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Comments on Have other great Rabbis followed Rebbi Akiva's example for dying as a martyr?

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Have other great Rabbis followed Rebbi Akiva's example for dying as a martyr?

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The Talmud (Berachos 61b.9) relates the holy incident regarding Rebbi Akiva's martyrdom. He proclaimed "all my days I have been pained, waiting for this moment of fulfillment".

Seeing as his comment is regarding one of the intentions behind the twice-daily recitation of this prayer, coupled with the turbulent history of the Jewish people persecution, have there been other such incident with Rabbis of towering stature in their generation to have notably proclaimed the same ideas [to their disciples or otherwise] as a successor for the example Rebbi Akiva set?

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rosends‭ wrote about 4 years ago

I think you are asking a deeper question -- is there an essential tension between v'chai bahem on one hand, and R. Akiva's seeming interpretation that the only way to be mekayem a particular mitzvah is by dying. Maybe he knew that there were other ways of satisfying b'chol nafshecha but that martyrdom added a rare level, so no one else should aspire to martyrdom as a necessary way to complete observance of the commandment.