Look on the
BRIGHT SIDE
Jewish law actually requires a positive
attitude I BY ROBERT SUSSMAN
THE TALMUD TEACHES1 THAT THE FAMOUS RABBI
Akiva had 12 000 pairs of talmidim (a total
of 24 000 students) and that all of them
died one year during the seven-week/49day period that we are commanded by the
Torah to count (commonly referred to as
Sefiras HaOmer) annually between the
second day of Pesach and Shavuos. To
commemorate this loss, there is an annual
custom to observe a semi-mourning period between Pesach and Shavuos.
Following the death of Rabbi Akiva’s
students, the Talmud describes the world
as “desolate”, and Rashi explains this to
mean that the Torah was being forgotten2. There are moments in Jewish history when all seems lost – when we teeter
on the verge of annihilation. This was one
of those times. Can we even begin to
imagine the devastation – both on a national level, as well as on a personal one
for Rabbi Akiva? Here he must have
thought that he had surely secured an incredibly bright future for the Jewish people – 24 000 Torah scholars to go forth
and transmit Torah to the next generation – and then he watched helplessly, as
34 JEWISH LIFE
ISSUE 72
it all slipped away until there was literally
nothing left. His life’s work completely
destroyed in the course of a few weeks.
And to drive the point home even further, Rabbi Akiva wasn’t a young man
when this terrible incident occurred.
We’re taught that at the age of 40 years
old, Rabbi Akiva had never studied Torah.3 When he finally did begin to study,
he went with his son to a teacher of
young children and they learned together,
starting at the only place they could: the
very beginning – learning Aleph Beis.
With the boundless support of his beloved wife, Rachel, Rabbi Akiva would
eventually spend 24 consecutive years
studying in yeshiva, during which he and
his wife did not see each other and she
lived as a virtual widow. So he was likely
65 or 70 years old, or perhaps even older,
when this tremendous loss occurred.
At an age when most people are starting their retirement, cutting down on
their activities, and spending time with
their grandchildren, Rabbi Akiva was tested with finding the inner strength to prevent the Torah from being forgotten by
the Jewish people. And the Talmud4 tells
us, as we might have guessed, that he succeeded, that this state of desolation
dragged on until Rabbi Akiva finally
picked himself up and travelled south,
where he taught five new students. And
through those students, he managed to
re-establish a future for Torah, and along
with it, the Jewish people.
So, we have to ask ourselves, how does
a person pick himself up from such incredible depths? Others have faced such
devastation and, unfortunately, not fared
as well. So where did Rabbi Akiva find the
inner strength – the inspiration and the
drive – to start all over?
Rabbi Akiva taught5 that a person must
always accustom himself to saying: “Everything that G-d does, He does for the
best.” And the Talmud relates an incident
that happened to Rabbi Akiva and which
he taught as a proof for this profoundly
fundamental Jewish belief. Rabbi Akiva
was travelling along on the road and he
arrived at a certain town, where he
sought lodging – but, unfortunately,
there were no vacancies. Can you imagine
travelling a great distance, arriving at
your hotel exhausted from your journey,
and being told that they’ve lost your reservation, that there’s a convention in
town and there simply are no vacancies?
Who doesn’t bristle at just the mere
thought of such a situation? What was
Rabbi Akiva’s response? Did he ask to see
the manager? Did he get angry or complain? He said, “Everything that G-d does,
He does for the best,” and he went and he
slept overnight in a field.
At the time, Rabbi Akiva had with him:
(1) a rooster – his alarm clock6, what we
use our cell phones for nowadays; (2) a
donkey – his mode of transport, ie, his
car; and (3) a candle – a light source. A
wind came and extinguished the candle,
leaving Rabbi Akiva in utter darkness. A
wild cat came and ate the rooster – no
more cell phone. A lion came and ate the
donkey – no more car. Rabbi Akiva was
having what we would call “a really bad
day”. What did he think as he sat there
alone in the dark bereft of his possessions? “Everything that G-d does, He does
for the best.” That same night, robbers
came and took the people of the town
PHOTOGRAPHS: ILAN OSSENDRYVER
FEATURE