[2] Alon Goshen-Gottstein and Bertrand Badie wrote that this metaphor of rabbinical sage as spring was central to Eleazar's role in Talmud.
If the difference of opinion concerning the words of R. Yoḥanan b. Zakkai indeed reflects fundamentally different approaches to the study of Torah, we are in a position to identify the circle that gave rise to the praise heaped on R. Eleazar ben Arach.
An examination of the variants of this tradition in Avot de Rabbi Natan, suggests that the praise of R. Eleazar ben Arach (the everflowing spring) originated in the academy of R. Akiva.
"[5] Crusader-period Jewish sources identify Eleazar ben Arach's tomb at the Upper Galilee town of Alma.
[6] An anonymous Hebrew manuscript of the same period states that the Jews and Muslims of Alma light candles on Eleazar ben Arach's tomb on Shabbat Eve, and mention a nearby miracle-working tree.