After Destruction: Rebuilding, or Building Anew?

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five students: Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkanos, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananyah, Rabbi Yose HaCohen, Rabbi Shimon ben Netanel, and Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh. He used to recount their praises: Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkanos is a plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Rabbi Yehoshua – happy is she who gave birth to him; Rabbi Yose is a pious man,; Rabbi Shimon is a sin-fearing man; and Rabbi Eleazar ben Arakh is an overflowing spring. He used to say: If all the sages of Israel were on one side of the scale, and Eliezer ben Horkanos on the other, he would outweigh them all.

Rabban Gamliel sent a message to him (R. Yehoshua): I decree that you must come to me with your stick and your money on the day that you believe to be the Day of Atonement by your count!...He took his money and his stick in his hand and went to Yavneh to Rabban Gamliel on the day that was the Day of Atonement by his count. Rabban Gamliel stood up and kissed him on his head, and said: Come in peace, my teacher and my student! My teacher in wisdom, and my student in that you accepted my words.

Rabban Gamliel says: Every single day a person must pray the eighteen blessings. Rabbi Yehoshua says: An abridgement of the eighteen…Rabbi Eliezer says: One who makes his prayer fixed, his prayer is not a genuine supplication.

It was taught in a Baraita: Rabbi Eliezer says: One who prays behind his teacher, and one who greets his teacher, and one who returns a greeting to his teacher, and one who challenges the academy of his teacher, and one who says something that he did not hear from his teacher – all these cause the Divine Presence to depart from Israel.

A Baraita taught: On that day R. Eliezer advanced all the argument in the world to defend his ruling, but the other rabbis did not accept his arguments. He said to them: If the halakhah accords with me, let this carob tree prove it, whereupon the carob tree was uprooted from its place and moved one hundred cubits. And some say it moved four hundred cubits. They said to him: You cannot bring proof from a carob tree. He then said to them: If the halakha accords with me, let the water canal prove it, whereupon the water in the canal flowed backwards. They said to him: You cannot bring proof from a water canal. He said to them: If the halakhah accords with me, let the walls of the study hall prove it, whereupon the walls of the study hall leaned and were about to fall. R. Yehoshua rebuked the walls and said: If Torah scholars argue with one another about halakhah, what business is it of yours?! They did not fall out of respect for R. Yehoshua, but neither did they right themselves, out of respect for R. Eliezer. And they still continue to lean. R. Eliezer said to them: If the halakhah accords with me, let heaven prove it. Whereupon a heavenly voice went forth and proclaimed: What argument do you have with R. Eliezer, whom the halakhah follows in all places?! R. Yehoshua stood on his feet and declared: It is not in Heaven.

What is meant by “it is not in heaven”? R. Yirmiyah said: For the Torah was already given at Sinai. We do not pay attention to a heavenly voice, because You already wrote in the Torah at Sinai: “According to the majority shall it be decided...” (Exodus 23:2)

They said on that day the rabbis collected all the things R. Eliezer had declared pure and burned them. They voted and excommunicated him. They said: Who will go and inform him? R. Akiva said to them: I will go, otherwise perhaps an unfit person will tell him and bring about the destruction of the entire world. What did R. Akiva do? He dressed in black and cloaked himself in black and sat before R. Eliezer at a distance of four cubits. R. Eliezer said to him: Akiva, why is today different from other days? R. Akiva said: My teacher, it seems to me that your colleages are removed from you. R. Eliezer then tore his garments and removed his shoes. He slid off his chair and sat on the ground. Tears flowed from his eyes...

A Baraita taught: On that day...Rabban Gamliel was on a boat, and a gale threatened to drown him. He said: It seems to me that this is only because of R. Eliezer. And he said: Master of the universe! It is well known to you that I did not do this for my own honor, or for the honor of my father's house, but only for your honor, so that disputes not proliferate in Isarel. Whereupon, the sea subsided from its raging.

Ima Shalom, the wife of R. Eliezer, was the sister of Rabban Gamliel. From that incident onwards, she did not let R. Eliezer fall on his face (i.e. recite the tachanun supplications). One days she thought it was Rosh Chodesh, but she had confused the months...afterwards she found R. Eliezer falling on his face. She said: Get up! You are killing my brother! Meanwhile, an announcement went forth from the house of Rabban Gamliel that he had died...

It was taught in a Baraita: When R. Eliezer fell ill, R. Akiva and his colleagues entered to visit him. He sat in his canopy bed, and they sat in his parlor. And that day was erev Shabbat, and R. Eliezer's son Horkanos entered to take off his (R. Eliezer's) tefillin. R. Eliezer rebuked him and he left in shame. He said to his colleagues: It appears to me that my father's mind is muddled. R. Eliezer heard this and said to them: His mind and his mother's mind are muddled. How can they neglect prohibitions that are punishable by stoning and occupy themselves with shevut (lesser) prohibitions?!

Once the sages realized that his mind was settled, they entered his room and sat before him at a distance of four cubits. He said to them: Why did you come? They replied: We came to learn Torah. He said to them: Why did you not come until now? They replied: We did not have the opportunity? He said to them: I would be surprised if they (these rabbis) die a natural death. Rabbi Akiva said to him: What will be my death? R. Eliezer replied: Yours will be worse than theirs.

[R. Eliezer] took his two arms, placed them upon his heart, and said: Woe to you my two arms, which are like two Torah scrolls that are being rolled up. I learned much Torah, and I taught much Torah. I learned much Torah, but I did not diminish my teachers' knowledge even as much as a dog laps from the sea. But my students diminished my own knowledge only as much as an applicator dipped in a tube...

They said to Rabbi Eliezer: What is the law concerning a ball, a shoe form, and amulet, a pearl pouch, and a small weight? [Are they susceptible to impurity or not?] He said: They are all impure, and their purification can be effected as they are. What is the law concerned a shoe that is still on the shoe form? [Is it susceptible to impurity or not?] He said: It is pure. And his soul then departed in purity.

Rabbi Yehoshua stood up and proclaimed: The vow is annulled, the vow is annulled! (i.e. the excommunication has ended.) After Shabbat, R. Akiva accompanied his funeral procession from Caesaria to Lod, striking his flesh until his blood flowed to the ground. He opened his eulogy by saying: “My father, my father! Chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (Kings II 2:12) I have much money but I have no moneychanger to whom I can offer it.

All the days of R. Eliezer they acted in accordance with the view of R. Yehoshua. After R. Eliezer’s death, R. Yehoshua returned the matter to its original condition, as R. Eliezer ruled. During his lifetime, what is the reason that they did not follow his tradition? Because R. Eliezer was a Shammaite (“shamuti”), and R. Yehoshua reasoned that if we were to follow his view on one matter, we would follow him on others as well. And because of the potential slight to the honor of R. Eliezer, we would not be able to protest against the people who did so. After R. Eliezer’s death, when we can protest against people who follow his views on other matters, he returned the matter to its original condition.