Tu Bishvat | Choni, the Carob and the Dream

Tu Bishvat | Choni, the Carob and the Dream, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

How are the Choni legends - the long slumber, the carob tree and the rain-circle - related to each other?

In honor of Tu biSh'vat, we explored the story of Honi HaMa'gil (or Hame'agel) and the various Aggadot associated with him, in the scholion of Megilat Ta'anit, the Mishna, Bavli and Yerushalmi - and in Josephus' Antiquities. In our survey we noted that these narratives had a number of conflicting details. We discussed how to address differing narratives about what seems to be the same event and proposed several strategies for resolving these discrepancies. The shiur was given at GPATS (Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies) at Stern College for Women.