does pinhas die in i have lived a thousand years

He exclaimed, “ oh chavruta oh mituta, either companionship or death.” The notion of living out the rest of his years in a thoroughly changed social environment was so displeasing to him that he preferred to die. In this week’s Torah portion, we read that Moses, cognizant of his own imminent death, did not wish to leave his people leaderless and beseeched the Almighty to designate his successor.Moses made peace with his ultimate demise and felt responsible for finding a successor, and accepted that his disciple Joshua would fill his shoes. He could find no friend, no person with whom he could share his thoughts and feelings. The world had changed, people had changed. But gradually, Choni realized that he couldn’t relate to this new generation. Choni returned to the local study hall and was accepted there because of his evident Torah scholarship. He eventually discovered that he had been asleep for seventy years. It soon became apparent to Choni that the man enjoying the fruit was indeed the grandson of the man he had earlier encountered. He passed by the tree and, sure enough, there was a man there plucking fruit from the tree. When the man responded that it would take many years, Choni asked, “Then why do you bother planting?” The man replied that he was not planting for himself but for his son, or perhaps even for his grandson, who would eventually enjoy the fruit. Soon afterwards, Choni lay down to rest in a nearby cave. He asked the man how long it would take for that tree to bear fruit. One day, he passed a man planting a tree.

The nation turned to him to pray for rain in times of drought. Choni Hamaagal was a very pious man whose prayers were always answered. Even as many communities have gradually “reopened,” we now realize that things may never be quite the same as they were just a short time ago.This brings to mind the story of Choni HaMaagal , a sage who lived over two thousand years ago. Our calendars became filled with social events. How drastically has our world changed.

We felt secure economically and were busy planning travel to distant places.

It was just this past Purim that we sat together in shul, next to one another, listening to the reading of the Megilla and sat in close physical proximity to our friends, and the phrase “social distancing” was not part of our vocabulary. These days, we all find ourselves living in a new and different world.

Does pinhas die in i have lived a thousand years