Rabbi Akiva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rabbi Akiva
16th-century illustration
Religion	Judaism
Personal
Born	Akiva ben Yosef 50 CE Lod, Roman Judea
Died	September 28, 135(135-09-28) (aged 84–85) Caesarea, Roman Judea
Senior posting
Title	Tanna
Buried	Tiberias, Galilee

Akiva ben Yosef (עֲקִיבָא בֶּן יוֹסֵף‎ ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf; around 50 CE – September 28, 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא‎), was a very important Jewish scholar and wise leader. He was a tanna (a Jewish sage) during the late first century and early second century.

Rabbi Akiva helped a lot with the Mishnah (a collection of Jewish laws) and Midrash halakha (interpretations of Jewish law). The Talmud (another important Jewish text) calls him Rosh la-Hakhamim, which means "Chief of the Sages." The Romans executed him after the Bar Kokhba revolt.

Rabbi Akiva's Life Story

His Early Years

Akiva ben Yosef was born around 50 CE. His family was not rich. Some stories say his family were converts to Judaism.

When Akiva married the daughter of Ben Kalba Sabua, a rich man from Jerusalem, Akiva was just a shepherd working for Ben Kalba Sabua. Her name is not given in older stories, but later ones call her Rachel. She was very supportive of her husband.

Akiva started studying Jewish texts when he was over 40 years old. He spent a lot of time learning the Torah.

Another story says that when Akiva was 40, he went to a school in his hometown of Lod. This school was led by Eliezer ben Hurcanus. Eliezer was Akiva's first teacher. Akiva later called only Eliezer his "rabbi."

Besides Eliezer, Akiva also learned from Joshua ben Hananiah and Nachum Ish Gamzu. He was also friends with Gamaliel II. Rabbi Tarfon was one of Akiva's teachers, but Akiva became even more famous than him. Akiva stayed in Lod while Eliezer was there, then moved his own school to Beneberak.

His Marriage and Studies

According to the Talmud, Akiva was a shepherd for Ben Kalba Sabu'a. Ben Kalba Sabu'a's daughter noticed how humble and kind Akiva was. She offered to marry him if he promised to start studying Torah. At that time, Akiva was 40 and could not read or write.

When her father found out she was secretly engaged to an uneducated man, he was very angry. He kicked his daughter out of his house and swore he would never help her as long as Akiva was her husband. Akiva and his wife were very poor. They even used straw for their bed.

The Talmud tells a story that once Elijah the prophet pretended to be a poor man. He came to their door asking for straw for his wife's bed after she had a baby. When Akiva and his wife saw people even poorer than them, Rachel told Akiva, "Go, and become a scholar."

Akiva and his wife agreed that he would leave home for twelve years to study. He would earn money by cutting wood. He sold half for his family and used the other half to keep a fire burning at night for light and warmth while he studied.

After twelve years, he returned with 12,000 students. As he was about to enter his home, he heard his wife talking to a neighbor. The neighbor was criticizing Akiva's long absence. His wife said, "If I had my wish, he should stay another twelve years at the academy."

Without going inside, Akiva went back to his studies for another twelve years. He returned later with 24,000 students. When his wife came out to greet him, some students tried to stop her because they didn't know who she was. But Akiva said, "Let her alone; for what is mine and yours, is hers." This meant she deserved credit for all their Torah study.

Ben Kalba Sabu'a, who didn't know who Akiva was, also came to him. He asked Akiva for help to cancel his vow to disown his daughter and her husband. Akiva asked him, "Would you have made your vow if you had known he would become a great scholar?" Ben Kalba Sabu'a replied, "Had I known that he would learn even one chapter or one single halakha (Jewish law), I would not have made the vow." Akiva then said, "I am that man." Ben Kalba Sabu'a fell at Akiva's feet and gave him half of his wealth.

The modern-day site of Rabbi Akiva's tomb in Tiberias

Later Years and Teachings

Many important scholars of the second century came from Akiva's school. These included Rabbi Meir, Judah bar Ilai, Simeon bar Yochai, Jose ben Halafta, Eleazar ben Shammai, and Rabbi Nehemiah. Akiva had many other students, with stories saying there were 12,000, 24,000, or even 48,000.

Akiva worked closely with Rabban Gamaliel. Akiva believed that Judaism needed a strong central leader. He became a loyal supporter of Rabban Gamaliel, who wanted to make the patriarch (the main Jewish leader) the true spiritual head of the Jews.

However, Akiva also believed that the patriarch's power should be limited by both the written and oral law. He was brave enough to act against Rabban Gamaliel's decisions in some religious matters. Akiva also helped oversee care for the poor. Many Jewish texts show his kindness and care for the sick and needy.

Akiva traveled a lot. He was in Rome around 95–96 CE and in Nehardea before 110 CE. He likely visited other places with large Jewish communities.

Akiva is thought to have supported the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE). The only clear fact about his involvement is that he believed Bar Kokhba was the promised Messiah. Some modern scholars think Akiva's thousands of students died fighting for Bar Kokhba.

A Jewish text says that Akiva became a martyr because he broke Hadrian's rules against practicing and teaching Judaism. He was sentenced to death by Turnus Rufus in Caesarea. This story suggests his death was for religious reasons, not political ones. Akiva died after several years in prison, around 132 CE, before the Bar Kokhba revolt ended.

His Death

Akiva's grave in Tiberias

The story of Akiva's death is told in a few ways, but they all share key points. Akiva kept teaching Torah even though the Romans said it was forbidden. The Roman consul Turnus Rufus ordered his execution. Akiva was executed, and his last words were the Shema prayer.

The most common story says that when Turnus Rufus ordered Akiva's death, Akiva calmly recited his prayers, even while suffering greatly. When Rufus asked if he was a sorcerer because he felt no pain, Akiva replied, "I am no sorcerer. But I am happy to have this chance to love my God 'with all my life,' since until now I could only love Him 'with all my money' and 'with all my strength.'" He then began saying the Shema. With the word Echad ("One"), meaning God is One, he passed away.

The version in the Babylonian Talmud tells that Akiva's students asked him how he could still pray to God. He told them, "All my life I worried about the verse, 'with all your soul' (which means, even if He takes away your soul). I asked myself, when will I ever be able to fulfill this command? And now that I finally can, should I not?" Then he said the Shema, holding the last word Echad ("One") until he died. A heavenly voice announced, "Blessed are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your life ended with Echad."

Another legend says that Elijah carried Akiva's body by night to Caesarea. They put Akiva's body in a cave that had a bed, table, chair, and lamp. As soon as they left, the cave closed, and no one has found it since. Today, Rabbi Akiva's tomb is believed to be in Tiberias.

Rabbi Akiva's Ideas and Teachings

How God and Humans Relate

Akiva's thoughts on how humans were created are found in Pirkei Avot:

How special is man, for he was created after an image; as Scripture says, "for in an image, God made man."

Akiva believed that humans were created "after an image," meaning after a perfect, original type. He strongly believed that God is unique and cannot be compared to angels. He even said that manna (the food God gave the Israelites in the desert) was the actual food of angels.

From his ideas about God and humans, Akiva taught that killing a person is like harming God's perfect design for humanity. He also said that the most important rule in Judaism is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

Akiva believed that God combines goodness and mercy with strict justice. He taught, "God rules the world in mercy, but according to the balance of good or bad in human actions."

His Views on the Future

Akiva answered the question of why good people suffer and bad people prosper. He said that good people are punished in this life for their few sins so they can receive only rewards in the next life. Wicked people get all their rewards in this world for the little good they did, and in the next world, they will only be punished for their bad deeds.

The Jewish Bible

Akiva played a role in deciding which books would be part of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). He strongly argued against including certain Apocrypha books, like the Wisdom of Sirach, in the official Jewish Bible. However, he was not against reading them privately. Akiva strongly defended the importance of the Song of Songs and Esther as part of the Bible.

Aquila, one of Akiva's students, created a Greek translation of the Bible for Greek-speaking Jews, with Akiva's guidance. Akiva also likely helped revise the Targums (Aramaic translations of the Bible).

Akiva as a Systematizer

Akiva greatly helped organize and develop Halakha (Jewish law). Before him, Jewish laws were not well-organized, making them hard to study and use. Akiva created a system for the "mishna" (the collection of laws), the "midrash" (interpretations of laws), and the "halachot" (logical explanations of laws).

The Mishnah that Akiva's student Rabbi Meir learned from him became the basis for the Six Orders of the Mishnah, which is a very important Jewish legal text. Most of the current Jewish legal texts, like the Mishnah of Judah ha-Nasi, came from Akiva's school.

A later scholar, Johanan bar Nappaḥa, said that while different texts came from different rabbis, "they all took Akiva for a model in their works and followed him." This shows how much Akiva influenced Jewish law.

Akiva's Way of Interpreting Texts

Akiva's way of interpreting texts, called hermeneutics, was amazing. It became the foundation for all Talmudic learning.

Before Akiva, Jewish law was mainly based on tradition and logical deductions from the Torah. Akiva created his own way of interpreting the Torah. He believed that every word, syllable, and even letter in the Torah had a deep meaning. Nothing in the Torah was just for show; everything was important.

He thought that even small details in the Torah's language could point to important laws, rules, and ethical teachings. This method allowed Jewish scholars to find new meanings and laws in the Torah that were not obvious before.

Akiva's ideas helped Judaism grow and adapt while still staying true to its ancient texts. For example, he believed in the high dignity of women. He worked to change the old custom that kept ritually impure women away from social life. He found ways to interpret the Torah passages differently to support this change.

He also had a strong love for the Holy Land. He was a true nationalist and often spoke warmly about it. He would have made some agricultural laws less strict because of this love. These examples show how Akiva helped Judaism stay active and able to develop over time.

Interesting Stories About Rabbi Akiva

When Moses went up to heaven, he saw God adding small crowns to the letters of the Torah. Moses asked what they were for. God replied, "A man named Akiva ben Yosef will come. He will find new laws from every little curve and crown of these letters." Moses asked to see this man. He was allowed to, but he was confused because he couldn't understand Akiva's teaching. However, Moses felt better when a student asked Akiva where a law came from, and Akiva replied, "It's a law given to Moses at Sinai." This story shows how important Akiva was to Talmudic Judaism.

Tinnius Rufus once asked Akiva, "Which is more beautiful—God's work or man's?" Akiva answered, "Without a doubt, man's work is better. God gives us raw materials, but human skill lets us make them into art and beautiful things." Rufus then asked, "Why didn't God make man exactly as He wanted him to be?" Akiva replied, "For that very reason, man's job is to perfect himself."

There's a famous story about how Akiva started his studies later in life. He saw a stone at a well that had been worn away by dripping water. He thought, "If these drops can wear away a hard stone, how much more can the constant word of God enter a soft human heart, if taught patiently."

Akiva taught thousands of students. One time, 24,000 of his students died in a plague. His five main students were Judah bar Ilai, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Eleazar ben Shammua, Jose ben Halafta and Shimon bar Yochai.

Once, Akiva was asked to decide a case involving a dark-skinned king and his wife, who had given birth to a white child. Akiva found out that the royal bedroom had white marble statues. Based on the idea that a child can resemble what its parents looked at, he cleared the queen of any suspicion.

The Talmud lists six times Akiva became wealthy. One way was when his rich father-in-law, Kalba Savua, finally recognized him as a great scholar and supported him. Another time, he borrowed a large sum of money from a non-Jewish woman. He named God and the sea as his guarantors. Akiva got sick and couldn't return the money on time. But his guarantors helped him. An imperial princess suddenly went insane and threw a chest of royal treasures into the sea. It washed ashore near the woman's house. So, when she went to the shore to ask the sea for her money back, the receding tide left her with immense riches. When Akiva arrived to pay her back, she refused the money and insisted he take a large share of what the sea had brought her.

This wasn't the only time Akiva saw his favorite saying come true: "Whatever God does, He does for the best." Once, he couldn't find a place to sleep in a city and had to spend the night outside. He accepted this difficulty without complaining. Even when a lion ate his donkey, a cat killed his rooster, and the wind put out his candle, he only said, "All that God does is for the good." In the morning, he learned how true his words were. A group of robbers had attacked the city and captured its people, but Akiva had escaped because his hiding place was not noticed in the darkness, and no animal or light had given him away.

Another story tells how Akiva helped a man who was suffering in the afterlife. Akiva met a man who was coal-black and carrying a heavy load of wood, running very fast. Akiva asked him why he worked so hard. The man replied, "I am dead, and because of my great sins, I have to build my own funeral pyre every day. In life, I was a tax collector and treated the poor badly. Let me go, or the demon will torture me for being late." Akiva asked if there was any hope for him. The man said, "Almost none. My suffering will end only when I have a pious son. My wife was pregnant when I died, but I don't think she will raise our child well."

Akiva asked for the man's name, his wife's name, and where she lived. When Akiva reached that place during his travels, he found the man's family. The neighbors said the deceased man and his wife deserved to suffer forever. Akiva, however, was determined. He found the tax collector's son and worked hard to teach him God's word. After fasting for 40 days and praying, he heard a heavenly voice asking, "Why do you go to so much trouble for this person?" Akiva replied, "Because he is worth working for." Akiva kept teaching until his student could lead prayers in the synagogue. When the son first recited the prayer, "Bless the Lord!", the father suddenly appeared to Akiva. He thanked Akiva for saving him from the pains of hell through his son's good deeds.

See also

In Spanish: Akiva ben Iosef para niños