Rabbi Eleazar ben Shimeon was not a small man, and the Talmud does not hide this fact. Multiple stories describe his extraordinary physical size, his immense strength, and — as this tale demonstrates — his equally immense appetite.
One day, Rabbi Eleazar traveled to visit Rabbi Josef ben Laqania. As was customary, his host prepared a meal to welcome the distinguished guest. Rabbi Josef set out food and wine, expecting the kind of polite, measured eating that scholars were known for. After all, the sages taught moderation in all things.
What happened next left Rabbi Josef speechless. Rabbi Eleazar ate. And ate. And continued eating. He consumed portions that would have satisfied three men, then four, then more. He drank wine in quantities that made the servants exchange glances. The platters were emptied and refilled and emptied again. Rabbi Josef's household watched in open-mouthed astonishment as this supposedly pious scholar devoured everything placed before him.
Rabbi Josef could not contain himself. "Master," he said carefully, "I have never seen anyone eat like this." It was the most diplomatic way he could express what everyone in the room was thinking.
But the tale was not told to mock Rabbi Eleazar. The rabbis preserved it because it illustrated a deeper truth about the physical nature of Torah scholars. Rabbi Eleazar's body was a vessel for his learning, and it demanded fuel. The Talmud elsewhere records that his physical mass was so great that when he died, his body had to be transported on a special cart. His appetites matched his scholarship — both were larger than life.
Sometimes, the folk tradition suggests, holiness comes in unexpected sizes.