DOC Akiva: Life; Legend; Legacy by Rabbi Reuven Hammer in History

Review

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A very good learned description of the sage's life and thinkingBy Israel DrazinRabbi Akiva’s life is a mystery. There are many legends about him; but they are untrue. He had many students; but not the 20;000 or 40;000 that legends contend. As Reuven Hammer points out in his excellent study “Akiva; Life; Legend; Legacy;” he did not live 120 years as the Bible states Moses lived. He did not die by having his skin scraped from his body. He did not start his studies at age 40. The name Rachel assigned to his wife; is not found in the early contradictory legends of his marriage; it was inserted in a late Midrash because Rachel means “sheep;” and a sheep is mentioned earlier in this imaginative version of Akiva’s life; and giving this name to Akiva’s wife added symmetry. The Israel Prize Winner; Professor Shamma Friedman shows this in his excellent “A Good Story Deserves Retelling: The Unfolding of the Akiva Legend.” In fact; we do not know when Akiva was born; when he started his studies; and when he died. Our best guess; according to Hammer; is that he was born around 50 CE and died sometime between 132 and 135 BCE. Some of Rabbi Akiva’s teachings mentioned by Hammer; are:1. If two people are lost in a desert and one of them has only enough water to survive; he should not share it; the owner should drink it and live. Another sage; Ben Patura; advised that they should share the water even though they would both die.2. Stealing from a non-Jew is worse than stealing from a Jew because it desecrates the name of God.3. Bar Kosiba; later called Bar Kokhva; was the messiah; “a most unfortunate lapse of judgment.”4. When Jews went into exile; “God’s presence was exiled with them.”5. “In his eyes Torah study was even more important than observance.”6. The “Torah was written by God in heaven prior to creation and that every word; every letter; every sign had meaning and must be interpreted.”Hammer writes: “Akiva’s work did not stop with his death. By the end of the century the efforts of his loyal disciples…led to the creation of the major works of Rabbinic Judaism; based on Akiva’s teachings: the Mishnah and the Tosefta…(and) midrashim…. They formed the foundation for the continuation of Jewish life in the harsh conditions that the prevailed; the life-giving water that sustained the Jewish people.”0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I rate the deliverer highly. The book itself is ...By book5eaterI rate the deliverer highly. The book itself is a mixed bag. I accept that large portions of Reb Akiva's life are unclear. He is a figure of myths and tales. I wish the writer had been firmer in separating Akiva the man from Akiva the symbol.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Disappointing and incompleteBy SWFThere are many good stories here but a failure to synthesize. The author does not justify his acceptance of some facts and rejection of others.