Rabbi Meir - Talmudic References

Talmudic References

In the Gemara to tractate Erubin in the Babylonian Talmud there is an extended discussion of the real name of this Rabbi Meir. At 13b there is, without argumentation, a simple statement that this Rabbi Meir is "Eleazar Ben Arach," one of the students of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai. This Eleazar ben Arach is given tremendous praise in Avot of Rabbi Natan. Indeed at 2:8 of Rabbi Nathan's "Avot" this Eleazar ben Arach is presented as being the greatest of the Sages, inclusive of Rabbi Eliezer ha Gadol. Further in the Gemara to tractate Haggigah in the Babylonian Talmud this same Eleazar ben Arach is presented as a student of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai who, at an early age, had mastered the meaning of the mystical revelations which are associated with "the Work of the Chariot."

In " 'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly" this conundrum is addressed. The suggestion is that the virtual disappearance of Eleazer Ben Arach from Rabbinic ways allowed for the usage of this name as a cognomen for Rabbi Meir, acceptably to Rabbinic officialdom who permitted this "cover name" to honor this great scholar but with sufficient indirectness so as not also to honor his checkered history with Rabbinic officialdom. The book also points out that Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai set up a bet midrash at Beor Khail after he left Yavneh, apparently because he was so radically shamed and discredited by what would become the mainstream of the Rabbinic Movement after "that very day" memorialized in Chapter Five of the Mishna's tractate Sotah. Rabbi Meir was not a student of Zakai at Yavneh. But it is argued that it is entirely possible that he became a student of Zakai at Beor Khail.

In his notations on Talmud (Mesoras Has'Shas), Rabbi Yeshayah Berlin points out that the Nehorai that is identified with Rabbi Eleazar is not Rabbi Meir but a different Tanna called Nehorai. In which case there is no need for the hypothesis mentioned above.

First a disciple of Elisha ben Abuyah and later of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Meir was one of the most important Tannaim of the Mishnah. Rabbi Akiva's teachings, through his pupil Rabbi Meir, became the basis of the Mishnah. Rabbi Meir is the quoted authority for many Aggadot and Halachot that are still studied today. Also, Rabbi Meir was an active participant in Bar Kokhba's revolt.

Twenty four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva died in a plague. Only five survived, and Rabbi Meir was one of them. The four others were: Rabbi Judah ben Ilai, Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, Rabbi Jose ben Halafta, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.