Rabbi Akiva. He returned to his wife after 24 years of learning that he did her behest, with thousands of students, and when they saw her approach they did not know who she was, and all they saw was a poor woman dressed in rags, and they did not want to let her come through because they felt it a lack of honor for such a disheveled person to greet their great rebbi. R’ Akiva saw and called out to them, “let her be, for all [the Torah] that is mine and all that is yours, belongs to her.” She was the one who saw to it that R’ Akiva went to the yeshiva and became who he was.
Menu