Honi the Circle Maker (Part III)
Honi came to a sad, some would say undeserved, end.
After heroically bringing rain to a parched land and people, he falls asleep after questioning the wisdom of an old man who plants carob trees. Honi cannot understand why an old man would plant trees that take 70 years to produce fruit.
Honi lays down under a tree and falls asleep. He sleeps for 70 years. When he wakes up, he sees someone harvesting carobs. The harvester turns out to be the grandson of the man who had planted the carob tree 70 years before. Honi goes to the study hall but no one knows him. Honi dies of loneliness since, as the Talmud sums up his unhappy end, "Either friendship or death."
What happened to Honi? How could someone who was so close to G-d end up without friends?
Is holiness a barrier to friendship and happiness?
TO BE CONTINUED
