Babylonian Talmud Mas. Berakhot 61b

aid of the government?" He replied: "I will tell you a parable. A fox was once walking alongside a river, and he saw fish darting in shoals from one place to another. He said to them: "From what do you flee?" They replied: "From the nets which men cast out for us." He said to them: "Would you like to come up on to dry land so that you and I can live together in the way that my ancestors lived with your ancestors?" They replied: "Are you the one men call the cleverest of animals? You're not clever; you're stupid. If we are afraid in the element in which we live, how much more should we be afraid in an element in which we would die!" So it is with us. If we are in our present plight while sitting and studying Torah, of which it is written, it brings you life and longevity, how much worse off would we be if we were to go and neglect it." They say that a few days later, Rabbi Aqiva was arrested and thrown into prison, and Pappus ben Judah was also arrested and thrown into prison beside him. He said to him: "Pappus, who brought you here?" He replied: "Happy are you, Rabbi Aqiva, for you have been arrested for busying yourself with Torah! But alas for Pappus, who has been arrested for busying himself with trivial things!" When Rabbi Aqiva was taken out for execution, it was the time for reciting the Shema. While they combed his flesh with combs of iron, he was taking upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of heaven. His students said to him: "Our teacher, are you prepared to go this far!" He said to them: "All my life I have been troubled by the words with all your soul, which I understand to mean "Even if God takes your soul." I said: "When shall I ever have an opportunity of fulfilling this?" Now that I have an opportunity, shall I not fulfill it?" He prolonged the word "one" [echad] and expired while saying it. A bat qol went forth and said: "Happy are you, Rabbi Aqiva, because you expired with the word "one" on your lips!"

Une figure de Rabbi Aqiba...