“Who set wisdom batuḥot?” (Job 38:36). What is batuḥot? In the innards. “Or who gave understanding to the sekhvi?” (Job 38:36).
This is a hen. Rabbi Levi said: In Arabia, they call a hen sekhviya. This hen, when her chicks are small, she gathers them, places them under her wings, warms them, and digs before them.14She pecks around in the garbage heap to find them food. When they grow, if one of them seeks to approach her, she pecks at its head, and says to it, go and dig in your own garbage heap.
So too, when Israel was in the wilderness for forty years, the manna was falling, the spring was rising for them, the quail was available for them, the clouds of glory were surrounding them, and the pillars of cloud was leading the way for them. Once Israel entered the Land, Moses said to them: ‘Let each one of you take his spade and go out and plant trees.’ That is what is written: “When you will come into the land and plant.”
Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, was passing on those paths in Tiberias and saw a certain elderly man standing and digging holes to plant trees. [Hadrian] said to him: ‘Old man, old man; if you awoke early, you should not remain awake at night.’15You toiled in your youth, no need to toil in your dotage. He said to [Hadrian]: ‘I awoke early and I remain awake late, and what is good for the Master of Heaven, He will do.’ [Hadrian] said to him: ‘Old man, as you live, how many years old are you this day?’
He said to [Hadrian]: ‘One hundred years old.’ [Hadrian] said to him: ‘You are one hundred years old and digging holes to plant trees? Do you think you will eat from them?’ He said to [Hadrian]: ‘If I am privileged, I will eat. If not, just as my fathers toiled on my behalf, so I will toil on behalf of my children.’ [Hadrian] said to him: ‘If you are privileged to eat of them, inform me.’
Eventually, they produced figs. He said: ‘The time has come to inform the emperor.’ What did he do? He filled a basket with figs and ascended and stood at the palace gate.
They said to him: ‘What is your business?’ He said to them: ‘To enter before the king.’ Once he entered, [Hadrian] said to him: ‘What is your business?’ He said to him: ‘I am the old man you passed as I was digging holes to plant trees and you said to me: If you are privileged to eat of them, inform me.
I have been privileged and eaten of them, and these are figs produced by them.’ Hadrian said at that moment: ‘I command, give him a golden chair and let him sit.’ He said: ‘I command that you empty this basket of his and fill it with dinars.’ His servants said to him: ‘Will you honor this old Jewish man with all this honor?’
He said to him: ‘His Creator has honored him, will I not honor him?’ The wife of the [old man’s] neighbor was a lowly woman. She said to her husband: ‘Fool,16Literally, son of darkness. see that this king loves figs and exchanges them for dinars.’ What did he do?
He filled his sack with figs and went and stood before the palace. They said to him: ‘What is your business?’ He said to them: ‘I heard that the king loves figs and exchanges them for dinars.’ They entered and said to the king: ‘There is a certain old man standing at the palace gate carrying his sack full of figs.
We said to him: What is your business? He said to us: I heard that the king loves figs and exchanges them for dinars.’ [Hadrian] said: ‘I command that you stand him before the palace gate and anyone who enters or exits should throw it17One of his figs. at his face.’ Before evening, they ejected him and he went home. He said to his wife: ‘I must repay you for all this honor.’
She said to him: ‘Go and boast to your mother that they were figs and they were not citrons, and they were ripe and not unripe.’18At least they were soft and not hard.