Part One, Chapters V-IX Summary

It is four years after Elisha came to live with Joshua, and they are at the Sanhedrin for the first time. Allowed to sit on a wall near the proceedings, Elisha is entranced by the discussions of law and tradition and matches his own thoughts with those of the answers of the sages. After some time though, his attention wanders, and he drifts to sleep, accidentally bumping the man next to him. In this fashion he meets Akiba, an older man who is also a student. The two men become fast friends. As the Sanhedrin is breaking up, Joshua is walking with one of the other rabbis and Elisha joins them. The other rabbi remembers Elisha's father and is amazed that the man who loved Greeks so much could have a son who is studying to be...