משה רבינו ורבי עקיבא מקורות

§ Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. Mosessaid before God: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions? God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah. Mosessaid before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. God said to him: Return behind you.Moseswent and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying.Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. WhenRabbi Akivaarrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akivasaid to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive. Mosesreturned and came before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a man as great as this and yet You still choose to give the Torah through me. Why? God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me.Mosessaid before God: Master of the Universe, You have shown meRabbi Akiva’s Torah, now show me his reward. God said to him: Return to where you were. Moseswent back and saw that they were weighingRabbi Akiva’s flesh in a butcher shop [bemakkulin], as Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death by the Romans. Mosessaid before Him: Master of the Universe, this is Torah and this is its reward? God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me.

He found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns, etc.: The idea of tying crowns is said about one doing it to remind of some thing through it, so that it not be forgotten, as it is stated about the matter of tzitzit, "in order that you will remember." And with this, these ties of the letters are hinting to supernal inner things, which the Blessed One, blessed be He - tied to remind them through this, as per the below: "They would put a hump-like stroke on the roof of the [letter,] chet; the leg of the [letter] heh. But Moshe thought that the human intellect does not reach the understanding of its intention. Therefore he said, "Who is preventing, etc.?" Since these ties have no need for the human intellect - as no-one fathoms it, from the limits of his intelligence - who is preventing, etc.? As You certainly do not need them for Yourself, for who is preventing You from remembering them without making a tie? So He said to him that I am certainly tying them for the needs of the human intellect. "There is a man, etc. and Akiva, etc., who is destined to derive, etc. mounds upon mounds of laws." As it is not enough that there are inner things in the ties of the letters, but there are rather also mounds upon mounds of laws that are dependent upon them. For Rabbi Akiva derives them. He said to Him, "Master of the Universe, show him to me." As he requested that He reveal to him those secrets of the ties that would be revealed to Rabbi Akiva in the future. "He said to him, 'Return behind you.' He went, etc." This is according to that which is said in the chapter [entitled] HaBoneh, that they expounded the order of the letters, from alef until tav; and again expounded them backwards from tav to alef, as we say there. So this is what He says to him - before he learns the hint of the ties of the letters, he should learn the hint of the order of the letters also backwards. And this is [the meaning of] what it says that Moshe sat at the back of eight rows - meaning that there are eight different rows of the alphabet according to the eight vowels that they have. And there are certainly different hints according to the eight vowels. And it said that he did not know what they were saying about the intention of the letters of the eight rows backwards. So his strength waned, since he was pained that he did not know its intention. [However] once they arrived at one matter (devar echad, understood here as the matter of one) - meaning from the end of [the letters] to their beginning until the alef, to teach about the unity (of God), and not another letter - and [Rabbi Akiva] said to them that he did not know the intention of this, about the form of the letter, alef, that it should be the first of the letters, to teach about unity, but it was a law given to Moshe at Mount Sinai. So [Moshe's] mind was put at ease. As he saw that this thing was dependent upon the human intellect, according to his intelligence, but it is impossible to grasp all of the secrets of the Torah. With this, "he said before Him, etc. He said to him, 'This intention arose, etc.'" As this intention - like you are thinking - certainly came up, however your thoughts are not My thoughts. For the human intellect is also limited in grasping this. "He said before Him, etc. He said to him, 'Return behind you, etc.'" - that is, it is like they expound the letters backwards, from tav to alef, as it is explained in the chapter [entitled] HaBoneh (Shabbat 104a), "Alef tav, beit shin, etc. To this point, it is the attribute of the wicked. However, with the attribute of the righteous, Alef tav, beit shin, etc." See there, as it is explained in it that the righteous receive their punishment in this world, in order to multiply their reward in the world to come. "He said before Him, etc., 'This is the Torah'" - as it hints to the reward of punishments. "So He said, 'This intention arose, etc.,'" like you are thinking, etc. - and like it is explained above. And be precise and you will find it simple.