Elisha ben Abuyah had once been one of the greatest scholars of his generation, a colleague of Rabbi Akiba. Then he turned away from the tradition so completely that the rabbis stopped using his name. They called him Acher, "the Other."
The Exempla preserves several reasons for his turning. His father had dedicated him to the Torah not out of love for Torah, but out of pride in having a learned son. A dedication made for wrong reasons does not hold. Elisha also saw, one Sabbath in the valley of Gennesaret, a man climb a tree and take a bird and its young from the nest. The climber descended unharmed, violating the commandment. Another man climbed a tree, observed the Torah's rule by sending the mother bird away (Deuteronomy 22:6–7), and on the way down was bitten by a snake and died. The Torah had promised long life for keeping that commandment. Elisha looked at the two bodies and concluded that the promise was empty.
A third tradition says he saw the tongue of Rabbi Nachum the martyr eaten by dogs, and said, "Is this the reward of study?" He did not believe in reward after death or in the resurrection. In the time of persecution he crossed over and helped the Romans force Jews to break the Law.
Rabbi Meir, his student, never gave up on him. Meir pleaded with him to repent. Elisha refused, saying he had once heard a voice behind the western wall of the Temple announcing that all who repent are received, except Elisha ben Abuyah, "who knew my power and rebelled against it." When Elisha fell dangerously ill, Meir visited him and asked again. "Will He receive me now?" Elisha whispered. "Yes," Meir answered. Elisha wept and died.
Days later, smoke rose from Elisha's grave. Meir came and spread his own mantle over it. "Sleep through the night," he said. "Perhaps the Lord will redeem you. If He does not, I will." He slept until morning. The Exempla borrows this closing line from the biblical story of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 3:13), but the meaning has shifted. Meir took on responsibility for his teacher's soul. Years later, Elisha's daughter came to Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi seeking assistance, and he helped her, for the sake of the father she had never stopped claiming.
R. Meir saw Elisha b. Abuya riding on horseback on the Sabbath. At the birth of Elisha the scholars had been present in his father’s house and had been discussing the Law. Fire from heaven had surrounded the house, which had so impressed the father that he had devoted his
son to the study of the Law. However, because he had done so not that his son should be a scholar, but merely for the sake of honour, Elisha afterwards turned away. R. Meir discussed various points with Elisha who showed great erudition and R. Meir tried to induce him to return to the study of the Law. Elisha refused, saying that he once heard a voice saying at the back of the western wall of the Temple, that all should be saved who repented, except Elisha b. Abuya, “who knew my power and rebelled against it.” In the time of persecution he assisted the persecutors to force the Jews to break the Law. The reason why he became rebellious was that once when he was sitting in the vale of Genesareth, he saw a man on the Sabbath going up a tree and taking away the nest with the bird and its young. He came down unharmed. Another man, going up the tree, sent the bird away and kept only the little ones according to the Law. Coming down, he was bitten by a snake and died. Where was the divine promise that by obeying this law a man's life would be prolonged? Another tradition is that he saw the tongue of R. Nahum the Martyr eaten by dogs and he said, “Is this the reward of study?” for he did not believe in the reward after death or in the resurrection of the dead. R. Meir still persisted in his attempt and when he heard that Elisha was dangerously ill, he went to visit him, for Elisha had been R. Meir's teacher. He again asked him to repent. And Elisha said, “Will He receive me now?” R. Meir replied in the affirmative. Elisha wept and died. R. Meir rejoiced in the thought that he had died with the wish of repentance. After a few days R. Meir was told that fire was issuing out of the grave of his master, and he went there and covered it with his mantle and said, “Slumber this night for perchance the Lord will save thee, and if not I will save thee; sleep until morning.” Elisha's daughter once appeared before R. Jehuda ha-Nassi the Prince, who at first refused to assist her, but when she appealed in the name of the scholarship of her father he at once acceded to her request.
