Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) Orientation.pptx
Rabbi Akiva
1.
2. Early Days
• Rabbi Akiva was born Akiva ben Joseph.
• Nobody really knows when he was born, but
they estimate around 17 CE.
• Most of his early life is a .
3. How He Became a Scholar- A Love Story
Rabbi Akiva was 40 years old. All his life he had
been a shepherd. His employer, Kalba Savua,
was the wealthiest man in Jerusalem.
He had a daughter named Rachel. Rachel loved
Akiva and wanted to marry him. Her one
condition was that he become a Torah scholar.
He did for around years. He became one of
the wisest scholars in the world.
4. How He Was Persuaded
• At first Rabbi Akiva did not want to become a
scholar, because he thought he was too old,
and wasn’t smart enough.
• One day, he saw a hollowed-out rock under a
waterfall. He was told that the rock was
hollowed out by the dripping water, over a
long period of time. He realized that if a rock,
one of Nature’s hardest substance, could be
hollowed by water, he could learn Torah.
5. Rabbi Akiva’s Quotes
• “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Rabbi Akiva
said that this is the greatest principal in the
Torah.
Hebrew:
“
6. More of His Quotes
• “Beloved is man that he was created in the
image of HaShem; It is a greater act of love
that he was informed that he created in the
image of HaShem. Beloved are B’Nei Israel
that they were called the children of
HaShem; It is a greater act of love that they
were informed that they were called the
children of HaShem.”
8. Yet More Quotes
• “All is foreseen, but free will is given. The
world is judged with [Divine] goodness, yet all
is according to man’s actions.”
Hebrew:
9. A Short Story
• It happened that one of Rabbi Akiva’s students
fell sick, and the Sages did not visit him.
• So Rabbi Akiva himself entered the house to
visit him, and because he swept and sprinkled
the ground before him, he recovered. “My
master,” said he, “you have revived me!”
• Immediately Rabbi Akiva went forth and
lectured: “He who does not visit the sick is a
.”
10. Who Created the World?
A man once came to Rabbi Akiva, and asked
him, 'Who created the world?'
'G-d created the world,' Rabbi Akiva replied.
'Prove it to me,' persisted the heathen.
'Come back tomorrow,' Rabbi Akiva told him.
11. Who Created the World? (Continued)
The following day the man came back, and Rabbi
Akiva asked him, 'What are you wearing?’
'A cloak, as you see.'
'Who made it?' Rabbi Akiva asked.
'The weaver, of course.'
'I don't believe it; prove it to me!' Rabbi Akiva
persisted.
'What proof do you want? Can’t you see that the
weaver has made the cloth?'
'Then why do you ask for proof that G-d created the
world? Cannot you see that the Holy One blessed
be He created it.'
12. Who Created the World (Continued)
• And to his students Rabbi Akiva added, 'My
children, just as the house is proof of the
builder, and the cloth is proof of the weaver,
and the door is proof of the joiner, so this
world proclaims that G-d created it.'
13. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
• Rabbi Akiva had a student named Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai.
• The anniversary of his death is Lag Ba Omer
• Rabbi Shimon is one of the greatest students
of Rabbi Akiva.
• His name is mentioned many times in the
Mishnah and Talmud.
14. The Connection of Lag Ba Omer
• Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 students.
• Sadly, all of them passed away in a plague
because they did show respect to one
another.
• Lag Ba Omer marks the anniversary of the day
that the plague stopped.
16. How Rabbi Akiva Died
• The Romans issued a decree forbidding the
teaching and observance of Torah in public.
Rabbi Akiva continued to gather students and
teach them Torah. The Romans captured him
and sentenced him to death.
• When they took Rabbi Akiva out for
execution, it was the time to say the Shema.
While they tortured him, he was accepting
upon himself the kingship of heaven.
17. Echad
• Rabbi Akiva prolonged the saying of the word
Echad, until he died while saying it.
• A heavenly voice went forth and
proclaimed, “Happy are you, Akiva, that your
soul has departed with the word Echad.
• Rabbi Akiva was one with God.
