As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg

This is a fictionalized biography of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah. He struggled mightily with reason and faith and ultimately turned apostate. There is some speculation that he also became an informer for the Romans against his own people and is called "the other" (acher) in the Talmud. The references to Elisha ben Abuyah are few and far between. And those that are there are cryptic with several different possible interpretations. Steinberg, a conservative rabbi, fashioned a remarkable work of fiction about this historical figure.

Steinberg freely admitted that he took liberties with the sources and did not strictly adhere to the information provided in the sources. Whereas it is documented that Elisha was born before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, in "As a Driven Leaf", Elisha is born sometime after that. Whereas Elisha was survived by 2 daughters, in the book, he and his wife were unable to conceive children. Whereas Elisha's father did send him to learn Torah, in the book, Elisha's father was an unbelieving Jew who got a Greek tutor for his son.

Given my harsh reaction to "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant, I wonder why I am more willing to forgive Steinberg his liberties with the sources than Diamant. Curious....

In any event... the title for the book comes from Job 13:24-25 "Wherefore hidest thou thy face? Wilt thou harass a driven leaf?" Job was a man who also struggled with his faith and demanded of God to know why he was being afflicted even though he was righteous. Job's question is echoed by Elisha.

Elisha could not conceive of an almighty, all good, all knowing God who would allow the righteous to perish and the wicked to flourish. He wanted to reason his way to his faith rather than start with assumptions and try to bolster them. Given the circumstances of his life and the Jewish people at the time, his questioning God and faith and the Tradition was not tolerated. He was excommunicated. Forced to choose between unquestioning loyalty to a faith that no longer made sense to him and forbidden Greek wisdom in the hopes of establishing his faith as Euclid established the principles of geometry, Elisha chose the latter.

Faith vs. Reason is only one of the themes in this book. There is the struggle of the Jewish people against Rome in the 2nd century AD. Elisha feels that the cause of the Jewish people is hopeless and that the sooner they give up against Rome, the better, for everyone. Rabbi Akiba-of whom there is a tremendous amount of information and arguably the greatest sage of the Talmudic era-argued differently. Can any earthly power extinguish a people whose mission is to spread God's message of love, hope, mercy and justice to all humanity? Even all the nations united in unholy alliance have not the might to destroy this people. There were enemies before the Romans and there were enemies since. The threat of eliminating the Jewish people comes not from outside forces but from within. Before a people can be conquered, it must destroy itself first. Because of Elisha's supposed informant status with the Romans and helping the Romans to enact edicts designed to crush the Jewish people, he was seen as helping to destroy the Jewish people from within, and is therefore called acher (the other).

Elisha's homelife was not much better. He and his wife, Deborah were unable to conceive children. She had an aristocratic hauter even though her family had fallen on hard times recently. She was concerned with Elisha's doubts only to the extent that they threatened their financial security. She was constantly harping on the servants. Their marriage was not a happy one.

It is unknown whether Elisha repented of his actions. In the book, it is clear that Elisha felt remorse and guilt and felt that he had gone too far to be able to repent.

Despite his theological and marital troubles, Elisha was not entirely friendless. A pupil of his, Meir, who later became a renowned rabbi, remained loyal to him and did not let the ban of excommunication prevent him from learning from Elisha. Elisha moved to Antioch after he left Palestine and found his old childhood friend Papas, who introduced him to scholars and rhetoricians and plays and museums and libraries. In Antioch, Elisha found the freedom to pursue his intellectual quest and he delved into the Greek sciences and literature and philosophy, something that he could not do as a rabbi in Palestine.

"As a Driven Leaf" is a remarkable piece of fiction. It has some basis in recorded events but does not hold strictly to them. I recommend this work to all who are interested in the age of the Talmud, in the question of faith vs. reason, in the question of why bad things happen to good people, and in ancient Israel.