Rabbi Akiba shocked his companions by laughing at moments when any sane person would weep. The Talmud (Makkot 24a-b) records two instances of this extraordinary laughter, and both revealed a faith so deep that it bordered on madness.
The first occurred in Rome. Rabbi Akiba and his colleagues were walking through the streets and saw a Roman parade — the might of the empire on full display, its armies, its wealth, its apparent invincibility. The other sages wept: "If those who transgress God's will live in such splendor, how much more would those who fulfill His will!" But Rabbi Akiba laughed: "If God gives this much to those who anger Him, imagine what He stores for those who obey Him!"
The second occurred in Jerusalem, at the ruins of the Temple. The sages saw a fox running across the spot where the Holy of Holies had stood — the most sacred place on earth, now home to wild animals. The other sages wept. Rabbi Akiba laughed.
"Why do you laugh?" they demanded. He replied: "The prophet Uriah prophesied that 'Zion shall be plowed as a field' (Micah 3:12). The prophet Zechariah prophesied that 'old men and women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem' (Zechariah 8:4). Until I saw Uriah's prophecy fulfilled, I feared Zechariah's might not come true. Now that I see the destruction with my own eyes, I know the restoration is equally certain."
His companions said to him: "Akiba, you have comforted us. Akiba, you have comforted us." His laughter was not denial. It was the deepest form of faith — the certainty that destruction is never the end of the story.