Can You Ever Go Back: A Study of Rabbi Elish Ben Abuyah

WHEN: Wednesday, March 2, 9, 23, & 30 (NO SESSION March 16)

Time: Wednesday Evenings 7:30 - 9:00pm

Where: ONLINE - Zoom 

This talmud study will be facilitated by Don Collerman Elias

Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah is one of the most enigmatic and controversial rabbis in the Talmud. As a brilliant sage at the height of his rabbinic career, he witnesses an event that causes him to lose his faith in  G-d’s justice and thus puts him on a path that will lead him to turn his back on Judaism, pursue Greek knowledge, dissuade other Jews from following Torah and betray his fellow Jews to the Romans at the height of the Bar Kokhba rebellion.

Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah’s rabbinic colleagues cannot forgive his actions and refuse to call him by his name, rather, they refer to him as acher (the other). All that is except for Rabbi Meir, one of his former students, who refuses to give up on his teacher, believing that R. Elisha ben Abuyah can be redeemed, even after death. 

Follow the spiritual journey of a tormented and troubled Talmudic sage who abandons the Jewish People and the loyal student who will stop at nothing to bring about his return. In the process we will discover the Talmud’s understanding of justice, sin, forgiveness and redemption.  

 

Suggested Reading for Additional Information

As a Driven Leaf (1939) by Rabbi Milton Steinberg 

As a Driven Leaf is a 1939 novel by Milton Steinberg based on the life of Elisha ben Abuyah. Steinberg's novel wrestles with the 2nd century Jewish struggle to reconcile Rabbinic Judaism both culturally and philosophically with Greek Hellenistic society. The Talmud tells us little about Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah, but Steinberg does a marvelous job weaving the character into a historical tapestry that drapes over one of the great crises of the Jewish nation, the destruction of the second temple and eventual exile. Through the book, we meet the various personalities that participated in the writing of the Talmud. To Steinberg's, each is interesting, unique, and richly brought to life.

 

Do you wish to register or have any questions? Please contact our Program and Engagement Director, Monica Neiman, M.Ed. at mneiman@tdhs-nw.org or by phone at (204) 589-6305 ext. 230