According to tradition, Rabbi Akiva did not learn to read and write until he was 40.\u00a0 Sifriyat Pijama initiated this new children’s rendition of how a simple shepherd become one of Judaism’s greatest scholars and wise men.\u00a0 The suggestions accompanying the story teach children about the special qualities of Rabbi Akiva, and highlight the Jewish values of study and persistence, as reflected in the tale and in the saying “rocks are ground by water” (Job 14,19).<\/p>\n
Rocks are ground by water” <\/strong>(Job 14, 19)<\/p>\n The story demonstrates how observing the eroded sides of the well boosted Akiva’s confidence in his own ability to learn to read and write. The picturesque expression “rocks are grounded by water” illustrates the power of water, drop by tiny drop, to wear away solid rock and make lasting changes in the well.\u00a0 The story show us that with will power, persistence and faith, each one of us can overcome difficulties and learn new things \u2013 even at age 40!<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"featured_media":63380,"menu_order":5,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1404],"agegroup":[770],"book-subject":[1322,1298],"distribution_year":[1045],"class_list":["post-71225","book","type-book","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category----en","agegroup-preschool-4-6","book-subject-legend-en","book-subject---en","distribution_year-2012-2013"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n