Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah
February 13, 2025
15 Shevat 5785
Parashat Yitro
Long before Rip Van Winkle or Sleeping Beauty, the Jewish tradition preserved the story of Choni Ha-Me’agel (Choni the Circle Drawer). As you might be able to tell from his name, Choni was best known for drawing a circle on the ground and asking God to bring rain to end a drought, which God did! However, he was also remembered for a particularly long nap.
Here’s the story as it is told in the Talmud:
One day, Choni was walking along the road when he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Choni 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.” Choni 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: “I myself found a world full of carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted for me, I too am planting for my descendants.”
Choni 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. Choni said to him: “Are you the one who planted this tree?” The man said to him: “I am his son’s son.” Choni 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.
Choni went home and said to the members of the household: “Is the son of Choni Ha-Me’agel 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 Choni Ha-Me’agel.” 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 Choni Ha-Me’agel, for when Choni Ha-Me’agel would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty they had.” Choni said to them: “I am he,” but they did not believe him and did not pay him proper respect. Choni became very upset, prayed for mercy, and died (BT Ta’anit 23b).
Who needs Walt Disney when we have the Talmud?!
Of course, Choni did not sleep for 70 years. However, his story reminds us how difficult it is to imagine what the world will be like in a generation or two. It’s to envision how our actions today will impact the world in 70 years. And yet, that is exactly our challenge.
Today is Tu BiSh’vat on the Jewish calendar. It is sometimes called “The New Year of the Trees” and it is sometimes called “The Birthday of the Trees.” Either way, it has evolved into the Jewish equivalent of Earth Day. It has become the day upon which we renew our commitment to caring for the planet with which God has entrusted us.
And as Choni learned from the carob tree, we shouldn’t make environmental decisions based on how they will affect us today. Rather, we should be thinking about how our actions today will be felt 70 years from now by the next generation.
Happy Tu BiSh’vat!
Shalom,
RAF.
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