Ben Azzai בן עזאי
entered the pardes and died; “he looked and died”
"Four entered the pardes: Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Acher and Rabbi Akiva. Ben Azzai looked and died. Ben Zoma looked and was harmed. Acher cut the shoots. Rabbi Akiva emerged in peace."
What the pardes — "the orchard" — was, the Talmud does not explain, and interpretations abound, from mystical ascent to speculation pushed to its limit. One thing is clear: of the four, one came back whole.
Ben Azzai was reckoned among the sharpest minds of his generation; "as keen as Ben Azzai" entered the language. He was never ordained, and so is called not "Rabbi" but by his patronymic.
His is the dispute with Rabbi Akiva over which verse of the Torah is the greatest. Rabbi Akiva said: "love your neighbour as yourself" — this is a great principle of the Torah. Ben Azzai answered: there is a greater principle — "this is the book of the generations of man," because it speaks of every human being, not only of a neighbour.
On the timeline
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Chagigah 14b — four entered the pardes; “he looked and died”
- Bereshit Rabbah 24:7 — the dispute with Rabbi Akiva over the greatest principle of the Torah
Basis: Talmud and midrash.