“If there is no flour, there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour”
(Pirkei Avot 3:17)

Identity, time, and lineage

• NameRabbi Elazar (Eleazar) ben Azariá.
• Time: End of the s. I – the beginning of the s. II EC; tanna of second generation in Yavne, a contemporary child of Rabban Gamliel II, R. r. joshua ben Jananiá and greater than Rabbi Akiva. Was kohén and there was the descendant tenth generation of Ezra (Ezra).
• Trait traditional: wealth remarkable and family status, factors that —along with his wisdom— he counted on his election as the Nasi.

The appointment as Nasi and “That Day”

• After several incidents by the style of driving Rabban Gamliel to him, Rabbi, r. joshua, the wise men what removed and appointed Elazar ben Azariá for three reasons: wise, rich and lineage (tenth generation from Ezra). This episode is recounted in Berachot 27b–28a (“the deposition of Rabban Gamliel”).
• The tradition named to the day of her assumption “On That Day” (oto hayom): is the doors opened of the academy withdrew the guard and added many banks because joined crowds of students; in addition, resolved many issues halájicas (linked then to the compilation of Treaty Eduyot).
• Shortly after, Rabban Gamliel was reinstalled and, according to several traditions, shared leadership with Elazar (under “alternate”).

The story of “seventy years”

• Famous quote: “Behold, I am like a man of seventy years, and I didn't deserve that my opinion prevails...” in the context of whether it was mention the exodus from Egypt night (the exegesis of Ben Zomá). Direct source: Berachot 12b. The tradition explains that his hair bleached miraculous way to give the authority of “old man” to take a young man.

Work and contributions halájicos (mosaic representative)

• Governance academic: its management represents a institutional openness and a validation of the method referee: expanding access to the Beit Midrash and set decisions by most and testimonials firm (base Eduyot).
• Remembrance of the Exodus at night: its position (based on Deut 16:3), and the exegesis of Ben Zomá support the liturgical practice of mentioning the Exodus at night (relationship with the third paragraph of the Shema).
• Decisions “That Day”: the secondary literature summarizes that zanjaron tens of doubts regulations and enlarged the canon of student participation; this climate of open discussion it marked the posterior orientation of Yavne.

Teaching key (Agadá and ethics)

In Pirkei Avot 3:17attributed to Rabbi Elazar ben Azariá, appears a compendium of balances systemic between material life, ethics, and spirituality. Citation:nuclear

• “If there is no Torah, there is no dérej éréts (conduct), if there is dérej éréts, there is no Torah.”
• “If there is no flourkemaj), there is no Torah; if there is no Torah, there is no flour.”
• Articulated in addition to the relationship wisdom–fear–understanding–knowledge, as interdependencies more than hierarchies.

Reading ethics: these maxims condense your vision reciprocity between living and study, and ethics as a condition, and fruit of knowledge. Modern sources include how the dialectical served to model a moral economy of learning rabbinic.

Intellectual profile and method

• Represents the transition of charismatic authority to authority collegiate in Yavne, with a strong emphasis on opening, reliable testimony and vote making versus vertical. This is reflected in the memory of “That Day” and the use of Eduyot as the repertoire of the foregoing.
• Her figure is located between giants such as R. R. Joshua and Rabbi Akiva: appears many times in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and midrashim, both in halachah as in agadáalthough his most visible legacy is institutional (open and legitimate processes).

Personal life, status, and anecdotes

• Wealth: sources talmudic describe it as a very wealthy; some traditions show trader wine and oil, which fits with his famous statement about “flour and Torah”.
• “Gray hairs for one night”: narration popular that explains the phrase “like 70 years,” and the adequacy of its appearance to the dignity of the office, cited in collections, and study sheets.

Differentiation required

• Not to be confused with Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (a disciple of Rabban Yoḥanán ben Zakai, famous for the case of the “oven Ajnai” and your stiff posture). Our character is Elazar ben Azariá, the young Nasi of Yavne during the brief deposition of Rabban Gamliel II.

Legacy

• Institutional: it symbolizes the opening of the study and the discussion plural pos-the destruction of the Second Temple; its management accelerates the standardization of methodology that realized in the Mishnah.
• Liturgical-pedagogical: its role in the memorial night of the Exodus has an impact on the daily practice of Shema and in the Haggadah of Passover (the exegesis of Ben Zomá cited by him is a cornerstone).
• Ethical-social: its Avot 3:17 continues to be a node of reading about the economy of the study (sustenance ↔ Torah) and the inseparability between ethics and knowledge.