Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba and his associates, and some say it was Rabbi Yose ben Halafta and his associates, and some say it was Rabbi Akiba and his associates, were sitting and discussing Torah under a certain fig tree. Each day the owner of the fig tree would awaken early and gather [the ripe figs].
Let us change our place [the scholars agreed]. The next day the owner of the fig tree came and said to them: “My masters, you have deprived me of the one commandment you were accustomed to fulfill with me [under my tree].” They said to him: “We feared perhaps you suspected us of [taking your figs].” The next morning he let them see [why he picked the figs early]. He waited until the sun shone upon them and his figs became worm-eaten.
At that time they said: “The owner of the fig tree knows when it is the right time to pick a fig and he picks it. So too, God knows when it is the right time to take the righteous from the world and he takes them.” -Yerushalmi, berachot 2:7
Comments