Rabbi Akiva and his wife, Rachel. Art by Chanie Chanin.
Akiva, a simple shepherd, passed a brook while caring for his father-in-law’s sheep. He noticed a hole forming in the stone where the water persistently dripped. He thought to himself, if soft water can penetrate hard stone, perhaps it is not too late for Torah to penetrate my heart, even at 40 years old… With his wife Rachel’s encouragement, he went to yeshiva and became the greatest scholar of his time.
