Eliezer ben Horkanos

What was the beginning of Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkanos?

He was twenty-two years old and had never studied Torah. One day, he said, "I'm going to go learn Torah from Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai". His father Horkanos said to him, "you can't go there to learn until you've plowed the whole field". He woke up first thing in the morning and plowed the whole field. Then, he went on his way; he didn't have anywhere to go and didn't eat anything from Friday afternoon until Motzei Shabbat. When he went on his way after Shabbat, he saw a clump of dirt and put in his mouth. Some say it was not dirt, but was rather cow dung.

-He continued on his way and stopped at an inn to sleep, then continued until he made it to Yochanan ben Zakai's Beit Midrash in Yerushalayim. Eventually he opened his mouth and a terrible smell emanated from his mouth. Yochanan ben Zakai said to him, "Eliezer my son, have you not eaten anything today?"

-He remained silent.

-Yochanan ben Zakai asked him again, but again he did not reply.

-Yochanan ben Zakai sent a messenger to the inn where Eliezer was staying, and asked them, "Did Eliezer eat anything at your inn?"

-They replied, "No, we assumed maybe he was eating by you". He replied, "I assumed that he was eating by you". Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai called Rabbi Eliezer and said to him, "the same mouth that a bad odor came out this morning will be the mouth from which will flow amazing Torah knowledge."

-When Horkanos his father heard that Eliezer was learning Torah with Yochanan ben Zakai, he said, I will go and cut off my son from my will. On that same day, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai was sitting and teaching in Yerushalayim, and all of the big scholar were sitting in his Beit Midrash. When he heard that Horkanos was coming, he summoned the Beit Midrash guards and told them not to prevent Horkanos from entering.Horkanos came and sat down in the Beit Midrash.

Yochanan said to Eliezer ben Horkanos, "come up to my podium and speak. Eliezer replied, "I can't do that!"

-Yochanan, as well as the other students, continued pushing Eliezer until he agreed, and when he began teaching, amazing ideas came out of a kind that nobody had ever heard before.

-Every time a new idea came out of his mouth, Yochanan got up from his seat, kissed Eliezer's head, and said, "Eliezer my rabbi, you have truly taught me."

-When the time came for everyone to leave, Horkanos stood up and said, "My teachers, I came here today for the sole purpose of excising my son from my inheritance. Now, however, all of my land shall be given to my son Eliezer, and none of my other children shall receive anything".

(Rabbi Eliezer said): In all my days, a person never came before me to the House of Study, And neither did I sleep in the House of Study, neither a permanent sleep nor a temporary sleep, and never did I leave a man in the House of Study and exit, and never did I converse in regular conversation, and I never said anything which I did not hear from my teacher at any time."

They said: On that day they burned all the pure things R. Eliezer had declared pure; they voted upon him and excommunicated him...Ima Shalom, wife of R. Eliezer, was R. Gamliel’s sister; from then she did not allow R. Eliezer to fall on his face in prayer (for fear of what would happen if he were able to pray fully). One day, a poor man came and stood at the gate, she brought out bread to him. She found R. Eliezer fallen in prayer and said, “Get up, you have killed my brother.” Meanwhile a ram’s horn blast went out from R. Gamliel’s house [to announce] that he died.

The sages were arguing with Eliezer ben Horkanos about whether an "Achnai oven", (an oven with different sections that has sand between each section) was pure; Rabbi Eliezer said that it was pure, while the sages said that it wasn't.

It was taught: On that day R. Eliezer answered all the questions to prove why he was right, yet the sages still did not accept his opinion. He said, “If I am correct, the carob tree will prove it”; the carob tree suddenly lifted itself up and fly 100 amot into the air. They replied: “You cannot prove a point from a carob tree.”... He went and said “If the law is like me the water channel will prove it”; the water channel flowed in the reverse direction. They said: “We do not bring proof from a water channel.” He went and said “If the law is as I say the walls of the House of Study will prove it”; the walls of the House of Study tilted, starting to fall. R. Yehoshua yelled at the walls, saying to them “If scholars kill each other through their arguments, how does it help you?” They did not fall because of the honor of R.Yehoshua and they did not straighten, because of the honor of R. Eliezer, and they still incline and stand.... [R. Eliezer] went and said, “If the law is like me, from Heaven they will prove it”; a heavenly voice came out and said, “What's your issue with R. Eliezer, who the law is like him in every place?” R. Yehoshua stood on his feet and said “It is not in heaven,” (Deuteronomy 30:12). (i.e. Heaven doesn't get to decide what's right and wrong".

When R. Yosi ben Durmaskit came before R. Eliezer in Lod, R. Eliezer said to him, What innovation was in the Beit HaMidrash today? [R. Yosi] replied, They counted votes and concluded that Ammon and Moab must give the poor man’s tithe in the Sabbatical year. [R. Eliezer] said to him, Yosi,why do you say this is an innovation!? R. Eliezer wept and ... said to him, Go and tell them, your tally of votes doesn't mean anything, I have received a tradition from R. Yochanan ben Zakai, who heard from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher until it was a law transmitted to Moses at Sinai, that Ammon and Moab must give the poor man’s tithe in the Sabbatical year.

(10) They said three things. Rabbi Eliezer says: The honor of your friend should be as dear to you as your own, and do not be easy to anger, and repent one day before your death. And warm yourself by the fire of the Sages, but be cautious around their coals that you should not be burned, for their bite is the bite of a fox, and their sting is the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is the hiss of a Seraph, and all of their words are like burning coals.