Turnus Rufus the Wicked once asked Rabbi Akiba on a Sabbath day: "Tell me, my friend, why is this day any better than any other day?"

Said R. Akiba to him: "My dear friend, why are you any better than any other man?"

Turnus Rufus the Wicked replied: "What did I say to you and what did you say to me?"

Said R. Akiba: "You said to me why is this day better than another day and I replied why is Turnus Rufus better than another man."

Then the wicked man said: "I am a king over all kings and desire to be honored."

Said R. Akiba: "God is a King over all kings, Israel is His holy people, and He desires that Israel shall honor the Sabbath."

Then the wicked man said: "If God desires that Israel should honor the Sabbath and do no work thereon, why does He work Himself?"

"What work does He do?" asked R. Akiba.

The wicked man replied': "He sends rain and wind on Sabbath, and this is work."

R. Akiba replied: "It may be that He sends rain and wind on the Sabbath, nevertheless He desires that we should honor the Sabbath and not do any work thereon. The work which God Himself does on the Sabbath, He may do. For I will tell you, Emperor. If two men live in one court and one of them makes an 'erub [A rabbinical device in the nature of a legal fiction to evade the prohibition to carry articles on the Sabbath outside of one's private precincts], the other is not required to make one and both of them may carry things within the court, though other wise each of the two would make it unlawful for the other one to carry. But if a man lives by himself in a court, then though it were as large as the city of Antioch, he requires no 'erub because there is no other person to share the premises with him and make it unlawful for him to carry. Now God, may His name and remembrance be blessed for ever and ever, of whom the Bible says: 'The heavens are His throne and the earth His footstool and the whole earth is full of His glory' (Isa. 66.1; 6.3), who shares nothing with anyone else, He may send rain and wind in the world, but nevertheless He desires that Israel shall keep the day holy. This can be 'seen from the holy manna which fell in the wilderness during the week but not on the Sabbath. A still greater proof of the holiness of the day is the river Sambation, which surges and storms and throws up stones the whole week, but on the Sabbath day it is quiet and still and does not throw up any stones. I have one more proof that God desires we should rest on the Sabbath. Smoke comes out of your father's grave during the week, but on the Sabbath there is quiet in your father's grave and no smoke comes out."

Turnus Rufus departed to investigate the matter and found that R. Akiba was right.