Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva

Attributed to the Tanna Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef

The ancient Midrash on the twenty-two letters of the Aleph-Beis — the letters through which the Torah was given and through which the Holy One, blessed be He, brought His world into being. Cited by Rashi, the Ramban, and the Or Zarua; printed in Constantinople, Venice, Cracow and Amsterdam since the early sixteenth century; never before opened in English.

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Why it should be brought to light

The Torah of the letters. From the master who learned mounds of halachos from the crowns of every letter.

The Gemara portrays Rabbi Akiva as the master who could derive “mounds upon mounds of laws” from the crowns of the letters. Otiot d’Rabbi Akiva is the Midrash that bears his name: each letter of the Aleph-Beis opened in order — as an acronym unfolding into a teaching (אל"ף: emes lamed picha, “teach your mouth truth”), as a chain of proof-verses, as the letters at Creation and the song the world sings before its Creator.

This is no obscure text. Rabbi Shmuel HaNagid counts it among the early works preserved by the sages; it is cited by Rashi’s school, Rabbeinu Tam, the Rokeach, the Ramban in Shaar HaGemul, Rabbeinu Bachya, and the Yalkut Shimoni — and the Or Zarua opens his entire work with a commentary on the Aleph-Beis expressly founded upon it. Ashkenaz and Provence, Spain and Eretz Yisrael, the academies of halachah and the schools of piyyut and sod — all learned it.

And though it speaks of sacred names, angels and crowns, it has been mistaken for a closed Kabbalistic book. It is not: Ibn Ezra said simply that “the letters of Rabbi Akiva contain mussar.” This edition sets the vocalized text of the annotated Zichron Aharon edition with a faithful translation, a running elucidation that shows how each letter unfolds, and the full six-commentary apparatus — letter by letter, for all twenty-two, in both ancient recensions.

The twenty-two sacred letters through which the Torah was given, through which the words of prophecy were written, and through which the Holy One, blessed be He, brought His world into being.

From the introduction to this edition

Rabbi Akiva said: These are the twenty-two letters through which the entire Torah was given.

Yalkut Shimoni

The edition

Every letter, fully opened. The vocalized text, its translation, and the complete commentary apparatus.

Fully vocalized Hebrew

The text of the annotated Zichron Aharon edition — corrected against Wertheimer’s Batei Midrashos and manuscript — with its nikud preserved exactly.

Translation & elucidation

Bold Hebrew phrase, its faithful English, and an elucidation that shows how each notarikon unfolds — letter into phrase into teaching.

Six commentaries carried along

Torah Ohr HaShalem, the Biur and Pesher Davar, the Midrash HaItamari of the Shevet Mussar’s author, Avraham Azkor, and Be’er Moshe — woven into the elucidation.

A printed introduction

Seven sections on the Torah of the letters, Rabbi Akiva and the crowns, the two recensions, and the sefer’s journey from manuscript to print.

Ornamented letter chapters

Each os opens under its own embossed silver cartouche, with a summary of the letter’s themes before its text begins.

Both recensions, indexed

Nusach Aleph and Nusach Beis in full, with critical notes on the manuscripts, a Subject Index, and an Index of Sources.

See it inside

Open the sefer. The letter Alef, exactly as it will print.

The sample carries the silver inner plate, the full seven-section introduction, and the opening of Os Alef — “Truth as the Foundation of Creation and the World’s Dependence on Song” — with the vocalized Hebrew, translation, and elucidation.

Open the sample PDF