Page "Elisha ben Abuyah" Paragraph 17

The harsh treatment he received from the Pharisees was due to his having deserted their ranks at such a critical time.

Quite in harmony with this supposition are the other sins laid to his charge ; namely, that he rode in an ostentatious manner through the streets of Jerusalem on a Day of Atonement which fell upon a Sabbath, and that he was bold enough to overstep the " teḥum " ( the limits of the Sabbath-day journey ).

Both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmuds agree here, and cite this as proof that Elisha turned from Pharisaism to heresy.

It was just such non-observance of customs that excited the anger of Akiva ( Sotah 27b ).

The Jewish Encyclopedia writes that the mention of the " Holy of Holies " in this passage is not an anachronism, as Grätz thinks, for while it is true that Eliezer and Joshua were present as the geonim par excellence at Elisha's circumcision — which must, therefore, have occurred after the death of Johanan ben Zakkai ( 80 )— it is also true that the " Holy of Holies " is likewise mentioned in connection with Rabbi Akiva ( Makkot, end ); indeed, the use of this expression is due to the fact that the Rabbis held holiness to be inherent in the place, not in the building ( Yevamot 6b ).