Once upon a time a decree was issued by the government forbidding the Jews to study the Torah. What did R. Akiba do? He gathered a large multitude of Israelites and sat down and preached to them. A certain Pappos, son of Judah, found him sitting and teaching. So Pappos said to him, "My dear Master, are you not afraid of the government which has forbidden the study of the Torah, and you dare to defy it by teaching the Torah in public?"

Akiba replied, "Are you the Pappos who has the reputation of being a great sage, of whom everybody speaks? Verily you appear to be a great fool, as I gather from your speech. Let me tell you a parable of which you remind me. Once upon a time a fox went to the bank of a river and walked up and down along the shore. He saw the fish swimming swiftly to and fro in the water, for people were trying to catch them and they were endeavoring to hide themselves in the water. So the fox asked, 'Why

are you running to and fro in the water?' The fish replied, 'There are fishermen on the water' who are trying to catch us, and we are therefore running to and fro, for we do not know how to keep ourselves safely in the water.' The fox replied, 'Come out of the water and follow me. We shall live peacefully together and nobody will be able to do you any harm.' The fox thought he would first get the fish out of the water and then he would eat them up. Then the fish said to the fox, 'Are you the beast who is thought to be the cleverest among the animals? Surely you are a big fool, for if we cannot hide

ourselves from the people whilst in the water, how much less shall we be able to hide ourselves on dry land?' " And R. Akiba said to Pappos, "You pretend to be a clever man, but you are really a big fool. If I am afraid of the government while studying the Torah, of which it is written, 'For that is thy life and the length of thy days' (Deut. 30.20), how much more would that be the case if I did not study the Torah?"

Not long afterwards Rabbi Akiba was cast into prison, and shortly after Pappos was caught too and put in the same prison with R. Akiba.

Said Pappos to R. Akiba, "Blessed are you, R. Akiba, who have been caught because of your study of the Torah, but woe unto me, Pappos, for I have been cast into prison for my evil deeds."

When they brought out R. Akiba to burn him to death it was the time for reciting the Shema', They were scraping his flesh with iron combs, while he went on with his prayer, accepting death for the sake of God and for the love of Him.

His pupils said to him, "Dear Rabbi, you have prayed enough."

Then Akiba replied, "All my life I was troubled by the words, 'And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul' (Deut. 6~S), which means that even if people are tearing your heart and taking your soul from you, you must still love Him. And I thought, 'O God, when will the time come when I shall be able to

fulfill this commandment?' And now when the time has come for me to fulfill it, shall I stop in my thanksgiving, and not complete the recital of the whole Shema'?"

And so he continued praying and dwelt so long on the word Ehad (One) that his soul went out on that word. Then a voice came from heaven saying, "Happy art thou, Akiba, for thy soul went out on the word Ehad."

Then the angels said to God, "Lord, King of the universe, is this the reward for the Torah, that R. Akiba should die such a miserable death? It were much better if he had died by Thy hand, he should then have died of old age and not such a fearful death, at the hands of the heathen."

Then a voice again came from heaven and said, "Happy art thou, Akiba, that thy soul went out with the word Ehad, Thou art worthy of the bliss of the world to come, and ready to enter into the light of Paradise."

Amen. Selah.