Elisha Ben Abuyah - Youth and Activity

Youth and Activity

Little is known of Elisha's youth and of his activity as a teacher of Jewish Law. He was the son of a rich and well-respected citizen of Jerusalem, and was trained for the career of a scholar. The only saying of his recorded in the Mishnah is his praise of education: "Learning Torah as a child is like writing on fresh paper, but learning Torah in old age is like writing on paper that has been erased" (Avot 4:25). Other sayings attributed to Elisha indicate that he stressed mitzvot (good deeds) as equal in importance to education:

To whom may a man who has good deeds and has studied much Torah be compared? To a man who in building stones first and then lays bricks, so that however much water may collect at the side of the building, it will not wash away. Contrariwise, he who has no good deeds even though he has studied much Torah — to whom may he be compared? To a man who in building lays bricks first and then heaps stones over them, so that even if a little water collects, it at once undermines the structure.

Elisha was a student of Greek; as the Talmud expresses it, "Acher's tongue was never tired of singing Greek songs" (Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah i. 9). The Talmud suggests that his study of Greek philosophy was one of the factors that led him to apostasy (Hagigah 15b). Wilhelm Bacher, in his analysis of Talmudic legends, wrote that the similes attributed to Elisha (including the ones cited above) show that he was a man of the world, acquainted with wine, horses, and architecture. He evidently had a reputation as an authority in questions of religious practice, since Mo'ed Katan 20a records one of his halakhic decisions — the only one in his name, although others may be recorded under the names of his students or different rabbis. The Babylonian Talmud asserts that Elisha, while a teacher in the beth midrash (torah academy), kept forbidden books hidden in his clothes (Hagigah 15b).