Parshas Mattos- Masei
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
Rabbi Akiva is one of the greatest Torah sages and holiest people who has ever lived.
But how did he become the great Rabbi Akiva? The Talmud in Nedarim 50a relates the following amazing story:
Rabbi Akiva worked for Ben Kalba Savua as a shepherd. Ben Kalba Savua was one of the wealthiest men in Jerusalem at the time just before the destruction of the Second Temple. The Talmud explains that he was given that nickname because anyone who entered his house, even if he was as hungry as a dog (kalba), left satisfied (savua).
Rachel, the daughter of Ben Kalba Savua, noticed the modest shepherd and was impressed with his fine character traits, even though he was completely unlearned. [At that time, Rabbi Akiva did not even know the Hebrew alphabet!] Yet Rachel recognized his hidden qualities and was sure that, given the encouragement and opportunity, he would develop into a great Torah scholar. Rabbi Akiva committed to attending yeshiva to study Torah, and Rachel agreed to marry him.
When Ben Kalba Savua heard that his daughter married the ignorant and unlearned Akiva, he banished Rachel from his palatial estate and made a vow prohibiting her to benefit from his possessions. [The laws of vows are mentioned in this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Mattos-Masei (see Numbers 30:2-17].
They were so poor that they could not afford pillows or blankets, so they slept on straw. Every morning, Rabbi Akiva would pick strands of straw from her hair. He said to her: “If I ever become wealthy, instead of straw I will place on your head a ‘Jerusalem of Gold,’†a golden tiara engraved with the likeness of Jerusalem.
Elijah the Prophet came and appeared to them as a regular person and started calling and knocking on the door. He said to them: Give me a bit of straw, as my wife gave birth and I do not have anything on which to lay her. Rabbi Akiva said to his wife: See this man, who does not even have straw. We should be happy with our lot, as we at least have straw to sleep on.
Rachel would constantly encourage Rabbi Akiva to study Torah. But he still lacked confidence. One day he was sitting near a spring when he noticed that water dripping onto a stone for many years had worn a hole in the stone. He said, “If soft water can penetrate a hard stone, then the powerful Torah can certainly penetrate my soft heart.â€
And so, at age 40, Rabbi Akiva began to learn Torah. He would ask teachers of small children to teach him the Hebrew alphabet. He studied constantly, and eventually, little by little, he mastered the entire Torah.
With Rachel’s encouragement, Rabbi Akiva went and studied Torah for twelve years in the academy of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. At the completion of the twelve years, he returned home accompanied by his twelve thousand students(!).
As he neared his home, he overheard a conversation between Rachel and a neighbor. The wicked neighbor said, “Your father was right to banish you from his estate, in order to discourage you from marrying the no-good Akiva. Look what your husband has done to you – he has abandoned you like a widow for all these years!†Rachel responded, “If it was up to me, he would remain in the academy for another twelve years!†Hearing this, Rabbi Akiva said to himself, “Since this is what my wife wants, I will return to the academyâ€.
He turned back and went to the study hall, and he was there for another twelve years. Eventually he came back accompanied by 24,000 pairs of students. Everyone went out to greet him, as by now he was recognized as one of the greatest scholars of the generation, and Rachel too arose to go out to greet him. Her wicked neighbor said to her, “And where might you be going, dressed in those rags?†Rachel replied simply, “Surely my husband knows how I sacrificed my wealth and suffered on his behalf. He will not disdain me on account of my povertyâ€.
She came to present herself before Rabbi Akiva, but his students would not let her approach him, as they were unaware of her identity. He said to them, “Leave her be. What is mine and what is yours is really hers!†[All the Torah that I have learned and taught you is only due to her constant encouragement and incredible self-sacrifice.]
When Ben Kalba Savua heard that the famous Torah scholar was his son-in-law, he came before halakhic authorities and requested the dissolution of his vow, and it was dissolved. He then gave half of his fortune to Rabbi Akiva and Rachel.
Rabbi Akiva was now fabulously wealthy, in addition to being a great Torah scholar. However he didn’t forget an old promise that he made years ago when he was very poor … and he gave his devoted wife Rachel a golden ‘Jerusalem of Gold’ tiara for her to wear on her head.
In truth, there are many great lessons we can learn from the story of Rachel, the wife of Rabbi Akiva. One of them is how Rachel was able to see beyond the seemingly hopeless exterior – the ignorant Akiva who didn’t even know the aleph-beis at age 40 – and to recognize the incredible inner potential that he had, and that was eventually realized as he went to the academy to study Torah.
In this regard, I would like to share with you an amazing vort (Torah insight) that I once heard in the name of Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz ZTâ€L, the former Rosh Yeshivah and Dean of Yeshivah Chafetz Chaim in Queens, New York:
We find in Mishlei (Proverbs) 11:30 the following verse: "The fruit of a ‘tzaddik’ (a righteous person) is a tree of life, and a wise man acquires souls". In this verse, King Solomon compares the fruit of a tzaddik to "a tree of life". What does this mean, and how does it connect to the end of the verse which says that "a wise man acquires souls"?
Rabbi Leibowitz explained beautifully:
There are two ways to view an apple. Most people see it as just that - an apple. They only see it how it appears to them externally, on the outside. But someone with vision and a deeper understanding of the workings of the world views that apple as much more than just an apple. He looks beyond the external outer shell of the apple and sees the seed inside it, which, when properly grown and cultivated, can grow into a whole new tree of its own.
And the same applies with human beings, who can also be viewed in two ways. Most people view others around them as they perceive them externally. And sometimes, when what appears on the outside is not too nice or appealing, we reject the person and look down at him, and sometimes we even give up hope of this person ever "blossoming" and making something of himself in life. A tzaddik, on the other hand, who has a deeper understanding of people, sees beyond the rough exterior of this person's outside appearance to realize the seed which lies deep within him - his great and unlimited Divine neshamah - and which has the potential to grow and to blossom into a whole new tree! And when this man of vision sees that latent potential, he then has the ability to "acquire souls" and to bring out the best that this beautiful neshamah has to offer.
In life, we often encounter fellow human beings with "rough exteriors" - whether they are difficult children, tough bosses or co-workers, or just an annoying fellow congregant sitting next to us at the synagogue - and we would do well to realize this most important lesson from Mishlei. We must be like the tzaddik who sees beyond the apple's exterior to recognize the beautiful seed inside. We must do all we can to look at the beautiful and G-dly neshamah inside each and every person. And if we can cultivate that neshamah/seed properly and with much love and patience, it can and will grow into a beautiful tree in its own right.
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