Rebbe Akiva

Marriage to Rachel

According to the Talmud, Akiva was a shepherd for Ben Kalba Sabu’a when the latter’s daughter, Rachel,  noticed his modesty and fine character traits. She offered to marry him if he would agree to begin studying Torah, (at the time, he was 40 years old and illiterate). When her father found out that she was secretly betrothed to an unlearned man, he was furious. He drove his daughter out of his house, swearing that he would never help her so long as Akiva remained her husband. Akiva and his wife lived in such poverty that they used straw for their bed. The Talmud relates that once Elijah the prophet assumed the guise of a poor man and came to their door to beg some straw for a bed for his wife after she had given birth. When Akiva and his wife saw that there were people even poorer than they, Rachel said to him, “Go, and become a scholar”.

Early Years in Learning

By agreement with his wife, Akiva spent twelve years away from home to pursue his studies. He would make a living by cutting wood from the forest, selling half for his wife’s and children’s well-being, and using the other half for keeping a fire burning at night to keep himself warm and to provide light thereby for his own studies. Returning at the end of twelve years accompanied by 12,000 disciples, he overheard his wife say to a neighbor who was critical of his long absence: “If I had my wish, he would stay another twelve years at the academy.” Without yet crossing the threshold of his home, Akiva went back to the academy. He returned twelve years later escorted by 24,000 disciples. When his wife went out to greet him, some of his students, not knowing who she was, sought to restrain her. But Akiva exclaimed, “Let her alone; for what is mine and yours, is hers” (she deserves the credit for our Torah study). Not knowing who he was, Ben Kalba Sabu’a also approached Akiva and asked him for help annulling his vow to disown his daughter and her husband. Akiva asked him, “Would you have made your vow if you had known that he would become a great scholar?” Ben Kalba Sabu’a replied, “Had I known that he would learn even one chapter or one single halachah (law), I would not have made the vow”. Akiva said to him, “I am that man”. Ben Kalba Sabu’a fell at Akiva’s feet and gave him half his wealth.