The **Gemorah Taanit**, page 23 of the tractate, is dedicated for the memory of Norman and Sally Jamal, Vicky and Joseph Beda, may the spirit of God rest them in Gan Eden, Amen. Today's page is studied for the complete healing of Chaya Sara daughter of Simcha, among the other sick of His people Israel, Amen. We begin today's page, which is studied for the elevation of the soul of Shaul son of Bahya, may the spirit of God rest him in Gan Eden, Amen. We start on page 23, first side, about ten lines down, with a story that they sent to **Choni HaMa'agel**.
The story begins during a drought. The community sent a request to **Choni HaMa'agel**, a righteous person known as "the circlemaker," asking him to pray for rain. He prayed, but no rain fell. So, he drew a circle and stood inside it, just as the prophet **Chavakuk HaNavi** did, as it is stated, "I will stand on my watch and I will station myself on a fortress." From this, the Rabbis learn that Chavakuk also created a confined space and remained there until he was answered. Choni then addressed **Ribono Shel Olam**, saying, "Master of the Universe, Your children have placed their trust in me, for they know that I am like a member of Your household. I swear by Your great Name—Your great Name is associated with kindness—that I will not move from this circle until You have mercy on Your children."
Immediately, the rains began to drizzle. His students, however, were not satisfied. They said to him, "Rabbi, we have seen you, and we do not want to die. We assume that the rains are falling only to release you from your oath, but this drizzle is not enough to benefit us." Choni responded to God, "I did not ask for this; I asked for rains that would fill cisterns, pits, and caves."
Then, the rains fell with fury, each drop the size of the mouth of a barrel. The Sages estimated that no drop was less than a log, a significant measure. Again, his students expressed concern, "Rabbi, we have seen you, and we do not want to die. We assume that these rains are falling only to destroy the world." Choni once more addressed God, "I did not ask for this; I asked for rains of favor, blessing, and generosity." This expression, "rains of favor, blessing, and generosity," is precisely the term used in the prayer for rain, a clear sign for the Jewish people in exile to say this prayer.
The rains then fell as they should, so plentifully that all the people had to ascend to the **Har HaBayit**, the Temple Mount, because of the waters. The students then asked Choni, "Rabbi, just as you prayed for them to fall, so pray for them to go away; we have enough." Choni replied, "This is what I have received: one does not pray concerning an abundance of good." Nevertheless, he instructed them, "Bring me a thanksgiving bull." There is a dispute regarding the meaning of this "thanksgiving bull." According to **Perush Rashi**, it was a bull for confession, a peace offering, to atone for praying to remove an abundance of blessing. He was going to pray for something that one should not pray for, so he needed to atone for it.
They brought him a thanksgiving bull, and he leaned his two hands upon it. He said before **Ribono Shel Olam**, "Your people Israel, whom You took out of Egypt, cannot handle too much good, nor too much punishment. When You were angry with them, they could not stand. When You bestowed good upon them, like the quail and other things in the desert, they could not stand. May it be Your will that the rains cease and there will be relief in the world." Immediately, a wind blew, the clouds scattered, and the sun shone. The people went out to the fields and found truffles and mushrooms already growing.
Later, **Shimon ben Shatach** sent a message to Choni, saying, "If you were not Choni, the famous righteous person that we know, I would decree a ban upon you for the way you pray to God, saying, 'I did not ask for this,' and 'I did not ask for that.' It is not like a restaurant." **Shimon ben Shatach** explained that if Choni had lived in the times of **Eliyahu HaNavi**, when Eliyahu had sworn to withhold rain, and the keys to rain were in Eliyahu's hand, then Choni's oath to bring rain would have created a situation where one of their oaths would be false, leading to a desecration of God's name. However, **Shimon ben Shatach** continued, "What can I do for you, that you misbehave before the **Hakadosh Baruch Hu**, and He still fulfills your will, like a spoiled son who misbehaves before his father, and he fulfills his will?" He illustrated this with a parable: a son who tells his father, "Father, take me to bathe me in hot water, then rinse me with cold water. Give me nuts, almonds, peaches, pomegranates," and the father gives him whatever he wants. Concerning Choni, the verse states, "Your father and mother will rejoice," referring to the **Hakadosh Baruch Hu** as the father and **Knesset Yisrael** as the mother, and "she who bore you will exult," referring to Choni's parents.
Our Rabbis taught what the members of the **Lishkat HaGazit**, the **Sanhedrin**, sent to **Choni HaMa'agel**: "And you will decree a matter, and it will be established for you." This means that Choni made a decree on earth, and the **Hakadosh Baruch Hu**, the Creator of the World, fulfilled his word from above, as we say, "a righteous person decrees and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills." As a result, "upon your paths light shines." This refers to Choni bringing light to the world through his prayers. "A generation that was dark, you enlightened with your prayer." This refers to the initial darkness of the drought, which Choni illuminated with his prayers. "For they were brought low, and you said, 'Rise up.'" This refers to the generation that was low, which he elevated with his prayer. "And He saves the downcast of eyes." This refers to the generation that was downcast in sins, which he saved with his prayer. "The one who is not clean will escape." This refers to a generation that was not clean, which he saved with his prayer, and "he escaped through the purity of your hands," meaning he saved them with the pure deeds of his hands.
**Rabbi Yochanan** said that all the days of that righteous person, Choni, he was distressed over a particular verse: "A Song of Ascents. When **Hashem** returns the captives of Zion, we will be like dreamers." This verse refers to the seventy years of exile between the destruction of the First Temple and the Second Temple, which are likened to a long dream. Choni wondered, "Is it possible for someone to sleep for seventy years in a dream?" He found it difficult to understand how the exile could be compared to such an extended dream, as dreams usually occur during sleep.
One day, as he was walking on the road, he saw a man planting a carob tree. Choni asked him, "How many years does it take for this carob tree to bear fruit?" The man replied, "Seventy years." Choni then questioned him, "Are you so certain that you will live for seventy years to eat its fruits?" The man responded, "I found the world with a carob tree already planted for me. Just as my fathers planted for me, I too will plant for my children."
Choni then sat down to eat some bread and fell asleep. A rock emerged from the side of the mountain and covered him, hiding him from sight. He slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a man gathering carobs from those very trees. Choni asked him, "Are you the one who planted this tree?" The man replied, "No, I am his grandson." Choni then realized, "From this, it is understood that I slept for seventy years." He saw his donkeys, which had given birth to many offspring, further confirming the passage of time. He went to his house and asked, "Is the son of **Choni HaMa'agel** alive?" They told him, "His son is not alive, but his grandson is." Choni declared, "I am **Choni HaMa'agel**," but they did not believe him.
He then went to the study hall and heard the Rabbis learning. They were saying, "Our traditions are as clear today as in the years of **Choni HaMa'agel**." They explained that when Choni would come to the study hall, he would resolve every difficulty the Rabbis had. Choni then said to them, "I am he!" But they still did not believe him and did not show him the honor he deserved. His spirit was weakened, so he prayed to **Hashem** and died. **Rava** commented, "This is what people say: 'Either companionship or death,'" meaning it is better to die than to live without being accepted by one's peers.
**Perush Rashi** explains that the phrase "we were like dreamers" means the Babylonian exile, which lasted seventy years, was like a dream. Choni's question, "Is it possible for someone to sleep for seventy years in a dream?" highlights the difficulty of such a long, continuous sleep. The carob tree, which takes seventy years to bear fruit, served as a tangible example for Choni. The man's response about planting for future generations taught Choni a lesson about the continuity of good deeds. The rock covering Choni and his subsequent long sleep physically demonstrated the possibility of such a prolonged slumber. Rashi also clarifies that Choni's donkeys having many generations of offspring indicated the long passage of time. When the Rabbis in the study hall spoke of the clarity of their learning being "like the years of Choni HaMa'agel," it meant that he would reconcile and clarify all the difficulties and different versions of the Mishnayot. Rashi's interpretation of "either companionship or death" is that it is better to die than to be unaccepted by friends.
The **Maharsha** offers further insights. He explains that "A Song of Ascents" refers to the fifteen steps in the **Beit HaMikdash**, for which **David HaMelech** composed fifteen such songs. Regarding "we were like dreamers," the **Maharsha** notes that there is no dream without sleep, and Rashi understood this as seventy years in one continuous sleep. Even though "dreamers" is plural, it implies an uninterrupted dream. The **Maharsha** suggests a moral lesson: just as the years of exile are like a long dream, so too is the average lifespan of a person, often seventy years, which flies by like a dream. Choni's distress stemmed from the idea that a person's life, like a dream, might lack substance. The carob tree incident showed him that while the seventy years of planting yield no immediate fruit, the fruit comes later, just as a person's toil in this world, compared to Friday eve, yields its fruits in the World to Come, like Shabbat. One may not benefit directly, but their children and grandchildren will, illustrating God's kindness for future generations.
The **Maharsha** also clarifies that Choni's physical sleep of seventy years demonstrated the literal possibility of the verse "we were like dreamers." The fact that his grandson was eating the carobs underscored the lesson that a person's actions benefit future generations. When Choni came to the study hall, the Rabbis recognized his Torah scholarship and his ability to reconcile contradictions, but they did not see in him the "actions" that would confirm he was the legendary **Choni HaMa'agel**. Therefore, they did not give him the full honor he deserved. The **Maharsha** posits that Choni's death was not due to old age, as the seventy years of sleep did not count towards his lifespan; rather, his distress over the lack of recognition caused his premature demise.
The **Yerushalmi** presents a novel idea, quoting an incident of **Choni HaMa'agel** who lived during the destruction of the First Temple, sleeping seventy years through the Babylonian exile until the Second Temple was built. However, the story in our Gemara, which involves **Shimon ben Shatach**, must have occurred much later, during the Second Temple era. The author of **Yefeh Mareh** suggests there were two **Choni HaMa'agel**s, and the one in our Gemara is the grandson of the original. The **Sefer Yuchasin** cites **Yosef ben Gorion**, the historian, who wrote that **Choni HaMa'agel** was killed outside Jerusalem during the Hasmonean war. The **Maharsha** reconciles this by explaining that since Choni disappeared for seventy years in sleep, people assumed he had been killed in the civil war, thus even Josephus was misled.
The Gemara continues with a story about **Abba Chilkiya**, the grandson of **Choni HaMa'agel**. When the world needed rain, the Rabbis would send a mission to him, and he would pray for mercy, and rain would come. One time, the world needed rain, so the Rabbis sent a pair of Rabbis to him to pray for rain. They went to his house but did not find him. They went to the field and found him digging, working with a shovel. They greeted him with "peace be upon you, Rabbi," but he did not brighten his face for them or respond.
In the afternoon, as he was taking wood home, he put the shovel and the wood on one bare shoulder and his robe on the other shoulder. The entire way, he was not wearing shoes. When he reached the water, he put on his shoes. When he reached the thorns and thistles, he lifted his garments. When he arrived home, his wife came out to greet him, adorned in jewelry. When he entered his house, he let his wife go in first, then he entered, and then he let the Rabbis enter last. He sat down to eat some bread but did not invite the Rabbis to join him. He divided bread for his children, giving one loaf to the older one and two loaves to the younger one.
He then told his wife, "I know the Rabbis came here because of rain. Let us go to the roof and pray for mercy before they ask us. Perhaps the **Hakadosh Baruch Hu** will be appeased and rain will come, and we will not have to take credit for it." They went up to the roof; he stood in one corner, and she in another. The clouds began to ascend first from his wife's corner. When they came down, he asked the Rabbis, "Why did you come?" They replied, "The Rabbis sent us to you, master, to pray for mercy for rain." He said to them, "Blessed be the Omnipresent, who did not make you need **Abba Chilkiya**!" He was humble, attributing the rain to God's will rather than his own prayer.
The Rabbis then said to him, "We know that the rain came because of you, master, but please explain to us these matters that are puzzling to us." They asked, "What is the reason that when we greeted you in the fields, you did not brighten your face for us?" He replied, "I am a daily worker, and I said I would not waste time. If I had paused to greet you, it would have been like theft from my employer." They asked, "What is the reason that you put the wood and shovel on one shoulder and your robe on the other?" He replied, "It was a borrowed garment. I borrowed it to wear, not to put material on it, as that could ruin it, which would be theft."
They continued, "What is the reason that the whole way you were not wearing shoes, but when you reached the water, you put on your shoes?" He replied, "The whole way, I could see the road, so I could be careful not to step on anything. But in the water, I cannot see, so I put on my shoes to protect my feet." They asked, "What is the reason that when you reached the thorns and thistles, you lifted your garments?" He replied, "My leg will heal, but if my clothes rip, I cannot fix them. This is fixable, and this is not fixable." They asked, "What is the reason that when you came to the city, your wife came out adorned?" He replied, "So that I would not cast my eyes on another woman. She protects me; she is a woman of valor."
Finally, they asked, "What is the reason that she entered first, and then you entered after her, and then you let us in, contrary to the custom for wise men?" He replied, "Because you are not known to me. I would not let unknown people into my house first."