A favorable dream, in which he was told that his sins had been forgiven, encouraged him to undertake the journey to the Holy Land. and before starting he spent a hundred days in fasting, in order to forget the dialectic method of instruction of the Babylonian schools, that this might not handicap him in the Land of Israel. His journey took him through Akrokonia, where he met Hiyya bar Ashi, and through Sura. When he reached the River Jordan he could not control his impatience, but passed through the water without removing his clothes. When jeered at by an unbeliever who stood by, he answered, "Why should not I be impatient when I pursue a blessing which was denied even to Moses and Aaron?".