Acher, lived at the end of the first and the beginning of the
second century. He is charged by the Rabbis with having aided
the Romans in their attempts to suppress the Jewish religion,
with having endeavored to estrange the young from Judaism and
from the study of its literature, with having intentionally
and openly broken the ceremonial laws, and with having
desecrated the Sabbath. R. Meir, his pupil, maintained a
close intimacy with him, in spite of his apostacy, having high
regard for Elisha's intellectual worth. When reproached for
this, R. Meir said, "I eat the kernel, and throw away the
husks." Elisha is often referred to as the "Faust of the
_Talmud_." On his identification with the Apostle Paul, see
I. M. Wise, _The Origin of Christianity_, p. 311, and
Danziger, _ibid._, pp. 304-306. Some have even identified him
with Jesus. In _Abot de-Rabbi Natan_, a parable that is very
similar to that of Jesus, in Luke VI 47-49, is attributed to
Elisha. "A man who does good deeds and diligently studies the
Law, to whom is he likened? He is like a man building a house
with a stone foundation and with tiles (on the roof); and when
a flood arises, and breaks against the walls, that house
cannot be moved from its place. But the man who lives an evil
life, in spite of having deeply studied the Law, to whom is he
like? He is like a man building a house with tiles for a
foundation and with heavy stones (on the roof); and when a
little rain comes, straightway the house falls in" (G.
Friedlander's translation, in _The Jewish Sources of the
SErmon on the Mount_, pp. 259-260). On the career of Acher,
see Bacher, _ibid._, pp. 432-436; Graetz, _History_, II,
_passim_; Myers, _ibid._, pp. 200-202; and Strack, _Einleitung
in den Talmud_, p. 91.