[Avodah] Nechama

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 11:09:23AM +0300, Eli Turkel wrote:
: In the famous gemara at the very end of makkot, R. Akiva and the rabbis are
: walking near har habayit and see a fox. The rabbis cry and R. Akiva laughs
: R. Akiva asks why are they crying - a strange question
: They ask why he is laughing

It's only a strange question if you don't think he was being Socratic.
IOW, I htink the question was just to get them to express their opinion
which he then uses as a foil for his own.

...
: R. Akiva answer that he is laughing because of the connection of 2
: prophecies guarantees that there will be a salvation

First, R Aqiva thought at this point in his life that the ge'ulah would
be immanent. This is before Bar Kochva.

According to R' Saadia Gaon, laughter comes from a sudden realization
of a hidden truth. R' Aqiva had that realization. This is one of three
such stories about R' Aqiva. And I think that's the point -- R' Aqiva
isn't taking nechamah from a long-distant future, he sees Hashem's hand
in events, and got the "punchline" before Hashem tells it. The nechamah
is from seeing that there really is a process and a meaning.

1- When he hears the celebrations of the Roman camp:

    It happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azarya, Rabbi
    Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva were walking along the road and heard the
    sound of the Roman masses from Pelitus, one hundred and twenty mil
    away. They began crying, but Rabbi Akiva laughed.

    They asked him, "Why do you laugh?" He said to them, "And you,
    why do you cry?"

    They said to him, "These pagans, who bow to images and bring
    offerings to idolatry, dwell in security and tranquility, whereas
    we -- the house [that is] the footstool of our God has been burned
    by fire. Shall we not cry?"

    He said to them, "It is for that reason that I laugh. If this is
    how it is for those who violate His will, then all the more so for
    those who perform His will!

2- The story RET retold.

Both on Makkos 24a-25b

3- When he saw R' Eliezer on his deathbed (Sanhedrin 101a):

    When Rabbi Eliezer became ill, his students went to visit him. He said
    to them, "There is great anger in the world" [referring to Hashem's
    giving power to the Romans]. They started to cry, except Rabbi Akiva
    who laughed. They said to him, "Why do you laugh?" He answered them,
    "And why do you cry?" They said to him, "Is it possible that one
    sees the scroll of the Torah in pain, and we do not weep?"

    He responded, "It is for that reason that I laughed. As long as
    I saw my rebbe, that his wine did not turn sour, his flax did not
    get smitten, his oil did not spoil, and honey did not crystallize,
    I could say that perhaps ch"v rebbe had received his world [now,
    not in the world-to-come]. But now that I see that rebbe suffers,
    I am happy." [Rabbi Eliezer] said to [Rabbi Akiva], "Did I neglect
    any matter of the Torah [for which I now suffer]?" [Rabbi Akiva]
    said to him, "Our rebbe, you taught us, 'For there is no righteous
    man on earth who does good without sinning.' (Koheles 7:20)"

I wrote about these three stories, R' Saadia Gaon's explanation of
laughter, Moshe Rabbeinu being able to give nevu'ah with "zeh hadavar",
other nevi'im using "koh", the lack of "koh" denoted by "eikhah", the
nature of aveilus, and what it means to be yishrei leiv and to give
tehilah / hallel at <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2001/08/idealism.shtml>.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Zion will be redeemed through justice,
micha at aishdas.org        and her returnees, through righteousness.
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