[Avodah] Kama Maalot Tovot Lamakom Aleinu?

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 05:09:48PM -0400, David Wacholder wrote:
: While Rabi Akiva was counting out 250 plagues and 50 on the sea, Roman
: Emperor Hadrian was terrorizing the Eretz Yisrael inhabitants, using every
: cruel means available to him. With each new torture or hanging, arose from
: the people an outcry for revenge, for rebellion no matter at any costs. He
: may have sought to portray the Romans as just another wave of oppression,
: which can be waited out and weathered.

While it's a popular idea that the seder in Benei Beraq was during the
hadrianic persecutions, it's just a theory. There are other reasons for
them to meet in Benei Braq, at R' Aqiva's, rather than join R' Gamliel
(the nasi's) seder. R' Gamliel's focus was on the mitzvos of the night, R'
Aqiva was busy finding every neis he could that HQBH did for us. Halakhah
vs aggadah -- totally different notions of what a seder should be.

Tangent: Although interestingly, Rabbi Gamliel held a seder in Lod and
also ran all night -- Tosefta, Pesachim 10:8. And while it's poetic to
think they're both the same year, I don't know if we can prove that.

R' Aqiva lived a long time; he was even the great Rabbi Aqiva for
40 years, plus much of the prior 40 when he was in the yeshivos and
possibly quotable. (Be those 40s literal or representational.) The
Hadrianic persecutions began with his arrival in Y-m in 130 CE, and R'
Aqiva was killed in something like 137.

We therefore have no way to know that R' Aqiva was subject to persecution
at the time he did this math.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 9th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        1 week and 2 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Gevurah sheb'Gevurah: When is strict justice
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            most appropriate?