Rabbi Akiva
Encyclopedia
Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna
of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd tannaitic generation). He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition
, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah
and Midrash Halakha
. He is referred to in the Talmud
as "Rosh la-Chachamim" (Head of all the Sages). He is considered by tradition to be one of the earliest founders of rabbinical Judaism. He is the seventh most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
Rebbe
Akiva ben Joseph (written עקיבא in the Babylonian talmud, and עקיבה in the Jerusalem Talmud
— another form for עקביה) who is usually called simply Akiva, was of comparatively humble parentage. A misunderstanding of the expression "Zechus Avos" (Ber. l.c.), joined to a tradition concerning Sisera
, captain of the army of Hazor
(Giṭ. 57b, Sanh. 96b), is the source of another tradition (Nissim Gaon to Ber. l.c.), which makes Akiva a descendant of Sisera. Of the romantic story of Akiva's marriage with the daughter of the wealthy Jerusalemite, Kalba Savua, whose shepherd he is said to have been (see below "Akiva and his wife" and "His relationship with his wife"), only this is known to be true: that Akiva was a shepherd (Yeb. 86b; compare ibid. 16a). His wife's name was Rachel (Ab. R. N. ed. S. Schechter, vi. 29), and she was the daughter of an entirely unknown man named Joshua, who is specifically mentioned (Yad. iii. 5) as Akiva's father-in-law. She stood loyally by her husband during that critical period of his life in which Akiva, thitherto the mortal enemy of the rabbis and an am ha-aretz (ignoramus) (Pes. 49b), decided to place himself at the feet of those previously detested men. Prior to this change of heart, he used to say: "O that I would find a Talmid Chacham
and bite him like a donkey" [Exact quote needed.] (Pesachim, 49b).
A reliable tradition (Ab. R. N. l.c.) narrates that Akiva at the age of 40, and when he was the father of a numerous family dependent upon him, eagerly attended the academy of his native town, Lod
, presided over by Eliezer ben Hyrkanus. Hyrcanus was a neighbor of Joseph, the father of Akiva. The fact that Eliezer was his first teacher, and the only one whom Akiva later designates as "rabbi," is of importance in settling the date of Akiva's birth. It is known that in 95–96 Akiva had already attained great prominence (H. Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, 2d ed., iv. 121), and, further, that he studied for 13 years before becoming a teacher himself (Ab. R. N. l.c.). Thus the beginning of his years of study would fall about 75–80. Earlier than this, Yochanan ben Zakai
was living, and Eliezer, being his pupil, would have been held of no authority in Johanan's lifetime. Consequently, if we accept the tradition that Akiva was 40 when beginning the study of the Law, he must have been born about 40–50.
Besides Eliezer, Akiva had other teachers—principally Joshua ben Hananiah
(Ab. R. N. l.c.) and Nahum Ish Gamzu (Hag. 12a). He was on equal footing with Rabban Gamaliel II
, whom he met later. In a certain sense, Tarphon was considered as one of Akiva's masters (Ket. 84b), but the pupil outranked his teacher, and Tarphon became one of Akiva's greatest admirers (Sifre
, Num. 75). Akiva probably remained in Lod (R. H. i. 6), as long as Eliezer dwelt there, and then removed his own school to Bene Berak, five Roman miles from Jaffa
(Sanh. 32b; Tosef., Shab. iii. [iv.] 3). Akiva also lived for some time at Ziphron (Num. xxxiv. 9), the modern Zafrân (Z. P. V. viii. 28), near Hamath (see Sifre
, Num. iv., and the parallel passages quoted in the Talmudical dictionaries of Levy and M. Jastrow). For another identification of the place, and other forms of its name, see A. Neubauer, Géographie, p. 391, and M. Jastrow, l.c.
Among Akiva's other contemporaries were Elisha ben Avuya, Eliezer ben Tzodok, Eleazar ben Azaria, Gamliel II, Yehuda ben Betheira, Yochanan ben Nuri
, Yosi Haglili, Rabbi Yishmael and Chanina ben Dosa.
, Akiva owed almost everything to his wife. Akiva was a shepherd in the employ of the rich and respected Kalba Sabu'a, whose daughter took a liking to him, the modest, conscientious servant. She consented to secret betrothal on the condition that he thenceforth devote himself to study. When the wealthy father-in-law learned of this secret betrothal, he drove his daughter from his house, and swore that he would never help her while Akiva remained her husband. Akiva, with his young wife, lived perforce in the most straitened circumstances. Indeed, so poverty-stricken did they become that the bride had to sell her hair to enable her husband to pursue his studies. But these very straits only served to bring out Akiva's greatness of character. It is related that once, when a bundle of straw was the only bed they possessed, a poor man came to beg some straw for a bed for his sick wife. Akiva at once divided with him his scanty possession, remarking to his wife, "Thou seest, my child, there are those poorer than we!" This pretended poor man was none other than the prophet Elijah, who had come to test Akiva (Ned. 50a).
By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent twelve years away from her, pursuing his studies under Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah
. Returning at the end of that time, he was just about to enter his wretched home, when he overheard the following answer given by his wife to a neighbor who was bitterly censuring him for his long absence: "If I had my wish, he should stay another twelve years at the academy." Without crossing the threshold, Akiva turned about and went back to the academy, to return at the expiration of another twelve years. The second time, however, he came back as a most famous scholar, escorted by 24,000 disciples, who reverently followed their beloved master. When his poorly clad wife was about to embrace him, some of his students, not knowing who she was, sought to restrain her. But Akiva exclaimed, "Let her alone; for what I am, and for what you are, is hers" (she deserves the credit) (Ned. 50a, Ket. 62b et seq.).
See "His relationship with his wife" below for the full story from the Talmud
.
of the middle of the 2nd century came from Akiva's school, notably Rabbi Meir
, Judah ben Ilai
, Simeon ben Yohai, Jose ben Halafta
, Eleazar ben Shammai, and Rabbi Nehemiah
. Besides these, who all attained great renown, Akiva undoubtedly had many disciples whose names have not been handed down, but whose number is variously stated by the Aggadah
at 12,000 (Gen. R. lxi. 3), 24,000 (Yeb. 62b), and 48,000 (Ned. 50a). That these figures are to be regarded merely as haggadic exaggerations, and not, as some modern historians insist, as the actual numbers of Akiva's political followers, is evident from the passage, Ket. 106a, in which there are similar exaggerations concerning the disciples of other rabbis.
The part which Akiva is said to have taken in the Bar Kokba revolt cannot be historically determined. The only established fact concerning his connection with Bar Kokba is that the venerable teacher regarded the patriot as the promised Jewish Messiah
(Yer. Ta'anit
, iv. 68d), and this is absolutely all there is in evidence of an active participation by Akiva in the revolution. In this regard, Akiva expounded the following verse homiletically: "A star has shot off Jacob" and so nicknamed the rebel as Kochva, "the star", rather than Kozieva. When Akiva would see bar Kochba, he would say: "Dein hu Malka Meshiecha!" ("This is the King Messiah
"; Jerusalem Talmud
, Ta'anit
4:8). The numerous journeys which, according to rabbinical sources, Akiva is said to have made, cannot have been in any way connected with politics. In 95–96 Akiva was in Rome
(H. Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, iv. 121), and some time before 110 he was in Nehardea
(Yeb. xvi. 7), which journeys cannot be made to coincide with revolutionary plans.
In view of the mode of traveling then in vogue, it is not at all improbable that Akiva visited en route numerous other places having important Jewish communities, but information on this point is lacking. The statement that he dwelt in Gazaka in Media
rests upon a false reading in Gen. R. xxxiii. 5, and Ab. Zarah, 34a, where for "Akiva" should be read "UḲba," the Babylonian, as Rashi
on Ta'anit
, 11b, points out. Similarly, the passage in Ber.
8b should read "Simon ben Gamaliel" instead of Akiva, just as the PesiḲta
(ed. S. Buber, iv. 33b) has it. A sufficient ground for refusing credence in any participation by Akiva in the political anti-Roman movements of his day is the statement of the Baraita
( Ber.
61b) that he suffered martyrdom on account of his transgression of Hadrian
's edicts against the practice and the teaching of the Jewish religion, a religious and not a political reason for his death being given.
Akiva's death, which according to Sanh. 12a occurred after several years of imprisonment, must have taken place about 132, before the suppression of Bar Kokhba's revolt
, otherwise, as Z. Frankel remarks, the delay of the Romans in executing him would be quite inexplicable. That the religious interdicts of Hadrian
preceded the overthrow of Bar Kokba, is shown by Mek., Mishpaṭim
, 18, where Akiva regards the martyrdom of two of his friends as ominous of his own fate. After the fall of Bethar
no omens were needed to predict evil days. Legends concerning the date and manner of Akiva's death are numerous, but according to Crawford Howell Toy
and Louis Ginzberg
in the Jewish Encyclopedia, they must all be disregarded as being without historical foundation.
However Jewish sources relate that he was subjected to a Roman
torture
where his skin was flayed with iron
combs. As he was tortured, astonishingly — especially for the torturers —, he said the Shema prayer and was jubilant. When questioned by his students, he responded that he was worried that he would never be able to serve G-d "with his entire soul". Now that he was given the opportunity to serve G-d even while being killed, he felt that he was fulfilling the verse.
Though so modest, yet when an important matter and not a merely personal one was concerned Akiva could not be cowed by the greatest, as is evidenced by his attitude toward the patriarch Gamaliel II
. Convinced of the necessity of a central authority for Judaism
, Akiva became a devoted adherent and friend of Gamaliel, who aimed at constituting the patriarch the true spiritual chief of the Jews (R. H. ii. 9). But Akiva was just as firmly convinced that the power of the patriarch must be limited both by the written and the oral law, the interpretation of which lay in the hands of the learned; and he was accordingly brave enough to act in ritual matters in Gamaliel's own house contrary to the decisions of Gamaliel himself. Concerning Akiva's other personal excellences, such as benevolence, and kindness toward the sick and needy, see Ned. 40a, Lev. R. xxxiv.16, and Tosef., Meg. iv. 16. Akiva filled the office of an overseer of the poor.
Eminent as Akiva was by his magnanimity and moral worthiness, he was still more so by his intellectual capacity, by which he secured an enduring influence upon his contemporaries and upon posterity. In the first place, Akiva was the one who definitely fixed the canon of the Old Testament
books. He protested strongly against the canonicity of certain of the Apocrypha
, the Wisdom of Sirach, for instance (Sanh. x. 1, Bab. ibid. 100b, Yer. ibid. x. 28a), in which passages קורא is to be explained according to ḳid. 49a, and חיצונים according to its Aramaic equivalent ברייתא; so that Akiva's utterance reads, "He who reads aloud in the synagogue from books not belonging to the canon as if they were canonical," etc.
He has, however, no objection to the private reading of the Apocrypha, as is evident from the fact that he himself makes frequent use of Sirach (W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. i. 277; H. Grätz, Gnosticismus, p. 120). Akiva stoutly defended, however, the canonicity of the Song of Songs
, and Esther
(Yad. iii.5, Meg. 7a). Grätz's statements (Shir ha-Shirim, p. 115, and Kohelet, p. 169) respecting Akiva's attitude toward the canonicity of the Song of Songs are misconceptions, as I.H. Weiss (Dor, ii. 97) has to some extent shown. To the same motive underlying his antagonism to the Apocrypha, namely, the desire to disarm Christians—especially Jewish Christians—who drew their "proofs" from the Apocrypha, must also be attributed his wish to emancipate the Jews of the Dispersion from the domination of the Septuagint, the errors and inaccuracies in which frequently distorted the true meaning of Scripture, and were even used as arguments against the Jews by the Christians.
Aquila
was a man after Akiva's own heart; under Akiva's guidance he gave the Greek-speaking Jews a rabbinical Bible (Jerome
on Isa. viii. 14, Yer. ḳid. i. 59a). Akiva probably also provided for a revised text of the Targums; certainly, for the essential base of the so-called Targum Onkelos
, which in matters of Halakah reflects Akiva's opinions completely (F. Rosenthal, Bet Talmud, ii. 280).
in general, was a very precarious one at the turn of the 1st century of the common era. The lack of any systematized collection of the accumulated Halakot rendered impossible any presentation of them in form suitable for practical purposes. Means for the theoretical study of the Halakah were also scant; both logic and exegesis—the two props of the Halakah—being differently conceived by the various ruling tannaim
, and differently taught. According to a tradition which has historical confirmation, it was Akiva who systematized and brought into methodic arrangement the Mishnah
, or Halakah codex; the Midrash
, or the exegesis of the Halakah; and the Halakot, the logical amplification of the Halakah (Yer. SheḲ. v. 48c, according to the correct text given by Rabbinowicz, DiḲduḲe Soferim, p. 42; compare Giṭ. 67a and Dünner, in Monatsschrift, xx. 453, also W. Bacher, in Rev. Ét. Juives, xxxviii. 215.) The Mishna of Akiva, as his pupil Meir had taken it from him, became the basis of the Six Orders of the Mishna.
The δευτερώσεις τοῦ καλουμένου Ραββὶ Ακιβά mentioned by Epiphanius
(Adversus Hæreses
, xxxiii. 9, and xv., end), as well as the "great Mishnayot of Akiva" in the Midr. Cant. R. viii. 2, Eccl. R. vi. 2, are probably not to be understood as independent Mishnayot (δευτερώσεις) existing at that time, but as the teachings and opinions of Akiva contained in the officially recognized Mishnayot and Midrashim. But at the same time it is fair to consider the Mishnah of Judah ha-Nasi (called simply "the Mishnah") as derived from the school of Akiva; and the majority of halakic Midrashim now extant are also to be thus credited.
Johanan bar Nappaḥa (199–279) has left the following important note relative to the composition and editing of the Mishnah and other halakic works: "Our Mishnah
comes directly from Rabbi Meir
, the Tosefta
from R. Nehemiah, the Sifra
from R. Judah, and the Sifre
from R. Simon; but they all took Akiva for a model in their works and followed him" (Sanh. 86a). One recognizes here the threefold division of the halakic material that emanated from Akiva: (1) The codified Halakah (which is Mishnah); (2) the Tosefta, which in its original form contains a concise logical argument for the Mishnah, somewhat like the Lebush of Mordecai Jafe on the Shulḥan 'Aruk; (3) the halakic Midrash.
The following may be mentioned here as the halakic Midrashim originating in Akiva's school: the Mekilta of Rabbi Simon (in manuscript only) on Exodus; Sifra
on Leviticus
; Sifre Zuṭṭa
on the Book of Numbers
(excerpts in YalḲ. Shim'oni, and a manuscript in Midrash ha-Gadol
, (edited for the first time by B. Koenigsberger, 1894); and the Sifre to Deuteronomy
, the halakic portion of which belongs to Akiva's school.
The enormous difference between the Halakhah before and after Akiva may be briefly described as follows: The old Halakhah was, as its name indicates, the religious practice sanctioned as binding by tradition, to which were added extensions, and, in some cases, limitations, of the Torah
, arrived at by strict logical deduction. The opposition offered by the Sadducees
—which became especially strenuous in the last century BC.—originated the halakhic Midrash, whose mission it was to deduce these amplifications of the Law, by tradition and logic, out of the Law itself.
It might be thought that with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
—which event made an end of Sadduceeism—the halakhic Midrash would also have disappeared, seeing that the Halakhah could now dispense with the Midrash. This probably would have been the case had not Akiva created his own Midrash, by means of which he was able "to discover things that were even unknown to Moses" (PesiḲ.
, Parah, ed. S. Buber, 39b). Akiva made the accumulated treasure of the oral law—which until his time was only a subject of knowledge, and not a science—an inexhaustible mine from which, by the means he provided, new treasures might be continually extracted.
If the older Halakhah is to be considered as the product of the internal struggle between Phariseeism and Sadduceeism, the Halakhah of Akiva must be conceived as the result of an external contest between Judaism on the one hand and Hellenism
and Hellenistic Christianity on the other. Akiva no doubt perceived that the intellectual bond uniting the Jews—far from being allowed to disappear with the destruction of the Jewish state—must be made to draw them closer together than before. He pondered also the nature of that bond. The Bible could never again fill the place alone; for the Christians also regarded it as a divine revelation. Still less could dogma serve the purpose, for dogmas were always repellent to rabbinical Judaism, whose very essence is development and the susceptibility to development. Mention has already been made of the fact that Akiva was the creator of a rabbinical Bible
version elaborated with the aid of his pupil, Aquila
, and designed to become the common property of all Jews, thus Judaizing the Bible, as it were, in opposition to the Christians.
But this was not sufficient to obviate all threatening danger. It was to be feared that the Jews, by their facility in accommodating themselves to surrounding —even then a marked characteristic—might become entangled in the net of Grecian philosophy, and even in that of Gnosticism
. The example of his colleagues and friends, Elisha ben Abuyah
, Ben Azzai, and Ben Zoma strengthened him still more in his conviction of the necessity of providing some counterpoise to the intellectual influence of the non-Jewish world.
(פרושים = those who "separate" themselves) to doctrine as they did to practice, to the intellectual life as they did to that of daily intercourse, and he succeeded in furnishing a firm foundation for his system. As the fundamental principle of his system, Akiba enunciates his conviction that the mode of expression used by the Torah is quite different from that of every other book. In the language of the Torah nothing is mere form; everything is essence. It has nothing superfluous; not a word, not a syllable, not even a letter. Every peculiarity of diction, every particle, every sign, is to be considered as of higher importance, as having a wider relation and as being of deeper meaning than it seems to have. Like Philo
(see Siegfried, Philo, p. 168), who saw in the Hebrew construction of the infinitive with the finite form of the same verb and in certain particles (adverbs, prepositions, etc.) some deep reference to philosophical and ethical doctrines, Akiba perceived in them indications of many important ceremonial laws, legal statutes, and ethical teachings (compare D. Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung, pp. 5–12, and H. Grätz, Gesch. iv. 427).
He thus gave the Jewish mind not only a new field for its own employment, but, convinced both of the unchangeableness of Holy Scripture and of the necessity for development in Judaism, he succeeded in reconciling these two apparently hopeless opposites by means of his remarkable method. The following two illustrations will serve to make this clear:
How little he cared for the letter of the Law whenever he conceives it to be antagonistic to the spirit of Judaism, is shown by his attitude toward the Samaritans. He considered friendly intercourse with these semi-Jews as desirable on political as well as on religious grounds, and he permitted—in opposition to tradition—not only eating their bread (Sheb. viii. 10) but also eventual intermarriage (ḳid. 75b). This is quite remarkable, seeing that in matrimonial legislation he went so far as to declare every forbidden union as absolutely void (Yeb. 92a) and the offspring as illegitimate (ḳid. 68a). For similar reasons Akiba comes near abolishing the Biblical ordinance of Kil'ayim
; nearly every chapter in the treatise of that name contains a mitigation by Akiba.
Love for the Holy Land
, which he as a genuine nationalist frequently and warmly expressed (see Ab. R. N. xxvi.), was so powerful with him that he would have exempted agriculture from much of the rigor of the Law. These examples will suffice to justify the opinion that Akiba was the man to whom Judaism owes preeminently its activity and its capacity for development.
Akiva's utterances (Abot, iii. 14, 15) may serve to present the essence of his religious conviction. They run:
Akiva's anthropology is based upon the principle that man was created בצלם, that is, not in the image of God—which would be בצלם אלהים—but after an image, after a primordial type; or, philosophically speaking, after an Idea—what Philo
calls in agreement with Judean theology, "the first heavenly man" (see Adam ḳadmon
). Strict monotheist that Akiba was, he protested against any comparison of God with the angels, and declared the plain interpretation of כאחד ממנו (Gen. iii. 22) as meaning "like one of us" to be arrant blasphemy (Mek., Beshallaḥ, 6). It is quite instructive to read how a Christian of Akiba's generation, Justin Martyr
, calls the literal interpretation—thus objected to by Akiba—a "Jewish heretical one" (Dial. cum Tryph. lxii.). In his earnest endeavors to insist as strongly as possible upon the incomparable nature of God, Akiba indeed lowers the angels somewhat to the realms of mortals, and, alluding to Ps.
lxxviii. 25, maintains that manna is the actual food of the angels (Yoma
, 75b). This view of Akiba's, in spite of the energetic protests of his colleague Rabbi Ishmael, became the one generally accepted by his contemporaries, as Justin Martyr, l.c., lvii., indicates.
, Num. 103; Sifra
, Wayikra, 2), which teaches that angels—who are spiritual beings—and also that the departed pious, who are bereft of their flesh, can see God, the words of Akiba, in Sifra
, l.c., must be noticed. He insists that not even the angels can see God's glory; for he interprets the expression in Ex. xxxiii. 20, "no man can see me and live" (וחי), as if it read "no man or any living immortal can see me."
Akiba insists emphatically that next to the transcendental nature of God, there is no limitation in the freedom of the human will. This insistence is in opposition to the Christian doctrine of the sinfulness and depravity of man, and apparently controverts his view of divine predestination. The inclination towards evil and the inclination towards good can be chosen from equally, and men are not in any way naturally inclined towards evil.
He cautions against those who find excuse for their sins in a supposed innate depravity (ḳid. 81a). But Akiba's opposition to this genetically Jewish doctrine is probably directed mainly against its Christian
correlative, the doctrine of the grace of God received through faith in Christ. Referring to this, Akiba says, "Happy are ye, O Israelites, that ye purify yourselves through your heavenly Father, as it is said (Jer. xvii. 13, Heb.), 'Israel's hope is God'" (Mishnah
Yoma
, end). This is a play on the Hebrew word מקוה ("hope" and "bath"). In opposition to the Christian insistence on God's love, Akiba upholds God's retributive justice elevated above all chance or arbitrariness (Mekilta, Beshallaḥ, 6).
, Quis Rer. Div. Heres, 34 Mangey
, i. 496), he teaches that God combines goodness and mercy with strict justice (Ḥag. 14a). Hence his maxim, referred to above, "God rules the world in mercy, but according to the preponderance of good or bad in human acts."
From his views as to the relation between God and man he deduces the inference that he who sheds the blood of a fellow man is to be considered as committing the crime against the divine archetype (דמות) of man (Gen. R. xxxiv. 14). He therefore recognizes as the chief and greatest principle of Judaism the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18; Sifra
, ḳedoshim, iv.). He does not, indeed, maintain thereby that the execution of this command is equivalent to the performance of the whole Law; and in one of his polemic interpretations of Scripture he protests strongly against a contrary opinion allegedly held by Christians, according to which Judaism is "simply morality" (Mek., Shirah, 3, 44a, ed. I.H. Weiss). For, in spite of his philosophy, Akiba was an extremely strict and national Jew.
was different than other views, and believed Bar Kokba to be the Messiah. He accordingly limited the Messianic age to forty years, as being within the scope of a man's life — similar to the reigns of David
and Solomon
—against the usual conception of a millennium (Midr. Teh. xc. 15).
explains how Akiba, in the prime of life, commenced his rabbinical studies. Legendary allusion to this change in Akiba's life is made in two slightly varying forms, of which the following is probably the older:
There is some disagreement about the extent of Akiva's involvement in the Bar Kochba rebellion. (Source: Encyclopædia Britannica online)
Akiva's martyrdom—which is an important historical event—gave origin to many legends. The following account of his martyrdom is on a high plane and contains a proper appreciation of his principles: when Rufus—"Tyrannus Rufus," as he is called in Jewish sources—who was the pliant tool of Hadrian
's vengeance, condemned the venerable Akiva to the hand of the executioner, it was just the time to recite the Shema. Full of devotion, Akiva recited his prayers calmly, though suffering agonies; and when Rufus asked him whether he was a sorcerer, since he felt no pain, Akiva replied, "I am no sorcerer; but I rejoice at the opportunity now given to me to love my God 'with all my life,' seeing that I have hitherto been able to love Him only 'with all my means' and 'with all my might,'" and with the word "One!" he expired (Yer. Ber.
ix. 14b, and somewhat modified in Bab. 61b).
The version in the Babylonian Talmud ( Berachot
61b) tells it as a response of Akiva to his students, who asked him how even now—as he is being tortured—he could yet offer prayers to God. He says to them, "All my life I was worried about the verse, ‘with all your soul’ (and the sages expounded this to signify), even if He takes away your soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be able to fulfill this command? And now that I am finally able to fulfill it, I should not?" Then he extended the final word Echad ("One") until his life expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced: "Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life expired with "Echad". Pure monotheism was for Akiba the essence of Judaism: he lived, worked, and died for it.
Contrary to the vision (Men. 29b), which sees Akiba's body destined to be exposed for sale in the butcher's shop, legend tells how Elijah, accompanied by Akiba's faithful servant Joshua, entered unperceived the prison where the body lay. Priest though he was, Elijah took up the corpse—for the dead body of such a saint could not defile—and, escorted by many bands of angels, bore the body by night to Cæsarea. The night, however, was as bright as the finest summer's day. When they arrived there, Elijah and Joshua entered a cavern which contained a bed, table, chair, and lamp, and deposited Akiba's body there. No sooner had they left it than the cavern closed of its own accord, so that no man has found it since (Jellinek
, Bet ha-Midrash, vi. 27, 28; ii. 67, 68; Braunschweiger, Lehrer der Mischnah, 192–206).
, Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, Jose ben Halafta
and Shimon bar Yochai.
It appears that Akiva, authorized by certain rabbis, borrowed a large sum of money from a prominent heathen woman—a matrona, says the legend. As bondsmen for the loan, Akiva named God and the sea, on the shore of which the matrona's house stood. Akiva, being sick, could not return the money at the time appointed; but his bondsmen did not leave him in the lurch. An imperial princess suddenly became insane, in which condition she threw a chest containing imperial treasures into the sea. It was cast upon the shore close to the house of Akiva's creditor, so that when the matrona went to the shore to demand of the sea the amount she had lent Akiba, the ebbing tide left boundless riches at her feet. Later, when Akiva arrived to discharge his indebtedness, the matrona not only refused to accept the money, but insisted upon Akiva's receiving a large share of what the sea had brought to her (Commentaries to Ned. l.c.).
The Talmud also enumerates six occasions in which Akiva gained his wealth (Nedarim, 50a–b). Akiva's many journeys brought numerous adventures, some of which are embellished by legend. Thus in Ethiopia
he was once called upon to decide between the swarthy king and the king's wife; the latter having been accused of infidelity because she had borne her lord a white child. Akiba ascertained that the royal chamber was adorned with white marble statuary, and, basing his decision upon a well known physiological theory, he exonerated the queen from suspicion (Num. R. ix. 34). It is related that, during his stay in Rome
, Akiva became intimately acquainted with the Jewish proselyte ḳeṭia' bar Shalom, a very influential Roman—according to some scholars identical with Flavius Clemens
, Domitian
's nephew, who, before his execution for pleading the cause of the Jews, bequeathed to Akiba all his possessions (Ab. Zarah, 10b).
Another Roman, concerning whose relations with Akiva legend has much to tell, was Tinnius Rufus, called in the Talmud "Tyrannus" Rufus. One day Rufus asked: "Which is the more beautiful—God’s work or man’s?" "Undoubtedly man's work is the better," was Akiva's reply; "for while nature at God's command supplies us only with the raw material, human skill enables us to elaborate the same according to the requirements of art and good taste." Rufus had hoped to drive Akiva into a corner by his strange question; for he expected quite a different answer from the sage, and intended to compel Akiva to admit the wickedness of circumcision. He then put the question, "Why has God not made man just as He wanted him to be?" "For the very reason," was Akiva's ready answer, "that the duty of man is to perfect himself" (Tan., Tazri'a, 5, ed. S. Buber 7).
Rachel's response 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 God'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 ben Zakkai, as well as Gamliel II HaNasi (the Prince), and 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." Rabbi 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
!" Rabbi Akiva then said: "I am him." He prostrated himself and kissed him on his feet, and gave him half his assets (Ketubot 62b-63a).
60b).
. 14b). There exists the following tradition: Akiba once met a coal-black man carrying a heavy load of wood and running with the speed of a horse. Akiba stopped him and inquired: "My son, wherefore dost thou labor so hard? If thou art a slave and hast a harsh master, I will purchase thee of him. If it be out of poverty that thou doest thus, I will care for thy requirements." "It is for neither of these," the man replied; "I am dead and am compelled because of my great sins to build my funeral pyre every day. In life I was a tax-gatherer and oppressed the poor. Let me go at once, lest the demon torture me for my delay." "Is there no help for thee?" asked Akiba. "Almost none," replied the deceased; "for I understand that my sufferings will end only when I have a pious son. When I died, my wife was pregnant; but I have little hope that she will give my child proper training."
Akiba inquired the man's name and that of his wife and her dwelling-place; and when, in the course of his travels, he reached the place, Akiba sought for information concerning the man's family. The neighbors very freely expressed their opinion that both the deceased and his wife deserved to inhabit the infernal regions for all time—the latter because she had not even initiated her child into the Abrahamic covenant. Akiba, however, was not to be turned from his purpose; he sought the son of the tax-gatherer and labored long and assiduously in teaching him the word of God. After fasting 40 days, and praying to God to bless his efforts, he heard a heavenly voice (bat Ḳol) asking, "Wherefore givest thou thyself so much trouble concerning this one?" "Because he is just the kind to work for," was the prompt answer. Akiba persevered until his pupil was able to officiate as reader in the synagogue; and when there for the first time he recited the prayer, "Bless ye the Lord!" the father suddenly appeared to Akiba, and overwhelmed him with thanks for his deliverance from the pains of hell through the merit of his son (Kallah
, ed. Coronel, 4b, and see quotations from Tan. in Isaac Aboab's Menorat ha-Maor, i. 1, 2, § 1, ed. Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal
, p. 82; also Maḥzor Vitry, p. 112). This legend has been somewhat elaborately treated in Yiddish under the title, Ein ganz neie Maase vun dem Tanna R. Akiba, Lemberg, 1893 (compare Tanna debe Eliyahu Zuṭṭa, xvii., where Johanan ben Zakkai's name is given in place of Akiba).
youth movement and schools, such as Akiba Hebrew Academy
in Philadelphia and Yeshivat Akiva
in Michigan
. It is also a common Jewish name for males.
Rabbi Akiba appears in Katharine Kerr
's novella Resurrection and the short story collection Freeze Frames, and is a leading character in Milton Steinberg
's novel As a Driven Leaf
.
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century (3rd tannaitic generation). He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Midrash Halakha
Midrash halakha
Midrash halakha was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot by identifying their sources in the Tanakh , and by interpreting these passages as proofs of the laws' authenticity. Midrash more generally also refers to the...
. He is referred to in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
as "Rosh la-Chachamim" (Head of all the Sages). He is considered by tradition to be one of the earliest founders of rabbinical Judaism. He is the seventh most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.
Parentage and youth
A great many legends have been passed down about Akiva. But despite the rich mass of material afforded by rabbinical sources, only an incomplete portrait can be drawn of the man who marked out the path followed by rabbinical Judaism for almost two millennia.Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
Akiva ben Joseph (written עקיבא in the Babylonian talmud, and עקיבה in the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
— another form for עקביה) who is usually called simply Akiva, was of comparatively humble parentage. A misunderstanding of the expression "Zechus Avos" (Ber. l.c.), joined to a tradition concerning Sisera
Sisera
Sisera was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor mentioned in the of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by Barak, Sisera was killed by Jael, who hammered a tent peg into his temple....
, captain of the army of Hazor
Hazor
Hazor is the name of several places in the biblical and modern Israel:Biblical locations:* Tel Hazor, site of an ancient fortified city in the Upper Galilee, among the most important Caananite towns, and the largest ancient ruin in modern Israel and UNESCO World Heritage Site.* Hazor, A town in...
(Giṭ. 57b, Sanh. 96b), is the source of another tradition (Nissim Gaon to Ber. l.c.), which makes Akiva a descendant of Sisera. Of the romantic story of Akiva's marriage with the daughter of the wealthy Jerusalemite, Kalba Savua, whose shepherd he is said to have been (see below "Akiva and his wife" and "His relationship with his wife"), only this is known to be true: that Akiva was a shepherd (Yeb. 86b; compare ibid. 16a). His wife's name was Rachel (Ab. R. N. ed. S. Schechter, vi. 29), and she was the daughter of an entirely unknown man named Joshua, who is specifically mentioned (Yad. iii. 5) as Akiva's father-in-law. She stood loyally by her husband during that critical period of his life in which Akiva, thitherto the mortal enemy of the rabbis and an am ha-aretz (ignoramus) (Pes. 49b), decided to place himself at the feet of those previously detested men. Prior to this change of heart, he used to say: "O that I would find a Talmid Chacham
Talmid Chacham
Talmid Chacham is an honorific title given to one well versed in Jewish law, in effect, a Torah scholar....
and bite him like a donkey" [Exact quote needed.] (Pesachim, 49b).
A reliable tradition (Ab. R. N. l.c.) narrates that Akiva at the age of 40, and when he was the father of a numerous family dependent upon him, eagerly attended the academy of his native town, Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
, presided over by Eliezer ben Hyrkanus. Hyrcanus was a neighbor of Joseph, the father of Akiva. The fact that Eliezer was his first teacher, and the only one whom Akiva later designates as "rabbi," is of importance in settling the date of Akiva's birth. It is known that in 95–96 Akiva had already attained great prominence (H. Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, 2d ed., iv. 121), and, further, that he studied for 13 years before becoming a teacher himself (Ab. R. N. l.c.). Thus the beginning of his years of study would fall about 75–80. Earlier than this, Yochanan ben Zakai
Yochanan ben Zakai
Johanan ben Zakai , also known as Johanan B. Zakkai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time...
was living, and Eliezer, being his pupil, would have been held of no authority in Johanan's lifetime. Consequently, if we accept the tradition that Akiva was 40 when beginning the study of the Law, he must have been born about 40–50.
Besides Eliezer, Akiva had other teachers—principally Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...
(Ab. R. N. l.c.) and Nahum Ish Gamzu (Hag. 12a). He was on equal footing with Rabban Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...
, whom he met later. In a certain sense, Tarphon was considered as one of Akiva's masters (Ket. 84b), but the pupil outranked his teacher, and Tarphon became one of Akiva's greatest admirers (Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Num. 75). Akiva probably remained in Lod (R. H. i. 6), as long as Eliezer dwelt there, and then removed his own school to Bene Berak, five Roman miles from Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
(Sanh. 32b; Tosef., Shab. iii. [iv.] 3). Akiva also lived for some time at Ziphron (Num. xxxiv. 9), the modern Zafrân (Z. P. V. viii. 28), near Hamath (see Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Num. iv., and the parallel passages quoted in the Talmudical dictionaries of Levy and M. Jastrow). For another identification of the place, and other forms of its name, see A. Neubauer, Géographie, p. 391, and M. Jastrow, l.c.
Among Akiva's other contemporaries were Elisha ben Avuya, Eliezer ben Tzodok, Eleazar ben Azaria, Gamliel II, Yehuda ben Betheira, Yochanan ben Nuri
Yochanan ben Nuri
Yochanan ben Nuri was a tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries, studied under the watch of Rabban Gamliel of Yavne and senior of Akiba . A great halakist, always provided with satisfactory answers to all questions, he was familiarly called "pedler's basket" or "bundle of halakot" Yochanan ben Nuri...
, Yosi Haglili, Rabbi Yishmael and Chanina ben Dosa.
Akiva and his wife
According to the TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, Akiva owed almost everything to his wife. Akiva was a shepherd in the employ of the rich and respected Kalba Sabu'a, whose daughter took a liking to him, the modest, conscientious servant. She consented to secret betrothal on the condition that he thenceforth devote himself to study. When the wealthy father-in-law learned of this secret betrothal, he drove his daughter from his house, and swore that he would never help her while Akiva remained her husband. Akiva, with his young wife, lived perforce in the most straitened circumstances. Indeed, so poverty-stricken did they become that the bride had to sell her hair to enable her husband to pursue his studies. But these very straits only served to bring out Akiva's greatness of character. It is related that once, when a bundle of straw was the only bed they possessed, a poor man came to beg some straw for a bed for his sick wife. Akiva at once divided with him his scanty possession, remarking to his wife, "Thou seest, my child, there are those poorer than we!" This pretended poor man was none other than the prophet Elijah, who had come to test Akiva (Ned. 50a).
By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent twelve years away from her, pursuing his studies under Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...
. Returning at the end of that time, he was just about to enter his wretched home, when he overheard the following answer given by his wife to a neighbor who was bitterly censuring him for his long absence: "If I had my wish, he should stay another twelve years at the academy." Without crossing the threshold, Akiva turned about and went back to the academy, to return at the expiration of another twelve years. The second time, however, he came back as a most famous scholar, escorted by 24,000 disciples, who reverently followed their beloved master. When his poorly clad wife was about to embrace him, some of his students, not knowing who she was, sought to restrain her. But Akiva exclaimed, "Let her alone; for what I am, and for what you are, is hers" (she deserves the credit) (Ned. 50a, Ket. 62b et seq.).
See "His relationship with his wife" below for the full story from the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
.
Relationship with Bar Kochba
The greatest tannaimTannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
of the middle of the 2nd century came from Akiva's school, notably Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
, Judah ben Ilai
Judah ben Ilai
Judah bar Ilai, also known as Judah ben Ilai, Rabbi Judah or Judah the Palestinian , was a tanna of the 2nd Century and son of Rabbi Ilai I. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" and is the most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.Judah bar Ilai...
, Simeon ben Yohai, Jose ben Halafta
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
, Eleazar ben Shammai, and Rabbi Nehemiah
Rabbi Nehemiah
Rabbi Nehemiah was an Israelite, circa AD 150 .He is attributed as the author of the Mishnat ha-Middot , making it the earliest known Hebrew text on geometry, although other historians assign to a later period by an unknown author...
. Besides these, who all attained great renown, Akiva undoubtedly had many disciples whose names have not been handed down, but whose number is variously stated by the Aggadah
Aggadah
Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
at 12,000 (Gen. R. lxi. 3), 24,000 (Yeb. 62b), and 48,000 (Ned. 50a). That these figures are to be regarded merely as haggadic exaggerations, and not, as some modern historians insist, as the actual numbers of Akiva's political followers, is evident from the passage, Ket. 106a, in which there are similar exaggerations concerning the disciples of other rabbis.
The part which Akiva is said to have taken in the Bar Kokba revolt cannot be historically determined. The only established fact concerning his connection with Bar Kokba is that the venerable teacher regarded the patriot as the promised Jewish Messiah
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
(Yer. Ta'anit
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taanis or taʿanith in Classical Hebrew is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water...
, iv. 68d), and this is absolutely all there is in evidence of an active participation by Akiva in the revolution. In this regard, Akiva expounded the following verse homiletically: "A star has shot off Jacob" and so nicknamed the rebel as Kochva, "the star", rather than Kozieva. When Akiva would see bar Kochba, he would say: "Dein hu Malka Meshiecha!" ("This is the King Messiah
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
"; Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
, Ta'anit
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taanis or taʿanith in Classical Hebrew is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water...
4:8). The numerous journeys which, according to rabbinical sources, Akiva is said to have made, cannot have been in any way connected with politics. In 95–96 Akiva was in Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
(H. Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, iv. 121), and some time before 110 he was in Nehardea
Nehardea
Nehardea or Nehardeah was a city of Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka , one of the earliest centers of Babylonian Judaism. As the seat of the exilarch it traced its origin back to King Jehoiachin...
(Yeb. xvi. 7), which journeys cannot be made to coincide with revolutionary plans.
In view of the mode of traveling then in vogue, it is not at all improbable that Akiva visited en route numerous other places having important Jewish communities, but information on this point is lacking. The statement that he dwelt in Gazaka in Media
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
rests upon a false reading in Gen. R. xxxiii. 5, and Ab. Zarah, 34a, where for "Akiva" should be read "UḲba," the Babylonian, as Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
on Ta'anit
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taanis or taʿanith in Classical Hebrew is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water...
, 11b, points out. Similarly, the passage in Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
8b should read "Simon ben Gamaliel" instead of Akiva, just as the PesiḲta
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana
Pesikta de-Rab Kahana is a collection of Aggadic midrash which exists in two editions, those of Solomon Buber and Bernard Mandelbaum . It is cited in the Aruk and by Rashi. It consists of 33 homilies on the lessons forming the Pesikta cycle: the Pentateuchal lessons for special Sabbaths Pesikta...
(ed. S. Buber, iv. 33b) has it. A sufficient ground for refusing credence in any participation by Akiva in the political anti-Roman movements of his day is the statement of the Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
( Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
61b) that he suffered martyrdom on account of his transgression of Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
's edicts against the practice and the teaching of the Jewish religion, a religious and not a political reason for his death being given.
Akiva's death, which according to Sanh. 12a occurred after several years of imprisonment, must have taken place about 132, before the suppression of Bar Kokhba's revolt
Bar Kokhba's revolt
The Bar Kokhba revolt 132–136 CE; or mered bar kokhba) against the Roman Empire, was the third major rebellion by the Jews of Judaea Province being the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars. Simon bar Kokhba, the commander of the revolt, was acclaimed as a Messiah, a heroic figure who could restore Israel...
, otherwise, as Z. Frankel remarks, the delay of the Romans in executing him would be quite inexplicable. That the religious interdicts of Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
preceded the overthrow of Bar Kokba, is shown by Mek., Mishpaṭim
Mishpatim
Mishpatim is the eighteenth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the book of Exodus...
, 18, where Akiva regards the martyrdom of two of his friends as ominous of his own fate. After the fall of Bethar
Betar (fortress)
The Betar Fortress was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kochba revolt of the 2nd century CE, destroyed by the Roman army of Emperor Hadrian in the year 135...
no omens were needed to predict evil days. Legends concerning the date and manner of Akiva's death are numerous, but according to Crawford Howell Toy
Crawford Howell Toy
Crawford Howell Toy , American Hebrew scholar, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 23 March 1836. He graduated at the University of Virginia in 1856, and studied at the University of Berlin from 1866 to 1868...
and Louis Ginzberg
Louis Ginzberg
Rabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City.-Biographical background:...
in the Jewish Encyclopedia, they must all be disregarded as being without historical foundation.
However Jewish sources relate that he was subjected to a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
where his skin was flayed with iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
combs. As he was tortured, astonishingly — especially for the torturers —, he said the Shema prayer and was jubilant. When questioned by his students, he responded that he was worried that he would never be able to serve G-d "with his entire soul". Now that he was given the opportunity to serve G-d even while being killed, he felt that he was fulfilling the verse.
Personal Character
An example of his modesty is his funeral address over his son Simon. To the large assembly gathered on the occasion from every quarter, he said (Sem. viii., M. ḳ. 21b):Akiva and Gamliel II
Modesty is a favorite theme with Akiva, and he reverts to it again and again. "He who esteems himself highly on account of his knowledge," he teaches, "is like a corpse lying on the wayside: the traveler turns his head away in disgust, and walks quickly by" (Ab. R. N., ed. S. Schechter, xi. 46). Another of his sayings, quoted also in the name of Ben Azzai (Lev. R. i. 5), is specially interesting from the fact that Book of Luke, xiv. 8–12, is almost literally identical with it: "Take thy place a few seats below thy rank until thou art bidden to take a higher place; for it is better that they should say to thee 'Come up higher' than that they should bid thee 'Go down lower'" (see Prov. xxv. 7).Though so modest, yet when an important matter and not a merely personal one was concerned Akiva could not be cowed by the greatest, as is evidenced by his attitude toward the patriarch Gamaliel II
Gamaliel II
Rabban Gamaliel II was the first person to lead the Sanhedrin as Nasi after the fall of the second temple, which occurred in 70 CE. Gamliel was appointed nasi approximately 10 years later. Gamaliel II was the son of Shimon ben Gamaliel, one of Jerusalem's foremost men in the war against the...
. Convinced of the necessity of a central authority for Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, Akiva became a devoted adherent and friend of Gamaliel, who aimed at constituting the patriarch the true spiritual chief of the Jews (R. H. ii. 9). But Akiva was just as firmly convinced that the power of the patriarch must be limited both by the written and the oral law, the interpretation of which lay in the hands of the learned; and he was accordingly brave enough to act in ritual matters in Gamaliel's own house contrary to the decisions of Gamaliel himself. Concerning Akiva's other personal excellences, such as benevolence, and kindness toward the sick and needy, see Ned. 40a, Lev. R. xxxiv.16, and Tosef., Meg. iv. 16. Akiva filled the office of an overseer of the poor.
Eminent as Akiva was by his magnanimity and moral worthiness, he was still more so by his intellectual capacity, by which he secured an enduring influence upon his contemporaries and upon posterity. In the first place, Akiva was the one who definitely fixed the canon of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
books. He protested strongly against the canonicity of certain of the Apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
, the Wisdom of Sirach, for instance (Sanh. x. 1, Bab. ibid. 100b, Yer. ibid. x. 28a), in which passages קורא is to be explained according to ḳid. 49a, and חיצונים according to its Aramaic equivalent ברייתא; so that Akiva's utterance reads, "He who reads aloud in the synagogue from books not belonging to the canon as if they were canonical," etc.
He has, however, no objection to the private reading of the Apocrypha, as is evident from the fact that he himself makes frequent use of Sirach (W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. i. 277; H. Grätz, Gnosticismus, p. 120). Akiva stoutly defended, however, the canonicity of the Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
, and Esther
Esther
Esther , born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther.According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus...
(Yad. iii.5, Meg. 7a). Grätz's statements (Shir ha-Shirim, p. 115, and Kohelet, p. 169) respecting Akiva's attitude toward the canonicity of the Song of Songs are misconceptions, as I.H. Weiss (Dor, ii. 97) has to some extent shown. To the same motive underlying his antagonism to the Apocrypha, namely, the desire to disarm Christians—especially Jewish Christians—who drew their "proofs" from the Apocrypha, must also be attributed his wish to emancipate the Jews of the Dispersion from the domination of the Septuagint, the errors and inaccuracies in which frequently distorted the true meaning of Scripture, and were even used as arguments against the Jews by the Christians.
Aquila
Aquila of Sinope
Aquila of Sinope was a 2nd Century CE native of Pontus in Anatolia known for producing an exceedingly literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 CE. He was a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba...
was a man after Akiva's own heart; under Akiva's guidance he gave the Greek-speaking Jews a rabbinical Bible (Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
on Isa. viii. 14, Yer. ḳid. i. 59a). Akiva probably also provided for a revised text of the Targums; certainly, for the essential base of the so-called Targum Onkelos
Targum Onkelos
right|thumb|Interlinear text of [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] 6.3–10 with [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] Targum Onkelos from the [[British Library]]....
, which in matters of Halakah reflects Akiva's opinions completely (F. Rosenthal, Bet Talmud, ii. 280).
Akiva as Systematizer
Akiva's true genius, however, is shown in his work in the domain of the Halakah, both in his systematization of its traditional material and in its further development. The condition of the Halakah, that is, of religious praxis, and indeed of JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
in general, was a very precarious one at the turn of the 1st century of the common era. The lack of any systematized collection of the accumulated Halakot rendered impossible any presentation of them in form suitable for practical purposes. Means for the theoretical study of the Halakah were also scant; both logic and exegesis—the two props of the Halakah—being differently conceived by the various ruling tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
, and differently taught. According to a tradition which has historical confirmation, it was Akiva who systematized and brought into methodic arrangement the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, or Halakah codex; the Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
, or the exegesis of the Halakah; and the Halakot, the logical amplification of the Halakah (Yer. SheḲ. v. 48c, according to the correct text given by Rabbinowicz, DiḲduḲe Soferim, p. 42; compare Giṭ. 67a and Dünner, in Monatsschrift, xx. 453, also W. Bacher, in Rev. Ét. Juives, xxxviii. 215.) The Mishna of Akiva, as his pupil Meir had taken it from him, became the basis of the Six Orders of the Mishna.
The δευτερώσεις τοῦ καλουμένου Ραββὶ Ακιβά mentioned by Epiphanius
Epiphanius of Salamis
Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
(Adversus Hæreses
Panarion
In early Christian heresiology, the Panarion , to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name Adversus Haereses , is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis...
, xxxiii. 9, and xv., end), as well as the "great Mishnayot of Akiva" in the Midr. Cant. R. viii. 2, Eccl. R. vi. 2, are probably not to be understood as independent Mishnayot (δευτερώσεις) existing at that time, but as the teachings and opinions of Akiva contained in the officially recognized Mishnayot and Midrashim. But at the same time it is fair to consider the Mishnah of Judah ha-Nasi (called simply "the Mishnah") as derived from the school of Akiva; and the majority of halakic Midrashim now extant are also to be thus credited.
Johanan bar Nappaḥa (199–279) has left the following important note relative to the composition and editing of the Mishnah and other halakic works: "Our Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
comes directly from Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
, the Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
from R. Nehemiah, the Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
from R. Judah, and the Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
from R. Simon; but they all took Akiva for a model in their works and followed him" (Sanh. 86a). One recognizes here the threefold division of the halakic material that emanated from Akiva: (1) The codified Halakah (which is Mishnah); (2) the Tosefta, which in its original form contains a concise logical argument for the Mishnah, somewhat like the Lebush of Mordecai Jafe on the Shulḥan 'Aruk; (3) the halakic Midrash.
The following may be mentioned here as the halakic Midrashim originating in Akiva's school: the Mekilta of Rabbi Simon (in manuscript only) on Exodus; Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
on Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
; Sifre Zuṭṭa
Sifre Zutta
Sifre Zutta is a midrash on the Book of Numbers. . Medieval authors mention it under the titles "Sifre shel Panim Aḥerim" and "Wi-Yeshalleḥu Ẓuta"; and to distinguish from it the Sifre, Or Zarua Sifre Zutta (Hebrew: ספרי זוטא) is a midrash on the Book of Numbers. (Zur Gesch. der Jüdischen...
on the Book of Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
(excerpts in YalḲ. Shim'oni, and a manuscript in Midrash ha-Gadol
Midrash ha-Gadol
Midrash HaGadol or The Great Midrash is an anonymous late compilation of aggadic midrashim on the Pentateuch taken from the two Talmuds and earlier Midrashim. In addition, it borrows quotations from the Targums and Kabbalistic writings , and in this aspect is unique among the various midrashic...
, (edited for the first time by B. Koenigsberger, 1894); and the Sifre to Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
, the halakic portion of which belongs to Akiva's school.
Akiva's Halakhah
Admirable as is the systematization of the Halakhah by Akiva, his hermeneutics and halakhic exegesis—which form the foundation of all Talmudic learning—surpassed it.The enormous difference between the Halakhah before and after Akiva may be briefly described as follows: The old Halakhah was, as its name indicates, the religious practice sanctioned as binding by tradition, to which were added extensions, and, in some cases, limitations, of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, arrived at by strict logical deduction. The opposition offered by the Sadducees
Sadducees
The Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society...
—which became especially strenuous in the last century BC.—originated the halakhic Midrash, whose mission it was to deduce these amplifications of the Law, by tradition and logic, out of the Law itself.
It might be thought that with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
—which event made an end of Sadduceeism—the halakhic Midrash would also have disappeared, seeing that the Halakhah could now dispense with the Midrash. This probably would have been the case had not Akiva created his own Midrash, by means of which he was able "to discover things that were even unknown to Moses" (PesiḲ.
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana
Pesikta de-Rab Kahana is a collection of Aggadic midrash which exists in two editions, those of Solomon Buber and Bernard Mandelbaum . It is cited in the Aruk and by Rashi. It consists of 33 homilies on the lessons forming the Pesikta cycle: the Pentateuchal lessons for special Sabbaths Pesikta...
, Parah, ed. S. Buber, 39b). Akiva made the accumulated treasure of the oral law—which until his time was only a subject of knowledge, and not a science—an inexhaustible mine from which, by the means he provided, new treasures might be continually extracted.
If the older Halakhah is to be considered as the product of the internal struggle between Phariseeism and Sadduceeism, the Halakhah of Akiva must be conceived as the result of an external contest between Judaism on the one hand and Hellenism
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
and Hellenistic Christianity on the other. Akiva no doubt perceived that the intellectual bond uniting the Jews—far from being allowed to disappear with the destruction of the Jewish state—must be made to draw them closer together than before. He pondered also the nature of that bond. The Bible could never again fill the place alone; for the Christians also regarded it as a divine revelation. Still less could dogma serve the purpose, for dogmas were always repellent to rabbinical Judaism, whose very essence is development and the susceptibility to development. Mention has already been made of the fact that Akiva was the creator of a rabbinical Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
version elaborated with the aid of his pupil, Aquila
Aquila of Sinope
Aquila of Sinope was a 2nd Century CE native of Pontus in Anatolia known for producing an exceedingly literal translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek around 130 CE. He was a proselyte to Judaism and a disciple of Rabbi Akiba...
, and designed to become the common property of all Jews, thus Judaizing the Bible, as it were, in opposition to the Christians.
But this was not sufficient to obviate all threatening danger. It was to be feared that the Jews, by their facility in accommodating themselves to surrounding —even then a marked characteristic—might become entangled in the net of Grecian philosophy, and even in that of Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
. The example of his colleagues and friends, Elisha ben Abuyah
Elisha ben Abuyah
Elisha ben Abuyah was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim and betrayed his people, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the...
, Ben Azzai, and Ben Zoma strengthened him still more in his conviction of the necessity of providing some counterpoise to the intellectual influence of the non-Jewish world.
Akiva's Hermeneutic System
Akiva sought to apply the system of isolation followed by the PhariseesPharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
(פרושים = those who "separate" themselves) to doctrine as they did to practice, to the intellectual life as they did to that of daily intercourse, and he succeeded in furnishing a firm foundation for his system. As the fundamental principle of his system, Akiba enunciates his conviction that the mode of expression used by the Torah is quite different from that of every other book. In the language of the Torah nothing is mere form; everything is essence. It has nothing superfluous; not a word, not a syllable, not even a letter. Every peculiarity of diction, every particle, every sign, is to be considered as of higher importance, as having a wider relation and as being of deeper meaning than it seems to have. Like Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
(see Siegfried, Philo, p. 168), who saw in the Hebrew construction of the infinitive with the finite form of the same verb and in certain particles (adverbs, prepositions, etc.) some deep reference to philosophical and ethical doctrines, Akiba perceived in them indications of many important ceremonial laws, legal statutes, and ethical teachings (compare D. Hoffmann, Zur Einleitung, pp. 5–12, and H. Grätz, Gesch. iv. 427).
He thus gave the Jewish mind not only a new field for its own employment, but, convinced both of the unchangeableness of Holy Scripture and of the necessity for development in Judaism, he succeeded in reconciling these two apparently hopeless opposites by means of his remarkable method. The following two illustrations will serve to make this clear:
- The high conception of woman's dignity, which Akiva shared in common with most other PhariseesPhariseesThe Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
, induced him to abolish the Oriental custom that banished ritually impureNiddahNiddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
women from all social intercourse. He succeeded, moreover, in fully justifying his interpretation of those Scriptural passages upon which this ostracism had been founded by the older expounders of the Torah (SifraSifraSifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Meẓora, end, and Shab. 64b). - The Biblical legislation in Ex. xxi. 7 could not be reconciled by Akiba with his view of Jewish ethics: for him a "Jewish slave" is a contradiction in terms, for every Jew is to be regarded as a prince (B. M. 113b). Akiba therefore teaches, in opposition to the old Halakah, that the sale of a daughter under age by her father conveys to her purchaser no legal title to marriage with her, but, on the contrary, carries with it the duty to keep the female slave until she is of age, and then to marry her (Mek., MishpaṭimMishpatimMishpatim is the eighteenth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the book of Exodus...
, 3). How Akiba endeavors to substantiate this from the Hebrew text is shown by A. Geiger (Urschrift, p. 187).
How little he cared for the letter of the Law whenever he conceives it to be antagonistic to the spirit of Judaism, is shown by his attitude toward the Samaritans. He considered friendly intercourse with these semi-Jews as desirable on political as well as on religious grounds, and he permitted—in opposition to tradition—not only eating their bread (Sheb. viii. 10) but also eventual intermarriage (ḳid. 75b). This is quite remarkable, seeing that in matrimonial legislation he went so far as to declare every forbidden union as absolutely void (Yeb. 92a) and the offspring as illegitimate (ḳid. 68a). For similar reasons Akiba comes near abolishing the Biblical ordinance of Kil'ayim
Kil'ayim (prohibition)
Kil'ayim is the prohibition of crossbreeding seeds, crossbreeding animals, and mixing wool and linen....
; nearly every chapter in the treatise of that name contains a mitigation by Akiba.
Love for the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, which he as a genuine nationalist frequently and warmly expressed (see Ab. R. N. xxvi.), was so powerful with him that he would have exempted agriculture from much of the rigor of the Law. These examples will suffice to justify the opinion that Akiba was the man to whom Judaism owes preeminently its activity and its capacity for development.
Religious Philosophy
A tannaitic tradition (Ḥag. 14b; Tosef., Ḥag. ii. 3) mentions that of the four who entered paradise, Akiva was the only one that returned unscathed. This serves at least to show how strong in later ages was the recollection of Akiba's philosophical speculation (see Elisha b. Abuya).Akiva's utterances (Abot, iii. 14, 15) may serve to present the essence of his religious conviction. They run:
- How favored is man, for he was created after an image; as Scripture says, "for in an image, Elohim made man" (Gen. ix. 6).
- Everything is foreseen; but freedom [of will] is given to every man.
- The world is governed by mercy... but the divine decision is made by the preponderance of the good or bad in one's actions.
Akiva's anthropology is based upon the principle that man was created בצלם, that is, not in the image of God—which would be בצלם אלהים—but after an image, after a primordial type; or, philosophically speaking, after an Idea—what Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
calls in agreement with Judean theology, "the first heavenly man" (see Adam ḳadmon
Adam Kadmon
In the religious writings of Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon is a phrase meaning "Primal Man". The oldest rabbinical source for the term "Adam ha-Ḳadmoni" is Num. R. x., where Adam is styled, not as usually, "Ha-Rishon" , "Ha-Kadmoni" ....
). Strict monotheist that Akiba was, he protested against any comparison of God with the angels, and declared the plain interpretation of כאחד ממנו (Gen. iii. 22) as meaning "like one of us" to be arrant blasphemy (Mek., Beshallaḥ, 6). It is quite instructive to read how a Christian of Akiba's generation, Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
, calls the literal interpretation—thus objected to by Akiba—a "Jewish heretical one" (Dial. cum Tryph. lxii.). In his earnest endeavors to insist as strongly as possible upon the incomparable nature of God, Akiba indeed lowers the angels somewhat to the realms of mortals, and, alluding to Ps.
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
lxxviii. 25, maintains that manna is the actual food of the angels (Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
, 75b). This view of Akiba's, in spite of the energetic protests of his colleague Rabbi Ishmael, became the one generally accepted by his contemporaries, as Justin Martyr, l.c., lvii., indicates.
Freedom of Will
Against the Judæo-Gnostic doctrine (Recognit. iii. 30; SifreSifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
, Num. 103; Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, Wayikra, 2), which teaches that angels—who are spiritual beings—and also that the departed pious, who are bereft of their flesh, can see God, the words of Akiba, in Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, l.c., must be noticed. He insists that not even the angels can see God's glory; for he interprets the expression in Ex. xxxiii. 20, "no man can see me and live" (וחי), as if it read "no man or any living immortal can see me."
Akiba insists emphatically that next to the transcendental nature of God, there is no limitation in the freedom of the human will. This insistence is in opposition to the Christian doctrine of the sinfulness and depravity of man, and apparently controverts his view of divine predestination. The inclination towards evil and the inclination towards good can be chosen from equally, and men are not in any way naturally inclined towards evil.
He cautions against those who find excuse for their sins in a supposed innate depravity (ḳid. 81a). But Akiba's opposition to this genetically Jewish doctrine is probably directed mainly against its Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
correlative, the doctrine of the grace of God received through faith in Christ. Referring to this, Akiba says, "Happy are ye, O Israelites, that ye purify yourselves through your heavenly Father, as it is said (Jer. xvii. 13, Heb.), 'Israel's hope is God'" (Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
, end). This is a play on the Hebrew word מקוה ("hope" and "bath"). In opposition to the Christian insistence on God's love, Akiba upholds God's retributive justice elevated above all chance or arbitrariness (Mekilta, Beshallaḥ, 6).
God's Two Attributes
But he is far from representing strict justice as the only attribute of God: in agreement with the ancient Israel theology of the מדת הדין, "the attribute of justice", and מדת הרחמים, "the attribute of mercy" (Gen. R. xii., end; the χαριστική and κολαστική of PhiloPhilo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
, Quis Rer. Div. Heres, 34 Mangey
Thomas Mangey
Thomas Mangey was an English clergyman and scholar, known for his edition of Philo.-Life:He was son of Arthur Mangey, a goldsmith of Leeds, and was educated at the Leeds free school. He was admitted as subsizar to St. John's College, Cambridge, 28 June 1704, at the age of sixteen. He graduated...
, i. 496), he teaches that God combines goodness and mercy with strict justice (Ḥag. 14a). Hence his maxim, referred to above, "God rules the world in mercy, but according to the preponderance of good or bad in human acts."
Eschatology and Ethics
As to the question concerning the frequent sufferings of the pious and the prosperity of the wicked —truly a burning one in Akiba's time—this is answered by the explanation that the pious are punished in this life for their few sins, in order that in the next they may receive only reward; while the wicked obtain in this world all the recompense for the little good they have done, and in the next world will receive only punishment for their misdeeds (Gen. R. xxxiii.; PesiḲ. ed. S. Buber, ix. 73a). Consistent as Akiba always was, his ethics and his views of justice were only the strict consequences of his philosophical system. Justice as an attribute of God must also be exemplary for man. "No mercy in [civil] justice!" is his basic principle in the doctrine concerning law (Ket. ix. 3), and he does not conceal his opinion that the action of the Jews in taking the spoil of the Egyptians is to be condemned (Gen. R. xxviii. 7).From his views as to the relation between God and man he deduces the inference that he who sheds the blood of a fellow man is to be considered as committing the crime against the divine archetype (דמות) of man (Gen. R. xxxiv. 14). He therefore recognizes as the chief and greatest principle of Judaism the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix. 18; Sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
, ḳedoshim, iv.). He does not, indeed, maintain thereby that the execution of this command is equivalent to the performance of the whole Law; and in one of his polemic interpretations of Scripture he protests strongly against a contrary opinion allegedly held by Christians, according to which Judaism is "simply morality" (Mek., Shirah, 3, 44a, ed. I.H. Weiss). For, in spite of his philosophy, Akiba was an extremely strict and national Jew.
The Messianic Age
His doctrine concerning the Jewish MessiahJewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
was different than other views, and believed Bar Kokba to be the Messiah. He accordingly limited the Messianic age to forty years, as being within the scope of a man's life — similar to the reigns of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
—against the usual conception of a millennium (Midr. Teh. xc. 15).
Legends
A man like Akiba would naturally be the subject of many legends. The following examples indicate in what light the personality of this great teacher appeared to later generations.His innovative method
‘When Moses ascended into heaven, he saw God occupied in making little crowns for the letters of the Torah. Upon his inquiry as to what these might be for, he received the answer, "There will come a man, named Akiba ben Joseph, who will deduce Halakot from every little curve and crown of the letters of the Law." Moses' request to be allowed to see this man was granted; but he became much dismayed as he listened to Akiba's teaching; for he could not understand it’ (Men. 29b). This story gives a picture of Akiba's activity as the father of Talmudical Judaism.His transformation
The AggadahAggadah
Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...
explains how Akiba, in the prime of life, commenced his rabbinical studies. Legendary allusion to this change in Akiba's life is made in two slightly varying forms, of which the following is probably the older:
- Akiva, noticing a stone at a well that had been hollowed out by drippings from the buckets, said: "If these drippings can, by continuous action, penetrate this solid stone, how much more can the persistent word of God penetrate the pliant, fleshly human heart, if that word but be presented with patient insistency" (Ab. R. N. ed. S. Schechter, vi. 28).
His martyrdom
The most common version of Akiva's death is that the Roman government ordered him to stop teaching Torah, on pain of death, and that he refused.There is some disagreement about the extent of Akiva's involvement in the Bar Kochba rebellion. (Source: Encyclopædia Britannica online)
Akiva's martyrdom—which is an important historical event—gave origin to many legends. The following account of his martyrdom is on a high plane and contains a proper appreciation of his principles: when Rufus—"Tyrannus Rufus," as he is called in Jewish sources—who was the pliant tool of Hadrian
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
's vengeance, condemned the venerable Akiva to the hand of the executioner, it was just the time to recite the Shema. Full of devotion, Akiva recited his prayers calmly, though suffering agonies; and when Rufus asked him whether he was a sorcerer, since he felt no pain, Akiva replied, "I am no sorcerer; but I rejoice at the opportunity now given to me to love my God 'with all my life,' seeing that I have hitherto been able to love Him only 'with all my means' and 'with all my might,'" and with the word "One!" he expired (Yer. Ber.
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
ix. 14b, and somewhat modified in Bab. 61b).
The version in the Babylonian Talmud ( Berachot
Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
61b) tells it as a response of Akiva to his students, who asked him how even now—as he is being tortured—he could yet offer prayers to God. He says to them, "All my life I was worried about the verse, ‘with all your soul’ (and the sages expounded this to signify), even if He takes away your soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be able to fulfill this command? And now that I am finally able to fulfill it, I should not?" Then he extended the final word Echad ("One") until his life expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced: "Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life expired with "Echad". Pure monotheism was for Akiba the essence of Judaism: he lived, worked, and died for it.
Contrary to the vision (Men. 29b), which sees Akiba's body destined to be exposed for sale in the butcher's shop, legend tells how Elijah, accompanied by Akiba's faithful servant Joshua, entered unperceived the prison where the body lay. Priest though he was, Elijah took up the corpse—for the dead body of such a saint could not defile—and, escorted by many bands of angels, bore the body by night to Cæsarea. The night, however, was as bright as the finest summer's day. When they arrived there, Elijah and Joshua entered a cavern which contained a bed, table, chair, and lamp, and deposited Akiba's body there. No sooner had they left it than the cavern closed of its own accord, so that no man has found it since (Jellinek
Jellinek
Jellinek is a surname and may refer to:* Adolf Jellinek , an Austrian rabbi and scholar.** Max Hermann Jellinek , son of Adolf Jellinek* E...
, Bet ha-Midrash, vi. 27, 28; ii. 67, 68; Braunschweiger, Lehrer der Mischnah, 192–206).
His students
Akiva taught thousands of students: on one occasion, twenty-four thousand students of his died in a plague. His five main, last remaining students were Judah bar Ilai, Rabbi MeirRabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
, Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, Jose ben Halafta
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
and Shimon bar Yochai.
His wealth and influence
Akiva's success as a teacher put an end to his poverty; for the wealthy father-in-law now rejoiced to acknowledge a son-in-law so distinguished as Akiba. There were, however, other circumstances which made a wealthy man of the former shepherd lad.It appears that Akiva, authorized by certain rabbis, borrowed a large sum of money from a prominent heathen woman—a matrona, says the legend. As bondsmen for the loan, Akiva named God and the sea, on the shore of which the matrona's house stood. Akiva, being sick, could not return the money at the time appointed; but his bondsmen did not leave him in the lurch. An imperial princess suddenly became insane, in which condition she threw a chest containing imperial treasures into the sea. It was cast upon the shore close to the house of Akiva's creditor, so that when the matrona went to the shore to demand of the sea the amount she had lent Akiba, the ebbing tide left boundless riches at her feet. Later, when Akiva arrived to discharge his indebtedness, the matrona not only refused to accept the money, but insisted upon Akiva's receiving a large share of what the sea had brought to her (Commentaries to Ned. l.c.).
The Talmud also enumerates six occasions in which Akiva gained his wealth (Nedarim, 50a–b). Akiva's many journeys brought numerous adventures, some of which are embellished by legend. Thus in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
he was once called upon to decide between the swarthy king and the king's wife; the latter having been accused of infidelity because she had borne her lord a white child. Akiba ascertained that the royal chamber was adorned with white marble statuary, and, basing his decision upon a well known physiological theory, he exonerated the queen from suspicion (Num. R. ix. 34). It is related that, during his stay in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Akiva became intimately acquainted with the Jewish proselyte ḳeṭia' bar Shalom, a very influential Roman—according to some scholars identical with Flavius Clemens
Titus Flavius Clemens (consul)
Titus Flavius Clemens was a great-nephew of the Roman Emperor Vespasian. He was the son of Titus Flavius Sabinus , brother to Titus Flavius Sabinus and a second cousin to Roman Emperors to Titus and Domitian.-In classical sources:...
, Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
's nephew, who, before his execution for pleading the cause of the Jews, bequeathed to Akiba all his possessions (Ab. Zarah, 10b).
Another Roman, concerning whose relations with Akiva legend has much to tell, was Tinnius Rufus, called in the Talmud "Tyrannus" Rufus. One day Rufus asked: "Which is the more beautiful—God’s work or man’s?" "Undoubtedly man's work is the better," was Akiva's reply; "for while nature at God's command supplies us only with the raw material, human skill enables us to elaborate the same according to the requirements of art and good taste." Rufus had hoped to drive Akiva into a corner by his strange question; for he expected quite a different answer from the sage, and intended to compel Akiva to admit the wickedness of circumcision. He then put the question, "Why has God not made man just as He wanted him to be?" "For the very reason," was Akiva's ready answer, "that the duty of man is to perfect himself" (Tan., Tazri'a, 5, ed. S. Buber 7).
His relationship with his wife
Akiva 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 God 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 God's Chosen people, had to suffer so much.Rachel's response 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 God'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
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of 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 ben Zakkai, as well as Gamliel II HaNasi (the Prince), and 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
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
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." Rabbi 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
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
!" Rabbi Akiva then said: "I am him." He prostrated himself and kissed him on his feet, and gave him half his assets (Ketubot 62b-63a).
Favorite maxim
This was not the only occasion on which Akiba was made to feel the truth of his favorite maxim ("Whatever God doeth He doeth for the best"). Once, being unable to find any sleeping accommodation in a certain city, he was compelled to pass the night outside its walls. Without a murmur he resigned himself to this hardship; and even when a lion devoured his donkey, and a cat killed the rooster whose crowing was to herald the dawn to him, and the wind extinguished his candle, the only remark he made was, "All that God does is for the good." When morning dawned he learned how true his words were. A band of robbers had fallen upon the city and carried its inhabitants into captivity, but he had escaped because his abiding place had not been noticed in the darkness, and neither beast nor fowl had betrayed him (Ber.Berakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
60b).
Akiba and the Dead
A legend according to which the gates of the infernal regions opened for Akiba is analogous to the more familiar tale that he entered paradise and was allowed to leave it unscathed (ḤagHAG
HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland.The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Marklin H0 scale, began the transition to H0 in 1954 with...
. 14b). There exists the following tradition: Akiba once met a coal-black man carrying a heavy load of wood and running with the speed of a horse. Akiba stopped him and inquired: "My son, wherefore dost thou labor so hard? If thou art a slave and hast a harsh master, I will purchase thee of him. If it be out of poverty that thou doest thus, I will care for thy requirements." "It is for neither of these," the man replied; "I am dead and am compelled because of my great sins to build my funeral pyre every day. In life I was a tax-gatherer and oppressed the poor. Let me go at once, lest the demon torture me for my delay." "Is there no help for thee?" asked Akiba. "Almost none," replied the deceased; "for I understand that my sufferings will end only when I have a pious son. When I died, my wife was pregnant; but I have little hope that she will give my child proper training."
Akiba inquired the man's name and that of his wife and her dwelling-place; and when, in the course of his travels, he reached the place, Akiba sought for information concerning the man's family. The neighbors very freely expressed their opinion that both the deceased and his wife deserved to inhabit the infernal regions for all time—the latter because she had not even initiated her child into the Abrahamic covenant. Akiba, however, was not to be turned from his purpose; he sought the son of the tax-gatherer and labored long and assiduously in teaching him the word of God. After fasting 40 days, and praying to God to bless his efforts, he heard a heavenly voice (bat Ḳol) asking, "Wherefore givest thou thyself so much trouble concerning this one?" "Because he is just the kind to work for," was the prompt answer. Akiba persevered until his pupil was able to officiate as reader in the synagogue; and when there for the first time he recited the prayer, "Bless ye the Lord!" the father suddenly appeared to Akiba, and overwhelmed him with thanks for his deliverance from the pains of hell through the merit of his son (Kallah
Kallah
Yarchei Kallah is the name of a teachers' convention that was held twice a year in Babylonian Academies, by the Jews then in captivity in Bablon, after the beginning of the amoraic period, in the two months Adar and Elul...
, ed. Coronel, 4b, and see quotations from Tan. in Isaac Aboab's Menorat ha-Maor, i. 1, 2, § 1, ed. Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal
Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal
Jacob Raphael Fürstenthal was a German Jewish poet, translator, and Hebrew writer.Fürstenthal's attention was directed chiefly toward the modernization of Jewish religious services, both in and out of the synagogue, and to this end he translated into German the most important liturgical books...
, p. 82; also Maḥzor Vitry, p. 112). This legend has been somewhat elaborately treated in Yiddish under the title, Ein ganz neie Maase vun dem Tanna R. Akiba, Lemberg, 1893 (compare Tanna debe Eliyahu Zuṭṭa, xvii., where Johanan ben Zakkai's name is given in place of Akiba).
Cultural references
A wide variety of modern day institutions are named after Akiva. Examples include the Bnei AkivaBnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
youth movement and schools, such as Akiba Hebrew Academy
Akiba Hebrew Academy
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy is a pluralistic Jewish Day School for grades 6 to 12 located in Radnor, Pennsylvania. It was founded in Center City Philadelphia in 1946 as Akiba Hebrew Academy and changed its name in 2007. Barrack Hebrew Academy's enrollment was 318 students during the 2007-2008...
in Philadelphia and Yeshivat Akiva
Yeshivat Akiva
- The school's mission :Akiva Hebrew Day School - Yeshivat Akiva was founded in 1964 to promote religious Zionism and offer a combined the Judaic and secular studies education. Akiva is a Nursery through 12th grade Jewish Modern Orthodox school in Southfield, Michigan...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. It is also a common Jewish name for males.
Rabbi Akiba appears in Katharine Kerr
Katharine Kerr
Katharine Kerr is a science fiction and fantasy novelist, best known for her series of Celtic-influenced high fantasy novels set in the fictional land of Deverry.- Biography :...
's novella Resurrection and the short story collection Freeze Frames, and is a leading character in Milton Steinberg
Milton Steinberg
Milton Steinberg was an American rabbi, philosopher, theologian and author.-Life:Born in Rochester, New York, he was raised with the combination of his grandparents' traditional Jewish piety and his father's modernist socialism...
's novel As a Driven Leaf
As a Driven Leaf
As a Driven Leaf is a 1939 novel by Milton Steinberg based on the life of Elisha ben AbuyahSteinberg's novel wrestles with the 2nd century Jewish struggle to reconcile Rabbinic Judaism both culturally and philosophically with Greek Hellenistic society...
.
Further reading
- Aleksandrov, G. S. "The Role of Aqiba in the Bar Kochba Rebellion." In Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Vol. 2, by Jacob Neusner. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1973.
- Finkelstein, LouisLouis FinkelsteinRabbi Louis Finkelstein was a Talmud scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Conservative Judaism.-Brief Biography:...
. Akiba: Scholar, Saint, and Martyr. New York: Covici, Friede, 1936. - Ginzberg, LouisLouis GinzbergRabbi Louis Ginzberg was a Talmudist and leading figure in the Conservative Movement of Judaism of the twentieth century. He was born on November 28, 1873, in Kovno, Lithuania; he died on November 11, 1953, in New York City.-Biographical background:...
. "Akiba" In Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 1. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1912. - Goldin, Judah. "Toward a Profile of a Tanna, Aqiba ben Joseph." Journal of the American Oriental Society 96 (1976): 38-56.
- Marks, Richard G. The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature: False Messiah and National Hero. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994.
- Neusner, JacobJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
. Judaism, The Evidence of the Mishnah. 2d ed. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1988. - Neusner, JacobJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, ed. Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity. Vol. 20, The Jews Under Roman Rule: From Pompey to Diocletian, by E. Mary Smallwood. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1976. - Schürer, EmilEmil SchürerEmil Schürer was a German Protestant theologian.-Biography:Schürer was born at Augsburg.After studying at Erlangen, Berlin and Heidelberg from 1862 to 1866, he became in 1873 professor extraordinarius at Leipzig and eventually professor ordinarius at Göttingen...
. A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ. New York: Scribner, 1891. - Strack, Hermann L.Hermann StrackHermann Leberecht Strack was a German Protestant theologian and Orientalist; born at Berlin May 6, 1848. Since 1877 he was assistant professor of Old Testament exegesis and Semitic languages at the University of Berlin. He was the foremost Christian authority in Germany on Talmudic and rabbinic...
Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1931.