Why were R’ Akiva’s students punished specifically during the omer? What is the significance of Rabbi Akiva expounding on the crowns of the letters in the Torah?

Can you fulfill the mitzva by placing chametz with tasteless, odorless arsenic; putting it in a secure capsule and launching it into outer space; putting it in a particle accelerator and transforming it into a non-chametz substance?

Three related thoughts on the Haggadah