Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 8, scan section 27

I give you rains in their due season," which means, that the earth shall not become too full of water nor that it shall be thirsty, but have just sufficient ; for if there is too much rain, the earth be- comes too sodden and fruit cannot grow. Another explanation of the term " in their due season " is, that the rains will fall on the night of the fourth day of the week and on the night of Sab- bath, when men do not go out ; for so do we find, that in the days of Simeon ben Sheta'h rain fell only on those nights, and grain prospered so that wheat-grains became as testicles, barley- corns as the kernels of olives, and lentils as golden Dinars ; and part of these fruits of the earth were preserved to show to future generations, in order to demonstrate to them that the only reason 64 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. why crops were not as prosperous as they formerly were was be- cause of the transgressions of the people, as it is written [Jere- miah, v. 25] : " Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden what is good from you." So it was also at the time when Herod built the new Temple. It would rain only at night, and in the morning the wind would disperse the clouds, the sun would commence to shine, and the people would go to their work in peace, so that all men knew that they were engaged in a heavenly undertaking. "// once happened that Honi Hantdgel" etc. The rabbis taught : It once happened the greater part of the month of Adar had passed, and no rain had yet fallen. Honi Hama'gel was there- upon requested to pray for rain. He prayed, but no rain de- scended. So he marked out a circle around him, the same as Habakkuk did, as it is written [Habakkuk, ii. 1] : " Upon my watch will I stand, and place myself upon the tower," placed himself in the midst of it, and said : " Creator of the universe ! Thy children have always looked up towards me as being like a son of Thy house before Thee. I swear therefore, by Thy great Name, that I shall not move from this place until Thou shalt have compassion upon Thy children." Whereupon the rain com- menced to drop down gently. Said the disciples to him : " May it be that we may see thee and not die ; for we think that the rain is merely dropping in order to release thee from thy vow." And he replied : " It was not for this I prayed, but for rain suffi- cient to fill the wells, cisterns, and caves." The rain then fell in torrents, each drop being as large as the mouth of a barrel, and the sages opined that each drop contained no less than a lug of water. The disciples again said to him : " Rabbi, may we see thee and not die ! We believe that the rain is falling in order to destroy the world." He again said : " Not for such rains have I prayed ; but for mild, felicitous, and liberal showers." The rain then descended in the usual manner, until the Israelites of Jeru- salem were obliged to seek refuge from the city to the Temple mount on account of the rain. They then came to him and said : " Rabbi, even as thou didst pray that the rain might descend, thus pray now that it may cease." And he replied : " I have a tradition that it is not permitted to pray for a cessation of too much good. Still, bring me a praise-offering." It was accord- ingly brought to him, and putting both hands upon it, he said : " Creator of the universe ! Thy people which Thou hast brought out of Egypt cannot be sustained either with too much evil or too TRACT TAANITH (FASTING). 65 much good. When Thou becamest angry with them, they could no longer bear it ; and now that Thou hast showered too much good (rain) upon them, they cannot bear it either. Let it be Thy will that the rains may cease and the world become happy." Thereupon a wind came up, dispersed the clouds, the sun com- menced to shine, and the people went out into the fields and brought back mushrooms. Simeon ben Sheta'h then sent him word, saying: If thou wert not Honi, I would order that thou be anathematized ; for were these years as those when Elijah said that no rain should fall and when he had the key to the rain, thou wouldst have merely desecrated the Holy Name ; but what shall I do with thee, since thou art petulant towards God, and yet He forgiveth and indulgeth thee like a petted child who is petulant towards its father, and says : " Father, bathe me in hot water, bathe me in cold water, give me nuts, almonds, apricots, and pomegra- nates," and is nevertheless forgiven and indulged ? To thee may be applied the passage [Prov. xxiii. 25] : " Let thy father and thy mother rejoice, and let her that hath born thee be glad." The rabbis taught : What was the word which the Sanhedrin sitting in the chamber of marble sent to Honi Hama'gel after the occurrence ? They cited the passage [Job, xxii. 28] : " And if thou decree a thing, it will be fulfilled unto thee ; and upon thy ways the light will shine," and said : " Thou hast decreed below, and the Holy One, blessed be He, ratified it above, and the genera- tion which was in darkness thou hast enlightened with thy prayer." R. Johanan said : All the days of this righteous man (Honi), he troubled himself concerning the meaning of the passage [Psalms, cxxvi. 1] : " When the Lord bringeth back again the captivity of Zion, then shall we be like dreamers." Honi would constantly say : " How can a man sleep or be like a dreamer for seventy years ? " Once he was travelling on the road, and he noticed a man planting a carob-tree. He asked him how many years it would take before the tree would bear fruit, and the man answered : " Seventy years." Honi. then asked : " Art thou, then, sure that thou wilt live seventy years ? " And the man replied : " I found carob-trees in existence when I came into the world, consequently my ancestors must have planted them. Why should I not also plant them for my children ? " About that time Honi became hungry, and sat down to eat near the newly 5 66 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. planted tree. After the meal he fell asleep, and a bay * formed about him so that he could not be noticed, and thus he slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he observed a man gathering the fruit from the carob-tree ; and he asked the man : " Didst thou plant this tree ? " The man replied : " Nay ; I am the grandson of the man that planted it." Honi then realized that he must have slept for seventy years, and when he looked around for his ass, he noticed that there were many smaller asses. He then went to his home, and inquired whether the son of Honi Hama'gel was still alive. He was told that the son was no longer living, but that a son of the son was alive. He then said : " I am Honi Hama'gel " ; but they would not believe him. He went to the