Читать книгу Akiva The Shepherd. English edition - Gertcel Davydov, Gertz (Gertcel) Davydov, Gertz Davydov - Страница 3

Rachel pleaded with her father to change his mind, but it was in vain – his resolve was firm. Akiva and Rachel spent long days and nights wandering around the city in search for a place to live, but could not find anything suitable. Realizing that the money Akiva had saved would not be enough for them to find a decent home in Jerusalem, they decided to move into an abandoned horse barn in the vicinity of the city.

Rachel tended to their home, while Akiva continued gathering brushwood in the forest and chopping wood, which he then sold at the city market. The money he earned was just enough to put bread on the table. All week long they ate very humble food, but on Friday evening, which was Sabbath eve, Rachel always prepared a special Sabbath meal.

In the wintertime it became more difficult to gather wood because the forest was a long way off and Akiva did not have any warm clothes. But with the arrival of spring, Akiva began gathering more brushwood and earning more money, which allowed the young couple to move to a comfortable accommodation on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The years went by. Akiva and Rachel had a baby boy, whom they named Yehoshua. After that they had a baby girl, Shulamit, whom Akiva loved with all his heart. All this time, he continued working tirelessly. In the early morning, he made his way to the forest to gather brushwood. Then he sold it at the market and returned home in the late evening. He continued this way day in and day out for several years. But when the time came for Yehoshua to begin learning to read and write, Rachel reminded her husband of his promise. She explained that the children need a well-read father who they could look up to.

Of course, Akiva hadn’t forgotten his promise, but he could not muster up the courage to go to school since he thought that the age of forty was too late to begin learning to read and write. However, Rachel did not even think of letting him off the hook and insisted that Akiva go to the Yeshiva. She believed that he was capable of becoming a good rabbi and told him that if he would begin studying, he would surely succeed.

…One day while gathering brushwood on a river shore, Akiva’s eye fell on a large stone with a deep hollow. “Where did this hollow come from?” he wondered. He realized that it must have been the drops of water that fell onto the stone. “Just as the falling water drops, one by one, day by day, year by year, can pierce a large stone, so the words of the Torah will be able to enter my heart,” Akiva thought.

He rushed home to tell Rachel the happy news: he was finally ready to fulfill his promise. Thus, at forty years of age, Akiva set out to learn to read and write together with his son.