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The Great Talmudic Sage : Rabbi Akiva

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muman613:
Being that we are currently in the midst of counting the Omer we should discuss the great Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva. Here is an article to start off this thread which discusses many of the pertinent facts about this great, great sage who we also learn about during the reading of the 'Ten Martyrs' during the Yom Kippur afternoon service.

http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5760/kedoshim.html

The Power of Rabbi Akiva

This week's parsha contains the command to "love your neighbor as yourself" [Vayikra 19:18]. There is a very famous Medrash (Sifra) that children sing: "Rabbi Akiva said that the mitzvah to love your neighbor as yourself is the fundamental principle of the Torah." There is a similar Talmudic passage [Shabbos 31a] concerning a gentile who was interested in converting to Judaism. He asked Hillel to teach him the whole Torah "while standing on one foot". Hillel instructed him -- what you would not want done to you, do not do to others.

It is obvious to us that it can be very hard to observe this mitzvah properly. But I have a theory that it is specifically Rabbi Akiva who can justifiably preach to us regarding the importance of this mitzvah.

This time of year - between Pesach and Shavuos - is the period of the Omer Counting, when we observe certain mourning customs in memory of Rabbi Akiva's students. Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 students, a mind-boggling number compared to our current concept of a "big" Yeshiva. Rabbi Akiva was a great Rosh Yeshiva (Dean). Yet during the Omer period, his 24,000 students all died.

If you or I were Rabbi Akiva and we had a Yeshiva with 24,000 students and our whole Yeshiva died -- due to some character flaw, which ultimately reflected negatively on the Rosh Yeshiva - what would our reaction be? Most people's reaction would no doubt be, "I am not cut out to be a Rosh Yeshiva. I must be doing something wrong." This must have been a devastating experience for Rabbi Akiva. This was his life's work -- and they all died!

What, however, does the Talmud tell us? "When Rabbi Akiva's students died and the world was desolate, he got up and went to the south of Eretz Yisroel and started over again!" [Yevamos 62b]

It seems evident that Rabbi Akiva had unbelievable resilience. He was the type of person who, despite experiencing the biggest disaster, could find something positive within that disaster, providing him with the ability to continue onward. He had an incredible ability to be able to evaluate the worst of situations and believe that "all is not lost".

Another example of Rabbi Akiva's resilience is evident from an incident that occurred following the destruction of the Bais HaMikdash [Holy Temple]. The Talmud tells us [Makkot 24a], that several Tanaim were walking near the area that was once the Holy of Holies. There was total destruction surrounding them. When they saw a fox emerge from the site of the Holy of Holies they all began to cry, except for Rabbi Akiva, who began to laugh. Rabbi Akiva saw the positive in the situation: If the prophecy which predicted the destruction came true literally, then the prophecy which predicted the redemption will also come true literally.

Rabbi Akiva tells us [Yoma 85b] "Happy are you Israel -- Who purifies you? Your father in Heaven".

Rabbi Akiva personally experienced Yom Kippur when the Bais HaMikdash was still standing. He experienced the Kohen Gadol [High Priest] doing the special Service of the Day, as well as the instant knowledge of whether it would be a good year or a bad year. There was nothing more beautiful than the radiance of the Kohen Gadol when he emerged from the Holy of Holies.

But Rabbi Akiva had to deal with a generation that had to experience a Yom Kippur soon after the Temple's Destruction, when there was no Kohen Gadol. Imagine how the people felt! This is a Yom Kippur? And Rabbi Akiva went to them and convinced them that Yom Kippur was still beautiful. We do not necessarily need a Kohen Gadol! We are now purified directly by G-d Himself.

Rabbi Akiva's strength was that he always saw the positive in every situation. That is why he taught: "Love your neighbor like yourself". Every person has SOME positive aspect. The Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) interprets the word "Kamocha" (as yourself) in this pasuk [verse] as follows: When a person gets up in the morning and looks at himself in the mirror he thinks, "I am basically a good person. I have my faults and foibles; I am not perfect. But I am more good than bad." This, the Baal Shem Tov says, is how we must evaluate our neighbor: He is basically good; I will overlook his faults.

This is not always easy. It requires us to focus on the good, rather than the bad -- to always see the glass as half full rather than half empty. That was the power of Rabbi Akiva and this is the key to the fulfillment of the mitzvah that is called "The fundamental rule of all of Torah".

muman613:
http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/9300/jewish/Ten-Martyrs-the.htm

Ten Martyrs, the: Ten Mishnaic sages who were killed by the Romans in the second century CE as an atonement for the sale of Joseph. They are: Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel II, Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, Rabbi Akiba, Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion, Rabbi Hutzpit the Interpreter, Rabbi Eleazar ben Samua, Rabbi Hananiah ben Hakinai, Rabbi Yeshevav the Scribe, Rabbi Judah ben Damah, and Rabbi Judah ben Bava. On Yom Kippur and Tishah B'Av it is customary to read an elegy that discusses the martyrdom of these holy men. (Some sources replace some of the names above with Rabbi Hananiah the Deputy High Priest, Rabbi Judah ben Teima, Rabbi Judah the Baker, and Rabbi Tarfon.)

http://www.torah.org/learning/rabbis-notebook/5759/haazinu.html


--- Quote ---On Yom Kippur we read the story of the Ten Martyrs. Rabbi Akiva was among those ten great personalities who died sanctifying G-d's name. The Talmud in Berachos 61b relates that as Rabbi Akiva was being tortured to death his students saw him reciting the Shema with joy, seemingly oblivious to the pain he was enduring. The incongruity of the moment was so apparent that even Tyrnus Rufus, the Roman commander who had ordered the execution, asked Rabbi Akiva how he was able to laugh in the face of such horrendous torture.

Rabbi Akiva's students, who were equally amazed at their teacher's endurance understood the moment to be far more profound than mere stoic courage and endurance. They asked their beloved teacher, "Is the Mitzvah of reciting the Shema incumbent upon an individual under such dire circumstances?" Rabbi Akiva explained. "The Torah commands us to love G-d with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our belongings. All my life I wondered whether I would ever fulfill this Mitzvah of loving G-d with all my soul. Now that I have bee granted the opportunity of loving G-d with my very life should I not do so with joy and exultation?"

As a nation that has survived millennium of persecution and suffering, we have a fascination with how our heroes have died and how one should die. In the aftermath of the Swiss Air tragedy, a Talis was found floating in the ocean. Tragically, Mr. Klein, a "frum (observant)" man, was a passenger on that fateful flight and it was his Tallis that had been recovered among the wreckage. Mr. Klein's children confirmed that their father never placed his Talis and Tefilin through the regular baggage service but always carried them with him on board. The problem was that it was nighttime when the flight crashed into the Atlantic and the Talis, which is usually not worn at night, should have been enclosed in its zippered velvet "zekel - bag" which was inside a zippered plastic cover. How did Mr. Klein's Talis get out of its bag? The children surmised that in the six minutes prior to the crash when the passengers knew that the plane was in trouble their father, knowing that the situation was serious took out his Talis and put it on. That is the way a true "Eved G-d - Servant of G-d" prepares for possible disaster - wrapped in his Talis and immersed in Tefilah - prayer. It is fair to assume that Mr. Klein's final words, like Rabbi Akiva's, were "Shema Yisroel…"

Moshe Rabbeinu said this week's Parsha in the final hours of his life. Moshe knew that he was about to die and the final two Parshios of the Torah, Haazeinu and Zos Habracha, record his last words, thoughts, and feelings. So, how did Moshe die? The final moments were recorded in the Medresh as "the kiss of G-d." However, far more fascinating than his actual death were the moments preceding that final kiss.
--- End quote ---

muman613:
Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Akiva is one of the most famous names in Jewish history. At the age of forty he was an illiterate shepherd who detested the rabbis of his day.

One day, Akiva noticed a rock that had a small, smooth hole bored through it. He soon noticed that the hole had been created by droplets of water that were dripping onto the rock. "If a drop of water can penetrate a stone," he thought, "then surely the words of Torah can penetrate my heart." This realization sparked a transformation that saw the ignorant Akiva grow into the great Rabbi Akiva, teacher of his nation.

In the end, Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death by the Romans for the crime of teaching Torah. The last words he uttered were, Shema Yisroel…

http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/yomkippur/yksurvival5.html

muman613:
http://www.torah.org/features/holydays/rabbiakiva.html

Rabbi Akiva
by Rabbi Berel Wein
The current period of time between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuos are the times of the sefiras haoemer - the counting of the seven weeks of forty-nine days that are between these two major holidays on the Jewish calendar. As is well known this period of time is also a period of semi-mourning because of historical tragedies that occurred to the Jewish people during this particular period of the time of the year. The earliest tragic event of this period as recorded for us in the Talmud was the death of twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva during the Hadrianic era of the second century CE. Because of this, Rabbi Akiva has been forever linked to the sefira period of the calendar. Rabbi Akiva is one of the leading figures in the Mishna and Talmud and one of the heroic figures in all of Jewish history. One may even say that his life is a classic example of holy accomplishment under most adverse and negative circumstances. It is the very tragedy of the events of his life that lend him the grandeur and stature as being the heroic role model of all later generations of Jews.

Rabbi Akiva came from a family of converts. Even later in life when he was recognized as the greatest scholar of his generation, his lack of pedigree held him back from being appointed the nassi -- the leader of the Sanhedrin. Yet, he remains the prime example of the greatness that converts and those born of converts have brought to the Jewish people over the ages. For the first decades of his life, Rabbi Akiva was a completely unlettered and ignorant Jew. Not only that, but he freely admitted later in life that when he was such an ignorant Jew he possessed a deep and abiding hatred towards the Torah scholars of his time. His inspiration to study Torah came from his wife, Rachel, the daughter of Kalba Savua, the wealthiest Jew of his time. Rabbi Akiva was a shepherd -- as was Jacob, Moses and David -- in the employ of Kalba Savua. Rachel loved Rabbi Akiva and sent him away to study at the yeshiva of the great Rabbi Eliezer, while her father, angry over the "mismatch," disowned them both. Rabbi Akiva saw a stone that had been worn away by the drops of water that were constantly falling on it. He applied himself diligently to the study of Torah which is compared always to water and the rock of ignorance and hatred within him was washed away. When he returned to Rachel revered as the greatest scholar of his time with tens of thousands of students, Kalba Savua was quick to reinstate Rachel and Rabbi Akiva into his largesse and good graces. Rabbi Akiva thus became the inspiration not only for converts and their descendants but for those who come to Torah study even later in life.

Rabbi Akiva supported the abortive rebellion of Bar Kochba against Roman rule. Rabbi Akiva even saw in the early Bar Kochba messianic potential and opportunity. However, as the rebellion began to falter and Bar Kochba himself turned out to have clay feet, Rabbi Akiva ruefully admitted his error in supporting the revolt. The persecutions of the Romans against the Jews and against all observances and study of Torah were horrific. Rabbi Akiva himself would be arrested and tortured to death. Yet, Rabbi Akiva remained as the symbol of Jewish optimism throughout the ages of exile and despair. His faith in the better tomorrow for Jews and humanity, his rock-solid belief in the literal fulfillment of the words of the prophets regarding the redemption of Israel and his upbeat outlook on life in spite of all adversities never wavered. Other great scholars wept in despair when they witnessed jackals roaming through the ruins of the Temple and its Holy of Holies. Rabbi Akiva laughed at viewing the same scene, serene in his faith that just as the negative prophecies regarding the Jewish future were fulfilled literally, so too would the positive blessings of Israel recorded in the book of Zecharya occur in a most literal and perfect sense. The ability of all later generations of Jews to look beyond current troubles and tragedies and to see a great dawn of hope and light in their future was now predicated on Rabbi Akiva's example and teachings. Thus the hero of the converts and the unlettered became the hero of all of Israel through all of its ages and experiences. The sefira period reminds us of this great Jew and renews our own hopes for triumph of Torah and Israel.

muman613:
http://www.ravkooktorah.org/VAET62.htm

Va'Etchanan: With All Your Soul

Rabbi Akiva's Martyrdom

When the Romans decreed that teaching Torah is a crime punishable by death, Rabbi Akiva's reaction was not surprising. The pre-eminent scholar, who had supported Bar Kochba in his revolt against Rome, gathered people together and gave public Torah lectures.

Before long, Rabbi Akiva was charged and convicted. When the rabbi was taken out for public execution, it was the hour for reciting the Shema prayer. As the executioners flayed his skin with iron combs, Rabbi Akiva recited the Shema, concentrating on fulfilling its words: to love G-d "with all your heart, soul, and might."

The Talmud (Berachot 61b) records Rabbi Akiva's final conversation before his death. His students questioned him, "Our master! Even to this extent?"

The scholar responded:

"All my life I have been troubled by this verse, "You shall love G-d... with all your soul." As I have explained its meaning: "all your soul," even if they take your life. I have always wondered: will I ever have the privilege of fulfilling this mitzvah? And now that the opportunity has finally arrived — shall I not seize it?"

This exchange between Rabbi Akiva and his students requires clarification. What exactly did his disciples mean when they asked, "Even to this extent?"

The Purpose of Shema

One might think that the daily recitation of Shema is a preparatory act. Each day we accept upon ourselves the reign of Heaven, and prepare ourselves to love G-d, even at the cost of our lives. This daily declaration ensures that we will have the necessary reserves of courage and commitment should there arise a need for the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom.

Therefore, the students were surprised. Their teacher had already withstood the test. He had accepted martyrdom with a noble and resolute love of G-d. Even the cruelest instruments of torture had not deterred him. What need, then, was there for Rabbi Akiva to recite this final Shema? Why prepare for that which he was now already fulfilling?

Rabbi Akiva, however, understood the intrinsic value of Shema. This declaration of love for G-d and acceptance of His rule is not just a tool to train the spirit. Each recitation of Shema is in itself a wonderful act. Every time we whole-heartedly declare G-d's unity, our souls are uplifted in holiness and closeness to G-d. The Shema is not just a means by which we prepare ourselves; its very recitation brings a spiritual elevation.

Until his final declaration of Shema, Rabbi Akiva had recited the Shema with the thought that he was willing to sacrifice his life — "with all your soul" — for love of G-d. His entire life, he had wondered whether he would be able to fulfill the mitzvah of Shema in its most extreme, most demanding, form. "Will I ever have the privilege of fulfilling this mitzvah to its utmost?" At the hands of the Romans, he was able to accept the reign of Heaven while sacrificing his life — not just as a mental vision, but in real life.

His Soul Departed With Echad

The Talmud relates that as Rabbi Akiva concentrated on the last word of Shema, his soul departed.

Rabbi Akiva breathed his last with the word Echad — "G-d is one." A master of Jewish law, the scholar was able to infer legal rulings from the smallest markings in the text of the Torah (Menachot 29b). In the final analysis, however, all the detailed laws and myraid explanations that he had propounded during his lifetime were all part of a single harmonious system. Everything Rabbi Akiva had taught shared the same underlying theme: how to live life according to the supreme principle of G-d oneness. It was thus fitting that his final word should be Echad.

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