The Sinner and the Amnesiac: The Rabbinic Invention of Elisha ben Abuya and Eleazar ben ArachElisha ben Abuya is one of the most intriguing figures in early rabbinic literature, consistently capturing the Jewish imagination as the arch-heretic, apostate, and great sinner. Because of the vague nature of the rabbinic sources relating to him, later generations, particularly in modern times, have been able to project upon him the visions of whatever they saw as either negative or ideal in the figure of the rebel apostate. This book systematically analyzes all sources referring to Elisha ben Abuya, and in so doing, confronts the difficulties of deriving reliable information from rabbinic materials and of writing the biography of a rabbinic hero. The author argues that we have no way of discovering the historical Elisha ben Abuya; he is the product of the creative handling of traditions by later generations. Later generations do not fancifully invent the figure of Elisha but interpret and transmit earlier traditions, trying to resolve the contradictions and to interpret the enigmas they encounter. In the context of this interpretive process, a unique historical image is created, a sage who is born out of tradition, not historical memory. The book also studies Rabbi Eleazar ben Arach. Here, too, the image of the sage does not stem from a historical memory of the sage but from an ideological function which the image of the sage fulfills. Eleazar has come down to us as one who forgot his Torah. Thus, both the sage who is said to have become the greatest of rabbinic sinners and the sage who is said to have forgotten his Torah are products of the literary creativity of rabbinic storytellers, who convey a particular ideology through the image of the rabbinic heroes they portray. |
Common terms and phrases
ADRN Aher Akiva angel attempt Avot Avot de Rabbi Bavli Bavli Kiddushin beit midrash biblical binic biography context cutting the shoots derasha dialogues disciple discussion Eleazar ben Arach Eliezer Elisha ben Abuya Elisha's daughters Elisha's sins Elisha's story excluded exegetical expression gnostic halakhic harlot heaven heavenly voice hermeneutical historical Elisha ideological concerns image of Elisha interpretation Israel later learning Liebes literary logic manuscripts master master-disciple meaning Meir Meir's mention merits Metatron Mishna Neusner parallel Pardes episode Pardes passage particular perspective portrayed possibility present proof text Qohelet Rabba question rabbinic culture rabbinic heroes rabbinic literature rabbinic sources reading reference to Elisha relationship religious repentance reports Ruth Rabba Sabbath sages seems significant sinner sobriquet statement story cycle story of Elisha storytellers suggest sugya sugyot talmudic tannaitic textual tion told Torah scholar Torah study Tosefta tradition typological list understanding verse words world-to-come writing Yehoshua Yerushalmi Yohanan Zoma