[Avodah] What Was R Akiva doing & Thinking whilst this plague decimated his Talmidim

[rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com]

Rabbi Meir G. Rabi meirabi at gmail.com:
> What did Chazal wish to achieve by commemorating this as a permanent
> fixture in our calendar?

By the term "chazal" - are you referring to Hachmei Talmud?
Or are you using it so as to include Gaonim?


[Email #2. -mi]

This seems to beg the question:

How is aveilus observed during the middle of a war?

In Sefer Shmuel Shaul and Yonassan's deaths were mourned "after" the
dust cleared. But in those days it seems wars were just a battle or 2

In full-scale revolts against Rome circa 67-70 CE and again circa 132-135
it seems improbable that grown men were sitting shiva during the crisis
of war - women and chldren maybe.

I'm not sure exactly how aveilus was observed during the Black Death in
Europe or during WWII-sho'ah, or even during the 1919 influenza epidemic.

KT
RRW
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