The verse in question is (Ecclesiastes 7:8): "The end of a matter is better than its beginning; one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit." The rabbis, as they often do, unpack this verse with stories and thought-provoking examples.
One particularly striking story involves Rabbi Meir and his former teacher, Elisha ben Avuya – a brilliant scholar who tragically fell from grace. Rabbi Meir is teaching in Tiberias when he learns that Elisha is riding through the marketplace on Shabbat – a clear violation of Jewish law. He goes to meet his former teacher, and their conversation is laced with both respect and profound sadness.
Rabbi Meir tells Elisha that he's been discussing the verse "The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12). Elisha corrects him, saying that Rabbi Akiva, their teacher, taught that Job's later blessings were a result of his repentance and good deeds. This sets the stage for a deeper discussion about endings and beginnings.
Rabbi Meir offers several interpretations of "the end of a matter is better than its beginning." He suggests it could refer to a merchant who finds success later in life, or a person who loses children in their youth but finds solace and continuity in old age. He even suggests it could describe someone who does wicked deeds when young, but turns to good deeds later in life, or someone who forgets their Torah learning, but then rediscovers it.
But Elisha isn't convinced. He counters that the end of a matter is only good if it was good from the beginning. He then shares a painful story from his own life. His father, Avuya, celebrated his birth with a lavish feast, inviting prominent scholars like Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. The atmosphere was electric, filled with Torah study that felt as vibrant as the revelation at Sinai. Avuya, impressed by the power of Torah, declared that he would dedicate his son to its study. But, Elisha laments, because his father's intention wasn't purely for the sake of Heaven, his own Torah learning didn't endure.
The story then delves into the reasons for Elisha’s tragic downfall. One account says that Elisha became disillusioned after witnessing what he perceived as injustice. He saw a man violate the commandment to send away the mother bird before taking the fledglings (Deuteronomy 22:7). The man climbed the tree and took both the mother and the fledglings, but came to no harm, and, later, another man who observed the commandment died after doing so. Elisha questioned the fairness of divine reward and punishment, forgetting Rabbi Akiva's teaching that the reward for mitzvot (commandments) is experienced in the Olam Ha'ba (the World to Come). Another version says that Elisha had a craving for idol worship instilled in him when his pregnant mother ate food from a pagan sacrifice. Still another says that he was disgusted by the sight of Rabbi Yehuda the baker's tongue in the mouth of a dog.
Whatever the reason, Elisha’s story serves as a cautionary tale. He even heard a Divine Voice proclaiming that repentance was possible for everyone "except for Elisha ben Avuya, who was aware of My might and rebelled against Me."
Despite his state, Rabbi Meir never gives up on his teacher. When Elisha falls ill, Rabbi Meir visits him and urges him to repent. Elisha wonders if repentance is even possible for him at this point. Rabbi Meir responds, quoting (Psalms 90:3), reminding him that God accepts repentance even when one's soul is crushed. At that moment, Elisha weeps and dies, leading Rabbi Meir to believe that his teacher had finally repented.
After Elisha's death, a fire engulfs his grave. Rabbi Meir, ever loyal, spreads his garment over the grave, reciting verses from Ruth, pleading for Elisha's redemption. It's a powerful scene of a student's unwavering devotion to his teacher, even after his teacher has strayed from the path.
The story doesn't end there. Later, Elisha's daughters are in need, and initially, they are denied charity. However, after it is revealed that they possess the wisdom of their father and demonstrate modest comportment, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi recognizes the value of their lineage and orders that they be supported. This act acknowledges that even from a broken vessel, something of value can remain.
The text then moves on to another interpretation of "one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit," contrasting the approaches of Rav and Shmuel in teaching a Persian convert the Hebrew alphabet. Rav, impatient and demanding, quickly dismisses the Persian when he questions the letters. Shmuel, on the other hand, patiently guides him, ultimately leading him to accept the Torah.
Finally, the text relates a story about Aquila, a proselyte, who questioned Rabbi Eliezer about the love God has for converts. Rabbi Eliezer's initial response seems dismissive, focusing only on the basic necessities of "bread and a garment" (Deuteronomy 10:18). However, Rabbi Yehoshua offers a more nuanced and encouraging interpretation, equating "bread" with Torah and "garment" with glory.
These stories highlight the importance of patience, understanding, and the enduring power of Torah. They remind us that even when things start poorly, or when people stumble along the way, the possibility of a better ending always exists. And that sometimes, the most effective way to guide someone is not through harsh judgment, but through patient encouragement and a willingness to see the good that remains.
So, what do you think? Can the end truly be better than the beginning? And what role does patience play in helping ourselves and others achieve that better ending? It's definitely something to ponder.
“The end of a matter is better than its beginning; one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.” Rabbi Meir was sitting and expounding in the study hall of Tiberias, and his teacher, Elisha, was passing in the marketplace, riding on a horse on Shabbat. They said to Rabbi Meir: ‘Your teacher Elisha is coming and passing in the marketplace on Shabbat.’ He emerged to him. [Elisha] said to him: ‘In what were you engaged?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘“The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning”’ (Job 42:12). he [continued and] said to him: ‘“Blessed” [indicates] that He doubled his possessions for him.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva, your teacher, did not say so, but rather “the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning,” thanks to the repentance and good deeds that he had to his credit from his beginning.’ [Elisha] said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘What else did you say?’ [Rabbi Meir answered:] “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.” [Elisha] said to him: ‘What did you say in its regard?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘You have a person who purchases merchandise in his youth and he loses [money on it], and [he engages in commerce] in his old age and he makes a profit. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” – you have a person who begets children in his youth and they die, [and he begets children] in his old age, and they endure. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” – you have a person who performs wicked deeds in his youth, and in his old age, performs good deeds. Alternatively, “the end of a matter is better than its beginning” – you have a person who studies Torah in his youth and forgets it, and in his old age he returns to it; that is what is written: “the end of a matter is better than its beginning.”’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Rabbi Akiva, your teacher, did not say so; rather [he explained the verse to mean:] “The end of a matter” is good when it is good “from its beginning.” ‘Likewise, there was an incident: Avuya, my father, was one of the prominent leaders of the generation. When he came to circumcise me, he invited all the prominent residents of Jerusalem and all the prominent leaders of the generation, and invited Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua with them. When they had eaten and drunk, some began to sing songs and others recited alphabetical poems. Rabbi Eliezer said to Rabbi Yehoshua: ‘These are engaging in their [areas of interest], but we are not engaging in ours.’ They began with the Torah, from the Torah to the Prophets, and from the Prophets to the Writings, and the matters were as joyous as when they were given at Sinai, and the fire was burning around them. In their original giving at Sinai, were they not given in fire, as it is stated: “The mountain was ablaze with fire to the heart of the heavens” (Deuteronomy 4:11). [Avuya] said: ‘Since the power of the Torah is so great, this son, if he endures, I will dedicate him to the Torah.’ Because his intention was not for the sake of Heaven, my Torah did not endure in me.’ [Elisha said to Rabbi Meir:] ‘And what else did you say [in your lecture]?’ [Rabbi Meir answered:] ‘“It cannot be valued like gold and glass”’ (Job 28:17). [Elisha asked:] ‘What did you say in its regard?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘These are matters of Torah that are as difficult to acquire as gold and glass.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Akiva, your teacher, did not say so; rather, just as vessels of gold and glass, if they break they can be repaired, so too, a Torah scholar, if he lost his learning, he can return to it. [Elisha] said to him: ‘Return and enter [the city].’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha said:] ‘The Shabbat boundary ends here.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘How do you know?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘From the [number of] steps my horse [has taken, I can tell] that it has already gone two thousand cubits.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘You have all this wisdom and you do not repent?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I do not have the strength.’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘Why?’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘I was riding a horse and was sauntering behind the Temple on Yom Kippur that coincided with Shabbat. I heard a Divine Voice crying out and saying: “Return wayward children” (Jeremiah 3:22), “return to Me and I will return to you” (Malachi 3:7), except for Elisha ben Avuya, who was aware of My might and rebelled against Me.’ From where did he have this?54What caused Elisha to forsake the Torah to begin with? He saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree on Shabbat. He took the mother bird with the fledglings and climbed down unharmed. After Shabbat, he saw a certain person who climbed to the top of a palm tree, took the fledglings, and sent the mother away. He climbed down and a snake bit him and he died. [Elisha] said: ‘It is written: “Send away the mother bird and take the fledglings for yourself so it will be good for you and you will prolong your days” (Deuteronomy 22:7). Where is the good of this one? Where are the prolonged days of this one?’ But he did not know that Rabbi Akiva had expounded it: “So it will be good for you,” in the world that is entirely good; “and you will prolong your days,” in the world that is eternally long [the World to Come]. And some say it was because he saw the tongue of Rabbi Yehuda the baker in the mouth of a dog. He said: ‘If for the tongue that toiled in Torah throughout his life it is so, for the tongue that does not know and does not toil in Torah, all the more so. He said: If so, there is no reward given to the righteous and no revival of the dead.’ And some say it was because when his mother was pregnant with him, she passed by houses of idol worship and smelled,55She smelled the aroma of the offerings being sacrificed and craved them. and they gave her some of that kind, and she ate it, and it was churning in her stomach like the venom of a snake.56Because Elisha’s mother had eaten from the idolatrous sacrifice, Elisha had an ingrained desire for sin (Etz Yosef). Sometime later, Elisha ben Avuya fell ill. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘Elisha is ill.’ [Rabbi Meir] went to him and said: ‘Repent.’ [Elisha] said to him: ‘Is [repentance] accepted even in such [circumstances]?’ [Rabbi Meir] said to him: ‘But is it not written: “You turn man to contrition [daka] [and say: Return, son of man]” (Psalms 90:3) – until his soul is crushed?’57The term daka can mean contrition or crushed. Thus, the verse is interpreted to mean that God wants man to repent even if it is at the very end of his life. At that moment, Elisha ben Avuya wept, and he died. Rabbi Meir was glad and said: ‘It appears that my teacher departed in the midst of repentance.’ When they buried him, fire came to burn his grave. They came and said to Rabbi Meir: ‘The grave of your teacher is burning.’ He emerged and spread his garment over it. [Rabbi Meir] said to [Elisha]: ‘“Stay tonight” (Ruth 3:13), in this world that is entirely night. “It will be in the morning, if he will redeem you, good, he will redeem” (Ruth 3:13). What is: “It will be in the morning”? It is in the world that is totally good. “If he will redeem you, good, [he will redeem]”58It is expounded as though it is written: “If the Good will redeem you.” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord is good to all” (Psalms 145:9). “But if he will be unwilling to redeem you, I will redeem you, as the Lord lives; lie until the morning”’ (Ruth 3:13).59Rabbi Meir was requesting that Elisha be allowed to rest in peace as long as he himself was alive. When Rabbi Meir himself died, he would advocate on behalf of Elisha. The fire subsided. They said to [Rabbi Meir]: ‘Rabbi, in the World to Come, if they say to you, which do you request,60Whom do you request should be protected from punishment. your father or your teacher, what would you say?’ He said to them: ‘First [my] father and then my teacher.’ They said to him: ‘Will they listen to you?’ He said to them: ‘Is it not a mishna: One may rescue the casing of a Torah scroll with the Torah scroll, and the casing of phylacteries with the phylacteries (Shabbat 16:1)? They will save Elisha due to the merit of his Torah.’61Just as the casing is saved from fire on Shabbat due to the scroll, Elisha should be saved due to his Torah. Ultimately, his daughters came and demanded charity from Rabbeinu.62Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. He said: ‘“Let no one extend kindness to him; and let no one be gracious to his orphans”’ (Psalms 109:12). They said: ‘Rabbi, do not look at his actions, look at his Torah.’ At that moment, Rabbi wept and decreed that they should be supported. He said: ‘If one whose Torah was not for the sake of Heaven produced such,63Produced daughters with such wisdom and modest comportment; alternatively, this means if he produced a disciple such as Rabbi Meir (Matnot Kehuna). one whose Torah is for the sake of Heaven, all the more so.’ “One of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit.” A certain Persian came to Rav [and] said to him: ‘Teach me Torah.’ [Rav] said to him: ‘Say alef.’ He said to [Rav]: ‘Who says that it is alef? Let them say that it is not so.’ ‘Say bet.’ He said to [Rav]: ‘Who says that it is bet? Let them say that it is not so.’ Rav scolded him and had him removed, with reprimand. He went to Shmuel [and] said to him: ‘Teach me Torah.’ [Shmuel] said to him: ‘Say alef.’ He said to [Shmuel]: ‘Who says that it is alef?’ ‘Say bet.’ He said to [Shmuel]: ‘Who says that it is bet?’ [Shmuel] pulled him by his ear. He said: ‘My ear, my ear!’ Shmuel said to him: ‘Who says that it is your ear?’ He said to [Shmuel]: ‘Everyone knows that it is my ear.’ [Shmuel] said to him: ‘Here, too, everyone knows that this is alef and this is bet.’ The Persian was silenced, and he accepted it upon himself. That is, “one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit.” The patience that Shmuel extended the Persian is better than the exactitude with which Rav acted in his regard. Had he not done so, the Persian would have returned to his corruption.64Instead, he converted to Judaism and credited Shmuel for his patience. He read in [Shmuel’s] regard: “One of patient spirit is better.” Moreover, Aquila the proselyte65He had not yet converted. asked Rabbi Eliezer, he said to him: ‘The love with which the Holy One blessed be He loves the proselyte is with only bread and garment, as it is stated: “He loves the proselyte, giving him bread and a garment” (Deuteronomy 10:18). [Yet] I have so many peacocks and so many pheasants that even my servants pay no attention to them.’ He said to him: ‘Is it insignificant in your eyes what our patriarch Jacob requested initially, as it is stated: “And He will give me bread to eat and a garment to wear” (Genesis 28:20)? Is that an insignificant matter?’ [Aquila] came before Rabbi Yehoshua and asked him this. [Rabbi Yehoshua] said to him: ‘A proselyte who converts for the sake of Heaven is privileged, and his daughters may marry into the priesthood. “Bread,” this is the showbread; “garment,” these are the priestly vestments.’ He drew him near with his words. His disciples said to him: ‘Is the matter for which the elder entreated insignificant in your eyes, as it is stated: “And He will give me bread”? Why, then, do you dispatch him with a trifling matter?’66Apparently, the disciples did not like Rabbi Yehoshua’s first homiletical interpretation. Alternatively, this critique was stated by Rabbi Eliezer’s disciples and belongs in the text before Aquila came to Rabbi Yehoshua (see Matnot Kehuna and Bereshit Rabba 70:5). He began to placate him with his words:67Rabbi Yehoshua told Aquila the following alternate interpretation of the verse. ‘“Bread,” this is Torah, as it is stated: “Come partake of my bread” (Proverbs 9:5);68This statement is attributed in Proverbs to wisdom, which is personified and offers a speech. The midrash interprets wisdom as a reference to Torah. “garment,” this is glory, as it is stated: “Through me kings reign” (Proverbs 8:15).’69Through Torah, kings reign, and their glory is reflected in the royal garments. That is, “one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit.” The patience that Rabbi Yehoshua extended Aquila the proselyte is better than the exactitude with which Rabbi Eliezer acted in his regard. Had he not done so, he would have returned to his corruption. He read in his regard: “One of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit.”
