A Rabbi You Should Know More About:

Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph (ca. 40-137 CE)

By Dr. Beth Reid (KA member)

Are you struggling with Hebrew as an adult and wondering if it is worth it? Don’t give
up! Rabbi Akiva was an illiterate shepherd who didn’t learn to read until he was 40! But he
studied and went on to become a major contributor to the Mishnah and an authority on
Jewish tradition. He is referred to in the Talmud as "Rosh le-Chachamim" (Head of all
the Sages). Akiva came from a humble background and probably was a servant on
someone else’s farm until he got married. He began life as a shepherd whose family was
too poor for him to study or even get married. But a young woman from a wealthy family,
Rachel, married him and supported him while he learned to read and later studied Torah.
He never forgot his humble background and championed the common people in his rabbinic
decisions. He had many disciples who studied under him. His favorite saying was:
"Whatever God does He does for the best."
In discussions of the Torah, Akiva developed his own style of logic, taking a
seemingly minor aspect of a verse or even a word’s numeric value, using this to put forth his
side of the discussion. Other rabbis were astounded and often confounded by this. Even
when he was still a student, Akiva sometimes made a winning point, gaining him respect
among scholars and teachers of the academy. Still, with all this, he remained modest.
There was a long-standing division of opinion between the patricians and plebians in the
Land and among the rabbis. The wealthy patricians included land-owners of large estates
and the priests, the Shammaitic wing, whose interests sometimes conflicted with those of
the lower class small farmers, nomadic herdsmen and shopkeepers, the Hillelite wing. The
policy was that both groups would be represented, one by the Nasi (roughly speaking, the
president) and the other by the Bet Ha Din (vice president). Remembering his roots, Akiva
always argued in favor of the poor and lower classes. He is best known for systematizing
the Halakah, the material about religious practice. In Akiva’s time this information was
difficult to study or use because there was no organization to it. So Akiva set himself the
task of logically arranging the Mishnah (the oral traditions), the Midrash (explanation of the
Halakot) and the Halakot.
Around 110-112 CE the Roman Emperor Trajan made an edict that the Jews could
rebuild their temple in Jerusalem (it had been destroyed in 70 CE). The edict was vaguely
worded but it gave rise to much hope among the Jews and the feeling that a Messianic Age
was about to begin. It also may have caused Akiva to later endorse the rebel leader Simon
Bar Kosiva as Messiah, whom he renamed Bar Kochba (son of a star), saying, “A star has
broken out from Jacob” (cf. Numbers 24:17). This was Akiva’s one black mark on an
otherwise unblemished career. In kindness, it should be pointed out that Akiva was 92 when
the rebellion broke out and his faculties seemed to be failing him; he had reversed himself
on a few of his decisions, something which he had never done before.
Before the Jews could begin rebuilding the Temple, Trajan died and Hadrian took his
place as Emperor. Hadrian visited Jerusalem in 130 CE and let it be known that he planned
to build a temple, but not to God. His plan was for a temple to himself and Jupiter on the
exact place of the Jewish Temple ruins. This, among other things, provoked the Second
Jewish Revolt leading to the banning of Jews from Jerusalem among other punishments.
Because the Messianic Jews recognized Yeshua as Messiah, they did not participate,
finally separating them from Judaism in the eyes of the rebels. Akiva refused to obey the
Roman edict which forbade the study and teaching of Torah. He was arrested and tortured
by being skinned alive. He preached and quoted scripture during the process, impressing
his Roman torturers. He died with the Shema on his lips. Despite the fact that Messianic
Jews disagree with Akiva’s conclusions concerning Yeshua as Messiah, we can give him
due respect as a late-blooming scholar and martyr for the Jewish cause. He is certainly a
rabbi who made a great impact at a crucial time of the history of our people in the Land.
While the failed Bar Kochba revolt has proven that Akiva’s choice could not be the messiah,
many are taking another look at a captivating rabbi from Galilee.

Historical Source: Finkelstein, Louis. Akiva: Scholar, Saint and Martyr, New York,
Atheneum, 1970.