid moving objects from the private domain to the public domain. Elisha said, “Make them carry flasks.” 221 They went and carried flasks.

Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and left in peace. Concerning him the verse says, “Draw me, and after you we will run” (Song 1-4).

Rabbi Meir was sitting and expounding in the academy of Tiberias. Elisha his teacher passed by riding a horse on the Sabbath. The students came and said to him, “Your teacher is outside.” He stopped teaching and went out to him.

Elisha said, “What did you expound today?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “And God blessed the end of Job’s life more than the beginning” (Job 42-12).

Elisha said, “How did you begin?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “The Lord restored Job’s fortunes, and gave him twice the possessions he had before” (ibid.). God doubled his possessions.

Elisha said, “Woe to those who are lost and not found. Your teacher Akiva would not have expounded thus, but rather, ‘And God blessed the end of Job’s life more than the beginning,’ on account of the commandments and good deeds that he had performed in the beginning.”

Elisha said to him, “What else did you expound?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning” (Eccl. 7-8).

Elisha said, “How did you begin?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “Like a man who had children when he was young and they died, but when he was old he had children and they lived, this is ‘the end of a matter is better than its beginning.’ Like a man who did business in his youth and lost his money, but in his old age he prospered, this is ‘the end of a matter is better than its beginning.’ Like a man who learned Torah in his youth and forgot it, but in his old age he remembered it, this is ‘the end of a matter is better than its beginning.’”

Elisha replied, “Woe to those who are lost and not found. Your teacher Akiva would not have expounded thus, but rather, ‘the end of a matter is better than its beginning’ when it is good from the beginning. And mine is a case in point. Abuyah, my father, was among the great men of Jerusalem. When the day of my circumcision arrived, he invited all the great men of Jerusalem and set them in one house, and Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Joshua in another house. While the guests were eating, drinking, singing, clapping, and dancing, Rabbi Eleazar said to Rabbi Joshua, ‘While they do their thing, let’s do ours.’

They sat down and learned Torah, and from Torah to Prophets, and from Prophets to Writings. A fire descended from heaven and enveloped them.

Abuyah said to them, ‘My masters, did you come here to burn my house down on me?’

They said to him, ‘Heaven forbid. We were sitting and reviewing words of Torah, and from Torah to Prophets and from Prophets to Writings, and the words were as joyous as when they were given at Sinai, and the flames licked them up, like the flames licked them up at Sinai. And the main feature of their giving at Sinai was with fire, as Scripture states, “And the mountain burned up to the midst of the heavens” (Deut. 4-11).’

My father Abuyah said to them, ‘My masters, if this is the power of Torah, and if my son survives, then I will dedicate him to Torah.’ Since his intentions were not for the sake of heaven, his desire was not fulfilled in that same man.” 222

Elisha said to him, “What else did you expound?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “Gold and crystal cannot be compared with it, God’s wisdom” (Job 28-17).

Elisha said, “How did you begin?”

Rabbi Meir replied, “Words of Torah are as difficult to acquire as vessels of gold, and as easy to lose as crystal vessels. And just as vessels of gold and vessels of crystal can be made whole again after they are broken, likewise a Torah scholar who forgot what he learned can go back and learn again as in the beginning.”

Elisha said, “Enough, Meir. This is the Sabbath limit.” 223

Meir said to him, “How do you know?”

Elisha answered, “From the steps of my horse I counted two thousand cubits.”

Meir said to him, “All this wisdom is in you, and yet you do not return?”

Elisha said to him, “I cannot.”

Meir said to him, “Why?”

Elisha said to him, “One time I was riding my horse by the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur which fell upon the Sabbath, and I heard a heavenly voice come out from the Holy of Holies, and it said, ‘Return children, except for Elisha ben Abuyah who knew my power and rebelled against me.’”

And why did all this happen to him?

Once he was sitting and learning in the Ginnosar Valley 224 and he saw a man climb a palm tree and take the mother bird and her young, and he went down from there in peace. The next day he saw another man climb a palm tree, shoo away the mother and take the young, and when he went down from there, a snake bit him and he died. Scripture states, “Send away the mother and the young you may take for yourself, in order that it may go well with you and your life be lengthened” (Deut. 22-7). He said to himself, where is the good of this man? Where is the long life of this man? He did not know that Rabbi Jacob had previously explained that “in order that it may go well with you” refers to the world to come that is all good, and “may your life be lengthened” refers to the future, the end of days, that is all long.

And there is one who says that it occurred when he saw the tongue of Rabbi Judah the Baker 225 in the mouth of a dog, dripping blood. He said, “This is Torah and this is the reward? This is the tongue that used to give forth Torah perfectly. This is the tongue that was occupied with Torah all its life. This is Torah and this is the reward? It seems as though there is no granting of reward and there is no resurrection of the dead.”

There are those that say that when his mother was pregnant with him, she used to pass pagan temples and smell the sacrifices, and the smell permeated her body like the poison of a snake.

Years later Elisha fell ill. They came and said to Rabbi Meir, “Your teacher is ill.” He went to visit him and found him ill.

Rabbi Meir said, “Will you not repent?”

Elisha replied, “If I repent, will it be accepted?”

Rabbi Meir said, “Does not Scripture state, ‘You turn men back to dust?’ (Ps. 90-3). Until the destruction of the soul they are accepted.” At that moment Elisha wept, passed on, and died.

Rabbi Meir was happy in heart and said, “It seems my teacher died in repentance.”

When they buried him, a fire came down from heaven and burned his grave. They came and said to Rabbi Meir, “Your teacher’s grave is burning.” He went out wishing to visit the grave and found it burning. What did he do? He removed his cloak and spread it over the grave. He said, “Rest this evening. Then in the morning, if he will redeem you, good. Let him redeem you. But if he does not desire to redeem you, I will redeem you, by God” (Ruth 3-13). “Rest,” in this world that is similar to night, “then in the morning,” this is the world to come that is all morning. “If he will redeem you, good. Let him redeem you,” this refers to God, who is good, as is written regarding Him, “God is good to all, and is merciful to all His creations” (Ps. 145-9). “And if he does not desire to redeem you, I will redeem you, by God” (Ruth 3-13). And the fire was extinguished.

They said to Rabbi Meir, “If they say to you in the world to come, ‘Whom would you rather visit, your father or your teacher,’ whom would you choose?”

He replied, “I would approach my teacher first, and after that my father.”

They said to him, “Will they listen to you?”

He replied, “Did we not learn, ‘We save the Torah covers with the Torah, the tefillin case with the tefillin?’ They will save Elisha the Other, Aher, by the merit of his Torah.”

Years later, the daughters of Elisha went to ask for alms from Rabbi Judah the Prince. Rabbi decreed and said, “May no one show him mercy, may none pity his orphans” (Ps. 109-2).

They said to him, “Our teacher, do not look at his deeds, look at his Torah.”

At that moment, Rabbi wept and decreed that they be supported. He said, “If this one, who labored in Torah not for the sake of heaven, see what he raised, 226 one who labored in Torah for the sake of heaven, how much more so.”

214. Trans. A. Oded.

215. Pardes, a cognate of English “paradise,” is an orchard or garden in Old Persian. Here it refers to mystical speculation.

216. Became a heretic.

217. By discouraging him from Torah study and encouraging him to pursue an alternative career.

218. The Hadrianic Persecution at the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 132–135 C.E.

219. From the Torah’s prohibition.

220. An area which is neither a public nor fully private domain, to or from which carrying on the Sabbath is only a Rabbinic prohibition.

221. Flasks could not be set to rest in the karmelit and had to be carried directly from domain to domain, resulting in violation of the Torah’s prohibition.

222. He was convinced of the power of Torah only because of the burning fire he saw, not because of an intrinsic commitment to its truth.

223. Two thousand cubits, and it is forbidden to walk any further beyond the outside of the settled area on the Sabbath.

224. Near the shore of Lake Tiberias.

225. Who was tortured and killed by the Romans in the Hadrianic persecutions.

226. The eminent disciple, Rabbi Meir.