Choni and the Carob Tree

All his life Choni was troubled by the verse, "A Song of Ascents. When Hashem brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like dreamers" (Tehillim 126:1). He wondered how a man could dream continuously for seventy years.

One day he saw a man planting a carob tree and asked him how long it would take to bear fruit. When he heard that it would take seventy years, Choni asked, "Are you certain that you will live another seventy years?" The man replied, "Just as my forefathers planted for me, I plant for my children."

Choni sat down to eat, and sleep overcame him. Hidden from sight by the rocky ground, he slept for seventy years. When he awoke, he saw a man gathering the fruit of the carob tree and asked whether he was the one who had planted it. The man answered, "I am his grandson." Then Choni understood that he had slept for seventy years.

He went to his own house and asked, "Is the son of Choni HaMe'agel alive?" He was told that his son had already died, but his grandson was still alive. When he said, "I am Choni HaMe'agel," they did not believe him.

He went to the beis midrash and heard the Torah scholars say, "The halachos are as clear to us as they were in the days of Choni HaMe'agel, for whenever he entered the beis midrash he would resolve every difficulty the scholars had." He called out, "I am he," but they did not believe him and did not give him the honor due to him. He was deeply grieved. He prayed for death, and he died.