and so have my opponents. I was bound to conform to the tradition I had received; and so are they bound by their tradition. But thou hast heard the traditions both from myself and from my opponents; from a minority and from a majority, and it is proper for thee to reject the opinions of the individual and adopt the views of the majority". Another characteristic trait of Akabia was the great stress he laid on personal merit. When, on his deathbed, he was requested by his son to recommend him to the sages, he declined to do so. His son inquired whether his father had discovered in him any trait which rendered him unworthy of such recommendation; and Akabia's reply was, "No! but your own deeds will make you welcome, or your own deeds will make you obnoxious". As to Akabia's epoch scholars are divided. While some place him in the patriarchate of Hillel I (30 BC to 10 of the present era), and even somewhat earlier, others bring him down to the first tannaitic generation (10-80); still others believe that he flourished during the patriarchate of Gamaliel II (80-117). The circumstances and scholastic achievements of the second tannaitic generation render Akabia's excommunication more reasonable. The decree of excommunication failed to obscure Akabia's merited fame; for his name reached subsequent generations surrounded by such a halo of glory as to throw doubt on the decree itself. "God forbid," exclaims Judah b. Ilai (139-165), "that we should think that Akabia was excommunicated, for the Temple gates were never closed behind a man in Israel so great in wisdom and in the fear of sin as was Akabia ben Mahalalel". This expression, which is based on the law forbidding an excommunicated person to enter the Temple court, was in later days taken literally, and gave rise to forced halakhic discussions and comments, as well as to hypothetical speculations about the age of Akabia. Elsewhere it is said, "Whoever asserts that Akabia was ever excommunicated will have to answer before the tribunal of heaven." This observation is wrongly attributed to Judah b. Betera I, and conclusions as to Akabia's early age are erroneously deduced from this attribution. Teachings Reflect upon three things and you will not fall into transgression: Know from where you came, to where you go; and before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning. 'From where