 | | Rabbi Akiva was the shepherd of Kalba Savua'. The daughter of Kalba Savua' became engaged to Rabbi Akiva. Kalba Savua' heard and cut her off from any of his property. She went and married him in the winter. They used to lie in the hay-barn, and he would take hay out of her hair. He said to her, "Were I only able, I would give you a 'Jerusalem of Gold!'"
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Elijah the Prophet came and appeared to them as a person crying out at the door. He said, "Give me some of your hay, for my wife is giving birth and I have nothing for her to lie down on." Rabbi Akiva said to his wife, "You see, there is someone who doesn't even have hay." She said to him, "Go and sit in the House of Study.'' He went for twelve years and studied with Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. At the end of twelve years, he came home. He heard from behind his house, a certain rogue saying to his wife, "Your father treated you suitably. First of all, he [Rabbi Akiva] is not of your kind, and moreover he has left you a grass widow all of these years." She said to him, ''If he were to follow my wishes, he would remain for another twelve years." He said, "Since she has given me permission, I will go back." He went for another twelve years. He came with twenty-four thousand pairs of disciples. Everyone came out to receive him, and she also came out to meet him. That rogue said to her, "Where do you think you are going?" She said, "'The righteous man senses the need of his pet' [Prov. 12:10]."
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She came to show herself to him. The Rabbis were pushing her aside. He said to them, "Leave her be. That which is mine and that which is yours is really hers!" Kalba Savua' went and asked to be relieved of his vow, and he was released. In six ways Rabbi Akiva became wealthy from the property of Kalba Savua'.
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| | (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 50a)
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This text may be seen to show several of the generic characteristics of romance. We have the topoi of the marriage for love obstructed by societal strictures and parental opposition, the triumph of the young lovers who resist the thwarting of their desires, and their eventual vindication even in the eyes of the original opponent of their love. Even so, it is impossible, of course, to read the story as either a representation of actual
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| | 7. A particularly precious sort of tiara.
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| | 8. "Pet" is not a literal translation, as pethood is an institution specific to modern culture. However, this translation comes closest to conveying the connotations of the relation between a shepherd and sheep in the pastoral Jewish culture, including the erotic overtones thereof. For the erotic associations of pet-keeping, see Shell 1985. "Beast" would be a more strict rendering, but would be misleading in its connotation. The use of this verse implies the solicitous (patronizing) care of a superior in the hierarchy for an inferior, not an ascription of bestiality. Thus, for example, it is used in Tanhuma on Noah 7, paragraph 1, to refer to the fact that God knew that Noah was righteous from among all of the human beings who existed then. I shall further develop these points in my reading of the story below.
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