5783/2023

A Well-Known Question

The following is a most often asked question regarding the

story we recount in the Hagadah of the five great Tana’im who

convened in Bnei Brak for a Pesach Seder. The Seder taking

place in Bnei Brak, the hometown of Rabi Akiva (see Sanhedrin

32b) and it lasting until dawn in accordance with Rabi Akiva’s

view (unlike the view of Rabi Elazar ben Azaria, one of the

participants in the Bnei Brak Seder; see Pesachim 120b)

indicates that the Seder was conducted at Rabi Akiva’s home.

The problem is that two of Rabi Akiva’s Rebbeim, Rabi

Eliezer and Rabi Yehoshua, attend the Seder at Rabi Akiva’s

residence. Their attendance is most unusual since students

typically come to their Rebbeim’s home for the Seder, rather

than the Rebbeim visiting the Talmid’s home. Many answers

are offered to resolve this problem.

Makkot 24b – Foxes on Har HaBayit

One source often cited to solve the problem is the famous story

of Rabi Akiva and a group of great Tanna’im who view the

depressing sight of foxes scurrying about Har HaBayit. Three

of the Tannaim that were at the Bnei Brak Seder were

participated in this iconic event. Rabi Akiva demonstrates a

unique ability to envision the future Geulah even when

encountering a terribly depressing sight (Makkot 24b; William

Davidson edition of the Talmud):

On another occasion they were ascending to Jerusalem

after the destruction of the Temple. When they arrived

at Mount Scopus and saw the site of the Temple, they

rent their garments in mourning, in keeping with

halakhic practice. When they arrived at the Temple

Mount, they saw a fox that emerged from the site of

the Holy of Holies. They began weeping, and Rabi

Akiva was laughing. They said to him: For what reason

are you laughing? Rabi Akiva said to them: For what

reason are you weeping? They said to him: This is the

place concerning which it is written: “And the

non-priest who approaches shall die” (Numbers 1:51),

and now foxes walk in it; and shall we not weep?

Rabi Akiva said to them: That is why I am laughing, as

it is written, when God revealed the future to the

prophet Isaiah: “And I will take to Me faithful witnesses

to attest: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of

Jeberechiah” (Isaiah 8:2). Now what is the connection

between Uriah and Zechariah? He clarifies the

difficulty: Uriah prophesied during the First Temple

period, and Zechariah prophesied during the Second

Temple period, as he was among those who returned

to Zion from Babylonia. Rather, the verse established

that fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah is

dependent on fulfillment of the prophecy of Uriah.

In the prophecy of Uriah it is written: “Therefore, for

your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and

Jerusalem shall become rubble, and the Temple Mount

as the high places of a forest” (Micah 3:12), where

foxes are found. There is a Rabinic tradition that this

was prophesied by Uriah. In the prophecy of Zechariah

it is written: “There shall yet be elderly men and

elderly women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem”

(Zechariah 8:4). Until the prophecy of Uriah with

regard to the destruction of the city was fulfilled I was

afraid that the prophecy of Zechariah would not be

fulfilled, as the two prophecies are linked. Now that

the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, it is evident that

the prophecy of Zechariah remains valid. The Gemara

adds: The Sages said to him, employing this

formulation: Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you

have comforted us.

A New Approach

Rabi Akiva’s Rebbeim choose to attend their

Talmid’s Seder due to Rabi Akiva’s special ability to

visualize the future redemption. Vision and imagination

is a crucial component of the Seder night. The Mishnah

(Pesachim 116b) famously teaches us that in each

generation each Jew must view himself as if he left

Mitzrayim. Rabi Akiva adds that we must envision the

future redemption as well. Who better than Rabi Akiva

to envision the glorious future?! For this reason, it is the

home of Rabi Akiva where his colleagues and even

Rebbeim wish to gather for the Seder.

Mishnah Pesachim 116b

The Mishnah (Pesachim 116b) records a dispute between

Rabi Tarfon and Rabi Akiva as to the text of the

concluding Berachah of the Maggid section of the

Haggadah:

רבי טרפון אומר, אשר גאלנו וגאל את אבותינו ממצריים, והגיענו ללילה

הזה לאכול בו מצה ומרור; ואינו חותם. רבי עקיבה מוסיף, כן ה' אלוהינו

ואלוהי אבותינו יגיענו לרגלים ולמועדים אחרים הבאים לקראתנו בשלום,

שמחים בבניין עירך וששים בעבודתך, לאכול מן הזבחים ומן הפסחים

שיגיע דמם על קיר מזבחך לרצון, ונודה לשמך שיר חדש על גאולתנו ועל

.פדות נפשנו; ברוך אתה ה', גאל ישראל

Rabi Tarfon believes we focus solely on Yetzi’at

Mitzrayim and not on the future Geulah. Otherwise we

detract from our obligation of Sippur Yetzi’at Mitzrayim.

Rabi Akiva, on the other hand, insists that part and parcel

of Sipur Yetzi’at Mitzrayim is addressing the future

Ge’ulah as well.

Rabi Akiva’s view has prevailed and been

accepted in practice. Even Rabi Tarfon attended Rabi

Akiva’s Seder. No wonder the Haftarah for Shabbat

HaGadol and the eighth day of Pesach (in Chutz La'Aretz)

focuses on Eliyahu HaNavi and the Yemot HaMashi’ach.

Thus, just as we visualize ourselves leaving Mitzrayim, we

must visualize ourselves in Yerushalayim HaBenuyah as

an essential ingredient of the Pesach experience.

Rabi Akiva’s Positivity Bias

Even when the Romans were executing him in the most

horrifying manner, Rabi Akiva managed to find the good

in the situation. Berachot 61a records (William Davidson

edition of the Talmud):

When they took Rabi Akiva out to be executed, it

was time for the recitation of Shema. And they

were raking his flesh with iron combs, and he was

reciting Shema, thereby accepting upon himself

the yoke of Heaven. His students said to him: Our

teacher, even now, as you suffer, you recite

Shema? He said to them: All my days I have been

troubled by the verse: With all your soul,

meaning: Even if God takes your soul. I said to

myself: When will the opportunity be afforded me

to fulfill this verse? Now that it has been afforded

me, shall I not fulfill it? He prolonged his uttering

of the word: One, until his soul left his body as he

uttered his final word: One. A voice descended

from heaven and said: Happy are you, Rabi Akiva,

that your soul left your body as you uttered: One.

Psychologists have discovered that human beings

are naturally more inclined to the negative than to the

positive. This “negativity bias” however, can be overcome

with great effort. No one was better than Rabi Akiva in

developing a positivity bias than Rabi Akiva. He clearly

discovered the good even in the most dire of situations.

There is much to learn from the Chachamim

assembling at Rabi Akiva’s home for the Seder. Besides

endorsing Rabi Akiva’s view of incorporating the future

Geulah into the celebration of Yetzi’at Mitzrayim, the

gathering is a rousing celebration of Rabi Akiva’s

positivity bias. Even at a time of the brutal Roman

occupation of Eretz Yisrael, the Chachamim wanted to

bask in the positivity of Rabi Akiva. Certainly we who live

in far better times must follow their example by beating a

path to Rabi’s Akiva’s perspective on life.

Rabi Akiva’s Personal Example

Rabi Akiva is the perfect person to envision greatness in

the midst of ruin for he is the beneficiary of such vision.

Ketuvot 63b-64a beautifully recounts how Rabi Akiva’s

wife saw him as an ignorant shepherd who had the

potential to emerge not only as a great Torah scholar but

as one of the leading lights of the Jewish people of all

generations. Just as the vision of Rachel, Rabi Akiva’s wife, was realized, Rabi Akiva shared a vision for the

future greatness of Am Yisrael as well.

The five Chachamim were drawn to Rabi Akiva’s

Seder because he not only expressed the future

rebuilding; he also embodied and exemplified it.

Conclusion

Following in the footsteps of the Chachamim who flocked

to Rabi Akiva’s Seder, the Jewish People have lovingly

embraced Rabi Akiva’s wholesome attitude. How else

could a people who suffered a loss of a third of its people

manage to less than three years later retain control of

part of Eretz Yisrael for the first time in almost two

thousand years? Even more important, how else could

our people survive and even thrive despite the never

ending physical and psychological torment and suffering

our enemies seek to inflict upon us until this very day?

Where would we be without our beloved Rabi Akiva?!