Rabbi Akiva
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Akiba ben Joseph (Rabbi Akiva or as he is called in the Talmud Rebbi Akiva) (died c. 135 CE) was a famous Jewish rabbi of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century. He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the early Oral Torah, mainly the Mishnah and the midrash halakha. He laid the foundations of the Mishnaic dispute, by which pairs or larger groups of sages dispute points of Halakha or Bible interpretation. He is called by the Talmud "Rosh LaChachomim" (Head of all the sages).
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[edit] In the Mishnah
He was of the third generation of the Tannaim (Sages of the Mishnah). Rebbi Akiva was a disciple of Nochum Ish Gamzu, Rebbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, and Rebbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. Some say that he was also a disciple of Rebbi Tarfon; others claim he was his contemporary colleague.
Among his other contemporary colleagues are: Elisha ben Avuyu, Rebbi Eliezer ben Rebbi Tzodok, Rebbi Elozor ben Azarya, Rabban Gamliel, Rebbi Yehuda ben Betheira, Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri, Rebbi Yosi the Galilean, Rebbi Yishmael and Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa.
- "What was Rebbi Akiva like? - A worker who goes out with his basket. He finds wheat - he puts it in, barley - he puts it in, spelt - he puts it in, beans - he puts it in, lentils - he puts it in. When he arrives home he sorts out the wheat by itself, barley by itself, spelt by itself, beans by themselves, lentils by themselves. So did Rebbi Akiva; he arranged the Torah rings by rings" (Avot deRabbi Natan ch. 18; see also Babylonian Talmud, tractate Gittin, 67a).
Rebbi Akiva held countless disputes with his teachers and colleagues. A rule was later established: whenever Rebbi Akiva disputes a single sage, the halakhic ruling follows him, but not so when he disputes more than one sage.
Rebbi Akiva taught thousands of students; twenty four thousand students of his died in a plague. His five main, last remaining students were Rebbi Yehuda bar Iloyi, Rebbi Meir, Rebbi Nechemiah, Rebbi Yosi Ben Rebbi Chalafta and Rebbi Shimon bar Yochoyi.
[edit] Biography
The Talmud is the only ancient source of knowledge about Rebbi Akiva. According to it he was born to a proselyte named Joseph, who happened to be neighbors with Hyrcanus, father of the Great Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. He was an am ha'aretz (Hebrew: ignoramus) during his first forty years. During that period he used to say: "O that I would find a Talmid Chacham and bite him like a donkey" (Talmud tractate Pesachim, 49b).
He was the shepherd of a rich man nicknamed Kalba Savua because anyone who entered his house hungry like a dog (kalba) went out satiated (savua) (a reference to his hospitality toward guests). Kalba Savua's daughter, whose name was Rachel, noticed his modesty and good nature. She saw that he had a great mind, and that if he would put his mind to The Almighty's Divine Torah, he would flourish into a great teacher in Israel. She spoke with Akiva about G-d and the role of the Jewish people, and it sparked his interest. One day Akiva came to Rachel by a river, and asked her why the Jewish people, if they were G-d's Chosen people, had to suffer so much. She replied,
"The greater, the higher a man's task is, the more he must endure, the more he must fight and suffer. An ordinary simple man who doesn't bother about anything usually lives a quiet an undisturbed life. The man who wants to do something, who is concerned with the general welfare has troubles and worries. When G-d elevated Israel and chose us from all the nations, He placed us in the midst of every conflict. Wherever something great is being fought for, Israel must be there. Few peoples rise above the others, to put their foot on the neck of the nations. The various generations come up, grow, flourish and disappear. Israel must play its part in all of them. Of course, that involves suffering and sorrow. Sometimes we are hurled down to earth, and the ploughs are drawn across our backs and we are marked by long furrows. But G-d has always raised us up again. He has never punished us as He has punished those who torment us. He has never doomed us to die like those nations who oppress us. If we must suffer more than other peoples, G-d has also given us the strength to bear our troubles; to endure."
Rachel's words moved Akiva, and he told her that he could only dedicate himself to Torah if he had a wife like her by his side. She said that she would accept his "wooing" if he would devote himself to the study of G-d's law. He said he would, and they married in secret. Her father, hearing this, drove her out of his house and prohibited her by vow of having any share in his assets.
Rachel brought Akiva to Gamzu, a small place near Lod, to learn from the Torah sage Nochum of Gamzu. He learned with him until he died, at which point he moved to Yavneh to study at the feet of Rebbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a student of Rebbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, as well as Rabban Gamliel HaNasi (the Prince), and Rebbi Yehoshua ben Chananya. After 12 years, he returned to his home with twelve thousand disciples following him. He overheard a neighbor saying to his wife Rachel: "How long will you live as a widow while still married? Your husband has probably forgotten all about you!" She answered her: "If he would listen to me, he should go study another twelve years." Hearing this, Rabbi Akiva said: "So I'm doing it with her approval!" and went and studied another twelve years.
When he came back this time, he had twenty-four thousand disciples with him. Hearing this, his wife was about to go out and greet him. Her female neighbors said to her: "Go borrow garments and dress yourself!" She replied: "A righteous man knows the spirit of his domestic beast" (Proverbs 12:10).
When she reached him she prostrated herself and started kissing his feet. His servants started pushing her away. He said to them: "Let her be! What both I and you have is hers."
Her father heard that a great man had arrived in town. He said: "Let me go to him, perhaps he may annul my vow." Rebbi Akiva asked him: "Had you known that her husband would become a great man, would you have vowed?" Kalba Savua answered: "Why, if he even knew one chapter, even one Halakha!" Rebbi Akiva then said: "I am him." He prostrated himself and kissed him on his feet, and gave him half his assets (tractate Ketubot, 62b-63a).
Rebbi Akiva was very rich. The Talmud enumerates six occasions in which he gained his wealth. (tractate Nedarim, 50a-b) Throughout his life Rebbi Akiva defended the Jewish people many times in the Roman high courts. He had contact many times with the Emperor Hadrian and the Emperor Domitian, as well as other high Roman officials such as Titus Flavius Clemens and his wife Flavia Domitilla, and the wife of Governor Tinius Rufus named Rufina who eventually converted to Judaism and married Rebbi Akiva; after his first wife Rachel had died.
Rebbe Akiva encouraged Bar Kochba to revolt against Rome and even organized the rebellion. Raising money from the Reish Galusa or King of exiled Jewish commuities, and Jewish communities around the ancient world. When Shimon bar Kokhba's revolt took place (c. 135 CE), Rebbi Akiva expounded the following verse homiletically: "A star has shot off Jacob" (Numbers 24:17) and so nicknamed the rebel as Kochva, "the star", rather than Kozieva. When Rabbi Akiva would see bar Kochba, he would say: "This is the Malka Meshiecha (King Messiah)!" (Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Ta'anit 4:8). Rebbe Akiva was so dedicated to the rebellion that he even told his students to "close your Gemaras" and fight the Romans.Rebbi Akiva abandoned Bar Kochba after discovering that he wanted to join armies with the Samaritans, as a result of his lack of faith in G-d. Rebbi Akiva left Jerusalem and Bar Kochba, months before the end of the revolt.
Following the failure of bar Kokhba's revolt, the Romans prohibited the public study of Torah. Rebbi Akiva defied this order, and was imprisoned. The Roman Governor of Palestine Tinius Rufus sentenced Rebbi Akiva to death. It was at dawn of the Jewish Day of Atonement when the burnt offering that day was to be the great Rebbi Akiva, the wise and considerate teacher and father of his people. He had attained the same age as Moses, one hundred twenty, yet his body was still powerful, his eyes undimmed and his spirit unbroken. They tied him to a stake, and the Roman torturers tore lumps of living flesh from him with red hot pincers. But no cry of pain escaped him. As the sun rose in the East, Rebbi Akiva put his hand over his eyes and cried out with a loud voice: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One. Blessed be His Name for ever and ever. And thou shalt love the Lord thy G-d with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might." (Shema see: Jewish services).
His disciple Rebbi Meir said: "Rebbi, our heart bleeds to see you suffer so." He replied: "My children, be not sad because of me. I have reached the goal of my desires. I was worried about this verse (from the Shema Yisrael), "(And you shall love the Lord your God) ...with all your soul," (and the sages expounded this to signify), even if He takes away your soul. This endless love, how can we prove it better than by giving up one's life, one's soul for the sanctification of G-d's Name!" The he began again, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One". The final word 'One', Echad, he extended until his life expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced: "Blessed are you, Rebbi Akiva, that your life expired with "Echad" (Talmud Berachot 61b).
The Mishna of Rebbi Akiva, as his pupil Rebbi Meir had taken it from him, became the basis of the Six Orders of the Mishna.
