And one went up in peace and went down in peace.Sources differ concerning which sage died and which became demented; the Tosefta and the Babylonian Talmud say ben Azzai died and ben Zoma became demented, but the Jerusalem Talmud, Shir HaShirim Rabbah, and the hekhalot literature record the reverse.
The Hebrew word פַּרְדֵּס (pardes, "orchard") is of Persian origin (cf Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌⸱𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀)[2] and appears several times in the Bible.
The same Old Persian root is the source of the word paradise via Latin paradisus and Greek παράδεισος, which were used for פרדס's Biblical Hebrew equivalent גן, Garden, in early Bible translations.
[3] Samson Levey proposed the Greek paradosis suggests the four were examining the claims and early documents of Christianity and that the Tosefta account preserves the scholarly undertaking most accurately.
[8][9] The earliest context, found in the Tosefta, is the restriction on transmitting mystical teaching concerning the divine Chariot except privately to particularly qualified disciples.
[citation needed] The sugya in the Babylonian Talmud, at Hagigah 14b, is the best-known: The Rabbis taught: Four entered the Pardes.
Acher means "the other one", and is the Talmudic term for the tanna Elisha ben Abuyah (Yerushalmi identifies him as EbA on the following line; MSS Munich 6 of the Bavli and Hekhalot Zutarti read "Elisha ben Abuyah" in place of "Acher").
Rashi explains that the four rabbis ascended to Heaven by utilizing the Divine Name, which might be understood as achieving a spiritual elevation through Jewish meditation practices.
Here there is no spiritual impurity, only pure marble stones, so there is no separation between one water and the other; they form a single unity from the aspect of the Tree of Life, which is the vav in the midst of the letter aleph.
The danger concerns misinterpreting anthropomorphism in Kabbalah, introducing corporeal notions in the Divine.
Emanations in Kabbalah bridge between the Ein Sof Divine Unity and the plurality of Creation.
The fundamental mystical error involves separating between divine transcendence and immanence, as if they were a duality.
The Sefirot, including Wisdom, Compassion and Kingship comprise the dynamic life in God's Persona.
In the highest of the Four Worlds (Atziluth), the complete nullification and Unity of the sefirot and Creation is revealed within its Divine source.
Apparent separation only pertains, in successive degrees, to the lower Three Worlds and our Physical Realm.
From Cordovero's explanation: The meaning of Rabbi Akiva's warning is that the Sages should not declare that there are two types of water, since there are not, lest you endanger yourself because of the sin of separation.