Introduction: The Sage of Love

Abstract

The introduction aims to introduce the reader to the context of Rabbi Akiva’s philosophy of love: the harmonious approach. Love emanates from the harmony of spirit and matter, mind and body. The point of the encounter between Rabbi Akiva’s philosophy of love and the trials he faced during the course of his life provides an ideal basis, from a philosophical perspective, for thorough examination of the possibility of realizing the harmonious approach to love in the obstacle-laden context of human reality. The second part of the introduction presents a brief and general story of Rabbi Akiva and his thought and method in the order of the chapters in this book.

I profess to understand nothing but matters of love.

—Socrates in Plato’s Symposium