[Avodah] The Origins of R' Akiva

[Micha Berger]

We all know the story, the water etching the rock. I found the maqor,
it's Avos diR' Nasan 6:2 <http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/avot/6-2.htm>.

The story begins "Ben 40 shanah hayah velo lamad kelum". Therefore,
it's usually told that R' Aqiva was an ignorant shephard at 40, and
began learning Torah after this incident convinced him that Rachel's
plan had merit.

RYS (OY #10) picks up on a later line, "miyad, CHAZAR lilmod Torah".
According to his take on the story, R' Aqiva was raised in a Torah
observant home and had an education. By age 40, he had left it all and
wasn't learning any longer. After this story, he returned to learning.

According to RYS (tr. R' Zvi Miller, pg 211), this was the lesson
of the water. Not the impact learning could have, but the impact his
past learning did have -- unknowingly to him:
    Chazal state that Rabbi Akiva 'returned' to study. This implies
    that Rabbi Akiva had stopped learning Torah because of a problem
    he experienced in his studies. His difficulty was that he thought
    his Torah study made no impression on his soul and he did not see
    himself growing spiritually. At that point, he was convinced that it
    was hopeless for him to continue. The example of the water that had
    carved deep into the stone, made him realize the flaw in his thinking
    and his feelings of despair. He then returned to his studies. The
    actual process of the altering of the stone is not discernible to
    the senses. The scientists explain that the flow of water makes an
    impression which is imperceptible to man.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             When you come to a place of darkness,
micha at aishdas.org        you don't chase out the darkness with a broom.
http://www.aishdas.org   You light a candle.
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