Rabbi Eliezer the great continued:
The reason I called the great sage Rabbi Eliezer, the greater ,not the great, as is common , is because he was called so to differentiate between himself and others with that name, that he was the greater of them. This doesn’t mean that he was the great amongst all Israel ,for all times. For although he was greater in his knowledge than all of his peers, there were peers who exceeded him in other ways.
However, let us return to the confrontation of the “snake oven” that eventually cost us the life our Nassi Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, as well as the career of Rabbi Eliezer.
Rabbi Eliezer first invoked the carob tree as a sign of his superiority.
The carob tree was known for slow development. According to legend , it takes 70 years for edible fruit to grow from it. As such , the ability to make the carob respond must be seen as an extraordinary spiritual power. It indicated the ability of Rabbi Eliezer to quickly analyze any difficulty in a way unknown to his colleagues.
Next came the stream which is symbolic of the Torah , which is likened to a running stream that flows from the greatest heights and descends to the lowest level. That Rabbi Eliezer could make a stream flow backwards could only indicate his mastery of every subject seeing it not only as it flows from the fount of intellect forward. Rather , he could reconstruct every concept and knew how to go “backwards” with every concept . This indicates his mastery of every aspect of Torah . Thus the rabbis should review their premises as they lacked the insight of Rabbi Eliezer.
The rabbis tell us that the walls of one’s home testify as to the content of one’s conversation. The walls of the Study Hall were witnesses to Rabbi Eliezer’s superiority. For hadn’t Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai stated that if all the scholars of Israel were on one side of a scale and Rabbi Eliezer were on the other side, he would tip the scale in his favor. As such, his opinion was to be reckoned with as if it were the majority.
Next he invoked the very Heavens to testify his superiority over his peers. This is because Rabbi Eliezer never said any opinion of his own. Rather , he only quoted what he had heard from his teachers. Therefore , the opinion stated by Rabbi Eliezer was none other than the opinion of the teachers of his peers . As such , they should defer to their teachers !
We might be able to say that Rabbi Eliezer was hinting to the 4 levels of wisdom which correspond to the four letters of G-D’s Name . These are the Halachic or action level of the Torah. This is symbolized by the carob tree which is the tree used by the Rabbis to indicate a scholar whose deeds outpace his wisdom. How can deeds outpace one’s wisdom if one’s deeds are dependent upon one’s wisdom , which is Torah?
The answer is , that this is referring to the part of Torah which deals with deeds . This is the Halacha! The Halacha is symbolized by the carob because its’ roots are deep and can therefore survive a hot dry climate. Because its’ roots are abundant ,it is stable and longlasting.
The fruits of the carob can stay on it for a long time without spoilage.
So is the Halacha . Its’ fruits are eternal . The person seeking the Halacha of every Torah concept is rewarded with finding all the relevant information and insight in the process of Halachic discovery.
Thus Rabbi Eliezer was superior to them in knowledge of the Halacha!
The Rabbis responded that superior general knowledge doesn’t mean superior knowledge in a specific point of law.
Next came the stream which indicates the deliberations of the Torah,
Symbolized by the running stream . Here Rabbi Eliezer , too , was
Greater than they for he could take apart and analyze different positions and opinions backwards and forward like a stream that could go in reverse any time. This mastery of the discussion was unlike anything the majority could do.
Thus said Rabbi Eliezer, I am superior to all of you in the process of
Taking the information and developing it for final analysis . So how could you argue with my superior powers of logic?
The Rabbis responded, that the Halacha was not a crossword puzzle. Decisions had to be made by one’s logic as well as one’s intuitive abilities.
Next Rabbi Eliezer invoked the walls of the Beis Hamidrash which was witness to the various Halachic discussions of the past . This is the Binah or clarification aspect of Torah discussed in the halls of Torah.
During the 50 years after the Temple’s destruction there hadn’t been a discussion which he hadn’t re4corded in his mind . Thus every avenue of approach was known by him and was more well versed by him than all the sages put together. He knew the relevant cases and their reasoning better. Thus the intuitive knowledge which is based upon the attitude towards a Halacha could not be in conflict with the discussions held in the open Beis Hamidrash . To this Rabbi Yehoshua put forth the principle that the rabbis can discover new nuances in the Law and cannot be governed by the discussions of the past. Thus new philosophic premise were constantly being discovered in the Torah and the thought process wasn’t set in permanent setting.
Rabbi Eliezer then invoked the Heavens. For the Torah is the blueprint of creation . The Divine Wisdom inherent in Torah governs
The Cosmos. This wisdom is the Wisdom of the Creator . One cannot argue with this Wisdom!
Rabbi Yehoshua in declaring that it no longer is in the heavens did not dismiss the Divine Wisdom. Rather, he said that the Halachic process was the discovery of the Supernal Will which was already given to Moshe within the Torah. The discovery process of the Rabbis was to become recipients of Moshe’s prophecy. This is beyond the Divine Wisdom and when discovered will redefine the parameters of the Wisdom so that Wisdom will not contradict the Will.
In other words, the divine Wisdom will not contradict nor inhibit the discovery of the Divine Will. Rather, it will be demonstrated at a later date how the decisions of the majority are consistent with Divine Wisdom .
Rabbi Eliezer could not accept their opinion. Since he never issued a ruling of his own opinion, only the words of his teachers , he could not accept what he considered to be a new ruling-a chidush if you will. Because the Rabbis seemed to be in conflict with his teachers,
They must be wrong! This led to his excommunication and the death of the Chief Justice, Rabban Gamliel , who issued the ban on Rabbi Eliezer.
The question remaining on this episode is that the ban on Rabbi Eliezer was first lifted after his demise . In that case how do we have the story of the gathering in Beney B’rak of the five sages which included Rabbi Eliezer? After all , the ban hadn’t been lifted?
We must conclude that the ban was a partial ban against the Rabbi issuing opinions of law and entering the Beth Din. However, for other matters of communal good , or Holy Day activities such as the Pesach Seder, Rabbi Eliezer was accorded full honors.
Interesting though, neither Rabbi Eliezer or Rabbi Yehoshua addressed the gathered ,so as not to remind anyone of the ban at that time. Hence it was Rabbi Elazar who spoke. Although he was the Nassi, Chief Justice, the opening remarks would have included the elders. Rabbi Yehoshua would not speak since Rabbi Eliezer wasn’t allowed to. Apparently the discussion surrounding the complexities of the plagues mentioned in the latter part of the Haggadah were discussed at an earlier date.
(to be continued)