Rabbi Akiva laughs because he has a premonition that their futures will intertwine. (According to Rabbenu Nissim’s narrative, Akiva and she [Turnufa] will marry.)
Some say that instead of Arab merchants there is an incident with a Ketia bar Shalom who gives him half his wealth. Ketia is a member of the Senate in Rome. He is an enlightened non-Jew who does his bidding for the Jews in public forums. He is condemned to death and demands to be circumcised before he is executed. He also vows to give his estate to Akiva to help the Jewish cause.
Rabbi Akiva’s daughter makes an agreement with Ben Azai, to go learn Torah and she will marry him. The Gemara comments that just as the mother does, so does the daughter. However, Tosfos, a commentary of the Talmud, mentions that in Sotah 4b, it is noted that Ben Azai never marries. The fact is that he does get engaged but doe not marry her prior to going to Yeshiva. He becomes so enamored with learning, that he calls off the marriage. Indeed, Ben Azai becomes so engrossed in his learning that the Gemara comments in Chagigah 14b that he dies from delving too deeply into Pardes (Orchard), the hidden areas of Torah scholarship that include Kabbalistic understanding of Hashem and his place in Heaven. [Kesuvos 62b & 63a, Nedarim 50a,&b]
The four Hebrew letters that make up the acronym PARDES represent: Pshat, Remez, Drash, Sod. Briefly explained, they are: 1) Plain translation, 2) Word association hints, 3) Deeper investigation and study, 4) Secrets
Rabbi Akiva’s daughter does get betrothed to another. Astrologers tell him that on her wedding day, a snake will come and bite her and she will die. Before the ceremony day, she takes off a brooch and sticks it by the pinhead into the wall. Little does she realize, but it goes into the eye of a snake that is hiding in a crevice in the wall and kills it.
The next morning, when she takes the brooch out of the wall, the dead snake comes out with it as it is attached. She then realizes what has happened. She tells Akiva who asks her, “What thing did you do yesterday that was meritorious for you to be saved?” She replies, “Yesterday, during the wedding feast, I took my fancy food portion and gave it to a poor person who was begging for something to eat.” This mitzvah act saves her.
We learn two things from this: Giving charity can save one from sure death and that a person can overcome what fate has in store despite how astrologers see stars aligned. [Shabbos 156b]
Rabbi Akiva and Rachel also have a son named Rabbi Yehoshua. Akiva orders seven edicts to his son regarding the show of great care:
1. Do not learn Torah in the busy section of the city. People will interrupt you, you will lose your concentration and not be able to study properly.
2. Do not live in a city run by Talmidei Chachamim (Torah Sages) – they are too preoccupied with learning Torah that they cannot supervise the city properly.
3. Do not enter into a building or even a closed room first without announcing yourself. Either knock on the doorway, or make some noise. This way, you avoid embarrassing someone who may be doing something that they prefer to keep private.
4. Do not walk barefoot- this is a disgrace for a learned person. It sends out a message that one is poor even if he is not.
5. During the summer, eat earlier in the day before it gets too hot. During the winter, eat before it gets too cold so that you will enjoy the effort to nourish yourself.
6. Make the Shabbos like a weekday- do not take charity. In other words, do not try to compete with your neighbors in trying to make the Shabbos special with extra foods and fancy clothing if you cannot afford it.
7. If you see someone who is doing well in making a living, go do business with him. Rav Papa explains quite a few years later that it means try to become partners in enterprise with him, as he may have good mazal (fortune).