I'm just gonna post this so we have discussion questions and stuff for today...
I thought the most compelling part of Elisha Ben Abuyah's story was when he said: "There is no justice, and there is no Judge." I think it's kind of incredible that he was able to renounce everything he had once believed and that everyone around him believed so succinctly. It is as if the absence of justice was enough for him to see that there was no God.
Factual Question: Who was Ben Abuyah's sole defender/student?
rabbi Meir
Discussion Question: Do you think that Ben Abuyah was consequentially excommunicated or that he strategically excommunicated himself?
What was Abuyah's reasoning for renouncing his faith? Why was it so easy for him to renounce all of his beliefs?
ReplyDeleteHecht describes the situation of Ben Abuyah as a single event that ended in this guy being excommunicated. I kinda lean towards the idea that he wanted to be excommunicated and that is why he made the statement "There is no justice, and there is no Judge," the line that ultimately led to his excommunication based off of what Hecht says. The reason Abuyah made this comment was because he was watching a young child climb a tree to perform a mitzvah (before one gathers eggs from a nest, one should shoo away the mother bird). According to Hecht the Bible says that by doing this mitzvah it would bring long life. (I am not sure what Bible she is talking about because in her siting this source all she mentions is "2:6, 7." (pg 502) Not sure what book to look in, inside the Bible or if this even really did come from the Bible) So while this young child is shooing the birds he falls from the tree and dies, and Abuyah makes his comment about justice and there being no judge. To me this is silly. Just because someone believes in God or some other higher being it does not make them invincible to the principles of the world. If you fall from a tree your going to get hurt, it doesn't matter what your doing in the tree. If someone makes the claim that God will protect them as they cross a busy street blindfolded, they are going to get hurt.
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