Rabbi Akiva, however, yearned throughout his life to sacrifice his life for the kedushah of Hashem. In this merit, he was granted the ability to recognize that everything is for our own good, even while he was still alive. Therefore, upon seeing the devastation of the churban, he laughed, since he was wise enough to realize that it did not reflect any din whatsoever. Thus, each of these renowned Tannaim acted in accordance with his level of perception. The other Tannaim, who were not on the madreigah to recognize that everything is for the good in Olam HaZeh, wept upon witnessing the destruction and desecration. Rabbi Akiva, on the other hand, who understood that “everything is הטוב והמטיב”, laughed, since he did not perceive any element of din.
This illuminates for us the explanation of the Yoel Moshe of the teaching in the Midrash: "דברים שלא נגלו למשה נגלו לרבי עקיבא וחביריו, וכל יקר ראתה עינו, זה רבי עקיבא וחביריו". As we have learned, Moshe Rabeinu was not granted the perception of recognizing ahead of time that everything is truly for our good. HKB”H informed him of this with the remark: "וראית את אחורי ופני לא יראו". This means that HKB”H showed Moshe the knot of the tefillin shel rosh implying that only afterwards would he see how the right and left straps united as a knot, and that everything is a manifestation of total chesed. He was not privy to the sight of the tefillin shel rosh itself, where the two straps are intimately united at their source—indicating that before the abundant influence descends, everything is a manifestation exclusively of chesed. In other words, Moshe did not perceive this reality.
In contrast, Rabbi Akiva was privileged to perceive not just the knot of the tefillin but also the tefillin itself. He saw that even before the divine abundance descends, it is actually all benevolence. This prompted Chazal to apply the following passuk to Rabbi Akiva: "וכל יקר ראתה עינו". They wanted to teach us that he was privileged to see the entire tefillin she rosh, which is referred to as "כל יקר".
