תחילתו של רבי עקיבא The beginning of||| Der Beginn von Rabbi Akiva The beginning of Rabbi Akiva

עֲקִיבָא הַקטן היה רועֵה עִזים. Akiva|the small||herder of goats|goats Little Akiva was a shepherd of goats. אף שֶהָיה רק ילד, כבר היה רועה מעולֶה וּמנוסֶה. |"though he was"|||||Shepherd|excellent and experienced|and experienced Even though he was only a child, he was already an excellent shepherd and experienced. הוא יָדע להוביל אֶת הָעֵדר בִּשבילֵי הֶהָרים וּמֵעולם לא טעה בַּדֶרך, הוא יָדע לחַלֵל מנגינות נפלאות בַּחֲליל הרועים ויָדע לטפּל בַּגְדָיִים הרכּים. |"knew"|"to lead"|the|the flock|"along the paths"|the mountains|"and never"||made a mistake|in the way|||to play melodies|melodious tunes|wonderful melodies|the shepherd's flute|shepherd's flute|"knew how to"|take care of|the young goats|the tender kids He knew how to lead the herd on the mountain paths and never went astray, he knew how to create wonderful melodies in the shepherd's flute and he knew how to take care of the soft clothes.

אבָל דבָר אחד הוא לא יָדע – לִקרוא. "But"|one thing|||||to read But one thing he did not know - to read.

משפחתו הייתה ענייה, וּבִמקום ללמוד כמו חבריו, נֶאלַץ עֲקִיבָא לעזור לאביו הרועה. His family was|was|poor|"instead of"||"like"|his friends|was forced||help|his father, the|the shepherd His family was poor, and instead of studying like his friends, Akiva was forced to help his shepherd father. אין דבר, נִיחֵם אֶת עצמוֹ, אני אוהב להיות רועה. ||comforted||himself||||Shepherd Nothing, comfort yourself, I love being a shepherd. אני אוהב להוליך אֶת העֵדר בִּשבילֵי הֶהרים, להביט בַּנוף היפֶה, לחשוב מחשבות, לְחַלֵל בֶּחָליל, לטפּל בַּגדיים הרכּים. ||to lead||the herd||the mountains|"to look at"|the beautiful scenery|beautiful scenery|To think thoughts|thoughts||on the flute||The kids| I like to lead the herd on mountain paths, to look at the beautiful landscape, to think thoughts, to void the flute, to take care of the soft clothes.

אילו רק ידעתי לקרוא ||"knew how"| If only I could read

וּבכל זאת, לפעמים, לִפנֵי שנִרְדם, היה מַבּיט אֶל תוך החושך וחושב: אִילו רק ידעתי קְרוא וּכְתוב הייתי מאוּשָר. "And yet"|||before we fall|falling asleep||looks into|into the|into the|the darkness|"and thinking"|"If only"||||read and write|| And yet, sometimes, before we fell asleep, he would look into the darkness and think: If only I could read and write I would be happy. אז יכול הייתי לא רק לחשוב אֶת מַחְשְבוֹתַיי אֶלָא גם לִכתוב אותן, שלא יִישָכְחוּ. "then"|||||||my thoughts|"but also"||to write|"them"||"be forgotten" So I could not only think my thoughts but also write them, so that they will not be forgotten. וּמִלבד זאת, הייתי קורא דברים שכָּתבו אחרים, נֶהנֶה וּמַחְכּים. "In addition to"|||||"that others wrote"|others|| And besides, I would read things written by others, have fun and wait. יום יבוא, אמר עֲקִיבָא בְּלִבּו, ואֶלְמד לִקרוא. |will come|||"in his heart"|"and I will learn"| A day will come, Akiva said in his heart, and I will learn to read.

הימים חלפו וַעֲקִיבָא לא מצא פְּנַאי לִלמוד. |"passed by"|and Akiva|||leisure time|to study The days passed and Akiva did not find time to study. בן ארבעים היה ולא יָדע צוּרַת אות. |Forty years old|"was"||||letter He was forty years old and did not know the shape of a letter. מאוחר מִדַי, חשב. |"too"|"Too late, thought." Too late, he thought. אדם בְּגילי קשֶה לוֹ ללמוד דברים חדשים. ||"hard"|"for him"||things|new things A person my age has a hard time learning new things. כעת, אפילו אִם אחליט ללמוד לקרוא, אני חושש שלא אצליח. ||"even if"|decide|to learn||"I"|afraid|"that I won't"|succeed Now, even if I decide to learn to read, I'm afraid I won't succeed.

והִנֵה יום אחד הִגיע עֲקִיבָא עִם עֶדְרוֹ אֶל בְּאֵר מים. "and behold"|day|one day arrived|||with|his flock||well of water| And one day Akiva came with his flock to a well of water. הוא מיהר לגשת אֶל הבאר וְלִדְלוֹת מִמנה מים לָעִזים הצמאות. He hurried to|hurried|approach||the well|"to draw"||water for the|for the goats|thirsty He hurried to the well and drained water for the thirsty goats.

אז ראה דבר מוזר. ||strange thing| Then saw a strange thing.

מי חרת את הסימנים באבן? |Engraved||the markings|"in the stone" Who engraved the marks on the stone?

עֲקִיבָא כבר ראה בְּאֵרוֹת רבות, אך הפּעם, לָרִאשונה בחייו, הִבחין בְּסימנים עמוקים חרותים בְּדוֹפְנוֹתֶיהָ. |||wells|many|but|This time|For the first time|"in his life"|noticed|"in signs"|deeply engraved|engraved marks|In its walls Akiva had already seen many wells, but this time, for the first time in his life, he noticed deep marks engraved on its walls.

עֲקִיבָא אדם סקרן היה, והמַראֶה עורר בו מחשבות. ||curious|"was"|the sight|"aroused"||thoughts Akiva was a curious man, and the sight made him think. מעניין מאוד, חשב, מי יכול היה לחרות אֶת הסימנים בָּאֶבן? |||||"could have"|"to engrave"||the markings|"in the stone" Very interesting, he thought, who could have engraved the marks on the stone? בְּוַודאי לא בני אדם, שֶהֱרֵי הבאר עמוקה... ואולי זֶהו בעל חיים? Certainly not humans|||||the well|deep||"it is"|living creature| Certainly not humans, since the well is deep ... and maybe it's an animal?

עֲקִיבָא חשב וחשב וּתשובה לא מצא. |"thought"|"thought and thought"|and found no answer|| Akiva thought and thought and found no answer.

אלך אֶל בֵּית הַמִדְרָש, חשב. "I will go"||house of study|the study hall|"thought" I will go to the house of study, he thought. שָם לומדים, ושָם אולי אֶמְצא אדם מלומד שיסביר לי מה פֵּשֶר הסימנים. There|"are studying"|"there"|"perhaps"|I will find|||will explain to|||meaning of| There they study, and there I may find a learned man who will explain to me what the signs mean.

פָּנה עֲקִיבָא אֶל בֵּית המִדְרש וּמצא מלומד. turned|||||"and found"|scholar Akiva turned to the Midrash house and found a scholar. שְאָלוֹ אֶת השאֵלה, וזה ענה מיד: "הֲרֵי זה ברור! "they asked"||the question||"answered immediately"||"Surely" or "Obviously"||"Of course" He asked him the question, and he immediately answered:Of course it is! המים שבַּבְּאֵר הם שֶשָחֲקוּ אֶת האֶבן וחָרְתו בה חריצים." |in the well||eroded||the stone|carved into|"in it"|grooves The water in the well is what eroded the stone and engraved grooves in it. "

"מים יכולים לַחֲרוֹץ בָּאֶבן הקשָה?" |"can"|"to carve"||hard stone "Can water carve in a hard stone?" תָמַה עֲקִיבָא. "Akiva wondered."| Akiva wondered. "הֲרֵי זה בִּלתִי אפשרי." |||possible "After all, it's impossible."

"הדבָר לא קרה בְּיום אחד אֶלָא לאט-לאט," ענה המלומד, "בְּמֶשך שָנים רבּות." The matter||"happened"|"in a day"|||slowly|slowly|answered||"over the course"|many years|many years It didn't happen in one day but slowly answered the scholar, over the course of many years.

עֲקִיבָא הִבּיט בַּמלומד בְּהִתפַּעלוּת. |gazed at|the scholar|with admiration Akiva looked at the scholar in admiration. "אתה חכם מאוד!" |Very smart| "You're very smart!" אמר לו.

אבנים שחקו מים Stones|wore down| Stones played with water

"תודָה לךָ," אמר המלומד, "אך חשוּב שתדע, אֶת התשובה קראתי בְּסֵפר. "Thank you"|||The scholar||"important"|"that you know"||the answer|"I read"|"in a book" "Thank you," said the scholar, "but it is important that you know, I read the answer in the book. בַּתנ"ך כָּתוב: אֲבָנִים שָחֲקוּ מַיִם. In the Bible|It is written|Stones erode water.|eroded| In the Bible it is written: Stones engraved with water. אִילוּ הייתָ יודע לקרוא, גם אתה היית יודע זאת..." "If"|"you had"||"to read"|||"you would have"|| If you could read, you would know it too ... "

הִשפּיל עֲקִיבָא רֹאשו כי התבייש שאֵינו יודע לקרוא, והמלומד הלך לְדַרכּוֹ. lowered||his head down||was ashamed|does not know||to read|the scholar|went on his|on his way The Akiva spit on his head because he was ashamed that he could not read, and the scholar followed in his footsteps.

עֲקִיבָא חזר אֶל הבאר. |returned to||the well Akiva returned to the well. הוא הִתבונן בַּסימנים שבָּאֶבן וּמִלמֵל: "אבנים שחקו מים, אבנים שחקו מים!" |"observed"|at the marks|"in the stone"|muttered||||stones|| He looked at the marks on the stone and muttered: "Stones have eroded water, stones have eroded water!" וּלפֶתע אוֹרוּ עֵינָיו: "אִם המים יכולים להיות עקשניים וְלַחרוֹת בָּאֶבן הקשָה, גם אני יכול להצליח ללמוד. "and suddenly"|lit up|"his eyes"||||"to be"|stubborn or persistent|to carve into||||||succeed| And suddenly his eyes lit up: "If the water can be stubborn and plow through the hard stone, I too can succeed in learning. וַהֲרֵי אֵינִי אטוּם כמו אבן. "And yet"|"I am not"|sealed off||stone For I am not sealed like a stone. אֶלמד לאט-לאט, אות ועוד אות, וּלאחַר מִכֵּן אֶת התורה כולה. "I will learn"||slowly|Letter|||and after|"after that"|||the whole thing I will learn little by little, letter after letter, and then the whole Torah. עִם הזמן, כמו בָּאֶבן, גם בי יֵיחָרֵת היֶדע." ||"like" or "as in"||||"will erode"|the knowledge In time, as in stone, the knowledge of knowledge is also in me. "

ואמנם עֲקִיבָא הלך לִלמוד והיה לְתלמיד מעולֶה. Indeed||went||"and became"|to a student| And it is true that Akiba went to study and was an excellent student. לא חלפו שָנים רבּות והוא היה לְמורֶה וּלרב גדול, ולימד אַלפֵי תלמידים. ||||"and he"||a teacher|and a rabbi||and taught|thousands of| Not many years passed and he was a great teacher and rabbi, teaching thousands of students.

עֲקִיבָא אהב להיות מורֶה, אך לפעמים, כשיָשב בְּבֵית המִדרש, נִתְקַף געגועים לַטֶבע, לַמֶרחָבים וּלְקוֹלות העֵדר ההולך אחריו. |loved||teacher|but||when he sat|"in the house"|study hall|was overcome by|longing for|to nature|the open spaces|and the sounds||the flock following|after him Akiva loved to be a teacher, but sometimes, as he sat in the beit midrash, he was struck by longing for nature, the spaces and the voices of the flock that followed him. עכשיו, אמר לעצמוֹ, אני רועֶה של אנשים, מנהיג. ||"to himself"||Shepherd|||Leader Now, he said to himself, I am a shepherd of people, a leader. וְלַאֲנָשים אמר: "אתם רואים? "And to the men"|||"you see" And to the people he said: "Do you see? האדם יכול לָקחַת אֶת גוֹרָלו בְּיָדָיו. The person||take||his fate|into his hands Man can take his destiny into his own hands. לעולם לא מאוחר לִלמוד!" It's never too late to learn! "