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The Talmud (Ta’anit 23a) recounts a to him: ’ It will not produce fruit until 70
remarkable story to teach us how to years have passed. ’ Choni said to him: ’ Is "
understand the verse “A Song of Ascents: it obvious you will live 70 years, that you The goal of a
When God brought back those who returned expect to benefit from this tree? ’ He said to
to Zion, we were like those who dream,” as him: ’ Just as my ancestors planted for me, I prophecy is
we look to our past and future. too am planting for my descendants. ’ Choni
sat and ate bread. Sleep overcame him and not to predict
Rabbi Yochanan said: All the days of the he slept. A cliff formed around him, and
life of that righteous man, Choni, he was he disappeared from sight and slept for 70 what will be...
distressed over the meaning of this verse: years. When he awoke, he saw a certain
“A song of Ascents: When God brought man gathering carobs from that tree. Choni but to charge
back those who returned to Zion, we were said to him: ’ Are you the one who planted
like those who dream.” He said to himself: this tree? ’ The man said to him: ’ I am his Am Yisrael with
Is there really a person who can sleep and son’s son. ’ Choni said to him: ’ I can learn
dream for 70 years? How is it possible to from this that I have slept for 70 years, ’ and what can be
compare the 70-year exile in Babylonia to a indeed he saw that his donkey had sired
dream? several herds during those many years. “

Choni HaMa’agel (Tanna, 1c. BCE) Choni witnesses the planting of a בוּר ַח up to ripened fruits and fulfilled prophecies,
does not understand how 70 years of (charuv, carob tree) because he struggles to but we recognize the toil and the process.
Exile followed by a return to Israel can be understand the poetic imagery employed While Choni disappears from sight, absent
compared to a dream, if the latter is brief to describe national revival from a state of from the process, disconnected from his
and fleeting. For Choni, whose detailed ן ַבּ ְ רוּח (churban, destruction) to bearing family for 70 years, the farmer plants seeds
demands for rainfall are immediately the fruit of Redemption. Choni does not for the generations to come and enjoys the
answered by God, 70 years seems like an comprehend the process of planting if the fruits planted by those before him.
eternity, and the simile of a dream – an results are not immediate. The carob planter
oxymoron! His philosophical outlook is explains that only by planting seeds in one After 70 years of reliving the fulfillment of
underscored in a conversation he has one generation may one merit to enjoy the fruit prophecies, we are recharged by the words
day with a man planting a carob tree. in the next. And when one does, it behooves of Psalms to continue to dream – to plan
him to prepare and continue to plant for the and plant for the future, to appreciate
the 70 years of galut (Exile) and churban
ensuing generations 70 years later.
“ Choni said to him: ’ After how many years
" Choni sleeps as the state of the בוּר ַח / ן ַבּ ְ רוּח and rebuilding in Medinat Yisrael and
(Destruction), to appreciate our returning
will this tree bear fruit? ’ The man said
blossoms to fruition together with the
Yerushalayim of 2,500 years ago and of
bearing of children and herds of donkeys.
today. How tragic if we sleep and dream
As he dreams, fruits are germinating and
– and how magnificent and fruitful if we
Redemption
children and grandchildren are being born.
invest in our Land and in our children for
and fulfillment
will bear the fruits of prophecies waiting to
be realized.
of prophecies This aggadah (Talmudic legend) is meant the next 70 years, so that future generations
to resolve his difficulty and ours as we
revisit and appreciate Shivat Tzion in our
do not occur 70th year of renewed Jewish sovereignty. "Those who sow in tears will reap
in joy. He who bears the measure
Redemption and fulfillment of prophecies
in immediate do not occur in immediate or automatic of seeds walks weeping, but will
return in joy, carrying his sheaves.”
fashion. We must plant, sow, invest, and
(Psalms126:6 )
or automatic chart a proper trajectory for our national- Rabbanit Shani Taragin is a
religious future as we simultaneously
fashion harvest the fruits of generations of planters senior teacher and educator
and planners before us. We have been like in various women’s higher
dreamers who sleep for 70 years and wake educational institutions in Israel
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