Choni

Within the yoga class, Choni and Sogpa maintain Samvid (Kun-rig).

A Brief History of Ganden Monastery 2003

Choni, the Maagol, once saw in his travels an old man planting a carob-tree, and he asked him when he thought the tree would bear fruit.

Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Various

"What!" said Choni, "dost thou expect to live seventy years and eat the fruit of thy labor?"

Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala Various

Chidushei Ha'Geonim offers a cogent interpretation: Choni, troubled by his generation's laxity in Torah study and in the performance of mitzvos, was vexed at how people could squander a (seventy-year) lifespan in a preoccupation with meaningless objectives -

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The famous tale revolves around Choni the circle drawer who acquired his claim to fame when, during an agonizing and lengthy dry spell in the Holy Land, he drew a circle in the dusty earth, stood in its center and called on God to bless His people with a desperately needed rainfall.

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Since it would be decades before the tree would blossom to fruitfulness, Choni questioned the man's motivation.

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How, Choni wondered, could anyone actually sleep for a 70-year stretch? tzaddik and learned man, he could surely grasp the meaning of "like dreamers."

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Choni, the Gemara states, had long been troubled by the verse "When Hashem returned [the captives of Zion] we were like dreamers" (referring to the 70-year Babylonian exile).

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When this realization dawned on him, Choni "sat down to eat" and "fell asleep" - a metaphoric allusion to material pursuits, symbolized by the act of eating, that induces "slumber."

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This encounter lent Choni a measure of clarity: In contrast to the man planting the carob tree who understood that by toiling in this world he would realize a return in the next world, those who had so baffled him indulged only in the self-satisfaction of the here and now as they allowed themselves to be seduced by the lure of instant gratification with nary a thought to investing their energies for future, meaningful gains.

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