What caused Aḥer, the other, a name for Elisha ben Avuya to reject Judaism? TB Haggigah 15

 One of the most famous stories in the Talmud is found on daf TB Haggigah 14b. “The Sages taught: Four entered the orchard [pardes], i.e., dealt with the loftiest secrets of Torah, and they are as follows: Ben Azzai; and ben Zoma; Aḥer, the other, a name for Elisha ben Avuya; and Rabbi Akiva…The Gemara proceeds to relate what happened to each of them: Ben Azzai glimpsed at the Divine Presence and died. And with regard to him the verse states: “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” (Psalms 116:15). Ben Zoma glimpsed at the Divine Presence and was harmed, i.e., he lost his mind. And with regard to him the verse states: “Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you become full from it and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16). Aḥer chopped down the shoots of saplings. In other words, he became a heretic. Rabbi Akiva came out safely.” (Sefaria.org translation) Rashi holds that these four rabbis ascended upward through the heavens. Rav Hai Gaon believes that these rabbis meditated and entered an altered state of mind. Each rabbi in his own way glimpsed the Shekhina which was the cause of their individual fates.

Daf TB Haggigah 15 spends a lot of time discussing Elisha ben Avuya. To show how off the path he went, the Gemara attributes to him the three cardinal sins, idolatry, illicit sexual relations, and murder. Concerning idolatry: “He saw the angel Mitatron, who was granted permission to sit and write the merits of Israel. He said: There is a tradition that in the world above there is no sitting; no competition; no turning one’s back before Him, i.e., all face the Divine Presence; and no lethargy. Seeing that someone other than God was seated above, he said: Perhaps, the Gemara here interjects, Heaven forbid, there are two authorities, and there is another source of power in control of the world in addition to God.” (Sefaria.org translation) Concerning illicit sexual relations he visited a prostitute. Concerning murder he asked children in 13 different synagogues what verse were they learning and each answer indicated prophetically that repentance was barred from Elisha ben Avuya. “At the last one, he said to him: Recite your verse to me. He recited to him: “And to the wicked [velerasha] God says, what is it for you to declare My statutes” (Psalms 50:16). The Gemara relates: That child had a stutter, so it sounded as though he were saying to him: Vele’elisha, i.e., and to Elisha, God says. This made Elisha think the child was deliberately insulting him. Some say Aḥer had a knife, and he tore the child apart and sent him to the thirteen synagogues. And others say that Aḥer merely said: Had I a knife, I would have torn him apart.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The prostitute tagged him with the name Aḥer, the other. “Upon hearing this (that repentance was barred from him-gg), Elisha ben Avuya said: Since that man, meaning himself, has been banished from that world, let him go out and enjoy this world. Aḥer went astray. He went and found a prostitute and solicited her for intercourse. She said to him: And are you not Elisha ben Avuya? Shall a person of your stature perform such an act? He uprooted a radish from a patch of radishes on Shabbat and gave it to her, to demonstrate that he no longer observed the Torah. The prostitute said: He is other than he was. He is not the same Elisha ben Avuya, he is Aḥer, other.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Milton Steinberg in his book As A Driven Leaf attributes a crisis of faith as the reason why Elisha ben Avuya left Judaism. If I remember correctly, the scene in the book has a father telling his son to chase away the mother bird so he can remove the egg from the nest to fulfill what is written “If a bird’s nest chances before you on the road, on any tree or on the ground, and [it contains] fledglings or eggs, if the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother [from] upon the young. You shall send away the mother, and [then] you may take the young for yourself, in order that it should be good for you, and you should lengthen your days. (My emphasis)” (Deuteronomy 22:6-7) and “Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your God is assigning to you (my emphasis )” (Exodus 20:12) Witnessing this Elisha thought that the child’s reward would be doubled because he was observing two mitzvot at one time, the mitzvah of shiluakh haken (שילוח הקן -sending the mother bird away) and kibud av (כיבוד אב-honoring one’s father). The child should have been blessed with a very long life by observing these two commandments. Tragedy befell the child. He fell off the ladder and died on account of his accident. The incongruity between the promise of reward and the fate of the child was the cause of Elisha crisis of faith.

I highly recommend reading Steinberg’s book to gain insight into this time period, these four rabbis and especially Elisha ben Avuya, and to learn different Talmudic passages and stories that are woven into the text of the novel. The theme of faith in the book is relevant to us as we try to make sense of the Torah in our lives today.