"When the Lord brings back the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers. Rabbi Yochanan said that Jerusalem will only be built through the merit of the tribes. Throughout the days of that righteous man, he was distressed over this verse. Some say he spent seventy years in a dream.
One day, he was traveling on the road and saw a man planting a carob tree. He asked him, "How long will it take until this tree bears fruit?" The man replied, "It will take seventy years." Rabbi Yochanan said to him, "Are you certain that you will live seventy years and be able to eat the fruit of this tree?"
The man replied, "I found this world full of carob trees. Just as my forefathers planted for me, so too, I plant for my children." Suddenly, a heavenly voice called out, announcing that Rabbi Yochanan's request had been granted. He then slept for seventy years.
When he woke up, he saw the man harvesting the carob tree and said to him, "Are you the one who planted this tree?" The man replied, "Yes, I am." Rabbi Yochanan exclaimed, "Blessed are you, and blessed is the God who gave you such long life to see the fruits of your labors." My heart is drawn to the study hall where I heard the sages say, "We have gained great knowledge because you, Honi the Circle Drawer, are like a well of living water.
Whenever you come to the study hall, any question that the sages have, you resolve for them." Honi replied, "I am but a mere mortal, not a prophet, and even I have not been able to fathom the depths of the Torah. However, I do know one thing: I am like a soldier who has been given orders, and I obey them." Honi the Circle Drawer lived near the ruins of the Temple and once journeyed to a valley where he saw laborers working in a field.
He sat in a nearby cave and prayed for rain, and it rained until the cave was flooded with water. Honi slept for seventy years and awoke to find a changed world, with olive trees replaced by vineyards and vineyards replaced by fields of grain. When he came to a town and asked what was happening, they did not believe that he was Honi the Circle Drawer until he described his miraculous cave. They then took him to his hometown where he passed away, and it was said of him that he fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 126: "When the Lord returns the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers."...