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Thought for the Day: Choni the Circle Maker Had Only One Address for All of His Needs

Some of the most famous stories in Talmud involve Choni the Circle Maker. The story of how he got that title is both famous and puzzling. The gemara (Ta'anis 19a) relates that Eretz Yisrael was in need of rain. Choni drew a circle and declared: Master of the Universe -- your children have turned to me because I am a בן בית/member of Your household. I swear by Your Great Name that I will not move from this circle until You have mercy on Your children. It started to drizzle. Choni was not pleased and declared further: That's not what I asked for. The wells and cisterns need to be filled. It started raining with a fury. Choni was having none of that and came back again with: This is not what I asked for. I want a nice rainfall, given with generosity and bracha. So it did. Then the people came and asked Choni to pray for the rain to stop, as they were being overwhelmed. So he did and it did.

After that, Shimon ben Shetach sent a message to Choni: If you were not Choni, I would ostracize you from the community. But what can I do? You מתחטא before the Creator and He does what you ask; like a child who מתחטא before his father and then the father does what he wants. About whom it is said, "Your father and mother will be glad, and the one who bore you will rejoice." (Mishlei 23:25)

What is Shimon ben Shetach actually saying? If a child throws a fit in front of his parents, they might very well give in to him. Any parent knows the rule of "choose your battles." But when we do give in -- for whatever reason -- we don't usually immediately feel the sentiments of that verse in Mishlei. But let's also ask why HaShem gave a little rain, then a downpour, then what was needed? If HaShem was going to grant the rain, then why not just respond immediately with a nice, gentle, and plentiful rainfall?

Here is my thought: The child wants a cookie. The parent wants to give him a cookie. But first... he is going to have to work for it. Not really; we are going to give them the cookie and they also know they are going to get the cookie. Sometimes we say, "What do you say?" Sometimes, "Say please like you mean it." (I know this is unique to me... but I have a game with my grandchildren where I "make" then sing their request. They love it. Their parent's roll their eyes; which, of course, is also part of the fun for me.)

Why can we play that game with them? Because we both know it's a game. I want nothing more than to give them that cookie; and they know it. We just want to also have fun together. The parent is not a cookie vending machine. The child knows it isn't "put in a thank you, get out a cookie." The child might not always get the cookie. That could make him upset, cry, and stomp his feet. There is one thing he is not going to do; he is not going to the neighbor's house to get a cookie. He knows there is only one address for his request.

Choni could act like that because he knew there was only one address for his request. And so:

"Your father and mother will be glad, and the one who bore you will rejoice." (Mishlei 23:25)

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