We are approaching a very special date on the Jewish calendar: Lag BaOmer (the 33rd day of the Omer count, which falls this Sunday). It is traditionally known as a day of great joy, and gatherings are held around the world to celebrate it.
One of the main figures in the story of Lag BaOmer is Rabbi Akiva (c. 50 CE–135 CE). Our sages tell us that when Rabbi Akiva began his studies, he didn't know if he would succeed and was extremely poor. His motivation for studying, despite being illiterate until the age of 40, stemmed from seeing a drop of water fall on a stone and make a hole in it. He reasoned that if a small drop of water could, with time and perseverance, make a hole in a hard stone, then in the same way, through effort, he could study Torah and succeed in understanding it. And so it was; Rabbi Akiva became one of the greatest sages of his time.
His story is a living lesson for all generations of students: regardless of the age at which a person begins their Torah study, success is always possible. The only requirement is effort and a genuine desire to understand what the Torah presents and teaches us.
In fact, it is interesting to consider the connection between this story and this week's Torah reading, Bechukotai—In My Rules. The text reads (Leviticus 26:3-4): "If you walk in My rules and keep My statutes and do them, then I will give you your rain in its season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit." Commentators question what it means to "walk" in God’s commandments, since it is not about the observance of mitzvot, because the verse says "and keep My statutes." Rashi explains that "walk" in God’s commandments means to strive in Torah study.
And that is precisely what Rabbi Akiva did and what everyone can do, in every generation, in every place on earth and under any circumstance of life.