honi ha-m'aggel

8/14/2019 Honi Ha-M'aggel

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CHAPTER VIIH O N I H A - M ' A G G E L A N D H I SD E S C E N D A N T S

1. Rain from Heaven|NCE there was a drought in the land ofIsrael. M ore than half of the month ofAdar passed, and no rain came down.The people prayed to God for rain, buttheir prayers remained unanswered. Th ey thencame to Honi ha-M'aggel, a saintly man, andasked him that he pray to God for rain."Return home," said the saintly Honi to thepeople; "take the ovens that you have preparedfor the Passover into your houses, so that they maynot get spoiled when the rain comes down."

When he was informed that the ovens had beentaken into the houses, Honi prayed to God thatHe cause rain to come down upon the earth, buthis prayer remained unanswered. H on i thendrew a circle around him, stood in the center ofit, and prayed thu s: "M aster of the w orld T h ypeople turned to me for help, for they consider meone of T hy trusted servants. By Thy great Nam edo I swear that I will not stir from this place,until Thou hast pity on Thy children."


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HO NI HA-M'AGGEL 89Thereupon a few drops of rain came down, andHoni's disciples said to him: "Master, life is

granted us by Heaven only for your sake. It seemsto us that this slight rainfall has come down onlyfor the purpose of absolving you from your oath."Still standing in the center of the circle, Honisaid: "I did not pray for this kind of rain; I wantheavier rain to come down, so that all pits andwater cisterns may be filled."Rain then commenced to come down in tor

rents. It lasted for some length of time, and thefall was so great that there was danger that therain migh turn out to be a curse instead of ablessing. The disciples then again approachedHoni, and said to him: "Life in this world isgranted us by Heaven only for your sake, O master. I t appears to us tha t this rain comes downonly for the purpose of destroying the world."Honi commenced to pray again: "I have notprayed for rain to come down in torrents; I haveasked for rain that will bring plenty to the land."The rain then began to fall down in a naturalway, but it lasted for a very long tim e, so tha t therewas more than enough. The people then came toHoni and said: "Master, as you prayed for therain to come down, we ask you now to pray for

the rain to cease.""Honi then prayed in this wise: "Master of thewo rld Th y people Israel whom Thou hastbrought forth from the land of Egypt can bear


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90 T H E BOOK OF LEGENDSneither too much nor too little of Thy bounty.When Thou wast wroth with them and causedstno rain to fall, they were unable to bear it.Now Thou hast bestowed too much of Thy blessing upon them, and they are unable to bear iteither. M ay it be T hy will, O Lord, that the raincease to fall, so that there may be relief for Thypeople."

No sooner had Honi finished his prayer, thanstrong winds began to blow, dispersing the clouds,and the sun began to shine brightly.Rabbi Simeon ben Shetah was displeased at theunseemly tone of Hon i's pray er. H e sent a letterto Honi which read: "Were you not Honi, Iwou ld put a ban upon you. Fo r should yourprayer have remained unanswered, you would havebrought desecration upon the name of God. Butwhat shall I do to you? You sin before G od, yetH e does your w ill. Of you it was said (Prov.xxiii, 25): 'Thy father and thy mother shall beglad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.'"

2. Honi ha-M aggel Sleeps for Seventy YearsOne day, Honi happened to be walking alongthe road and he noticed an elderly man plantinga carob-tree near his house. Hon i inquired of theman: "How long does it take for this tree to produce fruit?""It takes seventy years for it to bear fruit,"answered the old man.


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H O N I HA-M 'AGGEL 91"Do you believe that you can live seventy moreyears to derive benefit from the fruit of this tree?"asked Honi."I found carob-trees in this w^orld," replied theold m an. "J us t as my ancestors plan ted the treesfor my sake, so do I plant this tree for the sake ofthose that will follow me."Without commenting upon the reply of the oldman, Honi sat down to partake of food, when adeep sleep fell over him . A rock sprang up ne arthe place where Honi lay fast asleep, and the rockgrew into the form of a tent until it encircled completely the sleeping saint. T hu s he slum bered forseventy years in the tent-like rock, protected fromrain, sun, and wild beasts.At the end of seventy years, the tent-like rockunfolded itself and Honi awoke from his long

sleep. H e noticed a ma n pick ing carobs fromthe tree he had seen planted, and Honi asked inamazement: "Are you the one who planted thiscarob-tree?"" N o , I am not," came the reply. " I t was myfather 's father who planted it .""I must have been sleeping then for seventy

years ," said Honi in an undertone.Honi went to his house, and asked: "Where isthe son of H oni ha- M 'agg el? ""His son is dead, but his grandson is still alive,"was the information he received."I am Honi ha-M'aggel ," he sta ted, but no one


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92 T H E BOOK OF LEGEN DSwould believe him . H e then went to the college,and he heard the sages discuss a certain law. Th eysaid: "This law is as clear to us now, as it usedto be clear in the days of H on i ha-M 'aggel. Inhis days, whenever something difficult arose, theywould ask him and he would clarify everything forthem."

"I am Honi," stated the visitor, but no onewould believe him, and he was shown some disrespect. H e then prayed to God for death. H isprayer was granted, and at once the soul left thesaintly body of Honi ha-M'aggel.

3. Abba HilkiyahAbba Hilkiyah was the grandson of Honiha-M'aggel, and whenever there was a drought,the people would ask him to pray to God for rain.His prayers were always heard, and his will was

done by Heaven.Once, when there was a drought in the land,two sages were selected to go to Abba Hilkiyahand ask him to pray for rain. Upon reach ing hishouse, the two scholars were told that Abba Hilkiyah was working somewhere in the field. Thescholars then went to the field and found himengaged in plough ing. Th ey saluted him , bu t hemade no reply to their salutation. A ll day long,Abba paid no attention to his visitors.Toward evening, Abba placed a bundle of woodand his plough on one shoulder, his robe on the


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9 4 T H E BO OK O F L E G E N D S"W h a t is the object of you r visi t, gen tlem en ?"asked Abba."We have come here to peti t ion you that youpray for rain," replied the two scholars."Praised be the Almighty who has spared youthe necessity of peti t ioning Abba Hilkiyah forrain," said the meek Abba."We well know that rain has just come downbecause of your prayers," said the two scholars;"for we have seen you and your pious wife standin opp osite corners of the attic and pray . B utbefore we go we would ask you, O master, toexplain to us several things that we fail to understand.""If I kn ow th e answer to those things, I sh all notwithhold i t from you," said Abba."Why did you refuse to reply to our salutationsin the field?" asked the scholars."Because I am a day labo rer," replied A bba ."I am hired by the day, and I was afraid lest Iwaste my employer's t ime by answering your salu

tation.""Why did you put the bundle of wood on oneshoulder and the robe on the other?"

"This robe I borrowed from one of my neighbors to wear when I return home after my day'swo rk. W he n I thoug ht of the wood that I had tobring home, I did not wish to put on the robe andcarry the wood on i t , because I have not borrowedit for that purpose."


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H O N I H A - M ' A G G E L 95"Why did you not put on your sandals all theway, but only when you reached the stream?""Because the road lay open before me, and Icould take care while walking; but I could notknow what was at the bottom of the stream; theremight have been something that would hurt myfeet.""Why did you raise your clothes when youpassed through thistles and thorns, and ratherallowed your feet to be injured by the thorns?""Because damage done to the flesh is curable;but damage caused to garments is incurable ."" W h y did you not invite us to sit dow n and havebread with you, as is the custom?""Because I had very li t t le bread, and therefore Idid not wish to extend a false invitation to you,and receive thanks for it."" W h y did you give your elder son but one sliceof bread, and to the younger one, two slices?""Because the older one is home all day, and theyounger one is at school all day.""Why is i t that the cloud appeared from thedirection of your wife's corner first?""Because she gives bread to the poor and herrelief is an immediate one; while I give money tothe poo r, and m y relief is ind irec t. T h e re is alsoa further reason. W e used to have very wicke dneighbors who would torment us a great deal .When their conduct became absolutely unbearable, I cursed them and prayed to God that he take


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96 T H E BOOK OF LEGEND Stheir lives. But my wife, upon hearing me praythus, said to me: 'Not thus is it proper to pray.I pray to God that He give them a good heart andthat they repent of their evil ways.' And he rprayer was heard in heaven; for our neighborsfrom that day on turned a new leaf and improvedtheir conduct daily until they became very goodpeople."

4. Hanan HanehebaHanan, the son of Honi's daughter, was a verypious man, but at the same time very modest andmeek. Fo r this reason people were wont to callhim "Hanan haneheba," which means: "Hananhides himself in his modesty."Once there was a drought in the land, and thesages knew that the prayers of the modest Hananwould be answered, but they also knew that the

meek H anan would not pray for rain. W ha t werethey to do ? A t length, they called for some schoolchildren, and said to them: "Go to Father Hanan,and ask him that he pray to God for rain."The school children went to Hanan, pulled atthe tails of his robe, and said: "O father, father,please give us rain."Touched by the pleas of the school children,Hanan prayed thus to the Holy One, praised beHis Name: "Master of the world, cause rain todescend for the sake of these children who do notknow how to differentiate between the Father who


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H O N I HA-M'AGGEL 97is able to give rain and the father who is unableto give rain."Hanan's prayer had the desired effect, and raindescended in abundance upon the earth.


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CHAPTER VIIITH E C A T A N D T H E W E L L

1. Shulamith| H E R E lived a man in Bethlehem-Judah,who had a very fair daughter, Shulamith by name. One day the father ofthe fair maiden said to her: "Put onyour best attire, take this basketful of first ripefruit, and go with the other young folks to Jerusalem to celebrate."

Shulamith was accompanied by her father tothe Mountains of Bethlehem, where they met acompany of pilgrims going on foot to Jerusalem.He took leave of his daughter, and told her to jointhe company. Shulam ith turned around to see herfather go, and watched him until she lost sight ofhim. In the meantime, the company of peoplehad continued their journey up the mountainpasses, and when Shulamith turned to join them,they were no longer in sight.Shulamith went first one way, then another, butwas unable to find her way either to the companygoing up to Jerusalem, or to the road leading back

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