Rabbi Akiva ben Yosef

On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Akiva was being judged before Turnus Rufus the accursed emperor. The time for reciting the Shema arrived, and they were flaying his flesh with iron combs with sharp teeth. With each stroke of the comb, he would say: "The Lord is righteous": "The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, righteous and upright is He" [Deuteronomy 32:4].

A Heavenly Voice emerged and said: "Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, that you were righteous and upright, and your soul departed in righteousness and uprightness." He was reciting the Shema, accepting upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and bowing. The wicked emperor said to him: "Old man, old man, are you deaf, or are you defiant in your suffering?" He said to him: "May the spirit of that man perish! I am not deaf, nor am I defiant in my suffering. Rather, all my days I would recite this verse: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might' [Deuteronomy 6:5]. I loved Him with all my heart, I loved Him with all my money, but I had not examined myself whether I loved Him with all my soul! Now that it has come to 'with all your soul,' and the time for reciting the Shema has arrived, shall I not fulfill it! Therefore, I am reciting the Shema and bowing."

Even his disciples said to him, "Our Rebbe, until here?" He said to them: "All my days I was troubled by the verse: 'with all your heart and with all your soul,' even if He takes your soul/life, and I said: 'When will it come to me and I will fulfill it?' And now that it has come to me, shall I not fulfill it!" He prolonged the word "One" (Echad) until his soul departed with "One." A Heavenly Voice emerged and said: "Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, that your body is pure, and your soul departed with 'One' in purity, and you are destined for the life of the World to Come." The ministering angels said before the Holy One, Blessed Be He: "Master of the Universe! 'Is this Torah, and this its reward?' He should have died by Your hand and not by the hand of flesh and blood!" The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said to them: "Their portion is in life." A Heavenly Voice emerged and said: "Fortunate are you, Rabbi Akiva, for you are destined for the life of the World to Come" [Berakhot 61b].