The Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 5, 1967 Page: 62 of 115
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88628829808722501851/88
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HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM
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THE GREAT ATLANTIC & TEA CO., IHC.
PAGE 59
1-9-6-7
of the JEWISH HERALD-VOICE
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Sincerest Wishes for a
Happy New Year
BEST WISHES FOR THE
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To each and everyone
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1
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from the poor Joshua ben Han-
any a; the latter sent him to Tar-
fon, Akiba’s contemporary, who
later became his closest friend.
The tradition as he received it
from Tarfon did not, however,
satisfy Akiba because the former
was really a member of the patri-
cian wing of the Pharisees, while
his own sympathies were with the
Plebeian group.
Finding himself in fundamental
disagreement on the social issues
of the day with Tarfon—in spite
of the latter’s love of the pupil—
and unable to follow the slow-mov-
ing, good-humored, half-cynical,
easily satisfied Joshua, Akiba
turned to the brilliant but com-
partively unknown Nahum of
Gimzo. Nahum’s value to Akiba
lay in the new method of inter-
pretation which he had developed,
by which every word and indeed
every letter in Scripture have
significance.
Having mastered the plebeian
doctrines of Joshua and Nahum,
Akiba decided to return to Elie-
zer, who had originally rejected
him. This time Eliezer did not
refuse to admit him, but neither
did he “recognize” him. We do
not know how long Akiba remain-
ed associated with Eliezer in this
way, but it is said that after he
had spent thirteen years in study
under his various masters, he de-
cided to challenge openly the pa-
trician traditions of the Sham-
maites, of whom his new master
Eliezer was the foremost ex-
ponent.
One day, in the conclave of
Yavneh, Eliezer offered an opin-
ion to which Joshua raised an ob-
jection. There was nothing to in-
dicate that the occasion would as-
sume historical importance until
Akiba, still comparatively un-
known outside the limited circle
of his teachers, stood up to oppose
Eliezer, who, according to Johanan
ben Zakkai, outweighed in learn-
ing the entire host of his contem-
poraries. What followed has be-
come a saga of scholarship, and
the arguments, even the invectives,
used by the protagonists still echo
wherever the Jewish tradition is
studied.
Characteristically, the question
which precipitated the combat
was of purely academic interest
1001 Century Bldg. CA 4-0686
Eliezer shouted, “ ‘In its due sea-
son’ (Numbers 28:2)? And does
that not mean that sacrifices must
be brought at their specified times
whether on the Sabbath or on
week days?”
“Indeed,” Akiba replied, “but
show me where it says that knives
must be sharpened in the appoint-
ed seasons.”
During the eight or ten years
Akiba spent under the tutelage of
Joshua ban Hananya and Nahum
of Gimzo, he had become com-
pletely transformed: his interests
now transcended his provincial
origin; he had absorbed the whole
plebeian outlook on life. Though
his manners and speech were now
those of a polished gentleman, his
legislation protected plebeian in-
terests. But it was expressed in
terms of concrete legal rules and
mature, sophisticated urban ideal-
ism.
At last, weary of the continual
struggle against Gamaliel and the
other patricians, Akiba left Yav-
292285=2=
Mdkk
was there that Judaism was saved
in its direst crisis.
Shortly after its establishment,
Akiba appeared at the Vineyard
of Yavneh, seeking higher rab-
binic instruction. Though Johanan
had passed away and his place
was still vacant, the academy had
been so firmly established that
there was no interruption in its
activity, or diminution of its pres-
tige
In the center of the whole
magnificent group sat the two
men who had helped Johanan ben
Zakkai found the academy: Eliezer
ben Hyrkanos and Joshua ben
Hananya. Eliezer, the foppish,
rich landowner, reared as an am
ha-aretz, had fled from his father’s
house in order to study Torah,
and had finally attained such pro-
ficiency that Johanan had com-
pared him to “a well-lined cistern
which never loses a drop.” Joshua
ben Hananya, on the other hand,
was ungainly in form and plain
of face but possessed of remark-
able wit and a melodious voice, a
Temple singer who, after Jerusa-
lem was destroyed, had become a
needlemaker. In the midst of dire
poverty, in a soot-covered hovel,
he pursued his studies until he had
mastered not only Jewish learning
but also the secular sciences of
mathematics and astronomy.
Akiba turned first to Eliezer
ben Hyrkanos, perhaps because
he too had entered on his studies
when he was a mature man.
Eliezer, however, rejected Akiba,
holding that just as God had giv-
en the Law to a generation which
was fed with manna, so later
teachers should accept as pupils
only those who had no economic
worries to distract them. But
Akiba received a warm welcome
I
at the moment. The law required
certain sacrifices to be offered on
Sabbaths and holidays, and it had
always been agreed that the per-
formance of the labor connected
with these duties necessarily sup-
erseded the Sabbath and festival
prohibitions. The priests further
maintained that all ancillary activ-
ities, such as sharpening knives
and preparing fuel, were also per-
mitted. This the plebeians vigor-
ously denied. The Temple had
been in ruins for almost a quarter
of a century when Eliezer men-
tioned the priestly tradition and
defended it in the academy. He
urged that since slaughtering an
animal—a major activity—was
permitted, sharpening a knife—a
minor activity—must by implica-
tion also be permitted. Joshua
made a feeble attempt to answer
this argument but, in his usual
fashion, was about to retire from
the field when Akiba stood up to
voice his opinion.
“Does not the Bible say,”
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White, D. H. The Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 27, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 5, 1967, newspaper, October 5, 1967; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1527819/m1/62/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .