The Kings  of Israel 

מלכי ישראל

Honi HaMe’agel, literally, the circle maker, was a unique individual. Not only did he stand up and pray for rain on behalf of the people of Israel during a drought, but he even began negotiating with God, demanding from Him the precise fulfillment of his request.  

Once, most of the month of Adar had passed [the rainy season was almost over], and rain had not fallen. They sent a message to Honi HaMe’agel: Pray, so that rain will fall. He prayed, but rain did not fall. He etched a circle in the dust and stood inside it…and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your children have turned to me to pray for them, as I am like a member of Your household. I take an oath by Your great name that I am not moving from here until you have compassion upon Your children. Rain began to trickle down. Honi HaMe’agel’s students said to him: Rabbi, we have seen you as one capable of great wonders, but [this meager rain is not enough to ensure that] we will not die. It seems to us that this rain is falling only to annul your oath.<footnote data-num="40"/>

Honi said to God: I did not ask for this, but for rain to fill our cisterns, ditches, and caves. Rain began to fall torrentially, until each and every drop was as large as the mouth of a barrel, and the Sages estimated that no drop was less than a log [approximately 350 cc]. His students said to him: Rabbi, we have seen you call upon God and He performs miracles and we will not die, but it seems to us that rain is falling only to destroy the world.

Honi again said before God: I did not ask for this destructive rain either, but rather for rain of benevolence, blessing, and generosity. The rain fell conventionally, until all the people ascended to the Temple Mount due to the rain.<footnote data-num="41"/>

The people said to him: Rabbi, just as you prayed for the rain to fall, so too, pray that it should stop. He said to them: This is the tradition that I received: One does not pray due to an excess of good. Nevertheless, bring me a bull for a thanks offering. They brought him a bull for a thanks offering. He placed his two hands on its head and said before God: Master of the Universe, Your people Israel, whom You took out of Egypt, is unable to withstand either an excess of good or an excess of troubles. You were angry with them and withheld rain, and they were unable to withstand it. You bestowed upon them good, and they are unable to bear it. May it be Your will that the rain stop and there will be relief for the world.  

Immediately, the wind blew, the clouds dispersed, the sun shone, and everyone went out to the fields and gathered for themselves truffles and mushrooms that had sprouted in the rain. 

Shimon ben Shatah sent a message to Honi HaMe’agel: Were you not Honi, I would have decreed ostracism upon you, as had these years been like the years of Elijah, when the keys of rain were in Elijah’s hands [and he took an oath that it would not rain], wouldn’t the name of Heaven have been desecrated by your oath not to leave the circle until it rained?<footnote data-num="42"/> But what can I do to you, as you indulge yourself before God and He does your bidding, like a son who indulges himself before his father and he does his bidding. The son says to his father: Father, take me to bathe me in hot water; rinse me with cold water; give me nuts, almonds, peaches, and pomegranates, and he gives them to him. Regarding you, the verse states: “Your father and your mother will rejoice, and she who bore you will be happy” (Proverbs 23:25)….

Rabbi Yohanan said: All the days of that righteous man, Honi, he was distressed over his inability to grasp the meaning of this verse: “A song of ascents. When the Lord brings about the return to Zion [after seventy years of exile in Babylon], we were like dreamers” (Psalms 126:1). He said to himself: Is there anyone who can sleep in a dream for seventy years? [How is it possible to compare seventy years of exile to a dream?]  

One day, he was walking along the road and he saw a certain man planting a carob tree. Honi said to him: After how many years will this tree bear fruit? The man said to him: Not until seventy years have passed. Honi said to him: Is it clear to you that you will live seventy years? The man said to him: That man [referring to himself] found a world with carob trees. Just as my ancestors planted trees for me, I too am planting trees for my descendants.  

Honi sat and ate his bread. Sleep overcame him and he slept. A rock face formed and surrounded him, and he was obscured from sight and slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a certain man gathering carobs from that tree. Honi said to him: Are you the one who planted that tree? The man said to him: I am his son’s son. Honi said to him: It is apparent from this that I have slept for seventy years He saw that his donkey had sired several generations of herds during that interval. Honi went to his house. He said to the members of the household: Is the son of Honi HaMe’agel alive? They said to him: His son is not, but his son’s son is alive. He said to them: I am Honi HaMe’agel. They did not believe him.  

He went to the study hall, and he heard the Sages say: Our halakhot are as enlightening and clear as they were during the years of Honi HaMe’agel, as when he would enter the study hall he would resolve for the Sages any difficulty that they had. Honi said to them: I am he, but they did not believe him and did not accord him the respect that was due him.

Honi became upset, prayed for mercy, and died. Rava said: This is what people say: Either companionship or death.<footnote data-num="43"/> <source>(Ta’anit 23a) </source>