In the last Mishnah, we said that Akavya ben Mahalalel had certain traditions, certain beliefs about halachot (Jewish laws), and refused to abandon them even though the rabbis held otherwise. Here, we’ll talk about what happened at the end of his life. Just as he was about to pass away, he told his son, “Reverse the opinion on those four topics that I held against the opinion of the rabbis.” His son asked him, “If that was the right thing to do, why didn’t you reverse your opinion during your lifetime?” He told his son, “My situation was different from yours. I heard the tradition quoted from the mouths of many of the great rabbis of the previous generation, while there were rabbis who disagreed with me. The ones who disagreed with me also had a tradition going back to many rabbis in the previous generation. I stood by the teaching that I received, and they stood by the teaching that they received.”
“But you,” Akavya told his son, “heard from me, the individual, and from all the other rabbis of the generation. It’s better for you to set aside the words of the individual and hold on to the words of the many. So you should follow them and not follow me.” The request was, “Please speak to your contemporaries, the other chachamim (sages), and tell them to accept me.” He was nervous that the rabbis would hold a grudge over the disagreement with Akavya and not accept him. Akavya said, “No, I’m not going to speak on your behalf. I’m not going to push them to accept me. I’m not going to push them to accept you.”
His son asked him, “Is it because you found some sort of flaw in me that you’re not willing to speak on my behalf?” Akavya said to him, “No, it’s not anything about you. It’s a simple thing. There’s no reason for me to intercede. Chachamim are genuine. If they find the need to get close to you, if your actions and your words are befitting of your joining the ranks of the chachamim, you’ll be accepted. But if your deeds are not going to be so good, it’s going to distance you from them, and you wouldn’t be deserving. Therefore, I don’t want you to be accepted because I gave a good word for you.”