Whose Story, Which Tale

Just like the rest of us, 
Moshe, our Teacher par excellence,
Wanted to know if his time
Shuffling along this small clod
Was worth it all.

And, our story recounts,
He was humble and bold enough
To ask
The Holy One, Blessed be He,
If his efforts would last.

Flick-flack, he lands
In the back row
Of the great classroom
Of the great rabbi
Of a future age

And was relieved and convinced
That what he took from Him
Down the mountain
Would persist.

And, he asked Him,
I interpolate,
How else might 
My work be recalled
By the progeny.

And He sat him down
At the seder table
And together, with their host,
They read the haggada,
Told the story,
Ate divine matzot.

Moshe was puzzled.
I was there, I spent
My life there.
But where am I
In this retellling.

Hush, He said to him,
Perhaps Eliyahu might
Fix that lacuna
But no matter:
It is my intention.

And, if you really want
To know how it turns out
For some,
Read on, read on, 

And see Akiva’s reward,
For that too was My intention.
Would you rather this absence,
Or his fate.  But he, Akiva, 
Is rewarded too.

For upon the torture
That Edom inflicted
He minded the mitzvah
You brought down
From atop the mountain:

To recite My Praise:

Listen up, Israel,
The Lord is G-d,
Our G-d Is One.

And for that,
Akiva was received
Into The World-To-Come
Into the presence of 
The Holy Infinite One,
Blessed be He.

Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. 
Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions? 
God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah. 
Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. 
God said to him: Return behind you. Moses went and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. 
When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? 
Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. 
When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive. 
Moses returned and came before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a man as great as this and yet You still choose to give the Torah through me. Why? 
God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me. 
Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, You have shown me Rabbi Akiva’s Torah, now show me his reward. 
God said to him: Return to where you were. 
Moses went back and saw that they were weighing Rabbi Akiva’s flesh in a butcher shop [bemakkulin], as Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death by the Romans. 
Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, this is Torah and this is its reward? 
God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me. 
(Talmud Bavli Menachot 29b - Bold print the words of the text, regular print added words for clarification by R. Adin Steinsaltz, of blessed memory.)

The Gemara relates: When they took Rabbi 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, Rabbi Akiva, that your soul left your body as you uttered: One.
The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: This is Torah and this its reward? 
As it is stated: “From death, by Your hand, O Lord, from death of the world” (Psalms 17:14); Your hand, God, kills and does not save. 
God said the end of the verse to the ministering angels: “Whose portion is in this life.” 
And then a Divine Voice emerged and said: Happy are you, Rabbi Akiva, as you are destined for life in the World-to-Come, as your portion is already in eternal life.
(Talmud Bavli, Berkhot 61b)

April 18, 2025
20th Nissan 5785