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A poor, semi-literate shepherd, Akiba
became one of Judaism's greatest scholars. He developed the
exegetical method of the Mishnah, linking each traditional
practice to a basis in the biblical text, and systematized the
material that later became the Mishnah.
Rabbi Akiba was active in the Bar
Kokhba rebellion against Rome, 132-135 C.E.. He believed that
Bar Kokhba was the Moshiach (messiah), though some other
rabbis openly ridiculed him for that belief (the Talmud records
another rabbi as saying, "Akiba, grass will grow in your cheeks
and still the son of David will not have come.") When the Bar
Kokhba rebellion failed, Rabbi Akiba was taken by the Roman
authorities and tortured to death.
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