The Elie Wiesel Living Archive

at The 92nd Street Y, New York. Supported by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity

In the Talmud: Two Friends in Danger - Shimon Ben Azzai and Shimon Ben Zoma

The Dangerous Quest for the Meaning of Jewish Suffering

Oct 17, 1985

The famous Talmudic story of the four (Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Ben Abuyah, and Rabbi Akiva) who entered the orchard of forbidden knowledge frames our study of these two Talmudic giants. They were close: Ben Azzai wouldn’t marry because he could love only the Torah, Ben Zoma because he was a mystic. Both sought the meaning of Jewish suffering in the origins of creation, and thereby Ben Azzai lost his life, Ben Zoma lost his mind. The latter’s mystical madness, and perhaps even Ben Zoma himself, appears in all my books. Perhaps they sacrificed life and mind to try to protect our people from further suffering? Only their companion Rabbi Akiva left the orchard in peace, seeking peace for his people and the world--and maybe that saved him.

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Subthemes:
1) Four Men in Pardes (Chagigah 14b) and Their Separate Views
2) The Study of Talmud
3) In the Memory of Rabbi Saul Lieberman
4) Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma: We Know So Little
5) Shimon ben Azzai
6) Women Should Be Taught Torah
7) Diligence as His Trademark
8) His Familial Relationship with Rabbi Akiva
9) In Love with Torah
10) Afraid of Women?
11) Shimon Ben Zoma
12) Practicing Self-Control and Losing Himself in Pardes
13) Lost in or to Madness
14) A Story in Three Variations
15) Yehoshua Ben Hananiah and Ben Zoma on Har HaBayit
16) Yehoshua Ben Hananiah and Ben Zoma on the Road
17) Yehoshua Ben Hananiah and Ben Zoma Seated
18) What Did The Four See in Pardes?
19) Jewish Suffering after the Temple's Destruction
20) Bringing This to Modern Times: Russia
21) Representing the Attitudes Towards Rome
22) Finding the Relationship Between Suffering and Redemption
23) Shimon ben Azzai: A Moving Figure
24) Exemplary Disciples
25) What are Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma Best Known For?
26) They were together Even in the End When Looking at Maaseh Bereshit
27) What Did They Find In Pardes
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