Each Drop is Precious | Tzipiyah.com

Each Drop is Precious

Written by: Florence

Though we just celebrated 62 years since the establishment of the sate of Israel which is definitely a momentous occasion to celebrate, we can’t forget that we are still in a time of mourning. Thousands of years later we are mourning the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva that died in a plague. It is customary during this time not to listen to music and have weddings as a symbol of our mourning. Through the ages during this time many other terrible decrees have been made against the Jewish people. It has always amazed me how in Judaism we are constantly trying to keep the balance between times of sadness and mourning and times of joy and celebration. As we see between the mourning of Rabbi Akiva’s students and celebrating the state of Israel. Though thousands of years separate these two events, I think that there is a strong connection between them.

Though Rabbi Akiva tragically lost many of his students, he was still able to rebuild his yeshiva from his five students that were left. His students were not just ordinary students but they were some of the greatest Torah scholars in Jewish history. They were Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Nechemia. It was to their credit that we have the Talmud today. How was Rabbi Akiva able to get over this great loss and rebuild his yeshiva and what can we learn from him? I read an interesting answer to this question. Rabbi Akiva got his strength to continue on teaching Torah to his five remaining students from the same thing that brought him to Torah observance, a single drop of water. The way Rabbi Akiva first began to embrace Torah was when he was 40 years old and one day while he was tending to his sheep, he saw a rock and he noticed a cavity in it. He wondered what was so powerful that could cause this cavity. Then he looked up and saw a drop of water falling from the mountain and he realized that overtime this drop of water had affected the rock. He then reasoned that if a drop of water could make an impression on a hard rock, then so to can Torah penetrate his mind. It was after that incident that Rabbi Akiva began his journey towards living a Torah lifestyle and he eventually became one of the Torah leaders of his generation.

So we can ask why did this incident cause Rabbi Akiva to change his whole life around ?
What was so special about that single drop of water and how did Rabbi Akiva identify with it? When Rabbi Akiva saw what a difference one drop of water made to the rock, he understood how much power and potential each individual has. He realized that what he did and how he reacted to life mattered and how his decisions could affect the world. So when his 24,000 students died he thought back to that day that first gave him strength to take something that before seemed unreachable and impossible and it strengthened him once again to move forward.

Now, fast forwarding thousands of years later lets try to find the connection between Rabbi Akiva and modern times. I believe that just like Hashem gave Rabbi Akiva with the strength to spread his Torah wisdom to his five remaining students, Hashem also provided the Holocaust survivors with the strength and will power to rise above the nightmares they experienced and helped them rebuild their lives in Israel. It was because of each one of the pioneer’s individual will power and perseverance, that we can now celebrate 62 years of the state of Israel. As we celebrate this milestone with joy we can’t forget how Hashem has always and will always help us rise above our persecution and will eventually fully redeem us with the coming of the redemption. May we see it speedily in our days. Amen!

Each Drop is Precious Tzipiyah.com