Honi the Circle Maker (Part lV)
What stands out with Honi is his casual relationship with God. His attitude seems flippant in telling God to bring rain and in telling Him to make it stop raining when it rains so hard that the people are afraid of being flooded.
I met a Jew who told me that once it was easier to have a direct connection to God. This was in an era prior to Torah commentary. That is not to say the commentaries are not holy contributuions to our attempt to draw closer to God. But it is virtually impossible to read a Torah passage without looking into at least one, if not several, of the commentaries written on that passage. So now we can no longer have direct unfettered access to the Author of any particular Torah passage since our understanding of Him and His words must pass through the filters, however justified and holy, of the commentators and interpreters.
Honi did not have our problem.
