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Akiva ben Yose

widelyknown as Rabbi Akivawas a tanna ofthe latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second century(the third tannaitic generation). Rabbi Akiva was a leading contributor to theMishnah and to Midrash halakha. He is referred to in the Talmud as Roshla-Hakhamim \"Chief of the Sages\". He was executed by the Romans inthe aftermath of the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Contents [hide]

1 Biography

2 Modesty

3 Relationship with Gamaliel

4 Biblical canon

5 Akiva as systematizer

6 Akiva\'s Halakha

7 Akiva\'s hermeneutic system

8 Religious philosophy

9 God\'s two attributes

10 Eschatology and ethics

11 Legends

11.1 Favorite maxim

11.2 Akiva and the dead

12 See also

13 References

14 Further reading

15 External links

Biography[edit]

Akiva ben Yosef (written עקיבא‎in the Babylonian Talmud and עקיבה‎in the Jerusalem Talmud) cameof humble parentage.[1][2] When he married the daughter of Kalba Savu\'a, awealthy citizen of Jerusalem, Akiva was an uneducated shepherd in Kalba Savua\'semploy. His wife\'s first name is not given in the earlier sources, but a laterversion of the tradition gives it as Rachel.[1][3] She stood loyally by herhusband during that critical period of his life[1] in which Akiva dedicatedhimself to the study of Torah. Rabbi Akiva has many famous quotes in theBabylonian Talmud.

A different tradition[1][4] narratesthat at the age of 40, Akiva attended the academy of his native town, Lod,presided over by Eliezer ben Hurcanus. Hurcanus was a neighbor of Yosef, thefather of Akiva. The fact that Eliezer was his first teacher, and the only onewhom Akiva later designates as \"rabbi\", is of importance in settlingthe date of Akiva\'s birth. These legends set the beginning of his years ofstudy at about 75–80. Besides Eliezer, Akiva studied under Joshua benHananiah[1][4] and Nahum Ish Gamzu.[1][5] He was on equal footing with GamalielII, whom he met later. Rabbi Tarfon was considered as one of Akiva\'smasters,[1][6] but the pupil outranked his teacher and he became one of Akiva\'sgreatest admirers.[1][7] Akiva remained in Lod[1][8] as long as Eliezer dweltthere, and then removed his own school to Beneberak, five Roman miles fromJaffa[1][9] Akiva also lived for some time at Ziphron,[1][10] modernZafran[1][11] near Hamath (see Sifre, Num. iv.,[12] and the parallel passagesquoted in the Talmudical dictionaries of Levy and Jastrow). For anotheridentification of the place, and other forms of its name, see Neubauer,\"La Géographie du Talmud,\"[13] p. 391, and Jastrow, l.c.[1]

According to the Talmud, Akiva was ashepherd for Kalba Savu\'a when the latter\'s daughter noticed his modesty andfine character traits. She offered to marry him if he would agree to beginstudying Torah, as at the time he was 40 years old and illiterate. When herfather found out she was secretly betrothed[14] to an unlearned man, he wasfurious. He drove his daughter out of his house, swearing that he would neverhelp her while Akiva remained her husband. Akiva and his wife lived in suchpoverty that they used straw for their bed. The Talmud relates that once Elijahthe prophet assumed the guise of a poor man and came to their door to beg somestraw for a bed for his wife[1] after she had given birth. When Akiva and hiswife saw that there were people even poorer than they, Rachel said to him,\"Go, and become a scholar\".[15]

By agreement with his wife, Akivaspent twelve years away from home, pursuing his studies. Returning at the endof twelve years accompanied by 12,000 disciples, on the point of entering hishome he overheard his wife say to a neighbor who was critical of his longabsence: \"If I had my wish, he should stay another twelve years at theacademy.\" Without crossing the threshold, Akiva went back to the academy.He returned twelve years later escorted by 24,000 disciples. When his wife wentout to greet him, some of his students, not knowing who she was, sought torestrain her.[1] But Akiva exclaimed, \"Let her alone; for what is mine andyours, is hers\" (she deserves the credit for our Torah study). Not knowingwho he was, Kalba Savu\'a also approached Akiva and asked him for help annullinghis vow to disown his daughter and her husband. Akiva asked him, \"Wouldyou have made your vow if you had known that he would become a greatscholar?\" Kalba Savu\'a replied, “Had I known that he would learn even onechapter or one single halakha, [I would not have made the vow]\". Akivasaid to him, \"I am that man\". Kalba Savu\'a fell at Akiva\'s feet andgave him half his wealth.[15][16] According to one Baraita brought down in theTalmud[17] Akiva saw that at some future time he would take in marriage thewife of Tyrannus Rufus (his executioner) after she converted to Judaism, forwhich reason he spat on the ground (for having come from a fetid drop), smiled(at her conversion) and wept (at such beauty eventually rotting in the dust afterdeath). The motive behind this marriage is not given.

Rabbi Akiva\'s tomb, Tiberias

The greatest tannaim of the middle ofthe second century came from Akiva\'s school, notably Rabbi Meir, Judah barIlai, Simeon bar Yochai, Jose ben Halafta, Eleazar ben Shammai, and RabbiNehemiah. Besides these, Akiva had many disciples whose names have not beenhanded down, but the Aggadah variously gives their number as 12,000,[1][18]24,000[1][16][19] and 48,000.[1][15]

Akiva allegedly took part in the BarKokhba revolt of 132-6. In 95–96, Akiva was in Rome,[1][20] and some timebefore 110 he was in Nehardea.[1][21] During his travels, it is probable thathe visited other places having important Jewish communities,[1][22] TheBaraita, in Berakhot 61b, states that he suffered martyrdom on account of histransgression of Hadrian\'s edicts against the practice and the teaching of theJewish religion, being sentenced to die by Tyrannus Rufus.[1][23] Jewishsources relate that he was subjected to combing, a Roman torture in which thevictim\'s skin was flayed with iron combs.

Modesty[edit]

An example of his modesty is hisfuneral address over his son Simon. To the large assembly gathered on theoccasion from every quarter, he said:[1]

Brethren of the house of Israel,listen to me. Not because I am a scholar have ye appeared here so numerously;for there are those here more learned than I. Nor because I am a wealthy man;for there are many more wealthy than I. The people of the south know Akiva; butwhence should the people of Galilee know him? The men are acquainted with him;but how shall the women and children I see here be said to be acquainted withhim? Still I know that your reward shall be great, for ye have given yourselvesthe trouble to come simply in order to do honor to the Torah and to fulfill areligious duty.[1][24]

Modesty is a favorite theme withAkiva, and he reverts to it again and again. \"He who esteems himselfhighly on account of his knowledge,\" he teaches, \"is like a corpselying on the wayside: the traveler turns his head away in disgust, and walksquickly by.\"[1][25] Another of his sayings, quoted also in the name ofSimeon ben Azzai is, \"Take thy place a few seats below thy rank until thouart offerden to take a higher place; for it is better that they should say tothee \'Come up higher\' than that they should offer thee \'Go down lower\'.\"[1][26]

Relationship with Gamaliel[edit]

Convinced of the necessity of acentral authority for Judaism, Akiva became a devoted adherent and friend ofGamaliel, who aimed at constituting the patriarch the true spiritual chief ofthe Jews.[1][27] However, Akiva was just as firmly convinced that the power ofthe patriarch must be limited both by the written and the oral law, theinterpretation of which lay in the hands of the learned; and he was accordinglybrave enough to act in ritual matters in Gamaliel\'s own house contrary to thedecisions of Gamaliel himself.[1][28] Concerning Akiva\'s other personalexcellences, such as benevolence, and kindness toward the sick and needy, seeNedarim 40a, Leviticus Rabbah xxxiv.16, and Tosefta, Megillah iv. 16.[1]

Akiva filled the office of an overseerof the poor.[1][29]

Biblical canon[edit]

See also: Development of the HebrewBible canon

Akiva was instrumental in drawing upthe canon of the Tanakh. He protested strongly against the canonicity ofcertain of the Apocrypha,[1] the Wisdom of Sirach, for instance,[30] in whichpassagesקורא is to beexplained according to Ḳid. 49a, and חיצונים accordingto its Aramaic equivalent ברייתא; sothat Akiva\'s utterance reads, \"He who reads aloud in the synagogue frombooks not belonging to the canon as if they were canonical,\" etc. But hewas not opposed to a private reading of the Apocrypha,[1] as is evident fromthe fact that he himself makes frequent use of Sirach.[31] Akiva stoutlydefended, however, the canonicity of the Song of Songs, and Esther.[1][32]Grätz\'s statements[33] respecting Akiva\'s attitude toward the canonicity of theSong of Songs were viewed as misconceptions by I.H. Weiss.[1][34]

Aquila, meanwhile, was a disciple ofAkiva and, under Akiva\'s guidance, gave the Greek-speaking Jews a rabbinicalBible.[1][35] Akiva probably also provided for a revised text of the Targums;certainly, for the essential base of the Targum Onkelos, which in matters ofHalakah reflects Akiva\'s opinions completely.[1][36]

Akiva as systematizer[edit]

Akiva worked in the domain of theHalakha, both in the systematization of its traditional material and in itsfurther development. The condition of the Halakah, that is, of religiouspraxis, and indeed of Judaism in general, was a very precarious one at the turnof the 1st century of the common era. The lack of any systematized collectionof the accumulated Halakot rendered impossible any presentation of them in formsuitable for practical purposes. Means for the theoretical study of the Halakahwere also scant; both logic and exegesis—the two props of the Halakah—beingdifferently conceived by the various ruling tannaim, and differently taught.The Jewish Encyclopedia states that according to a tradition which hashistorical confirmation, it was Akiva who systematized and brought intomethodic arrangement the Mishnah, or Halakah codex; the Midrash, or theexegesis of the Halakah; and the Halakot, the logical amplification of theHalakah.[1][37] 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 ΡαββὶΑκιβά mentioned by Epiphanius,[38] as well as the \"great Mishnayot ofAkiva\" in the Midr. Cant. R. viii. 2, Eccl. R. vi. 2, are probably not tobe understood as independent Mishnayot (δευτερώσεις) existing at that time, butas the teachings and opinions of Akiva contained in the officially recognizedMishnayot and Midrashim. But at the same time it is fair to consider theMishnah of Judah ha-Nasi (called simply \"the Mishnah\") as derivedfrom the school of Akiva; and the majority of halakic Midrashim now extant arealso to be thus credited.[1]

Johanan bar Nappaḥa (199–279) has leftthe following important note relative to the composition and editing of theMishnah and other halakic works: \"Our Mishnah comes directly from RabbiMeir, the Tosefta from R. Nehemiah, the Sifra from R. Judah, and the Sifre fromR. Simon; but they all took Akiva for a model in their works and followedhim.\"[1][39] One recognizes here the threefold division of the halakicmaterial that emanated from Akiva: (1) The codified Halakah (which is Mishnah);(2) the Tosefta, which in its original form contains a concise logical argumentfor the Mishnah, somewhat like the Lebush of Mordecai Jafe on the Shulḥan\'Aruk; (3) the halakic Midrash.[1]

The following may be mentioned here asthe 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 ofNumbers (excerpts in Yalḳ. Shim\'oni, and a manuscript in Midrash ha-Gadol,(edited for the first time by B. Koenigsberger, 1894); and the Sifre toDeuteronomy, the halakic portion of which belongs to Akiva\'s school.[1]

What was Rabbi Akiva like? - A workerwho goes out with his basket. He finds wheat - he puts it in, barley - he putsit in, spelt - he puts it in, beans - he puts it in, lentils - he puts it in.When he arrives home he sorts out the wheat by itself, barley by itself, speltby itself, beans by themselves, lentils by themselves. So did Rabbi Akiva; hearranged the Torah rings by rings.

— Avot deRabbi Natan ch. 18; see alsoGittin, 67a

Akiva\'s Halakha[edit]

Admirable as is the systematization ofthe Halakha by Akiva, his hermeneutics and halachic exegesis—which form thefoundation of all Talmudic learning—surpassed it.[1]

The enormous difference between theHalacha before and after Akiva may be briefly described as follows: The oldHalacha was, as its name indicates, the religious practice sanctioned asbinding by tradition, to which were added extensions, and, in some cases,limitations, of the Torah, arrived at by strict logical deduction. Theopposition offered by the Sadducees—which became especially strenuous in thelast century BC.—originated the halakhic Midrash, whose mission it was todeduce these amplifications of the Law, by tradition and logic, out of the Lawitself.[1]

It might be thought that with thedestruction of the Temple in Jerusalem—which event made an end ofSadduceeism—the halakhic Midrash would also have disappeared, seeing that theHalacha could now dispense with the Midrash. This probably would have been thecase had not Akiva created his own Midrash, by means of which he was able\"to discover things that were even unknown to Moses.\"[1][40] Akivamade the accumulated treasure of the oral law—which until his time was only asubject of knowledge, and not a science—an inexhaustible mine from which, bythe means he provided, new treasures might be continually extracted.[1]

If the older Halacha is to beconsidered as the product of the internal struggle between Phariseeism andSadduceeism, the Halacha of Akiva must be conceived as the result of anexternal contest between Judaism on the one hand and Hellenism and HellenisticChristianity on the other. Akiva no doubt perceived that the intellectual bonduniting the Jews—far from being allowed to disappear with the destruction ofthe Jewish state—must be made to draw them closer together than before. Hepondered also the nature of that bond. The Bible could never again fill theplace alone; for the Christians also regarded it as a divine revelation. Stillless could dogma serve the purpose, for dogmas were always repellent torabbinical Judaism, whose very essence is development and the susceptibility todevelopment. Mention has already been made of the fact that Akiva was thecreator of a rabbinical Bible version elaborated with the aid of his pupil,Aquila (though this is traditionally debated), and designed to become thecommon property of all Jews.[1]

But this was not sufficient to obviateall threatening danger. It was to be feared that the Jews, by their facility inaccommodating themselves to surrounding —even then a markedcharacteristic—might become entangled in the net of Grecian philosophy, andeven in that of Gnosticism. The example of his colleagues and friends, Elishaben Abuyah, Ben Azzai, and Ben Zoma strengthened him still more in hisconviction of the necessity of providing some counterpoise to the intellectualinfluence of the non-Jewish world.[1]

Akiva\'s hermeneutic system[edit]

Akiva sought to apply the system ofisolation followed by the Pharisees (פרושים = thosewho \"separate\" themselves) todoctrine as they did to practice, to the intellectual life as they did to thatof daily discourse, and he succeeded in furnishing a firm foundation for hissystem. As the fundamental principle of his system, Akiva enunciates hisconviction that the mode of expression used by the Torah is quite differentfrom that of every other book. In the language of the Torah nothing is mereform; everything is essence. It has nothing superfluous; not a word, not asyllable, not even a letter. Every peculiarity of diction, every particle,every sign, is to be considered as of higher importance, as having a widerrelation and as being of deeper meaning than it seems to have. Like Philo,[41]who saw in the Hebrew construction of the infinitive with the finite form ofthe same verb and in certain particles (adverbs, prepositions, etc.) some deepreference to philosophical and ethical doctrines, Akiva perceived in themindications of many important ceremonial laws, legal statutes, and ethicalteachings.[1][42]

He thus gave the Jewish mind not onlya new field for its own employment, but, convinced both of the immutability ofHoly Scripture and of the necessity for development in Judaism, he succeeded inreconciling these two apparently hopeless opposites by means of his remarkablemethod. The following two illustrations will serve to make this clear:[1]

The high conception of woman\'sdignity, which Akiva shared in common with most other Pharisees, induced him toabolish the Oriental custom that banished ritually impure women from all socialintercourse. He succeeded, moreover, in fully justifying his interpretation ofthose Scriptural passages upon which this ostracism had been founded by theolder expounders of the Torah.[1][43]

The Biblical legislation in Ex. xxi. 7could not be reconciled by Akiva with his view of Jewish ethics: for him a\"Jewish slave\" is a contradiction in terms, for every Jew is to beregarded as a prince.[1][44] Akiva therefore teaches, in opposition to the oldHalakah, that the sale of a daughter under age by her father conveys to herpurchaser no legal title to marriage with her, but, on the contrary, carrieswith it the duty to keep the female slave until she is of age, and then tomarry her.[1][45] How Akiva endeavors to substantiate this from the Hebrew textis shown by A. Geiger.[1][46]

His hermeneutics frequently put him atodds with the letter of the law, as particularly demonstrated by his attitudetoward the Samaritans. He considered friendly intercourse with these semi-Jewsas desirable on political as well as on religious grounds, and he permitted—inopposition to tradition—not only eating their bread,[1][47] but also eventualintermarriage.[1][48] This is quite remarkable, seeing that in matrimoniallegislation he went so far as to declare every forofferden union as absolutelyvoid[1][49] and the offspring as illegitimate.[1][50] For similar reasons Akivacomes near abolishing the Biblical ordinance of Kil\'ayim; nearly every chapterin the treatise of that name contains a mitigation by Akiva.[1]

Love for the Holy Land, which he as agenuine nationalist frequently and warmly expressed,[1][51] was so powerfulwith him that he would have exempted agriculture from much of the rigor of theLaw. These examples will suffice to justify the opinion that Akiva was the manto whom Judaism owes preeminently its activity and its capacity for development.[1]

Religious philosophy[edit]

A tannaitic tradition mentions that ofthe four who entered paradise, Akiva was the only one that returnedunscathed.[1][52] This serves at least to show how strong in later ages was therecollection of Akiva\'s philosophical speculation[1] (see Elisha b. Abuya).

Akiva\'s utterances may serve topresent the essence of his religious conviction.[1][53] They run:

How favored is man, for he was createdafter an image; as Scripture says, \"for in an image, Elohim mademan.\"[1][54]

Everything is foreseen; but freedom[of will] is given to every man.[1]

The world is governed by mercy... butthe divine decision is made by the preponderance of the good or bad in one\'sactions.[1]

Akiva\'s anthropology is based upon theprinciple that man was created בצלם, thatis, not in the image of God—which would be בצלם אלהים—but after an image, after a primordialtype; or, philosophically speaking, after an Idea—what Philo calls in agreementwith Judean theology, \"the first heavenly man\" (see Adam ḳadmon).Strict monotheist that Akiva was, he protested against any comparison of Godwith the angels, and declared the plain interpretation of כאחד ממנו[55] as meaning \"like one of us\"to be arrant blasphemy.[1][56] It is quite instructive to read how a Christianof Akiva\'s generation, Justin Martyr, calls the literal interpretation—thusobjected to by Akiva—a \"Jewish heretical one\" (Dial. cum Tryph.lxii.). In his earnest endeavors to insist as strongly as possible upon theincomparable nature of God, Akiva indeed lowers the angels somewhat to therealms of mortals, and, alluding to Ps. lxxviii. 25, maintains that manna isthe actual food of the angels.[1][57] This view of Akiva\'s, in spite of theenergetic protests of his colleague Rabbi Ishmael, became the one generallyaccepted by his contemporaries, as Justin Martyr, l.c., lvii., indicates.[1]

God\'s two attributes[edit]

But he is far from representing strictjustice as the only attribute of God: in agreement with the ancient Israeltheology of theמדת הדין, \"theattribute of justice\", and מדת הרחמים, \"theattribute of mercy,\"[1][58] he teaches that God combines goodness andmercy with strict justice.[1][59] Hence his maxim, referred to above, \"Godrules the world in mercy, but according to the preponderance of good or bad inhuman acts.\"[1]

Eschatology and ethics[edit]

As to the question concerning thefrequent sufferings of the pious and the prosperity of the wicked —truly aburning one in Akiva\'s time—this is answered by the explanation that the piousare punished in this life for their few sins, in order that in the next theymay receive only reward; while the wicked obtain in this world all therecompense for the little good they have done, and in the next world willreceive only punishment for their misdeeds.[1][60] Consistent as Akiva alwayswas, his ethics and his views of justice were only the strict consequences ofhis philosophical system. Justice as an attribute of God must also be exemplaryfor man. \"No mercy in [civil] justice!\" is his basic principle in thedoctrine concerning law,[1][61] and he does not conceal his opinion that theaction of the Jews in taking the spoil of the Egyptians is to be condemned.[1][62]

From his views as to the relationbetween God and man he deduces the inference that he who sheds the blood of afellow man is to be considered as committing the crime against the divinearchetype(דמות) ofman.[1][63] He therefore recognizes as the chief and greatest principle ofJudaism the command, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\"[1][64]He does not, indeed, maintain thereby that the execution of this command isequivalent to the performance of the whole Law; and in one of his polemicinterpretations of Scripture he protests strongly against a contrary opinionallegedly held by Christians, and other non-Jews since the diaspora, accordingto which Judaism is at best \"simply morality.\"[1][65] For, in spiteof his philosophy, Akiva was an extremely strict and national Jew.[1]

Legends[edit]

‘When Moses ascended into heaven, he saw God occupied inmaking little crowns for the letters of the Torah. Upon his inquiry as to whatthese might be for, he received the answer, \"There will come a man, namedAkiva ben Yosef, who will deduce Halakot from every little curve and crown ofthe letters of the Law.\" Moses\' request to be allowed to see this man wasgranted; but he became much dismayed as he listened to Akiva\'s teaching; for hecould not understand it.’[1][66] This story gives a picture of Akiva\'s activityas the father of Talmudic Judaism.[1]

The Aggadah explains how Akiva, in theprime of life, commenced his rabbinical studies. Legendary allusion to thischange in Akiva\'s life is made in two slightly varying forms, of which thefollowing is probably the older:[1]

Akiva, noticing a stone at a well thathad been hollowed out by drippings from the buckets, said: \"If thesedrippings can, by continuous action, penetrate this solid stone, how much morecan the persistent word of God penetrate the pliant, fleshly human heart, if thatword but be presented with patient insistency.\"[1][67]

Akiva\'s grave in Tiberias

The most common version of Akiva\'sdeath is that the Roman government ordered him to stop teaching Torah, on painof death, and that he refused. There is some disagreement about the extent ofAkiva\'s involvement in the Bar Kokhba rebellion. When Tyrannus Rufus, as he iscalled in Jewish sources, ordered Akiva\'s execution, Akiva is said to haverecited his prayers calmly, though suffering agonies; and when Rufus asked himwhether he was a sorcerer, since he felt no pain, Akiva replied, \"I am nosorcerer; but I rejoice at the opportunity now given to me to love my God \'withall my life,\' seeing that I have hitherto been able to love Him only \'with allmy means\' and \'with all my might,\'\" and with the word \"One!\" heexpired.[1][68]

The version in the Babylonian Talmudtells it as a response of Akiva to his students, who asked him how he could yetoffer prayers to God. He says to them, \"All my life I was worried aboutthe verse, ‘with all your soul’ (and the sages expounded this to signify), evenif He takes away your soul. And I said to myself, when will I ever be able tofulfill this command? And now that I am finally able to fulfill it, I shouldnot?\" Then he extended the final word Echad (\"One\") until hislife expired with that word. A heavenly voice went out and announced:\"Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life expired with \"Echad\".[69]

Another legend is that Elijah bore thebody by night to Cæsarea. The night, however, was as bright as the finestsummer\'s day. When they arrived, Elijah and Joshua entered a cavern whichcontained a bed, table, chair, and lamp, and deposited Akiva\'s body there. Nosooner had they left it than the cavern closed of its own accord, so that noone has found it since.[1][70]

Akiva taught thousands of students: onone occasion, twenty-four thousand students of his died in a plague. His fivemain students were Judah bar Ilai, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, Joseben Halafta and Shimon bar Yochai.[19]

Akiva\'s success as a teacher put anend to his poverty; for the wealthy father-in-law now rejoiced to acknowledgesuch a distinguished son-in-law. Another source of his wealth was said to be alarge sum of money borrowed from a heathen woman, a matrona. As bondsmen forthe loan, Akiva named God and the sea, on the shore of which the matrona\'shouse stood. Akiva, being sick, could not return the money at the timeappointed; but his bondsmen did not leave him in the lurch. An imperialprincess suddenly became insane, in which condition she threw a chestcontaining imperial treasures into the sea. It was cast upon the shore close tothe house of Akiva\'s creditor, so that when the matrona went to the shore todemand of the sea the amount she had lent Akiva, the ebbing tide left boundlessriches at her feet. Later, when Akiva arrived to discharge his indebtedness,the matrona not only refused to accept the money, but insisted upon Akiva\'sreceiving a large share of what the sea had brought to her.[1][71]

The Talmud enumerates six occasions inwhich Akiva gained wealth.[72] In Ethiopia he was called upon to decide betweenthe swarthy king and the king\'s wife; the latter having been accused ofinfidelity because she had borne her lord a white child. Akiva ascertained thatthe royal chamber was adorned with white marble statuary, and, basing hisdecision upon a well known physiological theory[clarification needed], heexonerated the queen from suspicion.[1][73] It is related that, during his stayin Rome, Akiva became intimately acquainted with the Jewish proselyte ḳeṭia\'bar Shalom, a very influential Roman—according to some scholars identical withFlavius Clemens, Domitian\'s nephew, who, before his execution for pleading thecause of the Jews, bequeathed to Akiva all his possessions.[1][74]

Tinnius Rufus asked: \"Which isthe more beautiful—God’s work or man’s?\" \"Undoubtedly man\'s work isthe better,\" was Akiva\'s reply; \"for while nature at God\'s commandsupplies us only with the raw material, human skill enables us to elaborate thesame according to the requirements of art and good taste.\" Rufus had hopedto drive Akiva into a corner by his strange question; for he expected quite adifferent answer and intended to compel Akiva to admit the wickedness ofcircumcision. He then put the question, \"Why has God not made man just asHe wanted him to be?\" \"For the very reason,\" was Akiva\'s readyanswer, \"that the duty of man is to perfect himself.\"[1][75]

Favorite maxim[edit]

This was not the only occasion onwhich Akiva was made to feel the truth of his favorite maxim (\"WhateverGod doeth He doeth for the best\"). Once, being unable to find any sleepingaccommodation in a certain city, he was compelled to pass the night outside itswalls. Without a murmur he resigned himself to this hardship; and even when alion devoured his donkey, and a cat killed the rooster whose crowing was toherald the dawn to him, and the wind extinguished his candle, the only remarkhe made was, \"All that God does is for the good.\" When morning dawnedhe learned how true his words were. A band of robbers had fallen upon the cityand carried its inhabitants into captivity, but he had escaped because hisaoffering place had not been noticed in the darkness, and neither beast nor fowlhad betrayed him.[1][76]

Akiva and the dead[edit]

A legend according to which the gatesof the infernal regions opened for Akiva is analogous to the more familiar talethat he entered paradise and was allowed to leave it unscathed.[1][77] Thereexists the following tradition: Akiva once met a coal-black man carrying aheavy load of wood and running with the speed of a horse. Akiva stopped him andinquired: \"My son, why do you work so hard? If you are a slave and have aharsh master, I will buy you from him. If it be out of poverty that you do this,I will take care of your needs.\" \"It is for neither of these,\"the man replied; \"I am dead and am compelled because of my great sins tobuild my funeral pyre every day. In life I was a tax-gatherer and oppressed thepoor. Let me go at once, lest the demon torture me for my delay.\" \"Isthere no help for you?\" asked Akiva. \"Almost none,\" replied thedeceased; \"for I understand that my sufferings will end only when I have apious son. When I died, my wife was pregnant; but I have little hope that shewill give my child proper training.\"[1]

Akiva inquired the man\'s name and thatof his wife and her dwelling-place; and when, in the course of his travels, hereached the place, Akiva sought for information concerning the man\'s family.The neighbors very freely expressed their opinion that both the deceased andhis wife deserved to inhabit the infernal regions for all time—the latterbecause she had not even initiated her child into the Abrahamic covenant.Akiva, however, was not to be turned from his purpose; he sought the son of thetax-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 aheavenly voice (bat ḳol) asking, \"Why do you go to so much trouble on behalfof this person?\" \"Because he is just the kind to work for,\" wasthe prompt answer. Akiva persevered until his pupil was able to officiate asreader in the synagogue; and when there for the first time he recited theprayer, \"Bless the Lord!\" the father suddenly appeared to Akiva andoverwhelmed him with thanks for his deliverance from the pains of hell throughthe merit of his son.[1][78] This legend has been somewhat elaborately treatedin 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 nameis given in place of Akiva).[1]