Kabbalah for Chagigah 29:6
אפקוהו למיטטרון ומחיוהו שיתין פולסי דנורא א"ל מ"ט כי חזיתיה לא קמת מקמיה איתיהיבא ליה רשותא למימחק זכוותא דאחר יצתה בת קול ואמרה (ירמיהו ג, יד) שובו בנים שובבים חוץ מאחר
They took Mitatron out, and gave him sixty lashes of fire. They said to him, "What is your reason, that when you saw him, you did not stand before him?" He had permission to erase the merits of Acher. A heavenly voice went out and said, "'Return, rebellious children (Jeremiah 3:14)-' except for Acher."
Or Neerav
Do not [attempt] to refute me [with the case of] Elisha [ben Avuya].12Elisha ben Avuya was a rabbinic sage and the teacher of R. Meir. According to several rabbinic sources, he became a heretic and was referred to as Aḥer, “the Other One.” In Tosefta, Ḥagigah 2:3, his heresy is traced to the fact that he was one of four rabbis who entered Pardes (understood as the study of esoteric lore), out of which only R. Akiva emerged unscathed. There are several reasons why [this case is] not [relevant]. First of all, there we are dealing with heresy, God forbid. It is a fire which consumes down to Abaddon (Job 31:12). Secondly, he has already explained [that it has to be other] than Elisha “the Other One” in that [in this case the one who “errs”] recognizes his master …
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy