Honi HaMe'agel "on one foot":
Honi was known as "Honi the Circle-Drawer", or "Honi HaMe'agel". He lived in the Land of Israel around the time of Shimon ben Shetach, so around 75 BCE.
Prologue
(ח)מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁאָמְרוּ לוֹ לְחוֹנִי הַמְעַגֵּל, הִתְפַּלֵּל שֶׁיֵּרְדוּ גְשָׁמִים. אָמַר לָהֶם, צְאוּ וְהַכְנִיסוּ תַנּוּרֵי פְסָחִים, בִּשְׁבִיל שֶׁלֹּא יִמּוֹקוּ. הִתְפַּלֵּל, וְלֹא יָרְדוּ גְשָׁמִים. מֶה עָשָׂה, עָג עוּגָה וְעָמַד בְּתוֹכָהּ, וְאָמַר לְפָנָיו, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, בָּנֶיךָ שָׂמוּ פְנֵיהֶם עָלַי, שֶׁאֲנִי כְבֶן בַּיִת לְפָנֶיךָ. נִשְׁבָּע אֲנִי בְשִׁמְךָ הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁאֵינִי זָז מִכָּאן, עַד שֶׁתְּרַחֵם עַל בָּנֶיךָ. הִתְחִילוּ גְּשָׁמִים מְנַטְּפִין. אָמַר, לֹא כָךְ שָׁאַלְתִּי, אֶלָּא גִּשְׁמֵי בוֹרוֹת שִׁיחִין וּמְעָרוֹת. הִתְחִילוּ לֵירֵד בְּזָעַף. אָמַר, לֹא כָךְ שָׁאַלְתִּי, אֶלָּא גִּשְׁמֵי רָצוֹן, בְּרָכָה וּנְדָבָה. יָרְדוּ כְתִקְנָן, עַד שֶׁיָּצְאוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִירוּשָׁלַיִם לְהַר הַבַּיִת מִפְּנֵי הַגְּשָׁמִים. בָּאוּ וְאָמְרוּ לוֹ, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהִתְפַּלַלְתָּ עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁיֵּרְדוּ כָּךְ הִתְפַּלֵּל שֶׁיֵּלְכוּ לָהֶן. אָמַר לָהֶן, צְאוּ וּרְאוּ אִם נִמְחֵת אֶבֶן הַטּוֹעִים. שָׁלַח לוֹ שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן שָׁטָח, אִלְמָלֵא חוֹנִי אַתָּה, גּוֹזְרַנִי עָלֶיךָ נִדּוּי. אֲבָל מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה לְּךָ, שֶׁאַתָּה מִתְחַטֵּא לִפְנֵי הַמָּקוֹם וְעוֹשֶׂה לְךָ רְצוֹנְךָ כְּבֵן שֶׁהוּא מִתְחַטֵּא עַל אָבִיו וְעוֹשֶׂה לוֹ רְצוֹנוֹ. וְעָלֶיךָ הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר (משלי כג), יִשְׂמַח אָבִיךָ וְאִמֶּךָ וְתָגֵל יוֹלַדְתֶּךָ:
(8) The mishna relates: An incident occurred in which the people said to Ḥoni HaMe’aggel: Pray that rain should fall. He said to them: Go out and bring in the clay ovens used to roast the Paschal lambs, so that they will not dissolve in the water, as torrential rains are certain to fall. He prayed, and no rain fell at all. What did he do? He drew a circle on the ground and stood inside it and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until You have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain. Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets. He said: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves with enough water to last the entire year. Rain began to fall furiously. He said: I did not ask for this damaging rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity. Subsequently, the rains fell in their standard manner but continued unabated, filling the city with water until all of the Jews exited the residential areas of Jerusalem and went to the Temple Mount due to the rain. They came and said to him: Just as you prayed over the rains that they should fall, so too, pray that they should stop. He said to them: Go out and see if the Claimants’ Stone, a large stone located in the city, upon which proclamations would be posted with regard to lost and found articles, has been washed away. In other words, if the water has not obliterated the Claimants’ Stone, it is not yet appropriate to pray for the rain to cease. Shimon ben Shetaḥ, the Nasi of the Sanhedrin at the time, relayed to Ḥoni HaMe’aggel: Were you not Ḥoni, I would have decreed that you be ostracized, but what can I do to you? You nag God and God does your bidding, like a son who nags his father and his father does his bidding without reprimand. After all, rain fell as you requested. About you, the verse states: “Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice” (Proverbs 23:25).
Context: This is from the Mishnah, from Masechet (Tractate) Ta'anit, which is about fasting. Fasts were called when there were droughts, as a way of hopefully convincing G-d to send rain. Thus we get to this text about bringing rain.
1. What other things besides rain are not good both when there's too little and too much? Are there things that you can’t have too much of?
Act 1
§ The Gemara relates another story about Ḥoni HaMe’aggel. Rabbi Yochanan said: All the days of the life of that righteous man, Ḥoni, he was distressed over the meaning of this verse: “A song of ascents: When the Lord brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream” (Psalms 126:1). He said to himself: Is there really a person who can sleep and dream for seventy years? How is it possible to compare the seventy-year exile in Babylonia to a dream? One day, he was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Ḥoni said to him: This tree, after how many years will it bear fruit? The man said to him: It will not produce fruit until seventy years have passed. Ḥoni said to him: Is it obvious to you that you will live seventy years, that you expect to benefit from this tree? He said to him: That man i.e. he himself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.
Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Masechet (Tractate) Ta'anit, which is is about fasting. It follows the previous story about Honi (which is both in the Mishnah and cited in the Talmud), and it comes because the Talmud was just talking about Honi previously. The verse that Honi was trying to figure out is also found at the beginning of Birkat HaMazon on Shabbat: “Shir HaMa’alot b’shuv Adoshem et shivat Tziyon hayinu k’cholmim”.
1. Stories are not inevitable; characters (and authors) make choices. At what points could this part of the story have turned out differently?
2. How is this text relevant to Tu B'Shevat (the new year for the trees)?
3. The logic "Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants" can be applied to more than just trees. How have you benefited from others taking this approach?
4. If you were to make a tzedakah \ philanthropic donation based on the logic "Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants", where would you give?
Act 2
Ḥoni sat and ate bread. Sleep overcame him and he slept. A cliff formed around him, and he disappeared from sight and slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a certain man gathering carobs from that tree. Ḥoni said to him: Are you the one who planted this tree? The man said to him: I am his son’s son. Ḥoni said to him: I can learn from this that I have slept for seventy years, and indeed he saw that his donkey had sired several herds during those many years.
Context: This is the next part of the story.
1. At what points could this part of the story have turned out differently?
2. This section is cited in the song "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav", where it says "Uvtardemat ilan (tree) va'evan (and stone) shvuya bachaloma (in a dream)". Why might this story be relevant to a song about returning to Jerusalem?
3. This section begins with a reference to Shir HaMa'alot, saying that after being exiled for 70 years the passage of time was as if they had been dreaming. When else have you experienced much time passing yet seeming as if very little time had passed?
4. How do you expect life will be similar and different in 70 years from now?
Act 3
Ḥoni went home and said to the members of the household: Is the son of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel alive? They said to him: His son is no longer with us, but his son’s son is alive. He said to them: I am Ḥoni HaMe’aggel. They did not believe him. He went to the study hall, where he heard the Sages say about one scholar: His halakhot are as enlightening and as clear as in the years of Ḥoni HaMe’aggel, for when Ḥoni HaMe’aggel would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty they had. Ḥoni said to them: I am he, but they did not believe him and did not pay him proper respect. Ḥoni became very upset, prayed for mercy, and died. Rava said: This explains the folk saying that people say: Either friendship or death, as one who has no friends is better off dead.
Context: This is the next part of the story.
1. At what points could this part of the story have turned out differently?
2. Would you believe somebody who said that they were from two generations ago yet they looked un-aged?
3. What would be the pros and cons of living longer than everybody else you know?
4. What would you do if people didn't believe that you are who you are?
Context: This is a PJ Library animation of a PJ Library story told by Naomi Shulman and Danny Paller. It reworks Act 1 of this story into a modern context and keeps the cycle going.
A Readers’ Theatre Version of Honi
Adapted from the Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 23a, by David Schwartz
Prologue
(Setting: Outside)
The Jewish People: Honi, pray that rain should fall.
Honi: Go out and bring in the clay ovens used to roast the Paschal lambs, so that they will not dissolve in the water.
Narrator: Honi prayed, and no rain fell at all. Then he drew a circle on the ground and stood inside it.
Honi: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned their faces toward me, as I am like a member of Your household. Therefore, I take an oath by Your great name that I will not move from here until You have mercy upon Your children and answer their prayers for rain.
Narrator: Rain began to trickle down, but only in small droplets.
Honi: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill the cisterns, ditches, and caves with enough water to last the entire year.
Narrator: Rain began to fall furiously.
Honi: I did not ask for this damaging rain either, but for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity.
Narrator: Subsequently, the rains fell in their standard manner but continued unabated, filling the city with water until all of the Jews exited the residential areas of Jerusalem and went to the Temple Mount due to the rain.
The Jewish People: Just as you prayed over the rains that they should fall, so too, pray that they should stop.
Honi: Go out and see if the Stone of Lost and Found has been covered with rain yet. If not, it’s not yet time for the rain to stop.
Shimon ben Shetach: As the head of the Sanhedrin I would have you ostracized, but you are Honi, so what can I do to you? You nag G-d and G-d does your bidding, like a son who nags his father and his father does his bidding without reprimand. After all, rain fell like you requested.
Act 1
(Setting: By a roadside)
Honi: All my life, I’ve been puzzled over the meaning of the verse in Shir HaMa’alot: “A song of ascents: When the Lord brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream”. Is there really a person who can sleep and dream for seventy years? How is it possible to compare the seventy-year exile in Babylonia to a dream?
Narrator: One day, Honi was walking along the road when he saw a man planting a carob tree.
Honi: How many years will it take for this tree to bear fruit?
Man: It won’t produce fruit for seventy years.
Honi: Do you think that you’ll live seventy more years, to benefit from this tree?
Man: Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for those who come after me.
Act 2
(Setting: By the road)
Narrator: Honi sat and ate bread. Sleep overcame him and he slept. A cliff formed around him, and he disappeared from sight and slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a man gathering carobs from the tree.
Honi: Are you the one who planted this tree?
Man: I am his son’s son.
Honi: I see that I have slept for seventy years.
Act 3
Scene 1
(Setting: Honi’s house)
Narrator: Honi went to his house and found people there.
Honi: Is the son of Honi HaMe’aggel alive?
Person: His son is not alive any more, but his son’s son is.
Honi: I am Honi HaMe’aggel.
Narrator: They did not believe him.
Scene 2
(Setting: The study hall)
Narrator: Honi went to the study hall.
Sage: This rabbi’s halachot are as enlightening and as clear as in the years of Honi HaMe’aggel, for when Honi would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty they had.
Honi: I am Honi.
Narrator: The Sages did not believe him and did not pay him proper respect. Honi became very upset, prayed for mercy, and died.
Rava: As a rabbi, this explains the folk saying I’ve heard, “Either friendship or death”.
Appendix: The Full Story