ארבעה נכנסו לפרדס
רבי עקיבא יצא בשלום - the Garden of Kibbutz Beri
תנו רבנן: ארבעה נכנסו בפרדס, ואלו הן: בן עזאי, ובן זומא, אחר, ורבי עקיבא. אמר להם רבי עקיבא: כשאתם מגיעין אצל אבני שיש טהור אל תאמרו מים מים! משום שנאמר 'דבר שקרים לא יכון לנגד עיני'. בן עזאי הציץ ומת, עליו הכתוב אומר 'יקר בעיני ה' המותה לחסידיו'. בן זומא הציץ ונפגע, ועליו הכתוב אומר 'דבש מצאת אכל דיך פן תשבענו והקאתו'. אחר קיצץ בנטיעות. רבי עקיבא יצא בשלום. (חגיגה יד ע"ב)
What did they see in the garden “paradise”? They showed them all the pogroms on GoPro camera from the beginning of creation until Simhas Torah of the October the 7th. Matinee special. There were also several sequels. It was to say that there is no redemption, no bright future, no change, no progress but the eternal circle of bleak survival and betrayal. Ala “Flat Circle” of “The True Detective”, Season 1. Gaza tunnels lead to the catacombs of Carcosa.
Rabbi Akiva reacted like a true meshichist. He was inoculated with the false hope. As we know from many examples today, meshichism or the woke progressive variant is the ultimate delusion. It’s infectious and catchie. It also helps to stay sane… It exploits the human code bug, the need for hope.
Despite all the therapeutic zeal, Rabbi Akiva was shown the end in graden of paradise during his violent death. The ruin of his messianic enterprise.
Hold all the pop terms like nihilism, populism, etc., these explanations are designed to protect against the truth. There is no progress and no change!
While I sympathize, I think we blow our issues out of proportion. Human problems seem intractable from within, but there's nothing forbidding progress in principle, as long as it's discrete and incremental (curing genetic diseases for example).
So the solution is dropping dead,suicide and conversion/assimilation.
Both Shamshon and the Warsaw Ghetto fighters took the option of Rabbi Akiba fight for survival in hope of a future better day. As did millions who left Russia after 1881rather than convert like our friend Chwolson
My parents spent 5 years in a DP camp 1945-48
Jews had to make choices some a few
committed suicide,married German women and they had no problems.Others like R Akiba went to Israel/Palestine still others decided to try being Jewish in US or elsewhere. A few went crazy and could not decide how to proceed. Fate took over
I suspect you our host himself acted like R Akiba by exiting former USSR and seek a better day.