Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Akiva: "Rabbi Akiva was the ultimate outsider in Jewish life. By this I mean that he came to his greatness not because of family lineage. He was descended from converts to Judaism, and for the first forty years of his life, he was completely unlettered and ignorant. He even freely admitted that in those years, he had a deep and abiding hatred towards the Torah scholars.

Like many of the greatest leaders of the Jewish people (Jacob, Moses, and David,) Rabbi Akiva served as a shepherd. His employer was Kalba Savua, the wealthiest Jew of the day. Kalba Savua’s daughter Rachel fell in love with Rabbi Akiva, married him, and then encouraged him to go away to study Torah."

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