On Sotah 17a, it is recorded:
דָּרֵישׁ רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא: אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה זָכוּ — שְׁכִינָה בֵּינֵיהֶן. לֹא זָכוּ — אֵשׁ אוֹכַלְתָּן.
Rabbi Akiva taught: If a man [ish] and woman [isha] merit reward through a faithful marriage, the Divine Presence rests between them. The words ish and isha are almost identical; the difference between them is the middle letter yod in ish, and the final letter heh in isha. These two letters can be joined to form the name of Hashem spelled yod, keh. But if due to licentiousness they do not merit reward, the Divine Presence departs, leaving in each word only the letters alef and shin, which spell esh, fire. Therefore, fire consumes them.
אָמַר רָבָא: וּדְאִשָּׁה עֲדִיפָא מִדְּאִישׁ, מַאי טַעְמָא — הַאי מְצָרֵף, וְהַאי לָא מְצָרֵף.
Rava said: And the fire that consumes the woman is stronger and more immediate than that which consumes the man. What is the reason for this? The letters alef and shin in the word isha are adjacent, joined together, but in the word ish they are not joined, as the letter yod is written between them.
Rabbi Akiva is a shepherd for Ben Kalba Savu’a (the name means satisfied dog).
Tiferes Yisroel comments on Yadayim Yerushalmi Chapter 3, halacha 5 which cites a Rabbi Yochanan ben Yehoshua as the father-in-law of Rabbi Akiva. He indicates that Akiva has a son named Yehoshua and that he is most likely named after his grandfather. So this conjecture is that Ben Kalba Savua’s real name is Yehoshua. He is known to invite friends and distinguished people for sumptuous feasts where so much food is brought to the table that one goes home having eaten like a satisfied dog.
What attracts Akiva to Torah learning is his fascination with Hashem’s supervision of nature. When he starts to learn formally, he is intrigued by the shape of the Hebrew letters.. He also begins to ask questions such as why does the Torah not start with the first letter in the alef bet- Alef- instead of the second- Bet. He also notices that the Ten Commandments start with an Alef. His style of learning reflects on this understanding of the usage of letters in the Torah, as seen in the discussion mentioned on Sotah 17a.
Rabbi Akiva is a man of both fact and legend. Much told about him through early writings and commentaries such as Avos D’Rabbi Noson, Ran, and Mefaresh who live many years after he has gone on to the next world. There is both elements of truth and conjecture in thm.
Ben Kalba has a daughter named Rachel who is impressed with Akiva’s modesty. She tells him to go learn in a Yeshiva and she will marry him. He agrees but first they elope as her father would not approve of such an arrangement. As it turns out, Rachel’s father hears of the secret marriage and is quite upset. He expects his daughter to marry into a similar standing of wealth. He evicts her from his house and makes an oath that she and Akiva will never benefit from his property.
The couple out together in a life of poverty. They sleep at night in a bed of straw and in the morning Akiva picks out strands from my hair. He tells Rachel, “If I had money, I would buy for you jewelry made from Jerusalem Gold.”
Someone knocks on the door of their hut. He asks if he can borrow some straw, that his wife has just given birth and they need something for her to sleep on along with the baby. Akiva tearfully turn to Rachel and says, “Now I do not feel so bad- there are people who do not even have any straw.” (The Rabbis suggest that this person is Elijah the Prophet showing up as he does sometimes in human form)
Shabbos Yerushalmi, chapter 6, halacha alef states that an incident occurs where the wife of Rabban Gamliel notices that Akiva has acquired a golden property for Rachel. She is jealous and asks her husband why he does not buy a similar item for her. Rabban Gamliel replies, “Have you done what the wife of Rabbi Akiva has? She sold her veiled plait of hair so that she and her husband can subsist while he studies Torah because her father disowned her!”
to be continued……