The Paper Burns...
An illiterate shepperd, Akiba married late to a wealthy man’s daughter, Rachel, who married him on condition that he devoted himself to learning. Rachel was banished by her father for marrying the poverty-stricken Akiba. When their child started school, Akiba accompanied him and so learned to read. Aged 40 he was admitted to the rabbinical academy of a Pharisaic teacher, and found himself championing the poor against the rich.
In 96 CE he went to Rome with other Rabbis to petition the emperor Domitian to revoke anti-Jewish laws. Fortunately Akiba received a bequest from a Jewish convert in Rome, which allowed him to set up an academy near Jaffa, where he attracted thousands of students.
Akiba developed a new method of textual interpretation which attached significance to every word of the Hebrew scriptures, and this allowed Akiba to adjust the law to the needs of the times.
He also rearranged the haphazard organization of the Oral Law. This system was further developed by his disciple, Rabbi Meir, and it was set up in its present form, the Mishnah, by Judah I arround 200 CE. Akiba played an important role in the bar Kochba revolt against Rome (132-135 CE) and insisted on continuing to teach the Law, though it was a capital offence. He was tortured and executed by the Romans, Being burnt at the stake with the Shema Yiroel (‘Hear O Israel’ Deuteronomy 6.4), Israel’s profession of faith, on his lips.
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