Tomb of Rabbi Akiva

Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph was one of the most important sages of the Mishnaic period, responsible for systematising much of the Oral Torah and supporting the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome. His tomb on a hillside above Tiberias is a major pilgrimage site, particularly for visitors on Lag BaOmer, the semi-holiday that commemorates the end of a plague that killed Akiva's students.

The tomb sits in a small enclosure with a prayer courtyard, reached by climbing the hillside above the older part of town. The views over the Sea of Galilee from the path are good. Akiva's influence on Judaism is difficult to overstate — a tradition holds that Moses himself was shown a vision of Akiva's learning and said he could not follow it. The tomb is a more contemplative site than the more visited Maimonides tomb and often quieter.

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A story
Rabbi Akiva was executed by the Romans around 135 CE for continuing to teach Torah in defiance of the Hadrianic prohibition. According to the Talmud, he was tortured with iron combs that tore his flesh, and he died reciting the Shema — the central Jewish prayer — drawing out the final word "One" until his last breath. His students asked how he bore the pain; he told them he had always wondered if he could love God with his whole soul, meaning even at the cost of his life. Now, he said, he had his chance.